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November 2nd, 2006:

ShellNews.net: Royal Dutch Shell reputation issues

Email from John Donovan to Shell CEO, Jeroen van der Veer

Friday 3 November 2006

Dear Mr Van der Veer

As you may be aware, our website www.royaldutchshellplc.com, is one of two  recommended by Fortune Magazine for information about Royal Dutch Shell – the other being www.shell.com

I therefore wondered if you would care to grant me an interview to discuss with you the Sakhalin II project and a number of issues of particular interest to ethical investors, some of which are listed below. 

In the latter connection, I am concerned that the actions of Shell management in practice are not in line with your stated business principles of honesty, integrity and transparency in all of Shell’s dealings. I fear that there is a vast gap between what amounts to empty PR pledges, compared with hard commercial reality. 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: Russian ambassador says Kremlin’s environment concerns on Sakhalin-2 genuine

LONDON (AFX) – Russian Ambassador to London, Yury Fedotov, today denied that environmental issues on the 20 bln usd Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project in Siberia were being used to cover the Kremlin’s desire to take a greater stake in the project.

In a briefing to journalists Fedotov said that the environmental issues flagged up at the project — whose operating company Sakhalin Energy Ltd is owned 55 pct by Royal Dutch Shell and 45 pct by Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp and Mitsui & Co — were genuine. 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.

MarketPlace:PublicRadio: Nigeria’s oil curse

On 29 October 2006 protesters shut down an oil pumping station in the Niger Delta. It’s one of the richest oil regions in the world, but residents don’t benefit much. Host Kai Ryssdal talks to documentary filmmaker Sandy Cioffi who just returned from the area.

TEXT OF INTERVIEW

KAI RYSSDAL: Nigeria is the fifth-largest supplier of oil to the United States. Bigger, in fact, than Iraq and Kuwait combined. The delta of the Niger River is one of the richest oil regions in the world outside the Middle East. But for the people who live there, crude has been more of a curse than a blessing. 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: Shell preparing to resume 47,000 barrels a day of output from Nigeria units

Last Update: 6:38 AM ET Nov 2, 2006

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB.LN) is preparing to restart operations at two oil pumping stations in Nigeria with a combined production capacity of 47,000 barrels a day that were shut for about a week after protesters occupied the stations, a company spokesman said Thursday.

“We’re preparing to resume production from Ekulama 2 and Belema,” Shell spokeswoman Caroline Wittgen told Dow Jones, referring to the pumping stations. 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 Post: Shell to pump $12.8b into oilsands

100,000 B/D expansion 
Claudia Cattaneo,
Published: Thursday, November 02, 2006

CALGARY – Shell Canada Ltd., which is evaluating a $7.7-billion bid by parent Royal Dutch Shell PLC to buy minority shareholders, gave formal approval yesterday to a costly expansion of its oilsands project in northern Alberta.

The project is going ahead as planned even after the Anglo Dutch oil giant suggested last week it has plans of its own for Shell Canada’s vast oilsands operation, such as greater integration into its North American operation. 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: Putin prioritizes oil platforms, tankers

MOSCOW, November 1 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin prioritized the construction of oil platforms and tankers in the shipbuilding sector Wednesday.

“Projects are being implemented for the construction of platforms for the development of oil and gas fields on the continental shelf, and a definite class of tankers,” Putin said, opening a meeting devoted to shipbuilding industry issues.

Russia, which holds the world’s largest natural gas reserves and is among the top 10 countries in terms of oil reserves, is implementing huge oil and gas field projects, particularly the Shtokman deposit off the Arctic shelf, and Sakhalin I and Sakhalin II off the Pacific shelf, that have been the focus of the world’s leading investors. 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.

MosNews: Russia to Gain Billions from Production Sharing Agreements — Official

Exxon Sakhalin Project

(Photo from www.exxonmobil.com)

02.11.2006 11:42 MSK (GMT +3)

A top Russian government official said on Wednesday, Nov. 1, that oil and gas projects, which are being implemented in Russia’s Arctic and the Far East under production sharing agreements (PSA) will yield billions of dollars for the country. Devised in the 1990s, when oil prices were much lower and Russian budget and Russian companies had no free money to invest in such projects themselves, PSAs offered investors major tax benefits, which provided a kind of risk bonus for investing in Russia. 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: When making a stand is worth so much more than taking a payout

November 02, 2006
By Martin Fletcher

Eva Rowe’s parents died in the Texas City refinery blast. She tells our correspondent why she will be seeing BP in court next week 
 
Eva Rowe, 22 and unemployed, comes from a small town in Louisiana and sports heavy make-up and streaked hair. She seems an unlikely figure to take on the world’s second-biggest oil company.

Her parents, James and Linda Rowe, were among the 15 people killed in an explosion at the BP refinery in Texas City in March last year, America’s worst industrial accident in 15 years. 
 
The British behemoth has agreed confidential financial settlements with every other bereaved family — even with Ms Rowe’s older brother — but so far she has refused the millions of dollars that BP has offered her.
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: Who will clean up on carbon?

November 02, 2006
Camilla Cavendish

The demand for new power sources will be the most disruptive force in business since the internet 
 
I was chatting to a green friend at Shell this week, expecting him to be excited by the sudden new focus on clean energy. “Actually I’m nervous,” he said. “It’s all coming faster than we expected.”

The demand for carbon-free power is about to become the most disruptive force in business since the internet. And disruptive innovations have a way of knocking flat even the most entrenched companies. Five years ago Google was tiny, just starting to sell adverts based on clicks. Ten years ago, Nokia was still thought of as a Finnish paper company. Twenty years ago Dell was a small business selling computers through geeky magazines. These companies came to dominate the market not because the established companies were stupid — not at all — but because they couldn’t quite bring themselves to turn their processes upside down. 
 
That is what climate change will require. Sir Nicholas Stern was only repeating the growing consensus when he said this week that we must reduce greenhouse emissions dramatically within 20 years. That means adopting renewable energy at a hitherto unimagined pace. It means taking a different approach to the design of buildings and transport. It also means turning our power infrastructure upside down. Department of Trade and Industry figures show that we lose about half of our electricity in generation and transmission because we have giant power stations far away from users. We need to turn offices and hospitals into power stations, and let householders feed into the grid instead of letting the grid feed them. Woking has reduced its CO2 emissions by 77 per cent since 1992 by decentralising its energy. That’s what I mean about turning things upside down. Who would have thought the future was Woking? 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: BP reshuffles US executives as problems in Alaska hit stock: Brent Coon called for Lord Browne to go to prison over the disaster.

Terry Macalister and Andrew Clark
Thursday November 2, 2006

The head of BP’s Alaskan business, Steve Marshall, has become the latest executive to change jobs after the oil company’s problems in North America affected its share price.

Mr Marshall is to be replaced as president of BP Alaska by an internal appointee, Doug Suttles, and will return to the London head office to look after an “operations academy”. The management shake-up in the troubled US operation has seen the post of president of BP North America created and a new head of the fire-hit Texas City refinery put in place. 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: BP’s Sakhalin chief to head Alaskan unit

By Lucy Killgren and Ed Crooks: Published: November 2 2006 02:00 | Last updated: November 2 2006 02:00

BP is to replace Steve Marshall, head of its Alaskan arm, after severe corrosion in oil transit lines forced the closure of half of Prudhoe Bay – the biggest oilfield of its troubled US operations – in August.

Mr Marshall, president of BP Exploration Alaska, who had been in the role for five years and is a BP veteran of 29 years, will be replaced by Doug Suttles, president of BP’s Sakhalin operations in Russia’s far east. 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: Cairn Energy expects to get £618m from India float

By Toby Shelley: Published: November 2 2006 02:00 | Last updated: November 2 2006 02:00

Cairn Energy expects to receive gross cash proceeds of at least £618m from the sale of 30.5 per cent of its Indian operations when they are floated on the Bombay Stock Exchange in December.

The UK company disappointed some investors last month when it said it would retain 69.5 per cent of the new Cairn India, thus reducing the likely cash pay-out to shareholders.

Cairn had previously suggested as much as 49 per cent might be sold. 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 Canada says gas find smaller than expected

CALGARY, Alberta, Nov 1 (Reuters) – Shell Canada Ltd. (SHC.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday that a gas find it made in 2005, touted as one of Western Canada’s largest in recent years, appears to be much smaller than originally thought.

Shell Canada, target of a C$40-a-share bid from parent Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research), said a recent follow-up well to the Tay River discovery in western Alberta confirmed the presence of gas, but not at commercial quantities. 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: Russian Oil Output, Exports Fall on Price Drop, Shell Probe

By Garfield Reynolds

Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) — Russia’s oil output and exports fell in October after world prices fell and the government threatened to halt work at a Royal Dutch Shell Plc project that’s the nation’s biggest foreign energy investment.

Average daily oil output during the month was at 9.711 million barrels a day, or 41.07 million tons, down 0.4 percent from 9.751 million barrels a day in September, according to the Energy and Industry Ministry’s CDU-TEK unit. Exports dropped 9.4 percent to 4.94 million barrels a day as the government raised export duties to a record. 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: Safety Issues Loom for Norwegian Oil

Safety Issues Loom for Norwegian Oil
Updates for Lifeboats
And Offshore-Rig Rules
Snag Global Market
By IAN TALLEY
November 2, 2006

OSLO — A workplace-safety controversy in the Norwegian oil industry that has roiled global oil markets may continue to do so in the months ahead.

During the past 18 months, problems with lifeboats have caused closures and reduced production from some of the biggest fields in Norway, the world’s third-largest crude-oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and Russia. 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: November 1, 2006 4:53 p.m.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
November 1, 2006 4:53 p.m.

Crude-oil futures ended the day nearly unchanged at just less than $59 a barrel after a volatile trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Here’s Wednesday’s roundup of oil and energy news:

* * *
SKEPTICAL SUPREMES: Several Supreme Court justices reacted skeptically to a Clinton-era clean-air plan that is costing the electric power industry billions of dollars for installation of pollution control equipment at aging coal-fired plants. The government reluctantly joined environmental groups in the fight against Duke Energy over the interpretation of 26-year-old federal rules that the Bush administration has proposed relaxing. The outcome of the case wasn’t clear, however, with the nine-member court appearing to be sharply divided on how to rule. 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.

Shell to Sea: November 10th Day of Action- Remember Ken Saro-Wiwa

November 10th is the anniversary of the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni anti-Shell activists by the Nigerian state for campaigning against the devastation of the Niger Delta by oil companies, especially Shell and Chevron.

The production, transportation and processing of oil and gas has polluted many parts of the world. Tanker spills, refinery emissions, gas flares, oil well blow-outs, and pipeline explosions have spilled highly toxic fluids and gases into the atmosphere, across land and into rivers and oceans around the world. 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.