August 15th, 2006:

Chevron Named Operator and Awarded 50 Percent Interest in Block

SAN RAMON, Calif. and PERTH, Australia: Chevron Corporation today announced that its Australian subsidiary has successfully bid for the rights to a deepwater exploration permit with gas potential offshore Western Australia. Chevron Australia Pty Ltd will be the operator and will hold a 50 percent interest, and Shell Development (Australia) Pty Ltd will hold the remaining 50 percent interest.

Permit area WO5-13 is located 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of the Western Australian coast in the Exmouth Plateau region. The plateau is the deepwater frontier of the Carnarvon Basin, Australia’s premier petroleum basin, which also includes the North West Shelf and the Greater Gorgon Area. read more

Issue No: 200633 
 
A FIANNA Fáil member of Mayo County Council has accused Dr. Mark Garavan and the Shell to Sea campaign of trying to turn victory into defeat for the people of Erris.

Councillor Jimmy Maloney said he could no longer stay silent after reading the comments of Dr. Garavan in last week’s The Connaught Telegraph which, according to the Foxford based elected representative, were totally unrepresentative of the people of Erris.

Councillor Maloney, who is former Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, said: “When the news came that Shell were finally going to move the pipeline, I thanked God because I believed this was the beginning of the end for this sorry saga which has been a terrible nightmare for the local people in Erris. read more

Evening Standard
15 August 2006

BP CHIEF EXECUTIVE Lord Browne and other executives of the oil giant are being sued for allegedly breaching their duty to shareholders following the shutdown of half of the company’s Prudhoe Bay field in Alaska.
 
The company is accused in New York of letting its pipeline in the field deteriorate so badly it caused a disastrous oil leak that led to the shutdown.

‘Despite their awareness of the dangerous effect of the corrosion in the pipeline, defendants repeatedly failed to fund the work necessary to correct the problem, opting instead to squeeze every last penny in current profits – $7.3bn (£3.9bn) last quarter – at the expense of properlyand safely maintaining the pipeline,’ the suit, led by investor Sue Pincus, alleges. read more

Headline: Shell International Exploration and Production B.V. and Halliburton Enter Global Framework Agreement for Real-Time Drilling Software and Services

Last Update: 9:42 AM ET Aug 15, 2006

HOUSTON, Aug 15, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Halliburton’s Drilling, Evaluation and Digital Solutions Division has entered into a global framework agreement with Shell International Exploration and Production B.V. (SIEP) that will enable SIEP and its affiliates to expand their global real-time infrastructure for the provision of seamless, secure and open access to proprietary data whenever and wherever it is required across the globe. read more

By Upstream staff

A debate on a pact vital to pushing ahead with the development of Greater Sunrise, in the Timor Sea, will go ahead in East Timor’s parliament in about a month, the country’s Energy Minister Jose Teixeira said today.

Oil and gas producers have said they are waiting for the deal to be ratified before committing to development of the Greater Sunrise area, estimated to hold 8 trillion cubic feet of gas and up to 300 million barrels of condensate.

About 20% of Greater Sunrise lies in a Joint Petroleum Production Area (JPDA) between Australia and East Timor, with the rest in what Australia claims is its exclusive jurisdiction. read more

15.08.2006, 10.55 
 
YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, August 15 (Itar-Tass) – The supply of 1,900 kilometres of pipes for the oil and gas pipeline built under the Sakhalin-2 project has been completed. The last train with pipes arrived from the mainland to the south of the Sakhalin Island for the Starstroi company that is laying two pipelines from Sakhalin’s north to south. 1,600 kilometres of the pipes are for ground pipelines and 300 kilometres will be laid under the bed of the Sea of Okhotsk from the Molikpak, LUN-A and PA-B offshore oil recovery platforms. The total weight of the pipes is exceeding 0.5 million tonnes. read more

By John Donovan

The following comment was recently posted on our “Live Chat” facility.

guest_2770 : Guest 4149, I may be able to help… I an currently involved in a court case in which Shell is being prosecuted for fraud and theft of intellectual property – globalisation apparently provides large companies with the escape route of claiming that cases should be moved to a more “convenient” jurisdiction – those of us who do not have annual legal budgets of $150MM are assumed to be unable to pursue cases in multiple jurisdictions simultaneously read more

The Times: Oil groups failing key North Sea safety tests

Shell is the largest operator in the North Sea and a Multi National in the top 50 Companies in the world. To have an Improvement notice served on them by the HSE for the repair of corroded facilities beggars’ belief, especially following the recent fatal accident case prosecution and fatal accident enquiry result.

What has happened to the Management processes that are in position to take care of such mundane matters?

Shell consistently shouts from the rooftops that safety is the highest priority at all times. Any critics who raise doubts are barraged with extreme denial that there are any problems. Mr Bill Campbell has found that out even when acting in his capacity of an employed internal Auditor. (see www.shellnews.net for more details) . read more

By Upstream staff

Shell has flowed first gas from the Pohokura project off New Zealand, with production from the field expected to peak at about 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

“This is a significant step in the journey to deliver gas to meet New Zealand’s energy needs,” Shell said.

Commissioning of the production station will continue over the coming weeks in preparation for commercial gas sales, while offshore the platform installation is under way, with the six offshore wells expected to come on stream over the coming year. read more

By Upstream staff

The turbomachines division of German industrial group MAN has landed an order to supply key components for the construction of the Pearl Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) plant in Qatar, the company said today.

MAN did not give a value for the contract but said it was the division’s largest-ever order.

The Qatari GTL project is being built by Shell, which decided last month to go ahead with the development.

It comprises eight turbomachinery trains for use in the air separation systems and six reactors for the Fischer-Tropsch process, a catalysed chemical reaction that forms part of the process used to turn carbon monoxide and hydrogen into fuel. read more

By Upstream staff

Nexus Energy has finalised the sale of gas reserves from the Crux field, in the Timor Sea, to Shell for $40 million.

Nexus and Shell agreed the deal in early June and Nexus has now received the cash payment.

Shell has picked up the gas field at Crux while Nexus retains the rights to the condensate, proposed liquids project and any future discoveries.

The funds from the sale will go towards developing the liquids project and exploration of the Echuca Shoals gas project.

Nexus has estimated that Crux’s contingent resources are 71 million barrels of condensate and 2 trillion cubic feet of gas, based on data from the discovery well. read more

EXTRACTS: Oil is up 20 percent this year on real and feared supply disruptions. OPEC member Iran’s row with the West over its nuclear work has kept dealers on edge over a wider outage from the Middle East, while Nigerian militants have cut about a quarter of supplies from the world’s eighth largest exporter.

Two oil worker hostages in Nigeria were released on Monday after a week in captivity, but another four were kidnapped late Sunday, part of a string of abductions. Royal Dutch Shell last week restored 180,000 bpd of Bonny Light crude production after a pipeline leak, but more than 400,000 bpd remained offline. read more

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
August 14, 2006 5:03 p.m.

Crude-oil futures tumbled on the New York Mercantile Exchange, ending the day at $73.53 a barrel, as a cease-fire in the Middle East eased concerns of a wider conflict that could disrupt oil supplies. Skirmishes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah limited oil’s fall, however. Here is Monday’s roundup of energy-related news:

* * *
HOSTAGES RELEASED, TAKEN: The kidnappings and sabotage that have dramatically slowed Nigeria’s oil production continued today — but not before militants released five foreign oil workers taken hostage recently. Hours later, another group of foreign oil workers — two Britons, an American and a German — was kidnapped from a nightclub. read more

EXTRACT: Two oil worker hostages in Nigeria were released on Monday after a week in captivity, but another four were kidnapped late Sunday, part of a string of abductions. Royal Dutch Shell last week restored 180,000 bpd of Bonny Light crude production after a pipeline leak, but more than 400,000 bpd remained offline.

THE ARTICLE
 
By REUTERS
Published: August 15, 2006
Filed at 2:48 a.m. ET

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices slipped toward $73 a barrel on Tuesday as a fragile truce held between Israel and Lebanon, while oil kept flowing from North America’s largest field after expectations of a full shutdown for repairs. read more

Press Association
Tuesday August 15, 2006 12:13 AM

Two Britons were abducted from a nightclub in Nigeria at the weekend, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has said.

The pair, who have not been named, were among five foreigners kidnapped from the Goodfellas club in Port Harcourt on Sunday night as gun battles broke out throughout the southern city.

Their kidnappers have not been identified and no arrests have been made, Nigerian state police said.

George Ani, a driver in Port Harcourt, said he saw more than 10 people go into the Goodfellas club and drag away a group of foreigners. read more

By Dino Mahtani
Published: August 15 2006 03:00 | Last updated: August 15 2006 03:00

A rash of hostage takings in Nigeria’s turbulent oil producing delta region has sharpened fears among industry executives of fresh attacks on oil facilities, as security agencies fail to hold down militant activity.

This month alone gunmen have abducted more than a dozen expatriate oil workers in several incidents onshore and offshore, including attacks conducted late on Sunday. Analysts say the spike in abductions of foreign oil workers since June demonstrates a wider breakdown in law and order that could again affect the security of multinational oil facilities. read more

published: Tuesday | August 15, 2006

The Jamaica Gasolene Retailers Association (JGRA) has withdrawn threats to disrupt service to Government and Government-related vehicles.

Last month, the JGRA issued a 30-day ultimatum to Shell West Indies Limited to address increases for retailers who provide services to Government vehicles.

However, according to JGRA President Trevor Heaven, the members have decided to accept the offer that was placed on the table.

Mr. Heaven told The Gleaner that Shell has stated that it will put into effect a 16 per cent increase that should have been granted in the two-year contract starting January 2005 and ending December 2006. He said the increase would raise the mark-up to the dealer per litre from 59 cents to 68.5 cents. read more