Royal Dutch Shell Group .com Rotating Header Image

August 3rd, 2006:

The Guardian: Moscow puts legal pressure on Shell to halt pipeline

· Ministry claims oil link is in danger from mudslides
· Gazprom denies move is ploy to gain Sakhalin stake

Terry Macalister
Friday August 4, 2006

Shell has clashed with the Russian government over an oil project off Sakhalin Island which has already attracted the wrath of environmentalists and run way over budget.

The latest setback comes days after Shell, BP and other western firms were hit by a back-tax claim, albeit much smaller than the one which finally sent Yukos into bankruptcy this week. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Live Chat: Shell Sakhalin-2 Project: “wait until they discover the flawed ERD well designs…”

guest_2770 : If this is just the beginning of the ministry’s audit of Sakhalin, I wonder what they will find next….

Looks like Gazprom will be getting a lot more than 25% of Sakhalin 2…..

guest_4214 : wait until they discover the flawed ERD well designs which have a high chance of causing blow-outs when drilling through the young faults…

…and wait until they discover that there maybe just insufficient contingency built into the process facilities and number of wells to produce uninterrupted several months unattended. Just imagine if the facility trips in early winter with no possibility to send people there. An LNG plant without gasinput is an expensive piece of kit…. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters Foundation: More oil money should stay in Nigeria’s delta -ICG

03 Aug 2006 10:08:04 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Estelle Shirbon

ABUJA, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Nigeria could avert “violent meltdown” in its oil producing Niger Delta if it met militant demands for more local control over oil wealth in a transparent way, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said on Thursday.

A wave of militant attacks this year has killed an unknown number of people in Nigeria’s vast southern wetlands and shut down a quarter of output from Africa’s biggest oil producer — the latest flare-up in a conflict that has dragged on for years. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters Foundation: German oil worker kidnapped in Nigeria

03 Aug 2006 16:49:15 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Austin Ekeinde

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, Aug 3 (Reuters) – A German oil contractor was kidnapped in the southern Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt on Thursday by armed men dressed in military fatigues, police said.

It was the latest in a series of kidnappings and attacks against the oil industry in the world’s eighth largest exporter, where militants are fighting an increasingly bloody campaign for more control over the region’s oil wealth. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters Foundation: CHRONOLOGY-Nigerian militants’ attacks on oil, gas industries

03 Aug 2006 16:20:41 GMT
Source: Reuters

More  Aug 3 (Reuters) – A German oil contractor was kidnapped in the southern Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt on Thursday by armed men dressed in military fatigues, police said.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which launched a series of attacks earlier this year that forced the closure of a quarter of Nigerian oil output, have been threatening strikes on crucial oil facilities.

Following is a chronology of some major attacks on the Nigerian oil industry in 2006. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters Foundation: Nigeria violence: Violence and corruption plague a vast nation

Since military rule ended in Nigeria in 1999, at least 14,000 people have been killed in sporadic outbursts of violence across the country and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.

70 percent of population live on less than $1 a day
World’s eighth-largest oil exporter
High risk of unrest ahead of 2007 elections

Conflict often flares up along religious and ethnic lines, but in many cases the root causes lie in unequal access to power and resources, including land and oil wealth.

Nigeria is the world’s eighth-largest oil exporter. Oil has helped fuelled corruption, and Nigerians continue to suffer from high levels of poverty and inequality. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters Foundation: The Swamps of Insurgency: Nigeria’s Delta Unrest

03 Aug 2006 16:45:23 GMT
Source: Crisis Group

Nigeria violence

Dakar/Brussels, 3 August 2006: The Nigerian government and international oil corporations must change direction if they are to reduce the risk of violent meltdown in the Niger Delta.

The Swamps of Insurgency: Nigeria’s Delta Unrest,* the new report from the International Crisis Group, examines the potent cocktail of poverty, crime and corruption fuelling a militant threat to the stability of the region and to the country’s reliability as a major oil producer. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters: ANALYSIS – Iran’s oil finds ready buyers despite nuclear row

Aug 3, 2006

There is no shortage of buyers for Iranian oil despite a threat of sanctions against the Islamic Republic in the standoff with the West over its nuclear programme, analysts said on Thursday.

That is mainly because rising world demand and outages in some producers like Nigeria have added to a strain on supply. Big importers like Japan have trimmed purchases from Iran but other homes for the oil appear to have emerged.

Iran, the world’s fourth largest oil exporter, sold millions of barrels of oil it had been storing at sea because of a lack of buyers, officials said this week. The customers were mainly India and oil giant Royal Dutch Shell. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters: MADAGASCAR: Watchdog calls for transparency as oil boom takes off

03 Aug 2006 19:30:40 GMT
Source: IRIN

JOHANNESBURG, 3 August (IRIN) – Madagascar is becoming the next staging post of Africa’s energy boom as oil conglomerates descend on the poverty stricken island to contend for a share of the recent discovery, but a global watchdog cautions that the windfall could challenge the island’s fledgling democracy.

At current prices, industry estimates were that the oil could translate into annual revenue of one billion dollars for the Indian Ocean island. Energy analysts are predicting an oil price of US$100 in the short term, caused by a combination of geopolitical tensions, diminishing world reserves and high demand that has sent oil prices soaring. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Moscow Times: Shell, Exxon Under Fire on Sakhalin

By Dmitry Zhdannikov
Reuters
Itar-Tass
Friday, August 4, 2006. Issue 3468. Page 5.

Work on the Sakhalin-2 gas pipeline, here pictured last June, may be halted.
 
Russia stepped up pressure Thursday on two Sakhalin oil consortiums led by Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil as analysts said the Kremlin wanted better terms for state firms.

The Natural Resources Ministry’s environmental watchdog said it wanted Shell to suspend building pipelines on its giant Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project for ecological reasons. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Irish Independent: Shell To Sea group say Shell’s plans are ‘recipe for conflict’

Thursday August 3rd 2006 

The dispute over the Corrib gas pipeline looks to be no nearer to a resolution after opponents to the project rejected fresh proposals from Shell.

The company says it is wiling to divert the course of the pipeline away from housing near Rossport in County Mayo, in accordance with a recommendation made last week by mediator Peter Cassels.

It plans to resume work on the project in September.

Anti-pipeline group ‘Shell to Sea’ says today’s proposal ignores their concerns and changes nothing. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

MarketWatch: Russian minister orders Sakhalin Energy to stop pipe-laying

Last Update: 9:18 AM ET Aug 3, 2006

MOSCOW (MarketWatch) — The Russian Natural Resources Ministry has instructed the Sakhalin Energy Invest Ltd. consortium to stop laying an oil pipeline along the shore of the Sakhalin island.

The Ministry said in a statement that the pipe, as is being laid at present, is vulnerable to floods from mountain rivers and thus represents an environmental hazard.

The Ministry said research by the Russian Academy of Sciences had concluded that some 20 kilometers of pipeline were exposed to such risks, as a result of “unqualified decisions taken during by Sakhalin Energy at the time of its feasibility study.” read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

AFX News: Russia wants to halt building Sakhalin pipeline due to landslid damage risk

MOSCOW (AFX) – Russia said it wants to halt construction of an oil and gas pipeline on Sakhalin Island in the far east of the country because of the risk of landslide damage.

The ministry has proposed that the project, to be run by Anglo-Dutch energy group Royal Dutch Shell, be stopped while environmental experts assess surrounding areas at risk from landslides.

‘The pipeline built from the Sakhalin-2 oilfield could at any moment be damaged by landslides,’ Russia’s natural resources ministry said in a statement. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters: Shell bows to pressure to re-route Irish pipeline

Thu Aug 3, 2006 9:28am ET

DUBLIN, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it would re-route a gas pipeline in western Ireland, as recommended by a state mediator, but local residents who have delayed the project said their protests would continue.

“We have agreed to implement all of the recommendations in the Independent Safety Review,” Andy Pyle, Managing Director of Shell E&P Ireland, said in a statement.

“This pipeline is safe. It’s time for this project to move forward and we believe that the best way to do so is to modify the pipeline route.” read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Bloomberg: Total Profit Misses Estimates on Production Decline: *ShellTotalplc.com?

(Update5) Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) — Total SA, Europe’s third-biggest oil company, posted a smaller increase in second-quarter profit than analysts expected after rebel attacks in Nigeria and the seizure of fields in Venezuela and Bolivia curbed production.

Profit climbed 15 percent to 3.36 billion euros ($4.3 billion) from 2.91 billion euros a year earlier, excluding changes in the value of a stake in a drugmaker, the Paris-based company said today in a statement. That missed the median estimate from 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Net income rose 9.7 percent to 3.4 billion euros, or 1.48 euros a share. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

London Evening Standard: Shell shaken by Sakhalin dictat

Robert Miller, Evening Standard
3 August 2006

SHARES in Royal Dutch Shell slipped 20p to 1952p today on reports that the oil giant has been ordered to suspend construction of a pipeline on Russia’s Sakhalin Island off the eastern coast of Siberia. 

Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of the ecological unit at Russia’s Resources Ministry, asked for the suspension because of concerns over safety and the environment.

Shell, in partnership on the £10.7bn Sakhalin 11 project with Japanese liquefied natural gas shippers Mitsui and Mitsubishi, hopes to tap into 17 trillion cubic feet of gas and 1.2 billion barrels of oil. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Irish Examiner: Corrib opponents not satisfied with re-routing decision

Opponents of the Corrib gas pipeline say they are not satisfied with the decision by Shell Ireland to re-route the controversial structure.

The company announced today that it accepted the recommendation of independent mediator Peter Cassells that the pipeline be moved to another location.

It said it was doing so in order to bring an end to its long-running dispute with local residents in Rossport, Co Mayo.

The Shell to Sea group that has been campaigning against the pipeline said at the time of Mr Cassell’s recommendation that re-routing would simply shift the problem to another location. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

RIA Novosti: Torrential flooding puts Sakhalin II pipeline under threat

14:23 | 03/ 08/ 2006 

MOSCOW, August 3 (RIA Novosti) – Torrential flooding in Russia’s Far East could destroy an oil and gas pipeline in one of the country’s most ambitious energy projects, the Natural Resources Ministry said Thursday.

According to a report from the Russian Academy of Sciences on geological processes endangering shoreline-pipelines in the Sakhalin II energy project and submitted to Oleg Mitvol, a deputy head of Russia’s watchdog in the field, about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) are under threat from floodwaters, which could endanger human lives as well as lead to an environmental disaster. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Associated Press/MOSCOW: Russian wants (Sakhalin-2) pipe-laying project halted

By ALEX NICHOLSON
AP Business Writer
 
AUG. 3 6:34 A.M. ET Russia’s natural resources ministry on Thursday called for the suspension of pipe-laying work at a giant oil and liquefied natural gas project led by Shell on the far eastern island of Sakhalin, citing fears of mudslides.

The statement on the ministry’s Web site came as it began a monthlong audit of Sakhalin-2, where negotiations have stalled on the acquisition of a stake in the project by state-run natural gas monopoly OAO Gazprom as the Kremlin ratchets up its control of the energy sector. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

UpstreamOnline: Centurion marches on Egypt gas

EXTRACT: Shell has a 50% stake in West El Manzala while Centurion has a 100% interest in El Wastani.

THE ARTICLE

By Upstream staff

Canada’s Centurion Energy has flowed gas from one exploration well and will abandon another well in Egypt’s Nile Delta.

The Luzi-1 exploration well in the West El Manzala block flowed 9 million cubic feet of gas per day from the Lower Abu Madi formation where the company had hit 35 metres of net pay.

A 10-metre net gas column in the Upper Abu Madi was not tested to avoid compromising the planned Lower Abu Madi completion though it will likely be opened for production later in the well’s life. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

UpstreamOnline: Watchdog calls for halt at Sakhalin 2

By Upstream staff

Russia’s environmental watchdog said today it wanted Shell to halt work on the pipelines for its giant Sakhalin 2 oil and gas project for ecological reasons.

The statement quoted the deputy head of the ecological department of Russia’s Resources Ministry, Oleg Mitvol.

Russia’s Energy Ministry, which overseess the project, has repeatedly confirmed the safety of Sakhalin 2 and questioned criticism by the Resources Ministry.

Shell was not immediately available for comment. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters: Total SA lifts Q2 profits 16 pct, production falls

Thu Aug 3, 2006 2:26am ET

PARIS, Aug 3 (Reuters) – French oil major Total SA (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) reported a 16 percent rise in second-quarter net profit on Thursday, broadly in line with expectations as high oil prices compensated for a fall in production.

The world’s sixth-largest oil company by market value said adjusted net profit, which strips out gains in the value of fuel inventories and one-off items, was 3.361 billion euros ($4.30 billion) against 2.906 billion in the year-ago quarter. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.