Oil News Roundup
May 17, 2006
Crude-oil prices recovered on Tuesday from a steep decline, approaching $70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Here is today's well of news about oil and energy.
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ECUADOR DENIES NATIONALIZATION URGE: A day after kicking California's Occidental Petroleum out of the country, Ecuador's government said it had no interest in following in the footsteps of Venezuela and Bolivia and nationalizing its energy industry. Latin America's No. 5 oil producer Monday seized Occidental's assets, raising market fears that a regional nationalization trend begun by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez was continuing. Energy Minister Ivan Rodriguez denied any such desire on the government's part. But the Occidental dispute has been encouraged by leftists in the country, who Tuesday cheered the company's ouster and said nationalization was the next logical step. Occidental shares fell more than 2% today.
BRAZIL: ETHANOL POWERHOUSE? Mr. Chavez's influence in the region might eventually wane, though, if ethanol can help the less-politically inclined Brazil gain economic and diplomatic strength, the Financial Times reports (subscription to FT.com required). Brazil is busy perfecting the art of turning its massive sugar supply into ethanol and has vowed to increase its production of the gasoline additive by 40% by 2010. It plans to sell that ethanol, of course, but it also plans to share its technology with other countries, hopefully winning itself diplomatic brownie points in the region and the world.
•Japan Gathers Oil Assets: After years of sitting on the sidelines, Japan is starting to gather oil and natural-gas assets around the globe, launching its own exploration and production projects for the first time in years. While its push might increase the world's supply of oil, it could also make oil-exploration services more costly, keeping oil prices high.
•In the Clear in Singapore: The Singapore Exchange launched a new clearing facility for trading oil and freight derivatives, called SGX AsiaClear. Singapore's Minister of State for Finance and Transport said it was the first such clearing facility in Asia.
•Western Cultural Sites at Risk: Vital archeological and cultural sites in the American West are at risk of destruction because the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is too busy developing federal lands for energy production to protect them, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit group dedicated to protecting historical sites, said.
•Two-Wheel Commute: Just in time for National Bike to Work Week, more Americans are riding bicycles, the Associated Press reports. Guess why.
•Pawnbrokers Thank Gas Stations: High gas prices are forcing an increasing number of middle-class consumers to pawn their electronics, jewelry, children's toys and other goods, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
