June 25th, 2007:

EXTRACT: The two groups are keen to build on their joint investigation into Shell in 2004, which led each to fine the oil company for dramatically overstating its hydrocarbon reserves.

June 26, 2007
Tom Bawden in Washington

Financial regulators on both sides of the Atlantic plan to collaborate more closely to create a united front against insider trading, as the growth of cross-border deals and innovations in technology transform corporate fraud into a global business.

Linda Thomsen, head of enforcement at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), told The Times that she was concerned by the growing confluence of hedge funds, private equity firms and investment banks as mergers and acquisitions became increasingly complex international transactions involving multiple parties. read more

Terry Macalister
Tuesday June 26, 2007

The major oil companies have been trumpeting their involvement in biofuels while warning that it will not be possible to meet rising world energy demand without fossil fuels well into the middle of this century.

BP will outline its expansion plans in the biofuels sector today while Shell described yesterday the work it has been doing on more “sustainable” sources such as wood chips and animal waste.

Environmentalists and human rights activists have pointed to the dangers of crops being grown for fuel in sensitive areas or competing against crops being grown for food. Shell, which claims to be the biggest marketer and distributor of biofuels in the world, appears to accept that sugar cane, palm oil and other such products cannot be sustainable in the long-term as a car fuel. read more

Problems reported at two Texas plants as gasoline supplies remain low; prices rebound despite strike resolution in Nigeria.

June 25 2007: 4:20 PM EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) — Oil rose Monday as a string of U.S. refining outages again sparked concerns of a supply shortfall in the midst of the top consumer’s peak driving season.

Prices had fallen more than a dollar in earlier activity as Nigerian oil export fears eased after a production-threatening strike ended and Royal Dutch Shell (Charts) said it was preparing to restart shipments from a shuttered field. read more

Mon Jun 25, 2007 10:41am ET

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices fell by more than $1 to near $70 on Monday after Royal Dutch Shell said it was preparing to resume exports from a Nigerian oilfield abandoned over a year ago because of militant attacks.

The news came two days after Nigerian unions ended a strike that had threatened to halt shipments from Africa’s biggest oil producer. It could mark an easing of tension in the oil-rich delta where violence has shut a quarter of Nigeria’s output. read more

Mon Jun 25, 2007 5:02 PM BST

MOSCOW, June 25 (Reuters) – Russian gas monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile , Research), which has yet to produce its own liquefied natural gas (LNG), has sold 10 cargoes of the fuel in natural gas swap deals since 2005, the firm said on Monday.

Gazprom’s Deputy Chief Executive Alexander Medvedev said LNG supplies equivalent to 0.9 billion cubic metres (bcm) in total went to the United States, Britain, South Korea, Japan, India and Mexico.

He said Gazprom planned to boost LNG trading in future. read more

Raymond J. Learsy
June 25, 2007 | 08:19 AM (EST)  

Friday of last week I had occasion to do brief battle on CNBC Morning Call with Steve Andrews co-founder of what is considered the most influential organization supporting “peak oil ” the Hubert curve theory which predicts future oil availability.

Surprisingly there is more than one such organization. And why should that be? The Wall Street Journal summed it up succinctly in an article appearing in the Sept. 14, 2006 issue, stating: “That argument known as ‘peak oil theory’ has provided intellectual backing for the boom in crude prices.” read more

EXTRACT: “…the Europeans can’t stop us from selling off the stock of companies like Shell, Repsol or Total that do business with Iran. The disinvestment drive is only a few months old, but it has already pushed Repsol, a Spanish company, and Shell, a Dutch firm, to reconsider their Iranian investments”.

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN

June 25, 2007

THE conventional wisdom says that we have two choices in confronting and containing Iranian nuclear ambitions – United Na tions sanctions and diplomacy, or a military strike to knock out key nuclear sites. But neither option is a good one. U.N. sanctions are relatively tame and don’t go to the heart of how to cripple the Iranian theocracy. A military strike, meanwhile, would solve the regime’s major problem: how to gin up popular support and stay in power. Any attack risks causing nationalism in Iran to soar, rallying the public around a now-unpopular government. read more

By Martyn Wingrove
Published: Jun 25, 2007

RUSSIA’S grip on the energy industry has tightened again after Gazprom effectively forced TNK-BP to sell its stake in the $20bn Kovykta gas project and associated trunk pipeline to Pacific markets, writes Martyn Wingrove.

Political pressure led the British oil major and Russian investors in TNK-BP to sell a 62.9% stake in Rusia Petroleum, which holds the licence for the gas project, and its 50% interest in the East Siberian Gas Co to the state-run group, which is monopolising the gas industry. read more

Published: Jun 25, 2007

PERTH, June 25 AAP – Woodside Petroleum Ltd boss Don Voelte says the oil and gas producer’s future as an independent entity is very bright, shrugging off persistent market rumours of a potential takeover.

The market has been awash with rumours that major shareholder Royal Dutch Shell might be preparing another tilt for Woodside after failing to gain control of the company in 2001. Shell’s takeover attempt in 2001 was stymied by the Australia government, which blocked the move citing national interest issues. read more

EXTRACT: The fund has seen performance improve by not holding either Royal Dutch/Shell or BP. A few years back, Henderson researchers looked at BP and identified some of the failures in maintenance and safety problems at the oil and gas group, which recently surfaced as a story in the media. While shying away from oil majors has helped performance…

THE ARTICLE

By Ellen Kelleher
Published: June 25 2007 03:00 | Last updated: June 25 2007 03:00

George Latham, manager of Henderson’s £128.88m Global Care Income fund, a socially responsible investing fund, is keen to express his views on the surge in interest in green investing. read more

25 June 2007

Tony Hayward, BP’s new chief executive, has just got the Russia treatment: He has “lost” BP’s giant Kkovykta gas field. Well, sort of.

Gazprom is buying out BP’s share in the field for up to $900 million. That is almost twice the value of BP’s investment in a field that has twice Norway’s gas reserves. Much the same happened to Shell last year, when it “lost” its stake in Russia’s giant Sakhalin gas field. Then, Shell retained a residual 27% stake after Gazprom bought out most of its share. read more

Pact With Italy’s Eni
Might Boost Influence
Over EU Energy Supply
By GABRIEL KAHN
June 25, 2007; Page A11

KREMLIN CONCERNS
 
•  The News: Russia and Italy back a proposed pipeline carrying Russian natural gas to Europe.

•  The Backdrop: Europe fears the Kremlin could use Europe’s increasing dependence on Russian gas as a lever.

•  Italy’s Advantage: Italian firms may get greater access to Russia’s energy reserves at a time when other Western companies face political pressure. read more

Militant Attacks
Hurt Likes of Shell;
Strike Ends, at Least
By MASOOD FARIVAR
June 25, 2007; Page C3

The suspension of a four-day general strike in Nigeria comes as a relief to jittery world oil markets, but it won’t lead to significantly lower prices.

In fact, the outlook for oil production in Africa’s largest producer and a major source of crude oil for the U.S. has dimmed in recent weeks — raising the prospects of higher prices at the pump.

More than 25% of Nigerian oil production remains offline because of militant attacks over the past year, and the bulk of it isn’t seen coming back online until next year. A four-day strike that further threatened to add to supply uncertainty was suspended Saturday after the government agreed to hold off on raising fuel prices for a year and accepted an offer to halve the price increase that had sparked the strike. read more

June 25, 2007

A new pipeline project highlights Europe’s uncertain relationship with energy power Russia.

The project by Eni SpA and OAO Gazprom to build a pipeline into the heart of Europe may help slake the continent’s rising thirst for natural gas, but it could also boost the Russian gas company’s direct control of Europe’s energy supply.

Representatives of the Russian and Italian governments Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on a 900-kilometer pipeline that could carry as much as 30 billion cubic meters of gas annually from Russia into Europe through the Black Sea. If the project, which is to be owned and financed via a 50-50 joint venture between Eni and Gazprom, overcomes regulatory hurdles, construction would begin as early as next year. read more

(Wall Street Journal image reproduced
in accordance with our Fair Use Notice)

Efforts to fight global warming will be wasted unless we concentrate on energy efficiency

By Jeroen van der Veer
June 25, 2007

When it comes to the future of energy, the world needs a reality check. Contrary to public perceptions, renewable energy is not the silver bullet that will soon solve all our problems. Indeed, in the decades ahead, three hard truths will generate turbulence in the global energy system.

We all know that global demand for energy is growing, but the reality of how fast hasn’t really sunk in. The first hard truth is that demand is accelerating. Energy use in 2050 may be twice as high as it is today, or higher still. The main causes are population growth, from six to more than nine billion people, and higher levels of prosperity. China and India are entering the energy-intensive phase of their development. This is the point when people buy their first television or car, or board a plane for the first time, and start to consume much more transport fuel and electricity. And most people in China and India have never boarded a plane yet! The pace of change is startling. Last year, China enlarged its electricity capacity by roughly the equivalent of Great Britain’s entire stock of power stations. read more

June 25, 2007
Carl Mortished, International Business Editor

The world is blinding itself to the reality of its energy problems, ignoring the scale of growth in demand from developing countries and placing too much faith in renewable sources of power, according to two leaders of the global energy industry.

The chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell today calls for a “reality check”. Writing in The Times, Jeroen van der Veer takes issue with the widespread public opinion that green energy can replace fossil fuels. read more

25 June 2007
Ika Krismantari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Since the government opened Indonesia’s downstream oil and gas business two years ago, the sector has attracted numerous new players interested in entering the market.

A subsidiary of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell Plc, PT Shell Indonesia was the first foreign oil giant to enter Indonesia’s retail gasoline market when it opened its first gas station in Jakarta in 2005. This was made possible only after the government revoked the monopoly held by state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina over the country’s non-subsidized gasoline retailing industry. read more

By Nesa Subrahmaniyan

June 25 (Bloomberg) — Li Ka-shing and Thomas Barrack have found a way to make more money from record gasoline prices than Marathon Oil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

The billionaires are buying refineries in Europe and the U.S. for about $12,000 per barrel of processing capacity, 33 percent less than the oil companies pay to build them along the Gulf of Mexico. Charges for contractors, labor, cement and steel have doubled and the new plants are years away from completion. read more