January 13th, 2007:

Golden age: Lord Browne was fêted
as the Sun King of the oil industry

In his heyday at BP, Lord Browne earned the soubriquet of Sun King. But now his reign is drawing to a close, Sylvia Pfeifer and James Hall examine if the oil giant isn’t too large a kingdom to be ruled by one man

Britain’s business elite jetted off to Barbados over the New Year to escape the grey winter skies over London. Among those soaking up the Caribbean sun was Lord Browne of Madingley, the chief executive of BP.
 
For Browne, who was staying with friends, the blue skies offered a welcome respite from the troubles at home. The 58-year-old, thrice voted Britain’s most admired businessman and fêted as the “Sun King” of the oil industry, had a lot on his mind. read more

On Browne

Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive, Royal Dutch Shell

‘John made over a period of time a major contribution to the industry, and was proactive and advanced in his thinking’

Bryan Sanderson, former director of BP

‘He is one of the six cleverest people I’ve ever met. He is entirely motivated on the outperformance of BP and taking it up to be one of the best companies in the world. He is by far the best chief executive BP’s ever had’

Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, chairman of Anglo American and former chairman of Royal Dutch Shell read more

By James Bamberg

Lord Browne was a transformational leader of BP, but it should never be forgotten that he enjoyed a superb inheritance when he became chief executive in 1995. Under his predecessor, Lord Simon, BP had been turned into the leanest, fittest and best performing oil company in its league. The only problem was that the league was not the premier division.

Ever since BP’s birth in 1909, during the first era of globalisation before the First World War, the company had played third fiddle to Exxon and Shell, the first movers in the globalisation of the oil industry. BP had hardly got started when the global economy was fractured by the Great War, the Russian revolution, the Great Depression, the Second World War and growing economic nationalism in the Opec countries. read more

Saturday 13 January 2007

MOSCOW: Russian authorities have never been known for their eco-friendliness, but late last year inspectors swooped down on the vast Kovykta natural gas field in east Siberia and came away with a laundry list of alleged misdeeds, ranging from excavation violations to illegal logging.

Few in Russia, however, believe the government suddenly has gone green.

Kovykta is Russia’s largest natural gas field, storing enough natural gas to keep the world’s largest energy consumer, the U.S., supplied for two years. read more

By BRETT ZONGKER, The Associated Press
Jan 13, 2007 12:10 PM (2 hrs 46 mins ago)

WASHINGTON – Gifts from three corporations to be announced Monday will bring the fund to build a memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. to $76 million – more than three-quarters of the way to the project’s goal.

Health insurance provider Cigna Corp., Shell Oil Co. and the Verizon Foundation are each announcing $1 million donations to help build the memorial to the slain civil rights leader on the National Mall. Formal announcements were planned for the holiday honoring King – by Verizon in Washington and by Cigna in Philadelphia. read more

Jan 13 2007

Gov. M. Jodi Rell says building a natural gas terminal in the middle of Long Island Sound is like building “a factory in the middle of a national park.”

That was the reaction of most people when Shell Oil and TransCanada Pipelines first announced they wanted to build the terminal, and that reaction hasn’t changed despite assurances about safety and environmental protection.

The consortium formed by Shell and TransCanada, Broadwater Energy, proposes to build a $700 million floating terminal the size of an ocean liner. read more

Posted Jan 12th 2007 3:20PM by Jon Ogg

Some mergers and rumors this week have impacted many stocks.

Here are some brief summaries of the deals worth noting with ongoing and outstanding issues:

The early early departure of BP, plc’s (ADR) (NYSE:BP) CEO is fueling more M&A speculation around it and Royal Dutch Shell plc (ADR) (NYSE:RDA-A); but this could have major hurdles to overcome.

Jon ogg is a partner in 24/7 Wall St., LLC; He does not own securities in the companies he covers.

For the other summaries go to…
 
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/01/12/this-week-in-mergers-and-rumors/ read more

Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald
Published: Saturday, January 13, 2007

Innovative thinking will transform a vacant landmark building in the heart of downtown Calgary into world-class, modern office space.

The historic Bank of Montreal three-storey structure at the corner of 8th Avenue and 1st Street S.W., which has been empty since A&B Sound moved out a couple of years ago, will become the home of SURE Northern Energy later this year after a $10-million “rehabilitation” project inside the building for office use, the Herald has learned. The building’s heritage and unique features will be preserved. read more

Published: Saturday, 13 January, 2007, 11:02 AM Doha Time
 
TOKYO: The $22bn Sakhalin-2 oil and gas venture, the largest foreign investment in Russia, may still receive funds from Japan and the UK after the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development pulled out.

Russia’s state-owned Gazprom took control of the project from Royal Dutch Shell Plc. last month. Its entry prompted the EBRD to cancel plans to provide a loan of about $300mn, the bank’s President Jean Lemierre told reporters in London on Thursday. read more

By DEREK SANKEY for CanWest News ServiceCalgary Herald
Saturday 13 January 2007

CALGARY— After a record year of growth and energy prices, oil and gas companies say an anticipated moderation in the pace of activity in 2007 will only give them an opportunity to focus on hiring more workers to catch up to pent-up demand.

“We have a structural problem,” says David Fulton, vice-president of human resources at Shell Canada Ltd. “I do not think the shortage is going to go away any time soon, and that was one of the big debates 18 months ago.” read more

Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Thursday it would conduct a strategic review of some refinery assets, an indication it may sell them.

The assets include the PetitCouronne and ReichstettVendenheim refineries and the Berre-l’Etang refinery site complex in France, with a combined capacity of around 300,000 barrels per day, and the Yabucoa plant in Puerto Rico, which has a capacity of 79,000 barrels a day.

Shell said it’s also reviewing operations in the Dominican Republic, where it owns a 50 per cent stake in the 30,000 barrels per day Refidomsa refinery. read more

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Published: January 13, 2007

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 — The nation’s oil and gas companies, hoping to fend off an attack by Congress on their tax breaks and subsidies, angrily denounced an effort by House Democratic leaders Friday that would repeal billions of dollars worth of incentives and plow the money into renewable energy projects.

“This bill takes capital from U.S. oil and natural gas companies that otherwise would be spent on domestic energy exploration,” said Barry Russell, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, which represents about 5,000 smaller oil and gas producers. “If the goal is to lessen our dependence on foreign oil, then this bill falls far short.” read more

(Tony Hayward, above, BP’s head of exploration and production, will take over as chief when John Browne steps down in July 2007.)

By HEATHER TIMMONS
Published: January 13, 2007

LONDON, Jan. 12 — The beleaguered energy giant BP unexpectedly named a successor on Friday for its chief executive, John Browne, and said Mr. Browne would step down more than a year earlier than expected. 
 
BP, the world’s third-largest oil and gas producer after Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, has been reeling from the fallout of a series of accidents and mishaps. In one particularly damning recent revelation, a United States safety panel found in late October that BP knew about problems at its Texas refinery before 15 people were killed in an explosion in 2005, but did not fix them. read more

EXTRACT: Within the past three years we have seen the damage that can be done when large energy companies go chasing short term targets. We had it with Shell’s accounting scandal over its oil reserves…

By Damian Reece
Last Updated: 12:33am GMT 13/01/2007

BP misses opportunity in not appointing an outsider

Forget his legacy as Britain’s most important businessman of the past decade, Lord Browne’s decision to quit at the end of June was the right thing to do from a shareholder’s point of view. Clarity has not been much in evidence of late at BP but his decision to go early has helped start to lift a thick fog that was enveloping the energy giant. read more

EXTRACT: Another worry is TNK-BP, BP’s Russian joint venture, with increased concerns that Russia might try to buy out the indigenous joint-venture partners through state-controlled Gazprom – doing to BP what it did to Royal Dutch Shell with Sakhalin.

THE ARTICLE

By James Quinn
Last Updated: 12:33am GMT 13/01/2007

BP faces another year of worries

If 2006 was BP’s annus horribilis, how will things turn out for the oil major in 2007?

Lord Browne of Madingley will be gone by the end of July, leaving BP’s head of exploration and production, Tony Hayward, as the new man in charge. Mr Hayward will be hoping for a less eventful year after the string of safety scares and oil spillages of the past 12 months. One thing that is certain is that there will be no repeat of the boardroom spat — between Lord Browne and chairman Peter Sutherland — that so undermined confidence in management last year. read more

By Christopher Hope
Last Updated: 2:05am GMT 13/01/2007

Lord Browne of Madingley, widely regarded as the greatest British businessman of his generation, is standing down as chief executive of BP in the summer.

The 58-year-old was due to remain in charge of the troubled giant until the end of next year but will be replaced by Tony Hayward, BP’s head of exploration and production, on Aug 1.

Lord Browne, who joined BP in 1966 fresh out of university and rose to become to group chief executive in June 1995, said: “It has been a privilege to have had the opportunity to turn BP into an international company at the forefront of the energy industry.” read more

This Day (Lagos)
January 13, 2007
Posted to the web January 13, 2007

Ahamefula Ogbu
Port Harcourt

The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) yesterday threatened to drag Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for economic sabotage over their alleged setting of oil wells in Ogoniland on fire.

Reacting to the allegation by SPDC that Ogonis were not allowing them access to oil wells to put out fires reported there, MOSOP countered that the Anglo-Dutch oil company was blackmailing them.
 
The statement issued through their Information Officer, Mr. Bari-ara Kpalap, alleged that it was such untruth peddled by SPDC that prompted the late General Sani Abachi to embark on a geonicide against them. read more

Departure From Energy Giant
Comes Amid U.S. Inquiries
Into Oil Spills, Refinery Blast
By BHUSHAN BAHREE and CHIP CUMMINS
January 13, 2007; Page A3

John Browne, who built BP PLC into a global oil power, will step down this summer, 17 months ahead of schedule, handing the reins to one of his longest-serving executives amid a series of politically damaging scandals in the U.S.

The surprise move to name BP veteran Tony Hayward as chief executive in August comes at a time when BP has been trying, with mixed success, to bounce back from oil spills in Alaska, a deadly accident at a Texas refinery and allegations of trading shenanigans in energy markets, which it has denied.
 
The change, said people close to the situation, is an attempt by the board to stave off a potentially crippling period of drift at BP — which until two years ago was among the most highly regarded companies in the $3-trillion-a-year global oil industry. read more

Crude-oil futures rose from a 19-month low Friday, boosted by OPEC talk of an emergency meeting to discuss further production cuts.

Here is Friday’s roundup of oil and energy news:

* * *
BP TAPS NEW LEADERSHIP: John Brown, the oil titan’s chief executive, has said he will step down 18 months earlier than planned. His successor is to be Tony Hayward, who lead’s the company’s exploration and production division. BP hopes the move can help bury a string of political slip-ups in the U.S., such as a deadly refinery explosion in 2005 and an Alaskan oil spill last year. read more