Royal Dutch Shell Group .com Rotating Header Image

September 21st, 2006:

MarketWatch: Dutch foreign minister seeks Russia meeting on Sakhalin -spokesman

Last Update: 4:49 PM ET Sep 21, 2006

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot is seeking a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, to clarify the reasons why a key Russian environmental permit was withdrawn from a Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) venture, a spokesman for the Dutch minister said Thursday.

Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources said Monday it was withdrawing its approval for the second phase of the Sakhalin II oil and gas project led by the Anglo-Dutch energy major because of allegations it had violated terms of the deal. Shell denies this. 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 Economist: Yukos revisited?: Russia must stop strong-arming foreign investors

Sep 21st 2006
From The Economist print edition

Russia must stop strong-arming foreign investors

IT IS natural to be miffed when a deal that seemed shrewd turns out worse than you thought. It is especially galling if it involves a prized asset. The civilised response—if the other party is disinclined to renegotiate—is to shrug and move on. But with the gigantic energy developments on Sakhalin Island, the Kremlin prefers to bully its partners into surrender.

Sakhalin and the seas around it host the two biggest foreign investments in Russia, which are also two of the world’s biggest energy projects. Led by Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, the consortia signed “production-sharing agreements” (PSAs) with the Russian government in the 1990s to insure against unpredictable legal changes; another PSA applies to an Arctic development led by Total, of France. Sakhalin has other ominous peculiarities. The Shell consortium is building Russia’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, to serve markets in North America, South Korea and Japan. It is the only big energy scheme without a Russian partner. The projects are also the only exceptions to Gazprom’s gas-export monopoly—staunchly defended by both the state-controlled gas giant and the Kremlin against European efforts to break it up.
 
In other words, Sakhalin is potentially crucial in the Kremlin’s drive to recapture its geopolitical clout using energy wealth. Hardly surprising, then, that its state-controlled energy firms want pieces of the island action. Opportunities for foreign firms in energy—the “holy of holies” of the economy, as Vladimir Putin puts it—are now tightly circumscribed. Using Gazprom and Rosneft, a state-controlled oil firm, the Kremlin has recaptured its stewardship of the industry. PSAs were controversial even when they were signed, amid low oil prices and a scarcity of foreign capital and expertise; now that Russia is flush, to some officials they look downright humiliating. (An enormous cost overrun at Shell’s Sakhalin project, which will massively reduce the state’s share of the profits, has bolstered this conviction.) Other countries, Kremlin apologists point out, have redrafted energy deals as the oil price has risen. 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: US urges ‘rule of law’ at Sakhalin

By Upstream staff
21 September 2006 18:09 GMT

The US government hopes Russia and foreign partners, including ExxonMobil, can reach an agreement on the gaint Sakhalin 1 oil project that “respects the rule of law,” an Energy Department spokesman said today.

Russia said today it would oppose a $4.2 billion cost overrun on ExxonMobil’s project on the Pacific Island of Sakhalin 1 on grounds that it would cut into Moscow’s profits.

“We hope that the government (of Russia) and these multinational corporations are able to reach agreement in a way that respects the rule of law, continues to provide oil to the markets and demonstrates that Russia is open to foreign investment,” Energy Department spokesman Craig Stevens said. 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.

Sakhalin II & Brent Bravo debacles: time for Brinded to resign?

Brinded 

(Malcolm Brinded, Chief Executive, Shell Exploration & Production)

21 September 2006

Part One (By a Shell Insider)

There are some important similarities between Sakhalin and the Brent maintenance issues which you may wish to bring to the attention of your readers.

SAKHALIN

Brinded was advised against the Sakhalin development by his Exploration and Production technical staff on the basis of economic and risk considerations in the 1990’s. Even at $9bn the Sakhalin project was considered marginal, especially given the uncertainties of operating in a frontier environment.  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: Iraq-Kurdistan oil minister says in talks with oil majors

21 Sept 2006   

LONDON – The Kurdistan Regional Government in the north of Iraq is to sign oil contracts with companies next month, and is in talks with oil majors, its oil minister said Wednesday.

Ashti Hawrami, the KRG’s minister of natural resources, told reporters on the sidelines of a London briefing on the region’s oil sector: “We have been talking to oil majors about specific areas,” though he declined to say which companies were in the frame.

Officials from Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN), Eni SpA (E), BHP Billiton (BHP) and Statoil SA (STO) were among those at the briefing. 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.

Associated Press: 3 oil majors ink deal with Nigeria for gas venture

September 21, 2006

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Oil majors Total SA, ENI SpA and ConocoPhillips signed a deal with Nigeria’s state oil firm Wednesday for a $2 billion natural gas plant in the country’s southern oil region, a senior official said.

Martin Hutchison, managing director of the project, said the shareholders agreement will regulate the building and running of a liquefied natural gas plant at Brass in the Niger delta that will target North American and European markets.

The group has reached purchase agreements with six buyers covering the entire production of the first two LNG-producing units at the plant, Hutchison said. 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 Scotsman: Russian energy broadside aims at Exxon after Shell

By Mikhail Yenukov

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s government switched the focus of its attack on huge foreign-led energy projects to Exxon Mobil’s Sakhalin-1 oil scheme on Thursday, saying it would forbid a $4.2 billion overspend that cut Moscow’s profits.

Moscow has already taken aim at Royal Dutch Shell’s massively over-budget Sakhalin-2, which it has ordered to be partly for environmental infringements, prompting tough criticism of its actions from Japan and the European Union. 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 Companies Are Split on Push By Nations to Wring More Profits

Wall Street Journal 

Shell, Exxon Stand Firm
As Chevron, Total Consider
Renegotiating Contracts
By STEVE LEVINE in Dallas, BHUSHAN BAHREE in New York and GREGORY L. WHITE in Moscow
September 21, 2006; Page A2

Oil-producing nations demanding contract concessions or seeking outright expropriations have created a split in the petroleum industry, with some companies insisting a contract is a contract and others saying they are willing to renegotiate some terms to reflect higher oil prices.

Oil companies have pushed back as developing countries have asked for a bigger share of what they regard as windfall profits from contracts negotiated during the days of $10-to-$20-a-barrel oil in the late 1990s. But senior executives of Chevron Corp. and France’s Total SA last week publicly said that they are ready to consider giving more of the profits to the countries. 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: SHELL HANGS TOUGH

21 September 2006

Royal Dutch Shell PLC is standing firm against Moscow’s efforts to alter the early-1990s contract giving it the right to the massive Sakhalin Island oil and natural-gas project, warning that significant holdups will result in delays of liquefied-natural gas shipments to Japan and South Korea scheduled to begin as early as 2008, noting they “form a critical input to the energy balance in these countries.”

Earlier in the week, Tokyo said relations between Japan and Russia might be hurt by any long delays in the deliveries after Russian regulators increased pressure on Shell by pulling a key permit on the project, which is 75% complete, citing environmental violations. Russian officials have said their main concern is cost overruns at Sakhalin that Shell announced last year. Shell owns a 55% stake in the project’s operator, with Japan’s Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. owning the remaining 45%. 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: September 20, 2006 9:30 p.m.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
September 20, 2006 9:30 p.m.

Crude-oil futures fell sharply for the second straight day on the New York Mercantile Exchange, shedding more than $1 a barrel to settle at less than $60.50, their lowest close since late March, after a government report of higher-than-expected crude-distillate inventories. Here is Wednesday’s roundup of oil and energy news.

* * *
MORE DRAMA IN RUSSIA: Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources said it is reviewing Total SA’s Kharyaga production-sharing agreement license for possible cancellation, the latest in a series of setbacks for foreign oil companies in Russia. The move comes amid an apparent effort by the Kremlin to reconfigure three pioneering, foreign-owned projects which were negotiated when oil prices were lower and international oil majors were less eager to pile into Russia’s oil sector. The threat to Total’s license could bode ill for Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp., which have much larger projects on Russia’s Sakhalin Island.
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.

Daily Telegraph: Russian balancing act benefits aircraft firms

EXTRACT: Russia’s attempts to use its gas company Gazprom to achieve energy ambitions in Europe and the pressure on Shell to renegogiate the terms of the $20bn Sakhalin oil and gas project are unnerving western investors. The EU has led diplomatic protests about the tactics being used to force Shell to give ground and bring in Gazprom as an investor. President Putin is expected to raise the prospect of increased co-operation between the Russian aerospace industry and EADS as an alternative to building a bigger sharehholding. EADS shareholders are far from enthusiastic about seeing the Kremlin use an investment to force changes. 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.

Daily Telegraph: Database: Energy: Thursday 21 September 2006

• Russia’s government denounced projects led by Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell for breaching environmental rules, as President Vladimir Putin seeks tighter control of the oil and gas industry.

• Shares of Drax, owner of Britain’s largest electricity plant, had their biggest ever two-day drop after Goldman Sachs said earnings may decline and added the stock to a list of strong sells.

• Alkane Energy, a UK producer of electricity from biogas and coal mine methane, narrowed its loss in the first half after the company opened new plants and electricity prices rose. 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.

Daily Telegraph: Russia woos Japanese over Sakhalin project

By Roland Gribben
(Filed: 21/09/2006)

Russia is making renewed attempts to win Japanese support for Russian investment in the $20bn (£10.6bn) Shell-led Sakhalin oil and gas project offshore Siberia to ease diplomatic tensions.

Alexander Losyukov, Russia’s ambassador to Japan, said in Tokyo the project would advance faster if Gazprom, the state-controlled gas business, had a stake in the consortium, which currently has Shell (55pc) and two Japanese corporations, Mitsui and Mitsubishi (45pc combined) as partners. 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 Guardian: Royal Society tells Exxon: stop funding climate change denial

Exxon

The Royal Society is worried about climate change lobby groups, including those funded by Exxon. Photograph: Matt Slocum/AP

David Adam, environment correspondent
Wednesday September 20, 2006

Britain’s leading scientists have challenged the US oil company ExxonMobil to stop funding groups that attempt to undermine the scientific consensus on climate change.

In an unprecedented step, the Royal Society, Britain’s premier scientific academy, has written to the oil giant to demand that the company withdraws support for dozens of groups that have “misrepresented the science of climate change by outright denial of the evidence”. 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: Suits Say U.S. Impeded Audits for Oil Leases

EXTRACT: In two of the lawsuits, two senior auditors with the Minerals Management Service in Oklahoma City said they were ordered to drop their claim that Shell Oil had fraudulently shortchanged taxpayers out of $18 million.

THE ARTICLE

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Published: September 21, 2006

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 — Four government auditors who monitor leases for oil and gas on federal property say the Interior Department suppressed their efforts to recover millions of dollars from companies they said were cheating the government. 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: Helicopter Pilots’ Union Declares Strike

EXTRACT: PHI is the primary helicopter provider for Shell Exploration & Production Co., an arm of Royal Dutch Shell PLC. Company spokesman Fred Palmer said Shell had been aware of the possibility of a strike and had made contingency plans.

THE ARTICLE
           
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 21, 2006
Filed at 1:19 a.m. ET

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — A union representing pilots at PHI Inc., which provides helicopter flights for the offshore petroleum industry and medical emergencies, went on strike Wednesday. 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.

AP Worldstream: Russia’s cancellation of gas project could hurt Japanese companies, ratings agency says

By: HIROKO TABUCHI, AP Worldstream
Published: Sep 20, 2006

Russia’s recent decision to halt a multibillion-dollar petroleum drilling project in the country’s Far East could hurt Japanese traders, a credit ratings agency said Wednesday.

Tokyo-based traders Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Co. have major stakes in the development and the cancellation could damage the companies’ credit quality, Standard & Poor’s said in a statement.

Russia’s withdrawal earlier this week of an environmental permit for the Sakhalin-2 project, led by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, could effectively halt work on the project and put at risk multibillion-dollar energy investments by a multinational consortium. 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.

Lloyds List: New Sakhalin row looms

Published: Sep 21, 2006

SHELL affiliate Sakhalin Energy is facing more action from the Russian government and may be charged for forest destruction, writes Martyn Wingrove.

The natural resources ministry is chasing the Anglo-Dutch oil major and partners Mitsubishi and Mitsui with a criminal case after it suspended permits on the Sakhalin II project.

The ministry’s deputy head Oleg Mitvol claims Sakhalin Energy caused more than $400,000 worth of damage by laying pipelines through a forest. He also said his department might look at other environmental issues. 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.

Lloyds List: Challenge and opportunity on sustainable energy

EXTRACT: Ewald Breuness of Shell emphasised the concern that fuel demands would compete with those for food, and a market for biomass might cause food shortages or the use of non-sustainable crops could cause environmental damage.

He said genuine sustainability was important and an international system of tracking and tracing origins of such biomass products was clearly needed. Shell would rather see waste streams employed, such as the use of Iogen from straw, while longer-term waste-based ‘bio-crude’ could be produced. 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.

Asahi Shimbun: Clouds of uncertainty hover over mammoth oil and gas project off Sakhalin Island…

Clouds of uncertainty hover over a mammoth oil and gas project off Russia’s Sakhalin Island that offered a major new energy source for Japan. But all of a sudden, Russia’s Natural Resources Ministry has revoked its 2003 environmental approval for the Sakhalin II project.

Published: Sep 21, 2006

It seems inconceivable that the Russian government will take steps to forcibly shut down the project, which is now 70 percent complete. But the move is almost certain to delay the scheduled start of production and export of liquefied natural gas in summer 2008 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.

Financial Times: Moscow divided over Sakhalin

By Neil Buckley in Moscow

Published: September 21 2006 03:00 | Last updated: September 21 2006 03:00

Signs of disagreements emerged yesterday within the Russian government over whether work should be halted on Sakhalin-2, the $20bn oil and gas project led by Royal Dutch Shell in the Russian far east.

Russia’s natural resources ministry said on Monday it had cancelled a key permit for the project after finding irregularities in an environmental assessment on which the 2003 permit was based.

It said if its decision were upheld by a federal safety agency, construction work on Sakhalin-2 – the biggest single foreign investment in Russia – would have to be suspended pending completion of a new environmental 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.

The Scotsman: Sibir may hand Shell JV stake to Gazprom – report

21 September 2006

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian oil firm Sibir Energy may hand half of a Siberian joint venture with Royal Dutch/Shell to Gazprom’s oil arm in return for control of Moscow’s oil refinery, Vedomosti newspaper reported on Thursday.

Sibir’s main shareholder Shalva Chigirinsky told Vedomosti that under the proposed deal Sibir would end up with 75 percent of the Moscow refinery. The City of Moscow government would have 25 percent, but control of the plant would be shared equally. 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: Royal Dutch Shell Plc Sakhalin-2 License

By Makiko Suzuki and Patrick Rial

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg)

Sakhalin-2 License

Sumitomo Mitsui also fell on speculation its share value will be diluted after the lender raised its conversion price of preferred stock to 1.273 million yen from 826,900 yen effective Oct. 1, prompting more people to apply to convert shares before the price change. The stock dropped 5 percent yesterday.

Mitsubishi Corp., Japan’s biggest trading company, added 20 yen, or 1 percent, to 2,110. Mitsui & Co., the nation’s second biggest, gained 7 yen, or 0.5 percent, to 1,453. 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.

Austin American-Statesman: Shell leader talks about energy

 John Hofmeister

 (Shell Oil USA President, John Hofmeister)

At UT, president of company’s U.S. operations touts conservation, renewable energy and nontraditional approaches to boosting fuel supplies.
By Claudia Grisales
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Thursday, September 21, 2006

The head of Shell Oil Co. is on a barnstorming tour of the country, hoping to spread his company’s viewpoints on energy issues and confront a backlash against high energy prices.

On Wednesday, John Hofmeister was in Austin, where he spoke at the University of Texas’ LBJ School of Public Affairs, touting conservation, renewable energy and nontraditional approaches to boosting fuel supplies. 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 Daily Yomiuri (Japan): ANALYSIS / Putin wields power to scrap oil link

Toru Kaneko Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
(Sep. 21, 2006)

The Russian Natural Resources Ministry’s cancellation of a permit for the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas development project reflects President Vladimir Putin’s steadfast determination to keep the domestic energy industry under the thumb of his administration.

The series of actions taken by the Russian government toward energy-related businesses in recent months, including the ministry’s latest decision, has illustrated risks involved in massive foreign investment in Russia, a nation blessed with vast amounts of natural resources. 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: Total’s Oil Field Comes Under Review

Thursday, September 21, 2006. Page 1.

By Miriam Elder and Tim Wall
Staff Writers  

Steve Voss / Bloomberg
 
State pressure on foreign oil companies intensified Wednesday as the Natural Resources Ministry said it was reviewing whether to revoke Total’s production sharing agreement for its Arctic Khoryaga oil field.

The announcement came just two days after the ministry revoked Shell’s environmental license at its Sakhalin-2 gas fields, calling into question the future of the country’s largest foreign investment 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.

The Scotsman: Russia condemned over gas deal

DMITRY ZHDANNIKOV AND ELIF KABAN
IN MOSCOW

RUSSIA has drawn protests from Tokyo, Brussels and London after trying to renege on a deal involving a £10.5 billion oil and gas development in the country’s far east.

On Monday, Russia revoked environmental approval for Sakhalin-2, one of the world’s biggest energy projects, because of allegations Shell had violated its terms. Shell denies this and the project is all but complete.

The European Commission said it was taking Russia’s withdrawal of the permits “very seriously” and called on Moscow to guarantee a secure and predictable investment climate. 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 Herald (Scotland): West caught in a great big Russian bear hug

ALF YOUNG September 21 2006
 
BIG Oil – or rather Big Western Oil – is in increasingly big trouble. So far this week, Royal Dutch Shell and its Japanese minority partners have been plunged into a tense stand-off with the Russian government over the fate of the consortium’s $20bn Sakhalin-2 project.

BP has revealed further delays to production from its hurricane-damaged Thunder Horse installation in the Gulf of Mexico, and ExxonMobil has been lambasted by Britain’s Royal Society for funding lobby groups in the US which, the scientists claim, have “misrepresented the science of climate change in outright denial of the evidence”. 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.

International Business Times: Russian Envoy Says Sakhalin-2 Project Will Continue

By Joseph Sato
Posted 20 September 2006 

(International Business Times) – After the Russian government announced its withdrawal of environmental approval for the Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas (LNG) project on Sep. 18, Alexander Losyukov, Russia’s ambassador to Tokyo, said on Wednesday that the construction continues as stated on their contract. 
 
The Russian Ambassador mentioned that Sakhalin-2, the world’s largest privately funded energy project due for completion in 2008, will offer oil and LNG to Japan after 2007 as planned if environmental concerns were solved. Russian officials said the project was ignoring environmental standards and revoked a permit for the project on Sep. 18. 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: Japan firms may sell Gazprom 5% of Sakhalin-2:paper

TOKYO, Sept 21 (Reuters) – Japanese trading houses Mitsui & Co Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corp. are in talks to sell a combined 5 percent stake in the Royal Dutch Shell-led Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project to Russia’s state-run Gazprom , Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper reported on Thursday.

The Shell-led project is due to begin shipping large volumes of natural gas to Japan in two years. But it faces uncertainty after Russia revoked environmental approvals on Monday in a move seen by many as the Kremlin’s latest effort to wrest more control over energy resources. 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.

IPS: Funders Pressured to Abandon Russian Pipeline

Emad Mekay

WASHINGTON, Sep 20 (IPS) – Encouraged by a Russian government decision last week to enforce tougher environmental regulations for the controversial Sakhalin II oil project, international environmentalists say that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) should change course and withhold funding for the project or risk violating domestic Russian law.

Russia revoked the environmental permit for the oil-and-gas project, led by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, a move that has prompted accusations by Europe and Japan that the decision was politically motivated and that Moscow is trying to give its national oil company Gazprom greater power in the oil 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.

International Herald Tribune: Japanese companies deny report selling gas project stakes to Russia’s Gazprom

The Associated Press
Published: September 20, 2006
 
TOKYO Two Japanese trading companies on Thursday denied a report that they plan to sell some of their shares in a multibillion-dollar petroleum drilling project in Russia’s Far East that was halted by Moscow earlier this week.

 
Russia’s withdrawal on Monday of an environmental permit for the Sakhalin-2 project, led by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, could effectively halt work on the project and put at risk multibillion-dollar energy investments by a multinational consortium.
 
Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper reported Thursday that Tokyo-based trader Mitsui & Co. has begun negotiations to sell a 3 percent stake out of its 25 percent holding in Sakhalin Energy Ltd., the international energy consortium operating the project, to Russian government-affiliated gas firm OAO Gazprom.

 
The report also said that trader Mitsubishi Corp., also based in Tokyo, was negotiating the sale of a 2 percent stake out of its 20 percent holding in the project to Gazprom.
 
Spokesmen for the two Japanese companies, however, denied the Yomiuri report as without factual basis. Both spoke on condition of anonymity, citing company policy.
 
The US$20 billion (€15.78 billion) Sakhalin-2 is one of two offshore projects in Russia’s Pacific being developed by overseas companies under production-sharing agreements signed in the 1990s, and was due to come online in 2008.
 
Russia’s Natural Resources Ministry said it decided to revoke the Sakhalin-2’s permit to satisfy arguments made by Russian prosecutors, which allege permission to develop the second phase of the project had been granted illegally.
 
Much of the liquefied gas from Sakhalin-2 is destined for Japan, which is seeking to reduce its dependence on the Middle East for energy.
 
TOKYO Two Japanese trading companies on Thursday denied a report that they plan to sell some of their shares in a multibillion-dollar petroleum drilling project in Russia’s Far East that was halted by Moscow earlier this week.
 
Russia’s withdrawal on Monday of an environmental permit for the Sakhalin-2 project, led by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, could effectively halt work on the project and put at risk multibillion-dollar energy investments by a multinational consortium.
 
Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper reported Thursday that Tokyo-based trader Mitsui & Co. has begun negotiations to sell a 3 percent stake out of its 25 percent holding in Sakhalin Energy Ltd., the international energy consortium operating the project, to Russian government-affiliated gas firm OAO Gazprom.
 
The report also said that trader Mitsubishi Corp., also based in Tokyo, was negotiating the sale of a 2 percent stake out of its 20 percent holding in the project to Gazprom.
 
Spokesmen for the two Japanese companies, however, denied the Yomiuri report as without factual basis. Both spoke on condition of anonymity, citing company policy.
 
The US$20 billion (€15.78 billion) Sakhalin-2 is one of two offshore projects in Russia’s Pacific being developed by overseas companies under production-sharing agreements signed in the 1990s, and was due to come online in 2008.
 
Russia’s Natural Resources Ministry said it decided to revoke the Sakhalin-2’s permit to satisfy arguments made by Russian prosecutors, which allege permission to develop the second phase of the project had been granted illegally.
 
Much of the liquefied gas from Sakhalin-2 is destined for Japan, which is seeking to reduce its dependence on the Middle East for energy. 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 Times: Russia accuses Shell of damaging Sakhalin forests

September 21, 2006
From Tony Halpin in Moscow
 
SHELL was threatened with prosecution for alleged destruction of forestry yesterday as its conflict with the Russian Government over the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project intensified.

Russia’s Natural Resources Ministry claimed that criminal damage worth at least 11 million roubles (£220,000) had been done to forests during construction of a pipeline across Sakhalin Island. 
 
Oleg Mitvol, the ministry’s deputy head of environmental inspection, told reporters in Moscow: “First, I think there will be criminal cases opened for destruction of the forest. Then we’ll look at all other issues.”
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.

Mayo News: No consent possible – Shell to Sea

By Áine Ryan

SHELL has been accused of not addressing the ‘real possibility’ that an onshore pipeline route ‘will never be agreed upon’ by the people of north Mayo.

The Shell to Sea campaign made the accusation after the company distributed a newsletter to  households in the area last week. The newsletter details the proposed consultation process which is expected to last up to a year.  

“We acknowledge that our previous attempts to agree an acceptable route with landowners were not adequate,” stated SEPIL’s Deputy Managing Director, Mr Terry Nolan, on the newsletter’s first page. 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.