June 14th, 2007:

By SPENCER SWARTZ
June 14, 2007 12:59 p.m.

LONDON — Royal Dutch Shell PLC is looking to cut at least $100 million in its Nigerian operations in the next few years to offset rising costs and prolonged and substantial oil revenue losses caused by security-related production curtailments, people familiar with the matter said.

The move appears to be a sign that Shell, Nigeria’s biggest foreign producer, is positioning itself for a period of continuing strife and production problems in the country. read more

Scientists challenge major review of global reserves and warn that supplies will start to run out in four years’ time

By Daniel Howden
Published: 14 June 2007

Scientists have criticised a major review of the world’s remaining oil reserves, warning that the end of oil is coming sooner than governments and oil companies are prepared to admit.

BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy, published yesterday, appears to show that the world still has enough “proven” reserves to provide 40 years of consumption at current rates. The assessment, based on officially reported figures, has once again pushed back the estimate of when the world will run dry. read more

Barry FitzGerald
Friday June 15, 2007

WOODSIDE shares have raced to an 11-month high in response to speculation that it could merge with London-based BG Group, creating a $90 billion global gas giant.

While firmer oil prices and yesterday’s broadly based bounce in equity markets helped, it was the speculation on the possibility of a merger with BG that fuelled the $1.84, or 4.3 per cent, rise for Woodside to $44.52 a share, valuing the Perth-based group at $30 billion.

The jump in share price came despite the broker’s report that triggered the speculation emphasising that it was looking at the merits of a merger between the two companies as a concept only. read more

14 June 2007 

On June 12 a Mr Dave Stroop posted comments relating to the Brent Bravo tragedy and in regard to former Royal Dutch Shell Group Audior, Mr Bill Campbell. Mr Campbell has now provided a response to the comments. The discussion is timely in view of the related comments published today by Dow Jones Newswires…

Dow Jones Newswires: 2nd UPDATE: Shell, Esso To Sell Selected UK North Sea Assets

We understand that Shell have already been served with two improvement notices this year by the Health & Safety Executive, one for Clipper, the other for Dunlin, bringing the total from the 1999 audit up to this day to 51. read more

(The Murdoch gas platform in the North sea is seen in this file photo on January 11, 2007. Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil Corp. have put North Sea oil and gas fields with around 74,000 barrels per day of production up for sale, as the oil majors reduce their involvement in the mature oil province. REUTERS/ConocoPhillips/Handout)

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil Corp. have put North Sea oil and gas fields with around 74,000 barrels per day of production up for sale, as the oil majors reduce their involvement in the mature oil province. read more

June 14, 2007: 08:13 AM EST

(This updates an item that ran at 1057 GMT, adding details on asset sale to Fairfield.)

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) and Exxon Mobil Corp. ( XOM) unit Esso Thursday have put up for sale selected assets in the U.K. North Sea and entered exclusive negotiations to offload their Dunlin fields interests to U.K. oil company Fairfield Energy Ltd.

The sale process comes as the North Sea oil-producing region is hit by depleting reserves, high costs and aging facilities. read more

By Clif Burns

Threats by the United States to impose new sanctions against Iran include threats to take the Iran Sanctions Act out of mothballs and to start imposing sanctions authorized by that act against foreign companies investing in Iran’s petroleum sector. According to this report from the BBC:  Oil firms may face fines and other penalties if they sign deals to develop Iranian reserves of oil and gas, a State Department source told the BBC. Nicholas Burns, one of the most senior officials at the State Department, has a blunt message for energy companies considering Iranian deals. “We have been going round to the major oil and gas firms to let them know that this law [the Iranian Sanctions Act] exists and that we implement it if they cross the line,” he said.   read more

Port Harcourt, Nigeria 06/14 – Amid rising insecurity in Nigeria`s oil-rich Niger Delta, the Nigerian subsidiary of the Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell has offered to assist any of its expatriates willing to leave the region.

Spokesman for the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), Precious Okologbo, said at a media forum in the oil city of Port Harcourt Wednesday, the company was aware of a directive by the British government to its nationals to leave three states in the Niger Delta because of continuing kidnapping of expatriate workers. read more

06.14.07, 7:39 AM ET
 
VIENNA (Thomson Financial) – The US government said that OMV AG could face possible US sanctions in the event that the company’s preliminary dealings with Iran over the development of the South Pars gas field should lead to significant investments.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told a press briefing that the US has informed both OMV and the Austrian government that the US’s Iran Sanctions Act could lead the country to look into the possibility of applying sanctions against any company that invests more than 20 mln usd in one year in Iran’s oil and gas sector. read more

By Bunny Nooryani

June 14 (Bloomberg) — Denmark, Europe’s third-largest oil- producing nation, expects its oil output to drop 15 percent by the end of the decade as supplies dry up at aging North Sea fields.

Oil production will decline from an estimated 327,000 barrels a day this year, the Danish Energy Authority said in a report on its Web site. The country’s natural-gas output will decrease 7.7 percent to 8.4 billion standard cubic meters in 2010, from an estimated 9.1 billion cubic meters this year. read more

By Fred Pals

June 14 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc and the U.K. unit of Exxon Mobil Corp. said they will sell stakes in North Sea assets because of high operational costs.

The assets up for sale include drilling rigs and production licenses and infrastructure, the companies said in a joint statement sent by e-mail today.

Shell’s production in the North Sea will be reduced by about 25,000 to 30,000 barrels a day of oil equivalent after the sale, almost 10 percent of its total output from the region. read more

June 14, 2007: 07:12 AM EST

(This updates an item that ran at 0909 GMT, adding background on Shell, ExxonMobil asset sales and Shell North Sea safety issues.)

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) and Exxon Mobil Corp. ( XOM) unit Esso Thursday said they had put up for sale selected assets in the U.K. North Sea, an oil-producing region hit by depleting reserves, high costs and aging facilities.

The sale proposal comes after ExxonMobil confirmed last month it was offering equity in other North Sea assets, jointly owned with Shell. read more

(Included in the sale are interests in the Tern oilfield)
 
Shell and Esso have announced they are putting their joint interests in a number of North Sea oilfields up for sale. These include the Cormorant Alpha and Cormorant North, Tern, Eider, Kestrel and Pelican fields.

Shell said “many” of its 400 onshore and offshore staff who are affected are expected to transfer to the new buyers.

A planned expansion of its Aberdeen operational headquarters has been abandoned as a result of the decision. read more

LONDON (Thomson Financial) – Royal Dutch Shell PLC and ExxonMobil Corp unit Esso Exploration and Production Ltd will be selling some of their North Sea assets, Shell said in a statement.

Shell said the planned sale will impact 25,000-30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of its production, or less than 10 pct of its UK output of 350,000 boepd.

The pair will be selling their interests in Cormorant Alpha, Cormorant North, Tern, Eider, Kestrel and Pelican, as well as in Otter and Hudson. They will also dispose of their stakes in the acreage, production licences and associated infrastructure in Quadrants 210 and 211. read more

Thursday, June 14, 2007 12:39:32 pm
 
ONGC Videsh is likely to acquire 33 per cent stake in Shell near Egypt. 

ONGC’S foreign arm ONGC Videsh is all set to acquire a 33 per cent stake in Shell’s high-prospect deep water block in the Northeast Mediterranean region near Egypt. OVL will require the union cabinet’s nod to go ahead with the investment of $380 million to pick up the stake.

The Egypt block has estimated gas reserves of around 14 trillion cubic feet (tcf). The size is stated to be approximately the same as Reliance’s approved gas find in the KG Basin and production is expected to begin by 2012. The block is currently held by Shell (84%) and Petronas of Malaysia (16%).  
 
http://www.timesnow.tv/OVL_eyes_Shell_block/articleshow/2122263.cms read more

Posted : Thu, 14 Jun 2007 01:12:00GMT
 
PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, June 13 At least 25 Nigerian oil workers were kidnapped when militants attacked a military convoy.

The workers were abducted while being transported by the military to oil and gas installations, Nigeria’s Guardian newspaper reported Wednesday. They reportedly were subcontractors for a joint venture including, Royal Dutch Shell, the largest foreign oil operation in the West African country.

A military spokesman said five people were killed in the attack by an armed group claiming to be militants. Nigeria’s most prominent militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, has denied responsibility for the attack, according to Nigerian media reports. read more

EXTRACTS: Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to pay more than $400 million to foreign investors in a settlement class action in the Netherlands in the hopes of escaping a global class action in the United States.

…in the Royal Dutch Shell case, the critical accounting decisions were reached outside the United States, but the plaintiffs stressed that they were explained to securities analysts within the United States. If this suffices to satisfy the conduct test, then most foreign corporations will be subject to a global class action. read more

Amid Legacy Of Corrupt Regimes, Ogonis Use Crude As A Bargaining Chip

June 14, 2007

By EDWARD HARRIS, Associated Press:  Protests against oil companies began here in Ogoniland, 500 square miles of oil-rich land. When villagers drove out the oil companies, that brought relative peace – but not prosperity – because there are no oil company payments to fight over. Similarly, the democratic experiment that has emboldened militants elsewhere in southern Nigeria has brought new liberties, but no framework for the peaceful resolution of grievances. read more

By Jonathan Guthrie, Enterprise Editor
Published: June 14 2007 03:00 | Last updated: June 14 2007 03:00

The League of Adventurists, an organiser of quirky travel “experiences”, has won the Shell LIVEwire Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, one of the best-known UK contests forprecocious wealth creators.

The business exploits a growing taste for unusual journeys while raising money for charity. Its trips have included a rally across India in auto rickshaws.

Previous award winners have included glassesdirect.co.uk, an online spectacles retailer, and Cyclepods, creator of an improbably stylish bike shed. read more

By Shane Hickey and Tom Shiel
Wednesday June 13 2007

EIGHT alternative routes for the Corrib Gas pipeline were outlined yesterday.

The move is intended to break the deadlock in the ongoing dispute about the routing of the controversial pipeline.

Yesterday consultants RPS, which is employed by the partners behind the pipeline, outlined the eight new routes for the line, four of which are in the Rossport area and four from different start points.

The new routes will now go to public consultation with a more defined shortlist to be drawn up next month. However, even before the routes were announced, opponents said it was going to be extremely difficult to see how the situation could be resolved. read more

STAKES IN IRAN
 
•  What’s New: Fifteen statehouses are weighing bills that would force public pension plans to bail out of companies doing business in Iran.
 
•  What’s at Stake: The nation’s public pension funds hold more than $1 trillion in assets.
 
•  What It Means: The legislative movement has sparked debate over the role local governments should play in guiding U.S. policy and in directing the investment of public pension funds.  
 
MAIN ARTICLE 

In Ohio, Rep. Mandel
Pushes for Pullout;
White House Opposed
By NEIL KING JR.
June 14, 2007; Page A1 read more