Posts on ‘June 18th, 2007’

NEW YORK PENSION FUND LINKED TO TERRORIST STATES, REPORT SAYS

EXTRACT: That number represents 16% of New York State’s total equity assets invested in companies with ties to terrorist states, which include well known conglomerates like the Chevron Corporation ($537,599,794), Coca-Cola ($349,280,545), Royal Dutch Shell ($209,991,294), and Haliburton ($192,237,198).

(The following is a reformatted version of a press release issued by New York State Sen. Jeff Klein, obtained from www.nyssenate34.com.) read more

By Mark Shenk

June 18 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil in New York approached $70 a barrel for first time since September after Nigerian unions planned a strike this week, threatening supplies from Africa’s biggest oil producer.

Oil production is likely to be affected during the strike as Nigeria’s two main oil unions plan to participate, a labor leader said. Nigeria produces low-sulfur, or sweet, crude oil, prized by U.S. refiners because of the high proportion of gasoline it yields. New York oil reached a record $78.40 a barrel on July 14 on concern that Middle East unrest would cut oil shipments. read more

By MARK H. ANDERSON
June 18, 2007 12:46 p.m.

Also Monday, the court rejected a case that deals with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s power to deal with wholesale electricity refunds stemming from inflated power prices during the 2000-2001 California energy crisis.

Several companies have challenged a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, San Francisco, that said FERC had broader authority than it was exercising to order refunds under the Federal Power Act. The Ninth Circuit ruling came in a proceeding initiated by California in the state’s bid to recover funds from inflated electricity prices during the crisis. The companies appealing the Ninth Circuit decision include units of Royal Dutch Shell PLC, AES Corp., PPL Corp., PNM Resources Inc., Sempra Energy and Portland General Electric Co.. read more

Royal Dutch Shell owns 30% of Woodside Petroleum and tries to take the company over from time to time. Like Shell, Woodside has a problem with dodgy management and leaked emails. These ones make an interesting amusing read. They were kindly supplied by a Shell insider.

ARTICLE FROM BRW Magazine: Thursday 10 May 2007

THE MANAGEMENT 0F WO0DSIDE PETROLEUM IS UNDER INCREASING PRESSURE TO PUT ASIDE INTERNAL BICKERING AND GET BACK TO WHAT IT SHOULD BE DOING – CASHING IN ON THE BOOM.

STORY BY DAMON FRITH    read more

Loukas Christodoulou

Since 1957 mergers have created the present titans of the EU – building on the private companies, mutual associations and state-owned companies of the past. These megacorps now wield enormous influence over the daily life of Europeans, as well as extending their influence worldwide.

The biggest corporations in Europe, by revenue*

1) Shell Oil ($306.7 billion), British-Dutch. The world’s second biggest oil company, and in fact the world’s second biggest company by revenue, no surprise that this multinational is the EU’s biggest company.
1957: Shell was supplying the novel car and civilian aviation industries with fuel, pumping oil from 300 wells, mostly in the Gulf, and had just started selling petrol, prompting a huge advertising campaign and the beginning of the Shell brand as we know it. read more

By Fred Pals

June 18 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp. will tell a court tomorrow why they should be allowed to keep pumping natural gas from a Dutch wetlands area, a plan opposed by some residents and environment groups.

Final arguments in the case start at 10:30 a.m. at the Council of State in The Hague, said Council spokesman Pieter-Bas Beekman. The four groups opposing the project say they are seeking to halt production, or at the least, place new controls on pumping. read more

By Adam L. Freeman

June 18 (Bloomberg) — Eni SpA, Italy’s biggest oil company, said armed militants attacked one of its flowstations in Nigeria yesterday, leaving 27 people unaccounted for.

Eight out of 24 workers and 40 of 51 soldiers managed to escape the attack at the Ogbainbiri facility, Rome-based Eni said today in a statement posted on its Web site. The company couldn’t say if the missing people had been kidnapped, according to a spokesman who declined to be named. Eni said it knew of no casualties at the station. read more

Monday, June 18, 2007
GLOUCESTER TWP.

Police are looking for a man who drove off without paying for gas at 5:17 a.m. Sunday at the Shell station at 585 Berlin-Cross Keys Road.

The man was reportedly bitten in the left arm or hand area by the gas station attendant, who was not hurt, after he placed the attendant in a bear hug and stole in excess of $1,000 from him.

The suspect is described as a black man in his 30s with a medium to large build, approximately 6-feet tall with an unshaven complexion. He was driving a dark-colored sport utility vehicle or truck. read more

By Alex Wilson
Last Update: 5:26 AM ET Jun 18, 2007

MELBOURNE (MarketWatch) — Any fresh takeover bid by Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) for Australian oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL.AU) would face stiff regulatory and price hurdles, analysts said Monday.

Shell’s 2001 takeover bid for Woodside was thwarted by Australian Treasurer Peter Costello and the Foreign Investment Review Board on national interest grounds.
The oil and gas major retains a 34% stake in Woodside and has in recent months conducted studies into the feasibility of a fresh bid, people familiar with the matter said. read more

Monday, June 18, 2007

INSTEAD of embarking on a full expansion of their processing plant, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. (PSPC), one of the oil giants operating in the country, has opted to upgrade its existing capacity.

“It is not in the same scale with that of an expanded refinery that they were looking at before. But they will have to upgrade the refinery. It will still be a multibillion-peso project however,” said Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla.

Lotilla said the upgrading project was initially estimated to reach P15 billion and the study would be completed by September of this year. read more

By Abigail L. Ho
Published: Jun 18, 2007

PILIPINAS SHELL PETROLEUM CORP. is expected to spend about P15 billion to upgrade its existing refinery to pave the way for an in-country production of Clean Air Act-compliant fuels.

An industry source said the amount needed for the refinery upgrade should be at about the same level as that spent by Petron Corp. for its own refinery upgrading project.

Two years ago, Petron inaugurated its new facilities at its Bataan refinery worth $100 million. These made the oil company the first in the country to be able to produce its own Clean Air Act-compliant fuels. read more

EXTRACT: So it was to Hong Kong, a couple of weeks ago, where delegates to the BIMCO General Meeting were treated to a whole day of presentations of the Shell Global Scenarios, which is a concept devised by the oil company to better inform itself about a range of options for the future. Shell International’s chief political analyst Cho Khong was our mentor and principal seer in this look into the future, assisted by Sarah Ward and Angela Wilkinson who research into the future at the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilisation at Oxford University. read more

Published: Jun 18, 2007

Madam, – Your Editorial of June 13th on the Corrib project is unfortunately beset by factual inaccuracies as well as a rather skewed analysis of the opposition to the project in its current form. I would like to address the Editorial’s claim that the results of the general election somehow show a lack of support for the Shell to Sea campaign.

It should not be necessary to point out that the election was not a referendum on the Corrib issue. Moreover, I fail to see how you can divine the electorate’s view (or more correctly, the view of that percentage who bothered to vote) on a single issue from something as complex as the results of a general election. read more

Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent
Published: Jun 18, 2007

Shell to Sea campaigners in north Mayo say that the appointment of a Green Party energy minister offers a new opportunity to resolve the Corrib gas dispute.

In a related development, the Department of Transport says that a vessel hired for Shell E&P Ireland’s planned survey of Sruwaddaccon Bay cannot undertake the work until it is passed by its marine survey office.

The marine survey on finding an alternative pipeline route was due to start last week. read more

EXTRACT: This is another management technique that Idris has brought over from Shell where he had served in various capacities since 1982.

Monday June 18, 2007

Having reduced Malaysia Airlines’ losses tremendously in the past six months, managing director Datuk Idris Jala is now focusing on inspiring the more than 19,000 staff members by coming out with a new human resources development

By WONG SAI WAN

KUALA LUMPUR:: THERE is a line in Hotel California, the famous song by the Eagles, which goes “You can check-out anytime you like but you can never leave” and this has become the theme for Datuk Idris Jala when giving out tasks to his staff. read more

By Joe Leahy
Published: June 18 2007 04:50 | Last updated: June 18 2007 04:50

Every year the Indian government invites global oil companies to bid for exploration blocks in a process called Nelp – the New Exploration Licensing Policy.

This year, Nelp, which is expected to kick off in the coming months, is in danger of being overshadowed by disputes embroiling foreign and domestic operators, particularly one involving the country’s only major foreign onshore operator, Cairn India.

India imports more than two-thirds of its oil needs – a figure expected to rise if the country’s economy continues to grow at its current rate of more than 8 per cent a year. read more

By Lina Saigol
Published: June 18 2007 03:00 | Last updated: June 18 2007 03:00

Gazprom is playing a twisted psychological game with the UK’s energy companies.

Almost exactly a year ago, the Russian gas monopoly said it was “analysing and reviewing” a bid for Centrica, the UK’s biggest gas supplier.

Centrica’s shares rose 25 per cent to an all-time high. Days later, Gazprom said that its comments had been misinterpreted, even though they came straight from the mouth of Alexander Shkuta, deputy general director. read more

Auto Makers Fight
Proposed Targets;
Coal Seeks Tax Cut
By JOHN J. FIALKA
June 18, 2007; Page A8

WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic leaders face two floor fights this week over their energy bill, one led by auto makers that want to weaken proposed fuel efficiency standards and another pushed by the coal industry for tax incentives to make diesel fuel from coal.

Tomorrow, the Senate Finance Committee will decide another touchy issue: the cost of the tax provisions in the bill, which is intended to curb gasoline consumption and push cleaner fuels. read more

EXTRACT: Royal Dutch Shell and other big companies hope to be big players in coal-based liquid fuels.

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Published: June 18, 2007

WASHINGTON, June 16 — Senate Democrats are seeking a major reversal of energy tax policies that would take billions of dollars in tax breaks and other benefits from the oil industry to underwrite renewable fuels.

The tax increases would reverse incentives passed as recently as three years ago to increase domestic exploration and production of oil and gas. The change reflects a shift from the Republican focus on expanding oil production to the Democratic concern about reducing global warming. read more

By DON PHILLIPS
Published: June 18, 2007

The United States Air Force has decided to push development of a new type of fuel to power its bombers and fighters, mixing conventional jet fuel with fuels from nonpetroleum sources that could eventually limit military dependence on imported oil.

The decision will open a contest between fuel refiners and other companies to produce a jet fuel composed of no more than 50 percent petroleum. The plan is to be announced at the Paris Air Show by the secretary of the Air Force, Michael W. Wynne; the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, Marion C. Blakey; and other American officials. read more

06.18.07, 2:43 AM ET

MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) – Global oil giants including Shell, Exxon and Chevron are eying a 20-25 pct stake in India’s Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) overseas oil and gas assets, reported the Hindustan Times.

RIL recently hived off these assets into a separate company, Reliance Exploration and Production DMCC. The newspaper quoted unnamed industry sources as saying that an internal team from RIL is working on a plan to sell the stake to a strategic foreign player. read more

Monday, Jun 18, 2007

In a bid to establish a common platform for partnership with stakeholders in the Development of the Niger Delta region, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, has called for a strategic and sustained collaboration with the faith-based organisation in the state.

SPDC External Affairs Director, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, who made the call last Thursday in Port Harcourt during a seminar for Faith-Based Organisations, emphasized the need for such partnership which she said is geared towards accelerating sustainable development, prosperity and peaceful co-existence of the company and host communities in the region. read more

Sunday, June 17, 2007
 
Commenting on the announcement by Shell UK Limited that it intends, along with Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited, to market a portfolio of their northern North Sea assets, Oil & Gas UK, the representative organisation for the UK offshore oil and gas industry, said that the move was a positive one for the North Sea.

Mike Tholen, Oil & Gas UKs economic and commercial director, said: The transfer of assets will undoubtedly attract new investment and enhance ultimate recovery of oil and gas from those fields which is in the interests of all stakeholders in the North Sea. read more

By Alena Mae S. Flores

Royal Dutch Shell Group, the parent company of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., plans to pursue a P15-billion upgrading of its oil refinery in Tabangao, Batangas province to comply with the Clean Air Act, an industry source said over the weekend.

“It is not in the same scale with that of an expanded refinery that it was looking at before. But it will have to upgrade the refinery. It will be a multi-billion peso investment or around P15 billion, because it needs to meet the sulfur and aromatic content requirements prescribed in the Clean Air Act,” the source said. read more