June 28th, 2007:

BS Reporter / Mumbai Friday June 29, 2007 
 
Automotive major, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) and UK-based global energy major, Shell, have completed phase I of the joint pre-feasibility study on hydrogen-based transportation in the country, a release today said. 
 
The study is aimed to identify potential location for projects where automotive companies and energy providers will focus their initial efforts, supported by the government. 
 
The project would further explore local fuel supply options, fuel distribution and storage possibilities, automobile technology, safety, commercial viability, environmental benefits and public/private partnership.  read more

Jun 28 2007

The Mission Adopt-A-Block Society recently received a $3,500 grant from the Shell Environmental Fund (SEF).

The grant will be used for the purchasing of equipment including pickers and vests for registered Adopt-A-Block (AAB) volunteers, as well as for promotional purposes.

The financial support of the Shell Environment Fund will allow the AAB to purchase new equipment and vests and spread the word that litter is everyone’s responsibility.

“On behalf of all our volunteers I would like to thank the Shell Environment Fund for its generous support of our efforts. Their commitment to local environment projects like ours makes such a difference for so many communities,” comments Cindy Kelly, Mission Adopt-A-Block president. read more

This article appears in the July 6, 2007 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

by John Hoefle

The weapons-for-oil deal between BAE Systems and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia provides a useful window into the manner in which the Anglo-Dutch-centered international financial oligarchy operates. The oligarchy is essentially a private criminal enterprise which stretches across the globe, operating through a network of government agencies, private institutions, and both publicly owned and private corporations and financial institutions. Some of these relationships are out in the open, while others are hidden. read more

By JIM FUQUAY
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
Posted on Thu, Jun. 28, 2007

Shell Exploration and Production Co., which less than two years ago became the first multinational energy firm to drill in the Barnett Shale, confirmed Wednesday that it plans to sell its area holdings, which are expected to attract active bidding.

Shell spokeswoman Kelly op de Weegh said the Houston-based company has drilled about 30 horizontal wells “and has seen success, but we have not acquired a critical mass of acreage to meet our own performance requirements.” She said Shell has approximately 50,000 net acres, including 28,000 acres where it owns the leases and operates wells in Parker County. read more

RENATA D’ALIESIO
Thurday 28 June 2007

For southern Alberta outfitter Mike Judd, this story is about more than just one proposed sour gas well.

Shell Canada wants to drill the exploratory well near Mount Bacchus, southwest of Pincher Creek, in the Rockies’ Eastern Slopes.

Judd objects to the project and has a right to have his voice heard because he lives near the proposed site — land owned by the province.

But the 56-year-old dog sledder contends any Albertan should be legally allowed to tell Alberta’s energy regulator what he or she thinks. read more

By Marcel van de Hoef and Fred Pals

June 28 (Bloomberg) — Gasunie NV, operator of the Dutch gas-pipeline network, is in a “phase of final decision-making” on a possible purchase of 9 percent of Nord Stream AG, said Pieter Trienekens, a Gasunie board member.

Nord Stream is an OAO Gazprom-led venture that’s building an underwater natural-gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany. Gazprom asked Gasunie to buy a 9 percent stake in the venture, Trienekens said at a gas conference in Amsterdam today, following similar comments made by company executives. read more

Thursday June 28, 10:01 am ET 
Oil Futures Briefly Hit $70 a Barrel on Supply Concerns

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil futures briefly hit $70 a barrel in New York trading Thursday for first time since Sept. 1 after a government report showed that gasoline inventories dropped unexpectedly just as the summer driving season is about to hit its peak.
 
Light, sweet crude for August delivery gained 95 cents to $69.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising briefly above $70. The front month contract last settled above $70 on Aug. 31. read more

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 27, 2007

DENVER – A measure intended to force the government to move slowly on efforts toward commercial production of oil shale on federal land won approval Wednesday in the U.S. House.

The proposal by Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., to amend the 2008 Interior Department’s appropriations bill, would prohibit the use of federal funds to prepare final regulations for a commercial leasing program or to conduct commercial lease sales.

The Interior bill, passed by the House, now goes to the Senate. read more

28 June 2007

As the US and Russian presidents prepare for a difficult summit in Maine, BBC News website world affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds assesses Moscow’s tough and independent foreign policy. 
 
Western governments were taken by surprise when Russia under President Vladimir Putin started to harden up its foreign and domestic policy, but this is something they will have to learn to live with for the foreseeable future.

A common way of describing this relationship (I have done so myself) is to say it has “echoes of the Cold War” or is even “a new Cold War”. read more

By Nariman Gizitdinov and Eduard Gismatullin

June 28 (Bloomberg) — Kazakhstan, the second-largest oil producer among the former Soviet states after Russia, cut its forecast for oil output by 13 percent because of project delays and pipeline bottlenecks.

The nation now plans to pump 140 million tons of crude (2.8 million barrels a day) in 2015, down from an earlier target of 3.2 million barrels a day, according to a Kazakh Energy Ministry report distributed today in London. The nation holds 35 billion barrels of recoverable reserves. read more

So Greer has gone

by Greer – who are you?   23 Jun 2007  02:35 PM

Most people will rejoice in this fact and wondered how such an arrogant man ever got to where he was in Shell. Most supporters will point to his ‘incredible’ track record of producing projects ‘on time’ and ‘on budget’. All these claism are flase since Greer constantly moved the targets to make himself look good. take a good look at the Prime Scope estiamtes and there will come the truth.

The fact is that Greer has no repsect for people and their feelings, he is totally polarised by Greer plc and what his people can do to make him look good. If this is disputed just look at his staff turnover which is the highest in any project. read more

EXTRACT: David Greer quit last week as project director and deputy chief executive of the joint venture Sakhalin Energy Investment Co., and left Shell as well.  Greer had issued a motivational memo to Sakhalin pipeline staff in April urging them to complete their tasks this year, saying he despised cowards. Shell has confirmed the nature of the note though the company said his departure was not linked to it.

THE ARTICLE

By Stephen Voss

June 27 (Bloomberg) — Environmental groups urged Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., ABN Amro Holding NV and other lenders not to fund Russia’s Sakhalin-2 project, saying its environmental record hasn’t improved since OAO Gazprom took over. read more

By Hector Igbikiowubo

LAGOS — ABOUT 500,000 barrels per day of Nigeria’s crude oil output, representing a fifth of the country’s current total production, will remain shut-in through 2007 after the Royal Dutch Shell Plc foreclosed yesterday, plans to re-enter its operations in the western Niger Delta.

Ann Pickard, Shell’s Africa Regional Executive Vice President in charge of Exploration and Production, made the disclosure while speaking at an energy security conference hosted by Cambridge Energy Resources Associates in Istanbul, Turkey. read more

Published: Jun 28, 2007

DUBAI, June 27 (DubaiPhotoMedia): Agility Project Logistics (the new name for Transoceanic Shipping Company, Inc.), joined hands with Transcar Projects Ltd. to win the global shipping contract for two phases of the Pearl Gas to Liquids (GTL) in Ras Laffan, Qatar.

Agility Project Logistics is a specialized group within Agility, a leading global provider of integrated supply chain solutions. Transcar is one of Europes leading privately held project freight forwarders, managing general and project cargoes. read more

On the energy bill:

“This current energy bill that’s out there almost defies any sense of logical or rational thinking. I think it’s playing on a lot of emotions that are evident among the American people today, who for a lot of good reasons are upset with the high prices of energy, something they’re not accustomed to – $3 a gallon gasoline, higher electricity costs – and for a lot of people that is a serious problem, when their energy costs go to that level. And for a lot of other people, they just don’t like it. It may not be a serious problem, because when you look at the demand situation, at this point there’s been little demand response to the high prices. So for most of the people my conclusion is that they don’t like it and they complain loudly and bitterly about it, but it’s obviously not something that’s causing them to alter very many things around their normal daily habits or routine. But I think people are reacting to that and in a not very rational way.“ read more

Luke Harding in Moscow
Thursday June 28, 2007

It is already the world’s biggest country, spanning 11 time zones and stretching from Europe to the far east. But yesterday Russia signalled its intention to get even bigger by announcing an audacious plan to annex a vast 460,000 square mile chunk of the frozen and ice-encrusted Arctic.

According to Russian scientists, there is new evidence backing Russia’s claim that its northern Arctic region is directly linked to the North Pole via an underwater shelf. read more

Thursday 28 June 2007

Morgan Stanley raised Royal Dutch Shell to “equal-weight” from “underweight” based on a sum-of-the-parts valuation of £32.10 a share. There is a massive gap between the market value and the underlying value of the company,” it told clients, continuing: “The de-rating of the supermajors has been relentless for four years. The conglomerate presentation belies what are more valuable businesses. The large cap now represents the cheapest access to energy in the world in our view.” read more

By GARY GENTILE 06.27.07

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by six gas station owners who claimed Shell Oil Co. charged them more for gas as a way to drive customers to nearby company-owned locations.

The lawsuit was thrown out on Tuesday, just moments before attorneys were set to deliver closing arguments after a monthlong trial in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.

Judge James V. Selna dismissed the case after concluding that testimony provided by an expert witness did not meet legal minimum standards and could not be used by the jury to determine any possible losses suffered by the defendants. read more

By GARY GENTILE 06.27.07

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by six gas station owners who claimed Shell Oil Co. charged them more for gas as a way to drive customers to nearby company-owned locations.

The lawsuit was thrown out on Tuesday, just moments before attorneys were set to deliver closing arguments after a monthlong trial in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.

Judge James V. Selna dismissed the case after concluding that testimony provided by an expert witness did not meet legal minimum standards and could not be used by the jury to determine any possible losses suffered by the defendants. read more

Canadian Press

TORONTO (CP) – The Ontario government has given the go-ahead for Shell Canada’s environmental assessment of its proposed new refinery near Sarnia, Ont.

Environment Minister Laurel Broten announced Wednesday that she has approved the oil company’s plan for identifying the refinery’s impact on the environment. “The terms of reference is just the first step in the environmental assessment process, which Shell has volunteered to undertake,” Broten said in a statement. read more

Thursday, June 28, 2007. Issue 3687. Page 5.

Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Bank said it might become a target for state acquisition or liquidation in view of developments surrounding Russneft, Yukos and Sakhalin-2.

In a note to investors that accompanied a $500 million Eurobond float offer, the bank said recent state takeovers of private companies was a risk factor that investors face in Russia.

A tax investigation into Yukos resulted in the imprisonment of its owner, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and the sale of its assets, while both the government and Gazprom pressured Shell to relinquish its control of Sakhalin-2, the bank said in the memorandum, Vedomosti reported Wednesday. The bank said both Yukos and Sakhalin-2 put a question mark on the security of private property, the rights of investors and the independence of the courts in Russia. In addition, “they negatively reflected on investment in the Russian economy, especially in the oil and gas sector,” it said. read more