February 14th, 2007:

By Sheila McNulty in Houston
Published: February 14 2007 02:00 | Last updated: February 14 2007 02:00

BP’s internal investigation into management accountability for the oil company’s fatal Texas refinery explosion calls for the sacking of four senior executives, the Financial Times has learnt.

They include Mike Hoffman, who recently retired as the UK company’s group vice-president for refining and marketing; Pat Gower, US refining vice-president; Don Parus, the Texas City refinery manager who has been on leave since the accident; and Willie Willis, a plant employee who had apparently been in the process of being groomed to succeed Mr Parus. read more

14 Feb 2007 bbj.hu: Chevron Corp. and other international oil producers that may be planning bids for assets of Russia’s OAO Yukos Oil Co. would be dealing in stolen property, the company’s former CFO said.

Yukos lost its largest production unit to state-owned OAO Rosneft after the government seized and sold it for $9.3 billion in December 2004 to pay back taxes. The remaining assets, valued at more than $22 billion, are expected to be sold starting this spring, with Chevron named as a possible bidder by Yukos’ bankruptcy manager. Much will depend on whether the European Court of Human Rights agrees to wider hearings on the Yukos bankruptcy later this year, former CFO Bruce Misamore said today in an interview in Houston. „If the European Court of Human Rights finds that Russia violated its own laws, which we believe will be the case, and that this led to this sham bankruptcy, this calls into question outside of Russia the legitimacy of everything,” Misamore said. „If it’s illegal, the purchasers of these assets will be purchasing stolen assets.” Misamore made his comments outside an energy conference sponsored by Cambridge Energy Research Associates. He ran Yukos’ finances from 2001 to 2005 and watched his company slip into bankruptcy last year following government claims for billions of dollars in back taxes.
Rosneft also may be interested in acquiring more of Yukos’ assets, with a focus on its refineries, said Peter O’Brien, vice president of finance and investments. Rosneft needs to expand its refining capabilities, and will be looking within Russia and in Asia and Eastern Europe, O’Brien told a panel at the conference. „Yukos has five refineries,” he said. „We’re definitely interested. We’ll see what valuations come out and what the process entails.” CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky was handed an eight-year prison sentence in 2005 for fraud and tax evasion, and Misamore has lashed out at new charges filed on February 5. Misamore also is under a Russian criminal investigation. State-run OAO Gazprom held talks with US Ambassador William Burns on February 8 on the possibility of US companies purchasing Yukos assets. San Ramon, California-based Chevron, the second-largest US oil company, has expressed interest, a spokesman for bankruptcy manager Eduard Rebgun said on February 9. read more

By Lucian Kim and Torrey Clark Bloomberg News
Published: February 14, 2007
 
MOSCOW: Gazprom, the world’s largest producer of natural gas, on Tuesday reported a 52 percent jump in third-quarter profit because of higher prices charged to former Soviet neighbors and increased demand from Western Europe.

Net income climbed to 120.8 billion rubles, or $4.6 billion, from 79.3 billion rubles a year earlier. Sales soared 68 percent to 489.9 billion rubles. The results were calculated according to International Financial Reporting Standards. read more

Dan Piller,  – KRTBN
Published: Feb 14, 2007

HOUSTON — Major oil company executives made it clear Tuesday that they no longer intend to stand by idly while others set tax and environmental policies for their industry.

“It is important to share our understanding of our industry with the public and policymakers,” Exxon Mobil Corp. Chairman Rex Tillerson said at the industry’s most prestigious annual event, the Cambridge Energy Research Associates annual conference. More than 2,000 people from 44 countries are attending the conference. read more

Published: Feb 14, 2007

Text of report by Nigerian newspaper The Guardian website on 14 February

Report by Chido Okafor: “Militants Free 24 Filipino Hostages”

Twenty-four Filipino hostages breathed the air of freedom yesterday after over a month in the custody of militants claiming to be part of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).

According to the militants, the hostages were released on “humanitarian ground” due to the intervention of Ijaw leaders and the Delta State government. read more

Loren Steffy, Houston Chronicle – Texas – KRTBN
Published: Feb 14, 2007

Lee Raymond looked over the rose-tinted lenses of his John Lennon glasses and made an awkward “V” with his fingers.

“Peace, baby.”

Rex Tillerson could see Raymond’s toothy smile through the beard. Shoulder-length hair hung loosely around his predecessor’s face.

“Uh, hello, Lee. Nice, um, headband. We haven’t seen you around here in a while.”

“Not since that most righteous send-off last year,” Raymond replied. ” ‘Fattest Retirement Package Excluding Backdated Options.’ Quite an honor, man.” read more

By Breffni O’Rourke
Wednesday, February 14, 2007

February 14, 2007 (RFE/RL) — Like all oil and gas majors, the Royal Dutch/Shell Group has its eyes open for new sources of supply as global demand for energy grows. Iran is just such a possible source, with the world’s second biggest reserves of natural gas.

The Anglo-Dutch group has made the first step toward a multibillion-dollar deal with Iran to help develop the vast South Pars natural-gas field, despite the political thunderclouds gathering around Iran. read more

ST. PETERSBURG, February 14 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s environmental watchdog will inspect the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project in Russia’s Far East this spring to check on its compliance with its licensing agreements, an agency official said Wednesday.

The project, which is operated under a production-sharing agreement (PSA) by Exxon Neftegas Limited, a subsidiary of U.S. oil major Exxon, is located on Sakhalin Island’s northeastern shelf and is expected to bring in around $52.2 billion to the Russian budget by 2054, when it is scheduled to end. read more

Record crude oil prices have helped French oil giant Total report a record 12.58bn euros ($16.4bn; £8.4bn) net profit in 2006.

The earnings, up 5% on the previous year, were buoyed by crude reaching more than $78 a barrel in mid-July.

However, oil prices have now fallen off to around $60 a barrel.

These lower prices, along with higher costs and spending on exploration, meant Total’s profits in the last three months of 2006 were down 10%.

Its fourth quarter results compare with an 11% rise in profits at Royal Dutch Shell, a 12% slump at BP and a 4.3% dip at Exxon Mobil. read more

By Tom Cahill and Tara Patel

Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) — Total SA, Europe’s biggest oil refiner, raised its annual production target through 2010 because of new fields in Angola and Canada.

Output growth will rise by an average 5 percent, compared with a previous forecast of 4 percent, Paris-based Total said today. Fourth-quarter profit, excluding the value of Total’s stake in drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA, fell 10 percent to 2.74 billion euros ($3.6 billion) from a year earlier. That beat the 2.65 billion-euro median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. read more

Quarterpoints Bill Gray, Lloyds List
Published: Feb 14, 2007

THE US naval architect James J Henry designed and commissioned the first liquefied natural gas tanker, Methane Pioneer, a converted small Second World War cargoship, in 1959 and traded it successfully from the US to the Thames Estuary for about three years.

Shell then created by the mid-1960s the world’s first successful LNG trade from the Mediterranean to Canvey Island in Methane Princessand Methane Progress. Both vessels provided safe and reliable service for many years. read more

Published: Feb 14, 2007

A PROTEST march to the controversial Corrib Gas refinery in north Mayo – billed as ‘peaceful and non-confrontational’ – is already shaping up as the latest angry flashpoint between protestors and gardai.

Despite being flagged as a carnival-style ‘Solidarity Day’ by the Shell to Sea campaign, this Friday’s event would appear to have all the ingredients for further volatile exchanges over the controversial pipeline and terminal.

In a statement, the Shell to Sea group in Mayo said it was holding the ‘Solidarity Day’ on February 16 to permit people around the country to show their support for the communities of Rossport and Bellanaboy in the campaign. “Musicians are especially welcome. Stewards will be on duty to facilitate the good humour of the event,” the statement added. read more

*Shell Oil President, John Hofmeister, King of BS…

Elizabeth Souder,Texas
Published: Feb 14, 2007

HOUSTON — Regular people don’t know much about the oil industry, and that makes it tough for energy companies to get what they need in Washington, Texas oil executives said Tuesday.

People don’t understand how difficult it is to pull oil from thousands of feet below sea level, ship it across the world, and make gasoline that meets environmental restrictions, Exxon Mobil Corp. chief executive Rex Tillerson said in a speech to kick off a Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference. read more

By Jim Efstathiou Jr.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, having abandoned U.S. arctic exploration 21 years ago, may be drilling new oil and gas wells in the region as soon as this summer, the head of the company’s U.S. unit said.

“Hopefully, if all goes well, we’ll have dropped rigs there this summer,” John Hofmeister, Shell’s top U.S. executive, said today in an interview in Houston. “We shot seismic in the Beaufort Sea last summer,” he said, referring to the sound wave imaging used to guide oil and gas exploration. read more

By Dinakar Sethuraman

Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) — Nigeria LNG Ltd. has agreed to supply 4.375 million metric tons a year of liquefied natural gas from a seventh production line to Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total SA and Occidental Petroleum Corp. for 20 years, the International Oil Daily said, citing an unidentified Nigeria LNG official.

Nigeria has signed five sales contracts accounting for 95 percent of the seventh production line’s capacity, the report said. The contracts are subject to a final investment decision on the project, the report said. read more

Wani Gapar
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
14-Feb-07

THE Shell group yesterday donated $100,000 for the upcoming 23rd National Day celebrations.

Managing Director of the Brunei Shell Marketing Company Sdn Bhd (BSM), Pg Hj Yasmin Pg Mohammad on behalf of the Shell Group, handed over the cheque to Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Dewa Major General (Rtd) Dato Seri Pahlawan Hj Mohammad Hj Daud Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports in his capacity as the Chairman of Sponsorship Committee of the 23rd National Day celebrations. read more

14/02/2007

Gazprom is going to close the deal aimed to acquired the working interest in the Sakhalin-2 project by Mar. 31,2007. This date is set in the protocol signed by the Holding and the holders of the project, as was informed in the report.

Gazprom signed up a protocol with the project participants stipulating the acquisition of 50%+1 in Sakhalin Energy Dec. 22. The deal is worth $7.45bn.

The share of each foreign holders will be halved: Shell – to 27.5%, Mitsui – 12.5%, Mitsubishi – 10%.
  read more

By  Jimitota Onoyume
Posted to the Web: Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Port Harcourt— TO steer  Asarama community in Andoni local government area away from the path of crisis and violence, the Rivers state government has been urged to quickly stop Shell Petroleum  Development   Company from carrying  out any operation in the area until some conditions were met.

Listing the conditions , the community in a statement from its youth group signed by the duo of Comrade Kafiam Mark and Joseph Sokari said the oil giant should pay compensation to family victims of its pipeline explosion in the area on December 2005. Adding also that the firm should resume talk with its community project management committee which  it had earlier signed an MoU with on behalf of the community about three years ago. read more