August 19th, 2006:

ShellNews.net comment: “Equilon Enterprises” is a Shell company.

By Adam Jadhav
08/16/2006
EDWARDSVILLE

With two oil companies floating a settlement offer to Hartford residents who have sat for years on polluted ground, two groups of attorneys are now fighting for control of the case.

It’s just the latest twist in the long and complicated struggle over the 4 million-gallon-lake of gas and oil stagnating underneath Hartford. Residents there have long argued that they’ve gotten sick from fumes that seep up through the ground; they also say the pollution – that has left soil practically flammable – has caused their property values to plummet. read more

Government orders use of `force for force’ against wave of kidnappings

Residents forced to flee as soldiers open fire `sporadically,’ radio reports

Aug. 19, 2006. 01:00 AM
AUSTIN EKEINDE
REUTERS NEWS AGENCY

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria—Troops stormed a riverside slum in the southern oil capital of Port Harcourt yesterday, moving from house to house and shooting sporadically, forcing residents to flee, local radio reported.

The raid follows a government order for troops to use “force for force” against militants who have kidnapped more than a dozen foreign oil workers in a string of incidents in Africa’s top oil producer this month. read more

EXTRACT: The kidnappings follow a series of attacks on the oil industry in February which forced Royal Dutch Shell to evacuate hundreds of workers from oilfields in the western delta, reducing the Opec member nation’s output by a quarter.

THE REUTERS ARTICLE

By Austin Ekeinde

Port Harcourt – A German oil worker taken hostage in Nigeria was freed overnight unharmed after two weeks in captivity, a state government spokesperson said on Saturday.

The release of Guido Schiffarth was unconnected to a military raid, also on Friday night, on a suspected militant hideout on the outskirts of Port Harcourt, the largest city in Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta, authorities said. read more

By John Donovan

The Wikipedia extract below is from an article about Mr Jorma Ollila, who, perhaps as a punishement for past sins (we are all sinners), was appointed as the non-executive Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell Plc . He took up his new role on 1st June 2006. He is indeed faced with a very considerable challenge.  I will send him a few words of encouragement next week. It must have been a shock to discover that Shell does not even own the dotcom domain name for Royal Dutch Shell Plc although the company is ranked No 3 in the Fortune 500 and has a market value of almost $250 BILLION.  At least Mr Ollila is not tainted by the reserves fraud.  read more

Environmental assessment for Chukchi, Beaufort Sea stipulates protections for wildlife, requires a conflict avoidance agreement

By Alan Bailey

The U.S. Minerals Management Service has published its final programmatic environmental assessment (or PEA) for seismic surveys in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. The agency has prepared the PEA in response to a heightened level of seismic survey activity on the Arctic outer continental shelf — Shell, ConocoPhillips and GX Technologies are all shooting seismic in the Chukchi Sea this summer, while Shell is also shooting seismic in the Beaufort Sea. read more

The Associated Press

Senior executives at BP face a lawsuit filed by shareholders who claim the company’s poor maintenance practices at Prudhoe Bay led to the partial shutdown of the nation’s largest oil field.

The suit alleges that BP has known for years about the severe pipeline corrosion that led to the partial shutdown on Aug. 6, but took no substantial steps to properly monitor and repair the transit lines that ferry oil straight into the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline.

The closure has more than halved the field’s daily 400,000-barrel output. Oil from Prudhoe Bay makes up about 8 percent of domestic oil supply. read more

88% of proven reserves in grips of politically volatile, left-leaning regimes; Denver energy advisor says role in oil sands essential

By Gary Park

For Petroleum News

There’s 1.3 trillion barrels of proven oil reserves around the globe, enough, you might think, to ease worries of a supply crisis.

But after Thomas Petrie, chairman of Denver-based energy advisor Petrie Parkman & Co., has broken down that total the cause for concern becomes obvious.

Speaking to the Colorado Oil and Gas Association earlier in August, Petrie underscored the urgent need to find resources in regions that offer political stability and favor international oil companies over state-run operations. read more

Prime Minister Harper pledges action on sovereignty to protect ‘ever more valuable’ development of oil, gas and minerals

By Gary Park

For Petroleum News

Canada is determined to assert its sovereignty over land, water and ice off its Arctic coast, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said during a visit to Nunavut Territory Aug. 12.

Challenging the refusal of some countries, notably the United States, to recognize Canada’s claim, he pledged that his government will regulate international navigation through the Northwest Passage, reinforcing its control over the valuable resources beneath those waters. read more

EXTRACTS: The deals have been surrounded with Fort Knox-style defences to deter the inquisitive, allegations of bribes and dubious commissions paid to a network of vested interests involved as major and minor players, and efforts by MPs to uncover the detailed terms of the biggest defence contracts ever won by British companies.

The oil-for-arms basis of the first deals only served to add to the mysterious workings of Al-Yamamah. BAE was “paid” in oil produced by Saudi outside its Opec quota and sold in the market by BP and Shell. read more

EXTRACTS: In the wake of the meltdowns at Enron and WorldCom, it was easy to find British voices saying: “It couldn’t happen here.”

Multi-billion pound blue chips have been largely free of reporting controversies since Royal Dutch Shell’s shock revision of its oil and gas reserves in early 2004.

THE ARTICLE

By Barney Jopson,

Published: August 19 2006 03:00 | Last updated: August 19 2006 03:00

In the wake of the meltdowns at Enron and WorldCom, it was easy to find British voices saying: “It couldn’t happen here.” read more