July 16th, 2006:

ALBERTA – The cost of the first phase of the proposed Athabasca Oil Sands Project expansion is skyrocketing, SHELL CANADA of Calgary warned last week. The AOSP is owned 60% by Shell, 20% by WESTERN OIL SANDS and 20% by CHEVRONTEXACO. According to Western, costs will be up 50% from the $7.3 billion estimated as recently as August 2005, and that number was up from the original $4.0 billion figure.

One of the key factors facing the AOSP expansion, and many other large construction projects around the world, is the intense demand for construction labour, materials and supplies which have resulted in unprecedented increases in capital costs. This demand is further intensified in Alberta by the development of multiple oil sands projects, Western said in a press release. read more

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) – Shell Gas and Power Developments BV and Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Co Ltd will jointly invest 6 bln usd in a coal-to-liquids plant in northern China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the Economic Observer reported.

Citing Lim Haw Kuang, executive chairman of Shell in China, the newspaper said Shell will offer its proprietary techniques for the project and a preliminary feasibility study on the project will be completed within three years.

Lim was quoted as saying China will hold the majority stake in the project, adding that ‘Shell will also take quite a big interest in it,’ without providing further details. read more

By Richard Lee
Assistant Business Editor
Published July 15 2006

EXTRACT: The nation must follow a similar philosophy when addressing its need for energy, including projects like the Broadwater plan, proposed by TransCanada Corp. and Shell Oil to develop a floating liquefied natural gas terminal in Long Island Sound, Johnson said yesterday.

THE ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON ROYAL DUTCH SHELL Plc .com

When President Bush gave Stephen Johnson the task of administering the Environmental Protection Agency, the assignment came with a caveat. read more

By JIM KRANE
Associated Press

EXTRACT: None is likely to start prospecting until company chiefs feel reasonably assured that their workers won’t be sent home in coffins and that their investments have legal protection that won’t be taken away by a new government. “We are interested and they are interested.  But we need those conditions in place to take it to the next level,” Shell Oil Co. President John Hofmeister said.

THE ARTICLE POSTED ON ROYAL DUTCH SHELL PLC .com

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – In Iraq’s peaceful north, a trio of foreign oil companies have begun classic wildcat exploration, hoping a gusher of black gold will bring them untold wealth. read more

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Royal Dutch Shell PLC will consider selling its Dominican assets, including a 50 percent stake in the Caribbean nation’s sole oil refinery, the company said Saturday.

The Anglo-Dutch company administers 137 service stations and maintains fuel distribution equipment and facilities in the country of about 9 million, in which it has operated for nearly 80 years.

”Shell will initiate a process of evaluation and revision of its complete business portfolio in order to determine if the interest shown will add value for the company’s shareholders,” the company’s Dominican representative, Rafael Maradiaga, said in a statement. read more

EXTRACT: We also received many letters from Shell stations complaining bitterly about the business practices of Shell. Here is a selection of quotes from some of the letters: –

“Extremely bad company”

“I believe the current regime is totally immoral”

“We have serious concerns about Shell’s ethical conduct”.  

THE ARTICLE

There is report published today of a lottery winner in the USA having to go bankrupt after investing millions of dollars in four Shell gas stations.

http://royaldutchshellgroup.com/2006/07/16/arizona-republic-az-from-porsches-to-bankruptcy-lottery-winner-who-made-the-mistake-of-investing-in-shell-gas-stations/ read more

Jul. 16, 2006 12:00 AM

EXTRACT: He lost more than $2 million of his lottery winnings and filed suit against Shell for practices that he says were aimed at muscling independent operators like him out of the business. He settled in 2002 for pennies on the dollar for his emotional distress.

THE ARTICLE

Winner: Shefik Tallmadge. Year: 1988. Jackpot: $6.7 million, $335,000 each year for 20 years.

When Tallmadge was 29, he became the biggest winner in the Pick lottery at the time.

He bought a $60,000 nougat-brown Porsche 911 Carrera convertible the day he got his check, quit his $10.75 per hour job at Yuma Proving Ground and took his mother and his sister on a luxurious world tour to Honolulu; Bangkok, Thailand; and Sierra Leone. read more

We read with interest the news reports in The Sunday Times today relating to Shell, the Corrib pipeline and the “Rossport Five”.

Shell management made a huge blunder when with its usual arrogance and incompetence it decided to have the Rossport Five thrown in jail for 94 days.

This led to the eventually realisation by Shell that it had scored a spectacular PR own goal because the incarceration of protestors by a multinational giant predictably generated immense international support for the jailed men. read more

July 16, 2006 
 
The collapse of negotiations between Shell and the protesters who have lined up against its Corrib gas pipeline is an unwelcome development. The breakdown in talks reveals an entrenching of positions by both sides in what has already been a prolonged, bitter and costly dispute. More importantly from a national perspective, it sends out a damaging signal to international investors about Ireland’s reliability as a place to do business.

The €1 billion Corrib Field venture is one of the largest infrastructure enterprises in the state’s history and promises hundreds of long-term jobs for the Mayo region. Yet, following the succession of delays caused by the protests, the project is years behind schedule. Even if all local resistance to the undertaking disappeared immediately, it would be at least five years before gas could be brought onshore. 
 
The stalemate will not have gone unnoticed by others considering investments that could prove contentious. In an era of heightened environmental and safety awareness, controversies over the extraction of natural resources are almost inevitable. But with good will and common sense on all sides, it should be possible to resolve disagreements relatively quickly. read more