January 20th, 2007:

January 21, 2007

It was always questionable whether the EBRD was going to fund the Sakhalin II project. The environmental groups launched a systematic and persistent campaign against the project but as long as the Russian Government gave the project its blessings, the chances of the loan looked brighter. Oleg Mitvol and Rosprirodnadzor virtually killed any chances of the loan being granted. The much-maligned takeover of the project by Gazprom was the straw that broke the camel’s back as far as the loan was concerned. read more

Published: 21/01/2007 12:00 AM (UAE)
Reuters

Calgary: A 15-20 per cent boost to Royal Dutch Shell’s C$7.7 billion ($6.6 billion) bid for the minority shares of Shell Canada may still be not enough to win support from investors, one institutional shareholder said on Friday.

Royal Dutch has been working behind the scenes to sell investors on the idea of raising its bid for the 22 per cent of Shell Canada it doesn’t already own to C$46 to C$48 a share from C$40, according to a report in the Globe and Mail newspaper, which cited unnamed investor sources. read more

Simon Caulkin
Sunday January 21, 2007

Marks & Spencers return from the corporate valley of the shadow of death – even ultra-cautious chief executive Stuart Rose has said the ‘r’ word, conceding that the company has moved from the emergency to the recovery ward – is cheering and instructive in several ways.

First, the story was, and is, a sharp reminder of how few companies there are that people actually like. M&S, the BBC, perhaps Boots and John Lewis – they can be counted on one hand. read more

Richard Wachman
Sunday January 21, 2007

Lord Browne is leaving BP 18 months earlier than planned, handing over to internal candidate Tony Hayward, in August. Analysts say his successor will have a demanding task: boosting capital spending to ensure that safety standards are tightened across the group’s global operations.

In a recent address to BP employees, Hayward said the company should never seek to get ‘100 per cent of the task completed with 90 per cent of the resources’. He must restore BP’s tarnished reputation in its most important market, the US, where it has faced a barrage of adverse publicity from politicians and the families of those whose friends or relatives were killed or injured by the blast at the Texas refinery. There also remains the possibility of a grand jury investigation. read more

Bissett wants $50 a share 
 
Reuters, with files from Financial Post
Saturday, January 20, 2007

CALGARY – A boost of 15% to 20% to Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s $7.7-billion bid for the minority shares of Shell Canada Ltd. may still be not enough to win support from investors, several institutional shareholders said.

Reports yesterday said Royal Dutch is working behind the scenes to sell investors on the idea of raising its bid for the 22% of Shell Canada it doesn’t already own to $46 to $48 a share from $40. read more

By Alfred Donovan

Shell International is currently seeking applicants for two Investigation Case Managers. Each will be in control of a team of up to six individuals who will tackle 100 plus investigations every year inside the Royal Dutch Shell Group. The fact that up to a dozen investigators are needed indicates the considerable volume of bribery, corruption and other illegal activity going on. 

My son John Donovan and I may well apply for the Case Manager appointments since we have a track record of confronting and investigating dishonest activities by Shell managers who were protected by senior management godfathers such as Malcolm Brinded, the discredited CEO of Shell E & P. Brinded turned a blind eye to irrefutable documentary evidence of a conspiracy by Shell managers to deceive and cheat participants in a Shell tender process. As Managing Director of Shell Expro, he was implicated in the Brent Bravo scandal which cost two Shell employees their lives. He is now up to his neck in the Sakhalin II debacle. read more

Published: Jan 20, 2007

SOME of the worst physical confrontations so far between gardai and protesters in the Corrib Gas dispute took place yesterday.

The clashes happened when protesters fought with gardai near the entrance to the site of the processing terminal at Bellanaboy, Co Mayo.

A number of protesters were injured and had to receive medical treatment locally as well as at the A&E unit of Mayo General Hospital after what gardai described as “aggressive confrontations” as a convoy of vehicles carrying Shell contractors made their way to the site. read more

Liamy Mac Nally,
Published: Jan 20, 2007

Three people sought hospital treatment following scuffles between gardaI and protesters outside Shell’s Corrib gas site in north Mayo yesterday.

Between 50 and 60 protesters from the Shell to Sea campaign gathered at Bellanaboy bridge when workers at the Shell site were being driven past to the refinery site’s entrance gates.

A Garda spokesman said scuffles broke out after a garda was attacked and pulled among the protesters. Other gardaI went to his assistance and were assaulted. He said some had their uniforms torn in the incident. read more

EXTRACT: It should come in well north of the £1m lump sum received by Sir Philip Watts, who left Royal Dutch Shell under a much larger cloud than that dogging Lord Browne…

By ANDREW HILL
Published: January 20 2007 02:00 | Last updated: January 20 2007 02:00

For campaigners against excessive executive pay, there is something that particularly grates about an ageing ex-captain of industry sitting in his rocking chair and still receiving more annually than mere drones accumulate in a lifetime. Look at the outrage in the US at the $98m (£50m) lump-sum pension payment awarded last year by Lee Raymond, outgoing chief executive of ExxonMobil, or at the benefits General Electric granted to a retired Jack Welch, until, under pressure, he renounced them in 2002. read more

EXTRACT: BP shares have outperformed the FTSE 100 index. since 1995 but so equally have those of Royal Dutch Shell, which has not been much admired.

January 20, 2007
GRAHAM SEARJEANT, PERSONAL INVESTOR
 
All political careers are said to end in failure. This is a warning to the arrogant not to prolong their tenure of power by living off past successes. It is also comforting for all those who are kicked off the greasy pole before they get to the top, those who are defeated in elections or who end up scorned by a nation that ought to be grateful for their years of devotion ordering us about. read more