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August 16th, 2006:

UpstreamOnline: J Ray lands Pearl GTL gig

By Upstream staff

J Ray McDermott has been handed a job by Shell to engineer, construct, transport, install, hook up and pre-commission two wellhead platforms in Qatar’s North field for the Pearl gas-to-liquids (GTL) project, off Qatar.

Finnancial details of the contract were not made public.

Front end engineering and design verification and detailed design engineering on the topsides has already begun at J Ray’s Jebel Ali engineering office, with building work due to start at the Jebel Ali yard later this month. Each platform, Pearl 1 and Pearl 2, weighs an average of 3600 tonnes. 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: No word yet on Timor gas fields

EXTRACT: In addition to Woodside, Greater Sunrise’s stakeholders include supermajors ConocoPhillips and Shell and Japan’s Osaka Gas. Australia’s Woodside is 34% owned by Shell.

THE ARTICLE

By Upstream staff

Parliamentary consideration by East Timor of an agreement critical to advancing development of the Timor Sea’s biggest gas resource is at least a month away, the young country’s energy minister 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 eight trillion cubic feet of gas and up to 300 million barrels of condensate. 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: Chevron wins Australia deep-water gig

By Upstream staff

US supermajor Chevron has been awarded a deep-water exploration block west of its mighty Greater Gorgon gas fields off Western Australia.

Chevron Australia said it would operate Block WO5-13 with a 50% stake, with the remaining interest held by Shell Development Australia.

Block WO5-13 lies adjacent to, but in deeper water, then the Carnavon Basin and Greater Gorgon production areas. It also abuts ExxonMobil’s Scarborough gas field.

The permit allows access to the acreage for a six -year period. 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: Mars tops oil storage tanks

By Upstream staff

Crude oil storage caverns leased by the Shell-operated Mars oil field in the US Gulf of Mexico are full, forcing producers to sell production at sharply lower prices, traders and industry sources said on Tuesday.

Differentials for Mars crude have fallen by $2 per barrel in the last week to $8.50 below WTI amid heavy selling, with traders reporting parcels of distressed August Mars crude on offer due to the lack of storage space.

Crude oil storage capacity throughout the US has become difficult to find in large quantities as refiners have been storing crude oil in anticipation of higher prices in the future, Reuters reported. 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: Penn West paces oil sands play

EXTRACTS: The lands are near those owned by Shell Canada, which expanded its presence in the region with its C$2.4 billion acquisition of Blackrock Ventures, completed last month. Shell has said it wants to more than double “in situ” oil sands production – resources not accessible by mining – to 50,000 bpd within two years using more expensive recovery methods, such as steam injection on a large scale.

THE ARTICLE

By Upstream staff

Penn West Energy Trust has identified a major oil sands deposit on its northern Alberta lands but its chief executive said today the company does not intend to break the bank by embarking on quick, large-scale development. 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/Forbes: Shell sees 40,000 boepd peak output from New Zealand’s Pohokura field

08.15.2006, 05:24 AM
 
LONDON (AFX) – Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it expects the Pohokura gas field in New Zealand to achieve peak production of around 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Gas from the three completed onshore wells has been fed to the the production station at Motonui, near New Plymouth since earlier this month.

Commissioning of the production station will continue over the coming weeks in preparation for commercial gas sales. Six offshore wells are expected to come on stream over the coming year, it added. 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.

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Steelman is a terror with state fund

EXTRACT: Two already have been tossed out: Royal Dutch Shell, for drilling for oil in Iran, and Deutsche Bank, for helping the Iranian government with a bond issue.

THE ARTICLE

By David Nicklaus
16/08/2006

A $6 million fund is barely a drop in the sea of global investments, but it’s making a big splash for Missouri Treasurer Sarah Steelman.

CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo has interviewed Steelman about this relatively tiny pot of money. Forbes magazine has written about it. They’re interested not in what the money buys but in what it doesn’t: Steelman has worked with an adviser to keep the state’s money out of any company that does business in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan or Syria. 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 Wall Street Journal: Oil News Roundup: August 15, 2006 6:07 p.m.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE

Crude-oil futures fell again on the New York Mercantile Exchange, ending the day at $73.05 a barrel, as traders avoided taking positions ahead of tomorrow’s government inventory report. Here is Tuesday’s roundup of energy-related news:

* * *
INDIA, CHINA TEAM UP: India’s state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp. teamed up with China’s Sinopec Group to buy half of Omimex de Colombia, a Colombian firm owned by U.S.-based Omimex Resources Inc. The agreement marked the second time the world’s two biggest emerging economies have put aside their longstanding energy rivalry to work together. The Financial Times reported the deal was worth $800 million. The FT notes that, despite the recent cooperation between China and India, analysts are still skeptical that China will give India access to major oil projects in the future. (FT subscription required for both FT stories.) 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 New York Times: Four Oil Workers Freed in Nigeria

By REUTERS
Published: August 15, 2006
Filed at 5:14 p.m. ET

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) – Two Norwegian and two Ukrainian oil workers being held hostage in Nigeria were freed on Tuesday as the government promised to crack down on a surge in unrest in Africa’s largest oil producer.

About 16 foreign oil workers have been kidnapped in five separate abductions in the past two weeks in the oil-producing Niger Delta. Nine have been released.

“We are going to be firm and say no to violence and hostage-taking. Wherever we find hostage-takers now, we will hunt them down. We will not accept this any longer,” President Olusegun Obasanjo said in a statement after meeting security chiefs and political leaders from the delta. 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.

Asia Pulse: CHEVRON, SHELL ACQUIRE DEEPWATER EXPLORATION PERMIT IN AUSTRALIA

Published: Aug 16, 2006

PERTH, Aug 16 Asia Pulse – Chevron Corporation and Shell have picked up a deepwater exploration permit in the same basin that hosts the North West Shelf project and says it has the potential to host a gas find.

Chevron Australia Pty Ltd will be operator and will hold a 50 per cent stake with Shell Development Australia Pty Ltd holding the balance.

The permit is located in the deepwater frontier of Western Australia’s Carnarvon basin, in the Exmouth Plateau region, which also hosts the Greater Gorgon project. 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 says first gas flows at New Zealand field

LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday that first gas had started to flow from its Pohokura project in New Zealand, which at its peak is expected to produce around 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,” Dominique Gardy, Shell Executive Vice President, Exploration and Production, Asia Pacific, said.

Austrian oil company OMV (OMVV.VI: Quote, Profile, Research) has a 26 percent stake in the field. 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.

FloridaToday.com: Shell president wants oil exploration

BY SCOTT BLAKE
FLORIDA TODAY

Shell Oil Co. President John Hofmeister on Tuesday delivered Big Oil’s message to the masses.

The message: The way to lower oil and gasoline prices is to increase supplies. And one of the best ways to do that could be to allow oil companies greater access to environmentally sensitive areas, such as Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico and other places without the warfare and political opposition that exist in other parts of the world.

“There are still areas to be developed” for oil exploration and drilling “that can be developed safely and environmentally securely,” Hofmeister said during an Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Orlando International Airport Hyatt hotel, followed by interviews with the news media. 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.