May, 2007:

Move Would Open Door
To Gazprom and Tighten
Kremlin Grip on Energy

By GREGORY L. WHITE in Moscow and GUY CHAZAN in London
June 1, 2007; Page A9

Russian regulators could move as early as today to revoke a production permit from a $20 billion BP PLC natural-gas project in Siberia, in a test case of just how far the Kremlin will go in its drive for control over the energy sector.

As the Russian government has tightened its grip over strategic oil-and-gas assets in recent years — effectively nationalizing one of the country’s biggest oil producers and forcing foreign investors to cede control of projects to Russian state companies — opportunities for international oil giants have withered. read more

Deborah Hargreaves
Friday June 1, 2007

Consumers have more clout than they realise. Certainly, many companies have converted to green causes under sustained customer pressure. And while much of what the corporate sector says about climate change can be dismissed as hot air, there are the beginnings of some very real initiatives.

Most leading companies now espouse some kind of green strategy towards reducing their carbon footprint. Of course, it is easier for those businesses with low emissions such as banks to boast about their environmental credentials. It often backfires when the big polluters in the oil and power sectors try to do the same. Shell has taken a lot of flak over its adverts showing flowers sprouting from a refinery and BP’s move to brand itself “beyond petroleum” has been met with much scepticism. read more

As Baghdad burns, destabilising the entire region and sending the price of oil soaring, Calgary booms

Naomi Klein
Friday June 1, 2007

The invasion of Iraq has set off what could be the largest oil boom in history. All the signs are there: multinationals free to gobble up national firms at will, ship unlimited profits home, enjoy leisurely “tax holidays”, and pay a laughable 1% in royalties to the government.

This isn’t the boom in Iraq sparked by the proposed new oil law – that will come later. This boom is already in full swing, and it is happening about as far away from the carnage in Baghdad as you can get, in the wilds of northern Alberta. For four years now, Alberta and Iraq have been connected to each other through a kind of invisible seesaw: as Baghdad burns, destabilising the entire region and sending oil prices soaring, Calgary booms. read more

By Russell Hotten
Last Updated: 12:12am BST 01/06/2007

BP chief executive Tony Hayward has held talks with his counterpart at Russian energy monopoly Gazprom ahead of a meeting today that could decide the fate of the UK company’s involvement in the huge Kovykta gas field in Siberia.

The agency that awards licences for exploration and development is due to decide whether to strip BP’s joint venture in Russia, TNK-BP, of the right to operate at the gas field, a project that would be a huge revenue earner for the UK company. Separately, the agency Rosnedra is also to consider revoking licences for UK firm Imperial Energy. read more

Jeffrey Jones
reuters news agency

CALGARY, Alberta–Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Canadian unit is still committed to the idea of a $16.2 billion Arctic gas pipeline, but must be assured of better returns before going ahead, its outgoing chief executive said Thursday.

Clive Mather, who retires next week as Shell absorbs its formerly publicly traded Canadian unit, said the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline’s backers face a hard decision on making the huge investment due to surging costs and “fragile” economics. read more

Vanguard (Lagos)
1 June 2007
Hector Igbikiowubo

IN yet another twist to the unfolding scenario in the Niger Delta, Kedere youths in Ogoniland have shut the valve on the Bomu manifold located on the Trans-Niger pipeline, effectively shutting-in 150,000 barrels per day of crude oil output from the Shell Petroleum Development Company operated joint venture.

This caused oil prices to rebound slightly after falling sharply the previous day.
 
Shell announced Wednesday that 150,000 bpd of crude oil production has been locked in at its Bonny Light terminal in Nigeria after pipelines were sabotaged. read more

EXTRACT: TNK-BP’s woes appear to mirror those faced by Shell at Sakhalin-2 last year. Shell and its Japanese partners sold a majority stake to Gazprom after months of pressure by Mitvol’s agency over purported environmental violations. Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer met with Miller 10 days before agreeing to sell to Gazprom at a Dec. 21 meeting with Putin at the Kremlin.

THE ARTICLE

Friday, June 1, 2007. Issue 3669. Page 1.
By Miriam Elder
Staff Writer

BP’s new chief Tony Hayward held talks with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller in Moscow late Thursday, as a deal on the gas giant’s entry into BP’s flagship Kovykta project appeared imminent. read more

May 31st 2007
From The Economist print edition

The carbon market is working, but not bringing forth as much innovation as had been hoped

EVERY year the average sow and her piglets produce 9.2 tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent through the methane emissions from their effluent. In the past, that has been a problem both for the environment and for pig-farmers. In developing countries the pig-effluent collects in open lagoons which smell bad and get infested with flies. Sometimes it flows straight into nearby water systems. read more

May 31st 2007
From The Economist print edition

Scrubbing carbon from coal-fired power stations is possible but pricey

THERE are two remarkable things about Sleipner T, a gas rig in the middle of the North Sea owned by Norway’s state-owned oil company, Statoil. One is the working conditions. Technicians get around NKr600,000 ($100,000) a year, private rooms with televisions and ensuite bathrooms, and work two weeks out of every six. That is what you get when social democracy meets oil wealth.

The other unusual thing about Sleipner T is that the CO2 which has to be extracted before the gas can be sold does not contribute to global warming. Instead of being pumped into the atmosphere it is reinjected into the ground, 1,000 metres below the seabed. That is what you get when an innovative company meets a carbon tax. read more

May 31st 2007
From The Economist print edition

Car and fuel companies are investing in clean transport

KEN LIVINGSTONE, the mayor of London, last year caused a mild panic among drivers who cruise the city’s narrow streets in “Chelsea tractors” (SUVs to the rest of the world). He announced that he was planning to charge cars emitting more than 225g of CO2 per kilometre £25 a day to go into the centre of London rather than the standard £8. “Red Ken” has always enjoyed stirring it among the rich, so he was probably quite happy at the stink he caused. read more

EXTRACT: Last year, under duress, Royal Dutch Shell and its partners agreed to sell a majority stake in a big oil and gas project called Sakhalin II to Gazprom, the state-owned gas firm.

May 31st 2007
From The Economist print edition

The oil giant hopes to find gas in Libya, but may lose it in Russia

FOR an illustration of the roller-coaster that Western oil firms ride in their attempts to get at foreign oil and gas, look no further than BP. On May 29th the oil giant announced its return to Libya after an absence of over 30 years. read more

Thu May 31, 2007 5:32 PM BST

LAGOS, May 31 (Reuters) – A leak on a major oil export pipeline in Nigeria has forced Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) to shut another 77,000 barrels per day, a spokesman said on Thursday.

The pipeline leak occurred on May 25 on the Nembe pipeline in the southern state of Bayelsa and the company is trying to gain access to the site to begin repairs, he added.

© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.

By Upstream staff

A protest by villagers at the Bomu oil export pipeline complex in Nigeria entered a third day today and no crude was flowing through the facility, a protest leader said.

Villagers from K-Dere occupied the pipeline hub at Bomu, which feeds the Bonny shipping terminal, on Tuesday and forced Shell to shut 150,000 barrels per day of output.

“The lines are still shut. They are not flowing. We locked up the place and slept here last night,” Teddy Penedibebari, who is leading the protest, told Reuters. read more

PERHAPS the greatest paradox in political economy is how countries endowed with the most bountiful natural resources almost invariably end up with deeply unsavoury regimes and the worst economic policies.

In many cases, especially in Africa and the Middle East, this “resources curse” means that commodity-rich countries are also among the poorest, with many of their citizens living in unnecessary squalor; in other cases, they may appear to be doing relatively well but are, in fact, failing to fulfil their true potential, preferring instead to channel their new-found wealth into an aggressive foreign policy. read more

31 May 2007 14:21 GMT  | last updated: 31 May 2007 14:36 GMT
By Upstream staff

Russian Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko went on the defensive today, saying that Russia does not discriminate against foreign explorers, in a bid to quell concern over a series of high level disputes with foreign companies.

“Our approach to foreign and domestic investors is exactly the same,” Viktor Khristenko told Reuters at an energy conference.

Some of the world’s top oil companies have emerged bruised from tussles with Moscow. Shell sold its stake in the Sakhalin 2 project to state gas monopoly Gazprom and BP is under investigation over its Kovytka gas field. read more

May 31, 2007

Shell, one of the world’s premier energy and petrochemicals companies, has recently announced that it plans to strengthen its presence in the Middle Eastern aviation industry following a successful participation at the seventh annual Airport Show, which concluded yesterday (Wednesday, May 30, 2007) in Dubai.

The move will see the company, which is one of the region’s largest suppliers of fuels, lubricants, services and bitumen for the aviation industry, look to tap into some of the new airport infrastructure projects planned for the region. read more

Thu May 31, 2007 11:54 AM BST

LAGOS, May 31 (Reuters) – Shell’s production of Bonny Light crude oil is still curtailed by 150,000 barrels per day due to a protest at a major pipeline hub which entered its third day on Thursday, a company spokesman said.

The company had previously said that production was “ramping up” on Wednesday, indicating that the protest was ending.

15:55 | 31/ 05/ 2007 

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK (Far East), May 31 (RIA Novosti) – Russian energy giant Gazprom [RTS: GAZP] said it aims to become a major oil and gas producer and distributor on Sakhalin Island in Russia’s Far East. 

Alexander Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Gazprom management committee, said Thursday the company was interested in buying the entire gas output under the Sakhalin I project.

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

Shell and BP – merger and demerger? 

By Paddy Briggs    
 
The authoritative oil industry publication “Petroleum Intelligence Weekly” (PIW) has an article about a possible Shell/BP merger in its recent (28th May) edition.

http://royaldutchshellgroup.com/2007/05/31/energy-intelligence-group-inc-bp-shell-rumors-revive-concept-of-megamergers/

It points to the recent difficulties of both corporations and to the fact that a combined Shell/BP would have a market capitalisation of $465billion – almost identical to ExxonMobil’s £467billion. The PIW article says that the “portfolios of BP and Shell are considered quite complimentary”. read more

(Copyright © 2007 Energy Intelligence Group, Inc.)
Monday, May 28, 2007

Rumors of a possible tie-up between BP and Royal Dutch Shell have some analysts talking about a new era of megamergers, but is such a scenario plausible?

Roughly five years after the original round of megadeals, the supermajors find themselves struggling to grow output and replace reserves as a result of resource nationalism and limited upstream access. A new wave of consolidation might seem like the answer, but there would be major obstacles, most notably from politicians irate about record oil and gas prices and fearful they erred in clearing the last round of deals. read more

By BOBBY MAGILL The Daily Sentinel

Thursday, May 31, 2007

An exchange of more than 5,000 acres of land in northwest Colorado between the Colorado Division of Wildlife and Royal Dutch Shell is being hailed by the state as a victory for both hunters and wildlife.

Under the proposal, the DOW will deed 3,108 acres of land and water rights in the Piceance State Wildlife Area in Rio Blanco County to Shell. In exchange, the energy company will transfer to the DOW 1,800 acres between the two parcels of the Oak Ridge State Wildlife Area, which is east of Meeker near the Flat Tops. The transfer will connect the two parcels, increasing Oak Ridge’s size to about 11,100 acres, DOW spokesman Randy Hampton said. read more

By Tony Hopfinger

(Bloomberg) — Drilling plans by Royal Dutch Shell Plc and other oil companies in Alaska are drawing complaints from activists, fishermen and Eskimos at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Anchorage, Alaska.

Shell and the government haven’t prepared for spills in the Arctic, while exploration will disturb whale habitats, Betsy Goll, a spokeswoman for Alaska Wilderness League, said in a statement. The World Wildlife Fund is opposing U.S. plans to extend the exploration to Bristol Bay in southwestern Alaska by 2011, Margaret Williams, a fund director, told reporters yesterday. read more

By Angela Macdonald-Smith

May 31 (Bloomberg) — Construction cost increases are threatening Australia’s targeted expansion in liquefied natural gas supply, said Belinda Robinson, chief executive officer of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association.

The country’s aim to quadruple LNG output by 2017 is “becoming more obviously challenging” than 18 months ago when the goal was set, Robinson said today at the South East Asia Australia Offshore Conference in Darwin. read more

Published: May 31, 2007

Tankers

LACK of demand is pulling down all tanker markets, especially very large crude carrier rates, with little relief for owners in the short term, writes Martyn Wingrove.

Charter rates are falling for double hulled VLCCs as refinering companies drip-feed the market with inquiries and hold back on chartering tankers.

Good availability of tankers is helping charterers to push down the cost of ship-ping crude to their refineries, but owners will be wondering when demand will pick up. read more

WILLIAM NSOYOH
Published: May 31, 2007

Four American oil worker hostages seized weeks ago in Nigeria’s restive southern oil heartland were publicly handed over to authorities, as protesters cut exports from Africa’s top petroleum producer.

As journalists looked on Wednesday, a judge who mediated in the dispute escorted the four Chevron Corp subcontractors taken May 9 to the governor’s offices in southern Rivers State where they were handed over to authorities.

U.S. embassy officials were not immediately available for comment. read more

Shell sponsors children’s book launch to help famous writer rally support to address environmental issues

Published: May 31, 2007

DUBAI, May 30 (DubaiPhotoMedia): Shell, a leading player in the global energy and petrochemicals industry, has announced its sponsorship for the launch of a culturally and environmentally oriented children’s book as part of Shell’s commitment to promote the positive attributes of the UAE and help protect its natural resources.

Famous children’s author Julia Johnson tells of the different species of birds found in the region in a funny and fascinating way that appeals to children in ‘A Bird’s Eye View’, the newest addition to her collection of published books that focuses on the environment and the culture of the UAE. “Shell is delighted to be part of a noble project that informs, entertains and encourages children to actively participate in the protection of the different species of birds found in the country. read more

Published: May 31, 2007

TURNOVER at Irish Shell hit the 780m mark in the 11-month period before the company was bought out by private equity group Topaz.

Accounts just filed show that Shell’s forecourts racked up sales of 664m to the period ending November 29, 2005, while turnover for the firm’s bitumen and aviation business came in at almost 120m.

The accounts, which cover the period immediately before control of the forecourts passed to Topaz, note that the aviation and bitumen businesses were hived off for a consideration of 43m. read more

Published: May 31, 2007

A JUDGE yesterday visited the scene of the heated protests near the Corrib Gas terminal in Co Mayo.

Judge Mary Devins travelled to Bellanaboy to assess for herself the terrain along the roadway where, it is alleged, three local men assaulted and obstructed gardai last October.

Before Belmullet District Court are Patrick O’Donnell (49), his son Jonathan (21) and a 21-year-old neighbour, Enda Carey, all from Port Urlin, Ballina.

Patrick O’Donnell, a fisherman, is charged with assaulting and obstructing Sergeant Donal Glennon. Jonathan O’Donnell faces the same charges and a charge of assaulting Garda Barry Byrne, causing him harm. read more

EXTRACT: …as the Kremlin’s treatment of Yukos, Royal Dutch Shell and BP demonstrate, investors’ money to rebuild Russia is often welcomed, only for the rules to change later on.

Published: May 31 2007 03:00 | Last updated: May 31 2007 03:00

Russia’s recent economic and geopolitical resurgence belies some serious weaknesses at home. One is the country’s ageing electricity system. In his recent address to the Duma, President Vladimir Putin said that, up to 2020, the sector would need new investment of $460bn – equivalent to 34 per cent of Russia’s current, commodity-charged gross domestic product. read more

EXTRACT: Iran dismissed calls to suspend uranium enrichment on the eve of a vital meeting with the European Union, while protesters forced further disruption to oil production in Nigeria. Shell said 150,000 barrels a day of oil production had been halted after protesters stormed the Bomu pipeline complex, a major artery feeding the Bonny crude export terminal. This was the second attack in a month.

THE ARTICLE

By Chris Flood
Published: May 31 2007 03:00 | Last updated: May 31 2007 03:00

Crude prices remained choppy yesterday after a sharp fall in the previous session as traders wrestled with mixed news concerning oil supplies and ongoing geo-political concerns. read more

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 31, 2007
Filed at 12:28 a.m. ET

DALLAS (AP) — Exxon Mobil Corp. on Wednesday reiterated its position that creating far-reaching policies to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions is important but premature, even as some shareholders lambasted the oil giant for what they said was an irresponsible and even dangerous environmental stance.

Record profits aside, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company was criticized by a dozen or so of the 450 attending its annual shareholder meeting in a downtown symphony hall. In particular, a number of environmental-minded investors and shareholder activists asked the Irving-based company to set quantitative goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to commit to greater investment in renewable sources of energy. read more

EXTRACT: “If that makes us not Shell — well, based on my results, I’m kind of glad we’re not Shell,” he said, referring to competitor Royal Dutch Shell.

By REUTERS

DALLAS (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp. spent much of its annual meeting on Wednesday defending its environmental policy, but shareholders of the world’s largest company were more concerned with its executive pay and governance practices.

None of the 15 shareholder proposals that were up for approval at the annual meeting received 50 percent of the shareholder vote, but four dealing with pay and governance received at least 40 percent. read more

(Putin and his late critics the ex-K.G.B. agent Alexander Litvinenko and the journalists Paul Klebnikov and Anna Politkovskaya.)

EXTRACT: The Kremlin recently provided a particularly audacious example of how it sees its role as an “energy superpower”: Royal Dutch Shell, which had invested billions of dollars to develop the world’s largest oil-and-gas field, Sakhalin II, in the Russian Far East, was forced by the government to sell its controlling stake in the project. The company had endured a year of regulatory harassment—including ludicrous threats that the pipeline would not meet Russia’s environmental standards. The moment Shell surrendered to Gazprom, however, those environmental concerns vanished. And what was Shell’s response after its holding in the project was reduced from fifty-five per cent to twenty-five? “Thank you very much for your support,” the company’s chief executive, Jeroen van der Veer, told Putin at a meeting three weeks ago. “This was a historic occasion.” read more

Last Updated: 1:25am BST 31/05/2007

A round-up of headlines from across the financial sectors, provided by Bloomberg News

• BP’s John Manzoni stepped down as head of refining and will become president and chief executive officer of Canada’s Talisman Energy.

• Royal Dutch Shell and BG Group signed “natural-gas co-operation accords” with Libya, the North African nation’s state-run National Oil Corp said.

• Royal Dutch Shell agreed to sell its stakes in a power plant and pipelines in Bolivia and Brazil to Ashmore Energy International. read more

Wednesday May 30, 2007 9:46 PM

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) – Protesters besieged a major pipeline center feeding a Royal Dutch Shell PLC oil export terminal in Nigeria, forcing the company to suspend exports of 150,000 barrels a day, a company official said Wednesday.

The protesters tampered with some pipeline equipment and forced the shutdown of Shell’s Bomu Manifold center Monday in the Ogoni district of Nigeria’s southern oil region, said company spokesman Precious Okolobo.

“We had to defer export of 150,000 barrels per day,” Okolobo said. read more

Wednesday, May 30, 2007
By WILLIAM NSOYOH
Associated Press Writer

Four American oil workers abducted three weeks ago in Nigeria’s restive oil region were released Wednesday.

As journalists looked on, a judge who mediated in the matter escorted the four men to the governor’s office in southern Rivers State and turned them over to authorities. U.S. Embassy officials weren’t immediately available for comment.

The men’s identities were not released. Chevron Corp. reported May 9 only that the men had been seized when their work boat was stopped by gunmen armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. read more

Published: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 | 4:37 PM ET
Canadian Press: JOHN PORRETTO

DALLAS (AP) – Exxon Mobil Corp. on Wednesday reiterated its position that creating far-reaching policies to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions is important but premature, even as some shareholders lambasted the oil giant for what they said was an irresponsible and even dangerous environmental stance.

Record profits aside, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company was criticized by a dozen or so of the 450 attending its annual shareholder meeting in a downtown symphony hall. In particular, a number of environmental-minded investors and shareholder activists asked the Irving-based company to set quantitative goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to commit to greater investment in renewable sources of energy. read more

Wednesday, 30 May 2007

U.S. and Russian whalers and other Alaska Native leaders have spoken with the public regarding continued threats to their whaling traditions. The briefing addressed Native concerns in light of the Department of Interior’s (DOI) plan to open the oceans off Alaska to a barrage of new oil and gas development starting this summer.

Days before the International Whaling Commission’s annual meeting, whalers from across Alaska will talk about U.S. whaling interests and the threat oil and gas activities will pose to the remaining bowhead whale populations, upon which Alaska Native subsistence communities depend. read more

The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 30, 2007

LAGOS, Nigeria: Protesters besieged a major pipeline control center feeding a Royal Dutch Shell PLC oil export terminal in Nigeria, forcing the company to suspend exports of 150,000 barrels of crude oil a day, a company official said Wednesday.

Protesters from K-Dere in the Ogoni district of Nigeria’s southern oil region invaded the company’s Bomu Manifold on Monday, tampering with some pipeline equipment and forcing shutdown of the facility, Shell spokesman Precious Okolobo said. read more

Shareholder proposals up for vote today address emissions, renewables

May 30, 2007, 1:47AM
By KRISTEN HAYS
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

Pension fund angry over climate strategy Exxon Mobil Corp.’s reticence to invest in renewable and alternative energies beyond research in the short term could dominate its annual shareholder meeting today.

Shareholder proposals up for votes include investment in renewables and adopting goals on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Management opposes both as unprofitable or redundant, recommending shareholders reject them as they have similar proposals in past years. read more

From page A1
Wednesday 30 May 2007

“Government isn’t doing industry any favours by appearing to be so much in favour of development,” Severson-Baker said. “Government is partly to blame for industry’s poor image because they aren’t leading on those issues either.”

Rather than offer creative solutions to tough issues, Severson-Baker complained that industry captains are “very quick to threaten to leave” the country when confronted with sensitive topics.

When pressed to acknowledge one positive industry contribution, Severson-Baker pointed to Shell Canada’s efforts to reduce emissions from its oilsands operations. read more

Wed May 30, 2007 11:39 AM BST

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (Reuters) – Villagers sabotaged a major export pipeline in Nigeria for the second time this month and halted 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil production, Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday.

Community members stormed the Bomu pipeline complex, which is a major artery feeding the Bonny crude export terminal, prompting the partial shutdown of the Trans-Niger pipeline on Tuesday, a company spokesman said.

“Youths from the K-Dere community started to spoil the environment by opening some pressure indicator valves. Consequently, we had to shut in some of the oil production,” he said. read more

May 30, 2007, 1:48AM
By JOE CARROLL
Bloomberg News

Pension fund angry over climate strategy The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest public pension fund in the U.S., is seeking the removal of Exxon Mobil Corp. director Michael Boskin over the company’s strategy on climate change.

Calpers joined two dozen other institutional investors to oppose the reappointment of Boskin, who heads the board’s public issues committee, at Exxon Mobil’s annual meeting today in Dallas. read more

Published: Wednesday, 30 May, 2007, 08:26 AM Doha Time
 
TEHRAN/DUBAI: Iran expects to sign a multibillion- dollar agreement with a foreign partner next month to produce liquefied natural gas, or LNG, from the South Pars field, the world’s biggest gas reservoir.

“We’ve signed the draft contract with a foreign contractor and the main contract will be signed within the next month,” Ali Kheir-Andish, the project director, said yesterday on Shana, the oil ministry press agency, without providing the name of the foreign company. read more

By Joe Carroll
Bloomberg news
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.30.2007

Colorado and Utah have as much oil as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Nigeria, Kuwait, Libya, Angola, Algeria, Indonesia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates combined.

That’s not science fiction. Trapped in limestone up to 200 feet thick in the two Rocky Mountain states is enough so-called shale oil to rival OPEC and supply the U.S. for a century.

Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., the two biggest U.S. oil companies, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are spending $100 million a year testing methods to separate the oil from the stone for as little as $30 a barrel. read more

By Angela Macdonald-Smith

May 30 (Bloomberg) — ConocoPhillips, the second-biggest U.S. refiner, will today ship the first extra cargo from its Northern Australian liquefied natural gas venture in addition to its contracted deliveries.

The cargo, which is due to leave Darwin about 6 p.m. in the 135,000 cubic meter `LNG Pioneer’ tanker, will be delivered to the existing customers of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Tokyo Gas Co., Dirk Faveere, operations manager at the facility, said. One cargo is shipped about every six to seven days, he said.

“At the moment all our gas is contracted to those buyers if they can take it,” George Manning, Darwin area manager at ConocoPhillips, told reporters during a visit by Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation energy ministers to the plant. He said output at the plant was two cargoes ahead of schedule this year. read more

By Tony Hopfinger

May 30 (Bloomberg) — Drilling plans by Royal Dutch Shell Plc and other oil companies in Alaska are drawing complaints from activists, fishermen and Eskimos at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Anchorage, Alaska.

Shell and the government haven’t prepared for spills in the Arctic, while exploration will disturb whale habitats, Betsy Goll, a spokeswoman for Alaska Wilderness League, said in a statement. The World Wildlife Fund is opposing U.S. plans to extend the exploration to Bristol Bay in southwestern Alaska by 2011, Margaret Williams, a fund director, told reporters yesterday. read more

By CHIP CUMMINS
May 30, 2007; Page A10

LONDON — BP PLC and the Libyan government of Col. Moammar Gadhafi agreed to a $900 million natural-gas exploration deal that provides a boost to the British energy company’s new chief executive as he struggles to lead BP through a series of greater challenges in the U.S. and Russia.
 
The deal could be a way to increase BP’s reserve base as it and other big energy producers scramble to gain access to oil and gas reserves around the world. It also reopens a historic exploration frontier for BP, which left Libya in 1971 after Col. Gadhafi nationalized the company’s operations there. read more

Wednesday 30 May 2007

From Breaking Views

Russia’s stock market looks like a bargain among emerging markets. And it should benefit from stable but high oil prices. That is the argument of Credit Suisse emerging-market strategist Alexander Redman. But if the economics are promising, the politics are frightening.

The Russian market sells at 10.6 times expected 2007 earnings, 22% below the average of all emerging markets, although above the nine-year Russian average of 8.2 times. When oil was less expensive, Russia looked a loss less promising. read more

Refineries shut and three quit spot market, writes Jamie Dale, Lloyds List
Published: May 30, 2007

DURBAN’S bunker market has been left dry with refinery shutdowns and all three local suppliers withdrawing from the spot market.

Shell, BP and Engen have stopped supplying the spot market as Durban prepares for the next round of refinery maintenance, with Engen due to shut down from June 4 to July 6.

The market has been aware of Engen’s intention to stop supplying ahead of its downtime, with the facility not expected to resume spot supply until mid-July. read more