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July 2nd, 2007:

Dampier rock art National Heritage Listing – Woodside must go now

July 3, 2007
For immediate release
Attention: Chiefs of Staff, news editors,
Business,environment and indigenous affairs reporters

Cultural heritage advocates have welcomed federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s National Heritage Listing of the Dampier rock art precinct, but warn that rock art on the Burrup is still threatened by Woodside’s proposed Pluto LNG plant.

Robin Chapple, spokesperson for Friends of Australian Rock Art, said today that the National Heritage Listing would still allow Woodside’s giant Pluto LNG plant to proceed. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

BankTrack.org: Sakhalin II: new environmental violations brought to light

EXTRACT: The letter comes one week after Sakhalin II Project Director, David Greer, resigned in disgrace after the widely publicized leak of his “motivational memo,” which plagiarized General George Patton and inferred that there are cowards within the employees’ ranks who lack confidence in their ability to continue effectively on the crisis-prone project.

THE ARTICLE

Banks once more warned for risks of being involved

Fifteen Russian and international environmental organizations sent a letter today to leading public and private banks documenting extensive new environmental violations on the controversial  Sakhalin II oil and gas project in Russia. These include the project’s continued refusal to follow the recommendations of an expert scientific  panel commissioned by project sponsors to review impacts on the critically endangered Western Gray Whale; failure to protect wild salmons spawning rivers from massive erosion and construction across geologically unstable zones; and the unwillingness of project sponsors to publicly disclose draft oil spill response plans for citizen input. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

ShellNews.net: Former Shell Group Auditor Bill Campbell throws down gauntlet to Shell Chairman, Jorma Ollila

Former Shell Group Auditor, Bill Campbell 

02 July 2007

Printed below is an extraordinary email sent today by former Shell International Group Auditor, Bill Campbell (above) to Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chairman, Jorma Ollila and the Company Secretary, Michiel Brandjes.

It was also copied to: –

*Shell executives including Jeroen van der Veer and Malcolm Brinded
*Senior officials of The Health & Safety Executive
*Relevant trade unions
*The news media

Mr Campbell also supplied with the email documentary evidence in support of his serious allegations against Shell management. We have that evidence in our possession including a letter from Michiel Brandjes to Mr Campbell sent on behalf of Jorma Ollila.   read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

CNNMoney.com: Royal Dutch Shell plc: Buyback of Own Shares

July 02, 2007: 02:01 PM EST

LONDON, July 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Royal Dutch Shell plc announces that on 2 July, 2007 it purchased for cancellation 350,000 “A” Shares at a price of 30.42 euros per share. It further announces that on the same date it purchased for cancellation 60,000 “A” Shares at a price of 2050.29 pence per share.

Following the cancellation of these shares, the remaining number of “A” Shares of Royal Dutch Shell plc will be 3,657,433,000. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Shell Battles Etete Over Oil Block

This Day (Lagos)
2 July 2007
Chika Amanze-Nwachuku

Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited (SNUD) yesterday threw more light on the dispute between it and Malabu Oil and Gas Limited, a company owned by former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Chief Dan Etete, over the ownership of an Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL245).

SNUD insisted that the acreage licence was awarded to it in a competitive Production Sharing Contract (PSC) bid round in 2002.
 
The oil block licence granted to Malabu in 1998 was revoked by the Federal Government in 2001, after which it was awarded to SNUD, Malabu’s former technical partner. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

ResourceInvestor.com: Shell China in Talks With Private Oil Companies

By Jing Yang
02 Jul 2007 at 11:13 AM GMT-04:00

SHANGHAI (Interfax-China) — Shell China is in talks with private oil companies to purchase their gas stations as one large group, but the private companies are asking for a price too high to accept, a Shell official told Interfax on the sidelines of an industrial forum held during the weekend.

“The private oil companies want to make a fortune out of this deal,” the official, who wished to remain anonymous, said. He also noted that British Petroleum, Exxon Mobil and Total were other possible parties to such a deal. 
 
Zhang Shunjie, chairman of Panjin Xinglong Petrochemical Industrial Company of northeastern Liaoning Province, confirmed previous media reports to Interfax late last week that stated that as many as 80 private oil companies from Liaoning, Hebei, Fujian, Xinjiang and Shandong provinces, including Zhang’s company, are negotiating with foreign companies for the group sale. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Prensa Latina, Cuba: Argentina Sanctions Shell Oil Again: Argentine government announced a multi-million dollar penalty on Shell Oil

Buenos Aires, Jul 2 (Prensa Latina) The Argentine government announced a multi-million dollar penalty on transnational Shell Oil on Monday for shortage of fuel supplies, and may bring company executives to court.

In a news announcement by Economy Minister Felisa Miceli and Interior Trade Secretary Guillermo Moreno, Moreno said the fine is $326,000 for each service station found with an unjustified fuel shortage.

He informed that inspectors have identified five such cases and are investigating 40 others. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Birmingham News (Alabama ): Pelham mechanics restoring car that got 244 miles a gallon in 1969

Monday, July 02, 2007
JEREMY GRAY: News staff writer

At first glance, Lee McKee thought the 1959 Fiat rusting in the sun outside Talladega’s International Motorsports Hall of Fame and Museum might have a few parts worth salvaging.

Inside the trunk, however, was documentation indicating the car had been souped up by Shell scientists in 1969 to get 244 miles per gallon of gas as part of an annual company contest.

Included in a file folder were records and an article about the car from a 1969 edition of Popular Science magazine. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Manila Standard Today: ‘Shell IPO a matter of right timing’

By Alena Mae S. Flores

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. is still waiting for the “right timing” before conducting its planned initial public offering, a company official said.

Shell country chairman Edgar Chua said the IPO hinged on the company’s oil refinery expansion plan in Batangas.

Chua said talks were still ongoing between Shell and the Philippine Stock Exchange on the IPO plan. He said the company was awaiting the outcome of a second study on the refinery expansion before proceeding with the IPO. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Gulf-Times (Qatar): QPI, Gazprom eye ‘unlimited co-operation’

Published: Monday, 2 July, 2007, 03:24 AM Doha Time 
Business Reporter

DOHA: Qatar Petroleum International and Russia’s Gazprom, the world’s biggest gas company, will explore investment opportunities in their respective countries and elsewhere, HE the Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah has said. Attiyah said the MoU signed between QPI and Gazprom in Moscow recently had not set any limit on the possible areas of co-operation.

“We are looking at joint investments in the hydrocarbon sector in Russia, Qatar and in other countries. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Stats for this website for June 2007: 4,622,567 hits: 3,174,131 page views: now updated by Country e.g. over 2.5 million hits from the USA

Royaldutchshellplc.com website stats for the entire month of June 2007:

4,622,567 hits

3,174,131 page views

Thank you for the astonishing support for the site.

We invite Royal Dutch Shell Plc to release the same information for the portal Shell website:

www.shell.com

These are the stats per Country for June. The first figure is page views; the second is the number of hits e.g. for the United States there were 1,661,312 page views and 2,553,620 hits. Apologies for the lack of proper formatting.

United States us   1661312   2553620 
Netherlands nl   489193   568799 
Great Britain gb   225082   318614
European Union eu   104591   188492
Russian Federation ru  92385   136679 
Australia au   84222   153150 
Canada ca   62489  119006 
Unknown ip   37244   73161 
Malaysia my   23612   41094 
Singapore sg   15615   28837 
Japan jp    14302   32176 
South Africa za   12035   13893
United Arab Emirates ae  11510   15668
Germany de   8683   26518
France fr    8542   17086
Belgium be   6529   11300
Hong Kong hk   6494   15613
Switzerland ch   6270   14957
India in    5753   10404
China cn    4301   8196
Luxembourg lu   3895   4853
Italy it    3815   6267
Egypt eg    3769   4850
South Korea kr   3261   14118 
Norway no   2999   5868     
Denmark dk   2733   9415  
Spain es    2663   5155         
Sweden se   2526   5621 
Ireland ie    2297   5726 
Nigeria ng   1585   2701 
Thailand th   1527   2837 
Ukraine ua   1257   1718 
Finland fi    952   1867 
Mexico mx   928   1818
New Zealand nz   914   2138
Czech Republic cz   860   1302 
Brunei Darussalam  bn  840   1849 
Slovak Republic sk   823   977 
Libya ly    817   1445 
Pakistan pk   738   1497 
Qatar qa    699   3262 
Austria at    655   2292 
Hungary hu   583   1575 
Togo tg    547   1253 
Brazil br    543   1826 
Indonesia id   522   2064 
Argentina ar   487   1326 
Israel il    469   1126 
Kuwait kw   419   924 
Taiwan tw   411   1361 
Saudi Arabia sa   343   721 
Iran ir    337   778
Venezuela ve   330   494 
Kazakhstan kz   311   528 
Poland pl    289   784 
Cambodia kh   279   429 
Andorra ad   271   446 
Bulgaria bg   267   449 
Oman om    266   504 
Turkey tr    250   865 
Vietnam vn   243   445
Lithuania lt   221   908
Greece gr   211   492
Puerto Rico pr   184   250
Cameroon cm   184   411 
Portugal pt   176   585 
Estonia ee   173   400 
Macedonia mk   157   782
Malta mt    155   365
Kenya ke    138   210 
Philippines ph   138   609
Azerbaidjan az   131   320 
Romania ro  127   379
Sri Lanka lk   91   248
Bahrain bh   87   244
Cyprus cy   78   231 
Lebanon lb   71   287 
Falkland Islands fk   60   185 
Uganda ug   59   122 
Zimbabwe zw   55   98 
Greenland gl   52   110 
Bangladesh bd   48   210 
Croatia hr   48   147 
Bermuda bm   42   429 
Bolivia bo   39   97 
Dominican Republic do  32   157
Senegal sn   30   30 
Panama pa   30   87 
Angola ao   29   109 
Nepal np    25   85 
Armenia am   25   66
Jordan jo    24   79 
Chile cl    23   121 
Latvia lv    22   22 
Jamaica jm   20   81 
Anguilla ai   20   77 
Algeria dz   20   57 
Georgia ge   18   83 
Belarus by   17   59 
Slovenia si   15   89 
Iceland is    14   54 
Colombia co   7   7
Yugoslavia yu   7   42
Trinidad and Tobago tt  7   64 
Tunisia tn   6   53
Gambia gm   6   6
Nicaragua ni   5   46 
Polynesia (French) pf  5   52 
Costa Rica cr   3   3 
Maldives mv   2   7 
Guam (USA) gu   2   13 
Monaco mc   1   1 
Bahamas bs   1   1 
Solomon Islands sb   1   5 
Morocco ma   1   1 read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

UpstreamOnline: Kovykta cheque is in the post for BP

EXTRACT: He chose to play a different game from Shell which, willingly or not, turned a similar punch-up with the Kremlin over Sakhalin 2 in Russia s far east into a major international political issue. BP chose a quieter route on Kovykta.

THE ARTICLE

By Michael O’Neill

It will take time to tell exactly how significant the BP deal with Gazprom over the Kovykta field is, but it is certainly a better outcome than many had feared.

The UK supermajor has come away with a potential cash pile of up to $900 million for its 62.85% stake in Kovykta licence-holder Rusia Petroleum, plus a memorandum of understanding that gives it an option to buy a 25%-plusone- share stake in the East Siberian gas field at a later date. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

UpstreamOnline: Shell completes Onyx appraisal

By Upstream staff

Shell’s latest appraisal well on the Onyx gas discovery in the Norwegian Sea has confirmed the northern extent of the find.

The objective of the 6406/9-2 well was to “delimit the discovery”, said the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. The well encountered gas/water contacts in Middle to Lower Jurassic rocks, thus confirming the northerly extent of the discovery.

The well was not formation tested, but extensive data collection and sampling were carried out, said the NPD. The collected data will be analysed to enhance the estimated size and production characteristics of the discovery. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Bloomberg: Sibir Says Output at Shell Venture Reaches 80,000 Barrels a Day

By Greg Walters

July 2 (Bloomberg) — Sibir Energy Plc, Russian billionaire Shalva Tchigirinsky’s oil company, said crude production at its Siberian joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell Plc reached 80,000 barrels a day.

Sibir’s total output, including its half of Salym, now stands at 48,000 barrels a day and will “shortly pass the 50,000 barrels-a-day milestone,” Chief Executive Officer said Henry Cameron said in a statement distributed by the Regulatory News Service today. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Bloomberg: Kurdish Oil Riches Lure Wildcatters Unswayed by Deaths in Iraq: ‘Iraq, awash in oil…’

EXTRACT: Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, says it’s concerned about safety. Shell had stipulated three requirements before it would allow its employees to work in Iraq: free elections, a petroleum law and improved security across the country, says Adam Newton, a spokesman in London. Only one condition has been met. “We were pleased to see that free elections led to the formation of Iraq’s democratic government,” he says. “The security situation continues to pose considerable challenges to the lives of the Iraqi people.” He declined to comment specifically on the Kurdish region. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Bloomberg: Showa Shell Shuts Gasoline Production Unit on Mechanical Fault

By Shigeru Sato

July 2 (Bloomberg) — Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K., the Japanese unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, shut a gasoline production unit at its 210,000 barrel-a-day Yokkaichi refinery because of a mechanical fault, a company official said.

The residue fluid catalytic cracker was shut on June 29 because of the fault, which has yet to be identified, the official said today by phone from Tokyo, asking not to be named because of a company policy. The unit is designed to process 61,000 barrels a day of residual fuel into gasoline and other refined products. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Lloyds List: Offshore rides crest of a wave

Aberdeen-based company is on expansion drive, Lloyds List
Published: Jul 02, 2007

ABERDEEN-based Bibby Offshore is one of the fastest growing parts of the Bibby Line Group. It has expanded from 20 staff in 2005 to nearly 100 today, this year it will step up from one to three diving support vessels in its fleet, and in October it is due to expand into new offices on Waterloo Quay.

Bibby’s involvement in the offshore sector goes back to the 1980s, the decade when the company bought its first jack-up platform. In 1993, the company entered the management and manning of floating storage units and floating production facilities in 1993, when it won a contract with Chevron for the Alba field. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Irish Times: An Taisce to challenge gas project

Lorna Siggins, Western Correspondent, Irish Times
Published: Jul 02, 2007

An Taisce is preparing a legal complaint to the European Commission over alleged breaches of EU directives in relation to the Corrib gas project.

The environmental organisation maintains that Ireland could face “massive” fines if it permits the gas project’s terminal to be built in a major drinking water catchment. Ireland is already in breach of the EU drinking water directive, and runs the risk of becoming a “serial offender”, according to An Taisce spokesman Frank Corcoran. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Financial Times: Al-Yamamah deal: the Saudi foreign policy connection

EXTRACT: The arrangement, at least initially, involved a special account controlled by the Saudis, at the Bank of England. This would receive funds from the sale of Saudi oil lifted and sold by BP and Royal Dutch Shell, which took a commission. Press reports in 1996 suggested this exact arrangement changed – but over nearly two decades, tens of billions of dollars were directed through it.

THE ARTICLE

By Stephen Fidler in London
Published: July 2 2007 03:00 | Last updated: July 2 2007 03:00

Investigators from the US Department of Justice examining BAE Systems’ compliance with anti-corruption laws in its arms dealings with Saudi Arabia will find themselves scrutinising a deal that was used, with the help of the British government, as a secret tool of Saudi foreign policy. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Times: Shell chief calls for powerful EU energy supremo

July 2, 2007
Carl Mortished and Steve Hawkes

Europe needs an energy minister to co-ordinate a common policy on the supply of gas from Russia, according to Jeroen Van der Veer, the chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell.

The Shell chief has called for better co-ordination between foreign policy and energy security and has argued that Europe was being weakened by member states negotiating rival pipeline deals with foreign energy suppliers.

“I don’t think it makes sense that every country makes its own policy towards the supply of Russian gas. Only Brussels can do that,” he said. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Guardian (UK): Banks warned not to fund Sakhalin-2 project

· RBS and ABN reputations at stake over environment
· Russians ignoring green concerns, say campaigners

Terry Macalister
Monday July 2, 2007

Royal Bank of Scotland, ABN Amro and the government’s export credit agency have been told by green campaigners not to consider funding or underwriting Shell’s Sakhalin-2 gas project in Russia because of continuing danger to the future of western grey whales and wider environmental concerns.

Allegations that development of the $20bn (£10bn) energy scheme is still being undertaken in an irresponsible way undermines Kremlin arguments that past problems should all be laid at the feet of Shell and would end when Russian state-owned Gazprom took a controlling stake in the project, as it did in December. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.