June 17th, 2006:

             
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 17, 2006
Filed at 2:02 p.m. ET

LONDON (AP) — Saying two terms is enough, Nigeria’s president said Saturday that trying to uproot the corruption entangling Africa’s biggest oil-exporting nation and making strides to transform the economy were the main challenges during his seven years in power.

In a wide-ranging interview in London, President Olusegun Obasanjo also spoke of efforts to calm Nigeria’s south, where militants are battling the government for control of the area’s oil wealth. He said he is addressing the need for jobs and cracking down on ”criminality” there. read more

Kaktovik’s Native village corporation has distanced itself from a village government resolution denouncing Shell Oil for pursuing oil exploration in whaling grounds offshore northern Alaska.

The Kaktovik Inupiat Corp. said the week of June 5 that “the best way to deal with Shell Oil Co. is to work out issues in a civil and cordial manner.”

In May, the village City Council passed a resolution calling Shell “a hostile and dangerous force” and authorizing the mayor to take legal or other actions necessary to “defend the community.” read more

(RiskWire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) COUNTRY BRIEFING

FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT

Nigeria is an insecure environment for commercial operations. Security risk arises on three levels. The first comes from the high level of violent crime. This can be simple armed robbery (especially of mobile phones), but can also involve car jacking and violent attacks. The risk is especially common when travelling between major cities. Second, companies can be subjected to direct attack or blackmail. This occurs overwhelmingly in the oil producing states and is directed at multinational oil companies, where facilities can be vandalised and staff kidnapped. Third, incidences of inter-communal violence have risen since the return to civilian rule. While foreigners are not usually the direct object of attack in such cases, incidents can quickly spiral out of control and engulf bystanders. In a recent government survey, 80% of companies cited the lack of security for their staff and property as a serious constraint on business. read more

Nigerian kidnappers asked foreign oil companies to stop polluting local environment after they abducted 13 foreign workers in the oil production areas of the country in early June. Several similar incidents have been reported since early this year.

In another development, Shell Company has received the verdict from a Nigerian local high court to pay US$ 1.5 billion in fines for pollution. Shell’s 1 million bps output in Nigeria accounted for more than 40% of Nigeria’s total oil production. read more

By DULUE MBACHU Associated Press Writer

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) – Energy companies working in Africa’s biggest oil producer increasingly face a frustrating race between production and disruption.

At present some 800,000 barrels a day or 30 percent of Nigeria’s crude oil exports is shut down, most of it by attacks since January by militants battling the government for control of the oil fields. The militants have blown up facilities and taken workers hostage.

Within the same period Nigeria has added new production from deep water fields in the Atlantic ocean, with more set to follow in the coming months. Oil minister Edmund Daukoru expects export capacity to jump from current 2.5 million a day to 3 million by the end of the year. read more

Saturday, June 17, 2006 – ©2005 IranMania.com
 
LONDON, June 17 (IranMania) – According to Iran Daily, France’s oil and gas giant Total is involved in talks with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on a high-profile contract for developing Phase XI of the giant project to develop the world’s largest offshore gas field, South Pars.

Akbar Torkan, managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company, told Fars news agency that the initial steps have been completed, stressing that Total, NIOC and Petronas of Malaysia will most likely take up the Phase XI job. read more

Nick Mottern,
ConsumersforPeace.org:
June 16, 2006

From the first year of the Bush Administration in 2001, through the run-up to the Iraq War in 2002 and in the first year of the occupation, 2003, ExxonMobil was the top seller of petroleum products and services to the Pentagon, taking in about $2 billion in taxpayer money for those three years.

However, in 2004, Royal Dutch Shell was the number one top seller for the year. With Shell’s continued high level of sales in 2005, it became the overall top seller of petroleum to the U.S. military between 1999 and 2005, at $4.08 billion, compared to ExxonMobil’s $3.90 billion for the same period. read more

By Steve Gehrke
(Filed: 17/06/2006)

Concern in America over a looming oil crisis has intensified interest in different energy sources, in particular bio-fuels.

Ethanol – a fuel produced from crops rather than oil – is experiencing an unprecedented boom. In Brazil, most cars run either purely on ethanol or on a “gasohol” mixture with fossil fuels.

According to one poll, 78 per cent of Americans support increasing the use of ethanol in the US, where it has mainly been extracted only from corn. read more

By Alec Russell in Billings
(Filed: 17/06/2006)

The governor of Montana reached into the pocket of his black jeans, pulled out a vial of liquid and banged it on the table in front of him with a winning smile. “Diesel,” he bellowed. “It smells nasty. It is nasty.”

Like one of the fairground hucksters who used to roam his giant western state, he paused, then lobbed a nugget of coal into the air, before pulling out another vial. “Now smell this. It doesn’t smell at all. It is the future.” read more

Fuel prices are a case of ‘truly classic supply-and-demand economics,’ says Shell president John Hofmeister.

10:46 PM CDT on Friday, June 16, 2006
By ELIZABETH SOUDER /

John Hofmeister, president of Shell Oil Co., kicked off a 50-city public relations tour Friday in Dallas, the latest attempt by a big oil executive to explain that consumers aren’t getting ripped off. 

The head of Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s U.S. operations outlined a plan to ensure that the U.S. has plenty of affordable energy: Diversify U.S. fuel sources, become more energy-efficient, and allow oil companies to drill in regions of the country that are now off-limits. read more