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December 3rd, 2006:

Globe&Mail: Bolivia grabs control of its petroleum industry

DAN KEANE
Associated Press

LA PAZ, Bolivia — President Evo Morales signed into law Sunday contracts that give the government control over the operations of foreign energy companies, completing a process begun May 1 with the nationalization of Bolivia’s petroleum industry.

The deals, signed by the companies last month, also grant Mr. Morales’ government a majority share of the foreign companies’ revenues generated in Bolivia. Companies that signed contracts include Brazilian state energy giant Petrobras, Spanish-Argentine Repsol YPF, France’s Total SA, and British Gas, a unit of BG Group PLC. 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: Mitvol’s Comments Spook Edgy Market

Monday, December 4, 2006. Issue 3553. Page 8.
By Simon Shuster
Staff Writer

What looked like a random threat from a bellicose official spooked many investors this week, but a strong ruble and rapid growth should quickly bring them back around, analysts said Friday.

Oleg Mitvol, the deputy head of the Natural Resources Ministry’s environmental agency, told Interfax on Wednesday that Peter Hambro Mining (POG.LN), the biggest foreign player in Russia’s gold market, had breached environmental codes in several parts of Siberia. He pledged to investigate five of the company’s 50 Russian licenses. 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.

Philadelphia Inquirer: Even Putin concedes: ‘This golden era… can’t last.’: Spending spree in Russia is fueled by its oil and gas

Posted on Sun, Dec. 03, 2006
By James Brooke
Bloomberg News

In central Moscow, construction cranes loom over the Kremlin, as hotel and office towers rise to accommodate Russia’s newly minted companies and the flood of foreign business visitors. Downtown apartments that cost $100,000 a few years ago now go for $1 million.

On weekends, shoppers by the thousands line up behind cash registers at the 150,000-square-meter Tyoply Stan suburban mall, loading up on home furnishings, televisions and cell phones. Stockholm-based Ikea, which owns the mall, reported it welcomed 52 million shoppers in 2005, making it the most-visited shopping center in Europe. Moscow is adding 100,000 cars to its roads every year. 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.

amNY.com: Spray fight hits home: Plantation workers in Nicaragua to get day in U.S. court for pesticide they say ruined their health

EXTRACTS: Pitting some of the world’s poorest residents against some of its biggest conglomerates, including Dole Fruit Co., Shell Oil Co. and Dow Chemical Co., the cases could set new benchmarks for multinationals’ accountability in developing countries.

The United States suspended use of Nemagon in 1977 and permanently banned it in 1979…. companies including Dole, Shell and Dow say there is no proof it harmed humans in open-air environments.

THE ARTICLE

BY LETTA TAYLER
LATIN AMERICA CORRESPONDENT
December 3, 2006 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.

Gulf Times (Qarar): $10bn Pearl GTL-linked contracts placed globally

Andrew Brown, Shell Country Chairman, Qatar

(Andrew Brown, Pearl GTL managing director and Shell’s country chairman in Qatar)

Published: Sunday, 3 December, 2006, 09:11 AM Doha Time 
By Pratap John
 
DOHA: Contracts worth over $10bn have been placed around the world for equipment relating to the Pearl GT1L project at Ras Laffan, the world’s largest integrated gas to liquids complex.

Work is now going on at eight different locations worldwide, said Andrew Brown, Pearl GTL managing director and Shell’s country chairman in Qatar.

“Since launching the project in July, after receiving the full approval from Qatar Government and from the Shell board of directors, we have made steady progress on the $12bn to $18bn project,” he told Gulf Times at the weekend. 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.

New York Times: The Week on Long Island: Easement for Gas Plant Is Opposed by Suffolk

By LINDA SASLOW
Published: December 3, 2006

Suffolk County is raising objections to Broadwater Energy’s application for an easement on state-owned land under Long Island Sound for a proposed floating gas plant and connecting pipeline.

County Executive Steve Levy, an opponent of the project, said the easement, if granted, would mean the loss of 950 underwater acres to Broadwater, a partnership of the Shell Oil Company and the TransCanada Corporation. He said the easement would add to a proposed 1,722-acre security zone in surface waters around the plant and along routes used by tankers delivering liquefied natural gas. 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.

New York Times: Blowing the Whistle on Big Oil

Blowing the whistle on big oil

(Bobby L. Maxwell’s lawsuit says Big Oil cheated on royalties it owed and that the government did not want to hear about it. Photo: Cory Lum for The New York Times)

EXTRACT: Several of the nation’s biggest oil producers, including Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell and ConocoPhillips, failed in an effort to block Mr. Maxwell’s suit, arguing before an appellate judge that his case would “open the floodgates” to suits by other federal auditors. But the court rejected their pleas, and a trial is set to start on Jan. 16. 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.

New York Times: Bush May End Drilling Ban in Alaskan Bay

EXTRACT: The commercial fishing industry has plunged into a depression, giving more support to Royal Dutch Shell PLC and other oil companies that have lobbied the White House to lift the offshore drilling ban.

THE ARTICLE
 
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 2, 2006
Filed at 9:13 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush is deciding whether to lift a ban on oil and gas drilling in federal waters off Alaska’s Bristol Bay, home to endangered whales and sea lions and the world’s largest sockeye salmon run. 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.

Sunday Telegraph: Putin’s poisonous nature is now plain to see

EXTRACT: Yet the positions of those businesses that have staked fortunes in the country look increasingly precarious. Quietly last month BP’s Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, settled a bill for back tax that the Russian government had demanded but which the company had insisted was unjustified. This is just the first of several unexpected tax bills which have landed with the company, and with Shell and the other oil giants that thought the pull of Russia’s resources outweighed the political risks. 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.

Sunday Telegraph: Russian aluminium giant speeds up float plans

EXTRACT: Britain is the single biggest investor in Russia, but UK companies such as Royal Dutch Shell and Peter Hambro Mining have hit trouble recently as the Russian government has sought to wrest back control over key energy resources. Shell and ExxonMobil have fallen foul of government attacks on their environmental record, which are seen as thinly veiled attempts to revoke lucrative joint venture licences for commercial reasons.

THE ARTICLE

By Helen Power, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:25am GMT 03/12/2006 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 Sunday Times: Sinn Fein could also share power in the republic

EXTRACT: …in recent weeks he has resumed his attack on Sinn Fein, specifically blaming it for orchestrating anti-gardai protest tactics at the proposed Shell gas refining terminal in west Mayo. It is clear that other left-wing elements are at least equally involved in stirring the locals, but that is of no concern to McDowell once he gets into mud-slinging mode.

THE ARTICLE

December 03, 2006

Comment: Matt Cooper: There’s a danger Sinn Fein could also share power in the republic 
 
As Sinn Fein moves closer to power in Northern Ireland, the possibility of the party entering government in the republic could prove to be one of the defining political developments of 2007. 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 Sunday Times: News in Brief: Capital protest

December 03, 2006

About 200 people attended a protest organised by the Shell to Sea group in Dublin yesterday. The event, which passed off peacefully, was promoted as an opportunity for people in the capital to show solidarity with locals in Erris, Mayo, opposed to the construction of a controversial €800m gas terminal and pipeline by Shell.
 
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-2484038.html

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.