May 16th, 2007:

Kerri-Ann Hobbs
Thursday 17 May 2007

FEDERAL Water Minister Malcolm Turnbull remains reluctant to give $20 million to Corio’s water recycling plant without a commitment to the region from Shell Australia.

“Unlike Labor, the (Federal) Government has not rushed to commit funding without fully taking into account all of the circumstances and the best interests of the Geelong community,” a spokesman for Mr Turnbull said.

“The Australian Government will continue to properly and fully consider this issue in the best interests of the Geelong community.” read more

Published: May 16 2007 12:39 | Last updated: May 16 2007 12:39

They run some of the world’s largest listed companies. Their products are indispensable in modern society. They hob-nob with world leaders on a regular basis, discussing geopolitics and climate change. Sadly, this is not enough to get their share prices moving.

Energy and mining chief executives have a problem. Despite high commodities prices and record cash flows, their stocks have suffered the worst de-rating of earnings multiples of any sector barring technology since 2003. It is a particular problem for the sector’s big boys – those with market capitalisations above $100bn, such as BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Rio Tinto. Maintaining growth is a struggle. Meanwhile, an equity market hungry for mergers and acquisitions is focused on mid-cap stocks and investors seem unwilling to buy into the notion of a commodities supercycle. read more

Analyst: Russia’s energy policy geared to make Gazprom global champion

By Aude Lagorce, MarketWatch
Last Update: 7:40 AM ET May 16, 2007

LONDON (MarketWatch) — When Tony Blair steps down as British prime minister in June, no one knows where his ambition will take him.

There seems to be less uncertainty for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who’s believed to have long been planning his next career move.

“The position of CEO in a multinational oil and gas corporation with a big Russian state’s stake is what Putin wants,” said Konstantin Simonov, general director of the National Energy Security Fund in Russia and an expert on Russian political and business elites. He was speaking at a conference on energy security in London’s Chatham House on Tuesday. read more

By Grant Smith and Eduard Gismatullin

May 16 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil fell amid reports that protesters in Nigeria plan to end their occupation of a facility run by Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

The protesters will let Shell re-open the facility and restore lost production amounting to 170,000 barrels a day, the Reuters news agency reported. Shell’s Nigerian venture, which will delay cargoes this month and next because of the incident, has lost about 500,000 barrels a day since last year because of rebel attacks. read more

May 16, 2007
By BOB OKON Staff writer

JOLIET — Business was slow at Jay Gandhi’s Shell station Tuesday morning — the day of a grass-roots national boycott of gasoline by motorists.

Gandhi, however, thought business at the pumps was more affected by price — $3.529 a gallon at that time at the Shell at Larkin Avenue and McDonough Street — than the boycott.

“Because the price goes up, our sales are going to go down anyway,” Gandhi said.

Stations elsewhere with lower prices were busier on the boycott day, word of which had been spread over the Internet, even as gas prices reached record highs in the Chicago region, Illinois and nation. read more

Wed May 16, 2007 11:20 AM BST

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil fell to $68 on Wednesday, unwinding earlier gains after Nigerian protesters ended their occupation of an oil hub in the world’s eighth biggest exporter.

The sit-in by villagers had forced operator Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) to cut production by another 170,000 barrels per day. Militant attacks have shut nearly 900,000 bpd, or 30 percent of supply capacity, from Africa’s biggest oil producer.

At 1003 GMT London Brent crude , currently more representative of the global oil market than U.S. oil, was down 11 cents at $68.00 a barrel after jumping almost 2 percent on Tuesday and hitting a session high of $68.54 on Wednesday. read more

Wednesday, May 16, 2007 :: infoZine Staff :: page views

(Dear EarthTalk: Did Exxon/Mobil really pay scientists and economists to write articles trying to de-bunk global warming? — Rosemary R., via e-mail)

Westport, CT – E/The Environmental Magazine – infoZine – A February 2007 report in the British newspaper, The Guardian, fell like a ton of bricks on efforts by ExxonMobil, the world’s largest and most profitable oil company, to repair its damaged environmental reputation. According to the report, the Exxon-financed American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a conservative Washington, D.C. “think tank,” offered scientists and economists $10,000 each, plus expenses, to write articles undercutting the dire findings of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) about the extent and impacts of human-caused global warming. read more

16/05/2007 10:18  – (SA)   

Yenagoa, Nigeria – Unknown attackers destroyed the country home of Nigeria’s vice president-elect, Goodluck Jonathan, with dynamite on Wednesday and blew up a nearby police station, killing one officer, officials said.

The attacks came before dawn in oil-rich southern Bayelsa state, where Jonathan is currently governor, said the region’s police chief, Julian Okpalake.

He said there were no immediate reports of casualties in the attack on Jonathan’s home, which is not his primary residence. read more

Sam Fleming,
16 May 2007

Royal Dutch Shell was lashed by scathing shareholder criticism over its troubled Nigerian operations after suffering yet another hit to production.
 
Exploration chief Malcolm Brinded admitted at the firm’s annual general meeting to ‘immense challenges’ in the Niger Delta, where the security situation has deteriorated so dramatically that Shell can’t even quantify how much crude it is leaking into the wetland.

Widespread insurgent attacks forced Shell to shut in an average 477,000 barrels a day last year. Yesterday villagers occupied a major oil pipeline hub feeding the Bonny export terminal, hitting another 170,000 barrels a day of capacity. read more

(Mr Jonathan will become vice-president in two weeks time)

16 May 2007

Militants have attacked the country residence of the Vice-President-elect Goodluck Jonathan, in the oil-rich Niger Delta in a dawn speedboat attack.

Police says the house in Bayelsa State, where Mr Jonathan is currently governor, was partially destroyed.

The attackers also blew up a nearby police station. Two policemen died in the raid.

No group has claimed responsibility so far for the attack. Mr Jonathan was not in the house at the time, say sources. read more

By David Elliott
Last Update: 4:22 AM ET May 16, 2007

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s Nigerian joint venture has called a force majeure on oil exports from the Bonny Light field in Nigeria in the wake of an attack on an oil facility.

Shell spokesman in London Adam Nugent said Wednesday the force majeure came into effect at 1700 GMT Tuesday and will affect May and June loadings.

Production from the field was cut by 170,000 barrels a day after the occupation of the Bomu manifold, a pipeline valve on the trans-Nigerian pipeline in Ogoniland, southern Nigeria. read more

Wednesday, May 16th 2007
 
The Bartica Neighbourhood Democratic Council said it is grateful to the Shell Gas Station for donating garbage bins to the community to help with its tourism activities.

According to a press release from the Bartica Regional Democratic Council, the Shell station, at Camp and New Market streets, donated 12 bins to be used to help to promote and maintain cleanliness in this tourist spot.

Chairman Gerald Joseph said he is grateful to the station’s proprietor Christopher Callender for the donation. Lashley Gomes, a member of the Bartica Policing Group and Overseer Carol George also witnessed the donation. The bins will be placed along First Avenue.  read more

by GD Wednesday, May 16 2007, 9:42am

Day of Action – They deserve it and you deserve better

On the 18th of May Dublin Shell to Sea is going to escalate its campaign against Shell’s command centre – Corrib house on Leeson Street with another day of action starting at 7.30 am sharp. This attempt to shut down Shell’s HQ, like our last day of action (http://www.indymedia.ie/article/82200), is being called to highlight the incredible theft of our natural resources that totals 51 billion euros in the Corrib field alone. This is only possible with your help; we encourage everyone to come along. read more

By Emiliya (edited by) Mychasuk
Published: May 16 2007 03:00 | Last updated: May 16 2007 03:00

If Jorma Ollila wanted to spend all his time travelling to the hot spots for Royal Dutch Shell’s operation he might never make it back to his home townof Helsinki.

He was issued with several invitations from shareholders and lobby groups at his first meeting as chairman of Royal Dutch Shell yesterday, held at the Circustheater at The Hague, at the same time as being linked to the London meeting in the less glamorous Novotel in Hammersmith, complete with translation devices on every seat and a smart-card voting system. read more

EXTRACT: Separately, protesters occupied an oil facility in southern Nigeria, forcing daily production cuts of 170,000 barrels per day, Royal Dutch Shell, the company hardest hit by this latest shutdown, said.

Published: May 16, 2007

SINGAPORE (XFN-ASIA) – Oil prices were lower in Asian trade as the market looked ahead to an expected easing of tight gasoline supplies in a weekly US energy inventory report, dealers said.

At 11.20 am (0320 GMT), New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, was down 15 cents at 63.02 usd a barrel after closing up 71 cents at 63.17 usd in US trading overnight. read more

Published: May 16, 2007

A former Shell employee (executive secretary) of 37 years who did not want to be identified but is a registered shareholder said: “Jobs are very important and Shell is a huge employer all over the world. It will bring hundreds of jobs to Ireland. But people should never have to move their homes because of a project.”

Female shareholder: “I thought it very sad that a community can be so divided; I have never been to Ireland but I hear it’s a lovely country. The Irishman who went to jail made me feel a little ashamed as a shareholder.” read more

Isabel Conway in The Hague
Published: May 16, 2007

The site of the proposed Corrib gas refinery near Rossport in Co Mayo, the focus of a bitter dispute for years, will not be moved, Malcolm Brinded, the Royal Dutch Shell executive in charge of exploration and production, told the annual general meeting of the company yesterday.

He told hundreds of Dutch shareholders that the Corrib gas project would be realised. Shell had satisfied all regulatory requirements and the project was very important for Co Mayo and Ireland, creating employment and enabling self-sufficiency by meeting 60 per cent of future Irish gas demand. read more

Siberian Crude Offers
New Source of Output;
Costly, Tough Projects
By GREG WALTERS
May 16, 2007

VANKOR, Russia — Russia is scrambling to unlock the vast oil wealth of East Siberia to keep crude output in the world’s largest oil producer from falling. To succeed, Russian companies will need deep pockets.

High oil prices have helped Russian oil companies post record profits in recent years. But as output growth from Russia’s main oilfields in western Siberia begins to slow, the country’s oil giants are pushing eastward to tap new resources under some of the world’s most forbidding terrain. read more

16 May 2007

Natural resources officials have drafted amendments which would restrict foreigners’ access to Russian strategic oil and gas fields. The amendments are to be discussed at the government in May or June. The Natural Resources Ministry brushes aside fears and criticism, saying that the new bill will restrict only the re-sale of strategic deposits.

Unofficial sources report that the Federal Guard Service has put up strong opposition to a bill on natural resource and is pushing for more fields to be named strategic. read more

Terry Macalister
Wednesday May 16, 2007

Shell came under fire at its annual meeting yesterday from environmental campaigners who accused it of peddling “shameful, absurd and misleading” adverts about its green credentials and of presiding over a growing number of oil spills and defying court orders to halt gas flaring in Nigeria.

The Dutch arm of Friends of the Earth (FoE) said that Shell had taken out a series of adverts that presented the company as a leader in renewable energy and one that was tackling carbon output from refineries by using it to grow flowers in nurseries. read more

EXTRACT: Lord Browne told a lie about his private life and was forced to step down from the boards at BP and Goldman Sachs. His erstwhile rival, Sir Philip Watts, Shell’s chief executive, resigned in 2004 after the company admitted that its oil reserves had been overstated. Each felt hard done by…

THE ARTICLE

By Jeff Randall
Last Updated: 1:45am BST 16/05/2007

Ever since the scandals at Enron and WorldCom, company directors, especially those in the United States, have come under much greater scrutiny. And it’s not just shareholders who are turning up the heat. read more