July 27th, 2006:

Thursday July 27th, 2006 / 10h02 
 
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) may have once again fallen victim to industry-wide cost inflation for its wholly-owned Qatar Pearl Gas-To-Liquids project, as the rising price of oil may push project costs to more than double according to Dow Jones Newswires calculations.

The company previously said the project, for which investment was approved Wednesday, would cost $6 billion.

However, a cost of $4 to $6 per barrel of oil, combined with an expected output of 3 billion barrels-of-oil equivalent over the lifetime of the project, could mean a $12 billion to $18 billion total cost, according to Dow Jones Newswires calculations. 
  read more

Profit tops forecasts; company holds capital spending outlook

By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
Last Update: 3:32 AM ET Jul 27, 2006

LONDON (MarketWatch) – Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday said its second-quarter profit rose 40% on surging oil and gas prices despite not producing as much as oil as last year.

Royal Dutch said its net income rose to $7.32 billion, with revenue up 1% to 83.12 billion. It lifted its dividend by 9% to 0.25 euros (32 cents) a share.

On a cost of current supplies measure, a more widely-tracked figure that strips out the change of energy prices on inventories, profit rose 36% to $6.31 billion. read more

    LONDON, July 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte)
Ltd (“SEPL) today announced that it has taken a final investment decision
to proceed with the construction of a new world-scale ethylene cracker on
Bukom Island, Singapore. Named Shell Eastern Petrochemicals Complex*
(SEPC), the integrated refinery and petrochemicals project will also
include modifications and additions to the Bukom refinery and a new
world-scale Mono-Ethylene Glycol (MEG) plant utilising Shell’s proprietary
technology on Jurong Island. read more

Thursday July 27th, 2006 / 8h50 
 
(This item updates an item published around 0627 GMT, noting $500 million provision.)
By Benoit Faucon
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) Thursday posted a 40% rise in net profit for the second quarter as soaring oil prices more than offset barrels lost from unrest in Nigeria and a $500 million provision for a class action.
 
The world’s fourth-largest publicly traded oil and gas company by market capitalization posted a net profit of $7.324 billion, or $1.13 per share, for the three months ended June 30, compared to $5.236 billion, or 78 cents a share, for the same period last year.
The quarterly earnings were impacted by a net charge of $232 million, which compared to a $545 million net charge in the second quarter of 2005. read more

Extract: Shell also announced it is ‘determined and prepared’ to resolve the US litigation ‘for, among other terms, a payment by Shell of 500 mln usd.’  ‘Accordingly, management of the Shell Group has established a 500 mln usd provision in respect of the litigation. No settlement has been reached in the matter,’ it said in a statement.

THE ARTICLE

07.27.2006, 03:49 AM

LONDON (AFX) – Royal Dutch Shell PLC delivered a 26 pct rise in second quarter profits and announced that it is prepared to pay 500 mln usd to settle a US class action lawsuit arising from the group’s controversial oil reserves downgrade a few years ago. read more

July 27 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s No. 2 oil company, said second-quarter quarter profit climbed 40 percent as higher crude prices more than compensated for production losses in Nigeria.

Net income rose to $7.32 billion, or $1.13 a share, from $5.24 billion, or 78 cents, in the year-earlier period, Shell, based in The Hague, said today in a PR Newswire statement. Profit adjusted for inventory changes and one-time items was $6.5 billion, compared with analysts’ estimates of $6.2 billion. read more

Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:24 AM ET

LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) – Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell Plc beat forecasts on Thursday to report a 36 percent rise in second-quarter current cost of supply net profit, which strips out changes in inventory values, to $6.3 billion, thanks to high oil prices. Excluding a non-operational a charge of $232 million, the result was $6.546 billion, ahead of an average forecast of $6.149 billion from a Reuters poll of 12 analysts, and up from an underlying net profit of $5.171 billion a year earlier. read more

27/7/2006 07:34 London Time

LONDON (AFX) – Royal Dutch Shell PLC delivered a 26 pct rise in second quarter profits and announced that it is prepared to pay 500 mln usd to settle a US class action lawsuit arising from the group”s controversial oil reserves downgrade a few years ago.

For the quarter to June, the group”s net profit, on an adjusted current cost of supply basis and after adding back one-time charges, rose to 6.546 bln usd from 5.194 bln last time, ahead of the consensus figure of 6.125 bln usd. read more

By H. Josef Hebert
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON – Iraq’s oil production is expected to roughly double over the next four years to 4 million barrels a day, the country’s oil minister predicted Wednesday after meeting with U.S. energy officials and executives from nine major oil companies.
“We are increasing production,” Hussein al-Shahristani told reporters.

With Iraq’s oil infrastructure frequently targeted by insurgents, the country has struggled to resume oil production to prewar levels of about 2.5 million to 3 million barrels a day. As of last May, production stood at about 1.9 million barrels a day, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says. read more

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Port of Providence dock that serves as the main distribution point for Rhode Island’s gasoline and home heating oil supply will reopen within two months after being closed by a fire last week.

Motiva Enterprises, the company that operates the dock, announced plans Wednesday to repair and reopen the north half of the dock in six to eight weeks. At that point, deliveries of gasoline to Rhode Island should return to normal, Motiva spokesman Brian Delaney said.

No gasoline has been delivered to the Providence terminal since a fire erupted during a thunderstorm last week and severely damaged the south side of the dock. Motiva has been directing shipments to its terminals in Bridgeport and New Haven, Conn., and then trucking gasoline into Rhode Island. It also has hired some other suppliers to bring in fuel. read more

CALGARY (CP) – Shell Canada Ltd. (TSX:SHC) expects to grow its so-called in-situ oilsands production by more than seven-fold to 50,000 barrels per day over the next two years as a result of its BlackRock Ventures acquisition earlier this month.

Already a major oilsands producer with its operating stake in the Athabasca open-pit and upgrading project in northern Alberta, Shell plans to rapidly grow its in-situ business which harvests reserves that are too deep for conventional mining.

As a result of the $2.4 billion BlackRock deal which closed earlier this month, Shell’s in-situ reserves jumped from seven billion to more than 25 billion barrels. read more

By REUTERS
Published: July 27, 2006
Filed at 0:33 a.m. ET

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices drifted sideways below $74 a barrel on Thursday, supported by an unexpectedly deep draw in U.S. gasoline stocks that affirmed the vigor of fuel demand and diplomats’ failure to halt fighting in the Middle East.

A new set of supply outages in OPEC member Nigeria added to the upward pressure, although prices remain 6 percent below the record $78.40 a barrel hit two weeks ago.

U.S. light, sweet crude eased 8 cents to $73.86 a barrel by 0244 GMT, reversing part of Wednesday’s 19-cent gain. London Brent was down 18 cents at $73.82 a barrel, near parity to U.S. crude after trading about $1 below it a week ago. read more

• Royal Dutch Shell’s oil venture offshore Sakhalin Island, one of the biggest foreign investments in Russia’s energy industry, resumed crude exports a month later than planned after Moscow granted permission.

• Natural gas prices in the UK declined as forecasts of milder weather eased concerns that supplies may run short and as crude oil prices remained below peaks reached earlier this month.

• NTR, a closely held waste-management and renewable energy company, said profit rose 13pc last year. read more

Levy of $250 Million
Comes Amid Dispute
With Foreign Partners
By GREG WALTERS
July 27, 2006

MOSCOW — Russian authorities have slapped a Western-backed venture bringing Central Asian oil to world markets with a $250 million back-tax claim, the company said, in the latest sign of growing unrest between Russia and the group of Western oil companies who are the government’s partners in the venture.

The claim comes as the U.S. has been pushing Moscow to expand the pipeline and Moscow has dragged its heels, demanding that its oil-company partners agree to first build an extension to the pipeline around the congested Bosporus strait. read more

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
July 26, 2006 5:53 p.m.

Crude-oil futures edged higher and closed at nearly $74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the U.S. Energy Department reported a bigger-than-expected rise in gasoline inventories last week. Here is Wednesday’s roundup of energy-related news:

* * *
CONOCOPHILLIPS PROFIT BOOMS: ConocoPhillips said its second-quarter profit surged 65% from a year ago, bolstered by continued high oil prices, big refining margins, and the recent acquisition of Burlington Resources, a top natural-gas producer. The Houston energy giant is the first of the top three U.S. oil and gas companies to report earnings, and its results foretell another fat quarter for Big Oil, at a time when Americans continue to smart from retail gasoline prices that top $3 a gallon in many places. (See a state-by-state breakdown of U.S. gas prices, and read anecdotes from gas stations.) read more

Published: Jul 27, 2006

CRUDE exports through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium and Black Sea port of Novorossiysk could be under threat after Russian authorities made a $175m back tax claim.

CPC’s accounts at the Russian subsidiary of ABN Amro bank have been frozen until the tax claim is paid off, the Kommersant business newspaper reported.

The Chevron-operated joint venture is the only pipeline through Russia not controlled by Transneft. It is a vital artery for Kazakh crude as it links its oilfields to European markets by tanker traffic across the Black Sea. read more

By: Olokola deal formalises link with free trade zone, writes Tony Gray, Lloyds List

Published: Jul 27, 2006

ONE of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas projects has taken another step forward.

Nigerian National Petroleum Corp and three foreign oil majors, including Shell, have signed a memorandum of understanding with the free trade zone in which the $6bn Olokola (OKLNG) project will be located.

The signing of the MoU by the sponsors of the LNG project, the Olokola Free Trade Zone Co, and the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, marked ‘a further milestone in the progression’ of OKLNG, said Shell. The MoU formalises the relationship between the project and the free trade zone. read more

Published: Jul 27, 2006

NATIONAL oil firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is interested to bid for oil and gas blocks offered under India’s sixth New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP-VI).

The company is among several local and foreign oil and gas companies, including notable global firms such as Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips, BP plc, Total, ENI and Petrobras, which had either bought or requisitioned data on the blocks offered.

“We have managed to collect US$12.49 million (RM46.09 million) from the sale of data and US$1.59 million (RM5.86 million) for the requisition of the data,” an industry source told Business Times. read more

EXTRACT: “The main benefit of having Corrib onstream will, of course, be security of energy supplies – as you know, we import over 85pc of our gas and the UK became a marginal net importer of gas this year,” Susan Shannon, external affairs director with Shell Exploration and Production, said.

THE ARTICLE

Published: Jul 27, 2006

IT’S going to be a tough winter for Irish business as fuel costs and the price of oil-based raw materials go through the roof.

ESB is expected to seek a price increase of up to 20pc which will come into effect on January 1 next. That’s on top of increases in each of the last three years as follows: 10.27pc in 2004; 3.5pc in 2005 and 5.2pc in 2006. read more

Published: Jul 27, 2006

The European Commission believes Ireland has not followed EU habitats directive procedures in relation to approvals for the Corrib gas onshore pipeline across Broadhaven Bay, Co Mayo, writes Lorna Siggins , Marine Correspondent

The commission’s environment directorate has confirmed that the issue is part of a wider infringement case being taken by the European Court of Justice against Ireland over implementation of the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC. The EU’s advocate general is due to issue an opinion on the matter in early September. read more

Published: July 27 2006 03:00 | Last updated: July 27 2006 03:00

It would have been the deal of the century. Had BP swooped on Royal Dutch Shell, it would have created a behemoth pumping 4.6m barrels of oil a day – more than Iran’s output.

Shell has spent the past couple of years recovering from its reserves scandal. That made it a classic target: a world-class set of assets with a weakened management and valuation. BP’s near-term production growth would fit well with Shell’s longer-term potential. read more

By JEREMY W. PETERS
Published: July 26, 2006

ConocoPhillips, the first major American oil company to report results for the second quarter, said today that its profits leapt by nearly two-thirds, a windfall it owes largely to soaring world oil prices.

The company, based in Houston, said it earned $5.19 billion in the second quarter, compared with $3.13 billion in the comparable period in 2005. Nearly all its businesses, which include offshore oil drilling, natural gas exploration and operating oil refineries, reported considerable growth. read more

For over a year now all work has been stopped on Shell and the Irish state’s attempts to build gas refinery and production pipeline in Erris, County Mayo, aka the Corrib gas project.

This overview seeks to put the resistance to the planned destruction in context, by looking at the potential for oil and gas exploitation in Ireland, and at the positive impacts the struggle in Mayo can have, and is having, on other situations. Though firstly I’ll look at the issues around this mis-development, and I’ll conclude by looking at what activities we will be carrying out in the near future. read more

Terry Macalister
Thursday July 27, 2006

Top management at Shell believes the company has a second-rate safety record in the North Sea and has failed to tackle the problem because parts of the organisation are in denial.

The revelation in an email to staff from Jeroen van der Veer, Shell’s chief executive, comes ahead of today’s half-year financial presentation, when he will be under pressure to explain what is going wrong.

The difficulties were highlighted last month by the Guardian in an interview with one of Shell’s own safety consultants, Bill Campbell. He said little had been done to tackle poor safety procedures on many platforms first identified in 1999. Then an accident inquiry report published this month into two deaths on the Brent Bravo platform in 2003 seriously criticised the company. read more