July, 2007:

July 26, 2007: 04:36 AM EST

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Russian environmental regulators have asked Sakhalin Energy Investment Co. Ltd., operator of the Sakhalin-2 project, to suspend work on an onshore pipeline, a top Russian official said Thursday.

Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of the Russian environmental protection agency Rosprirodnadzor, said his colleagues from another authority, the Federal Environmental, Engineering, and Nuclear Supervision Agency, had requested the suspension.

The Sakhalin Energy venture operates a large oil and gas project on the Russian Far Eastern island of Sakhalin, control of which was handed over by Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) to OAO Gazprom (GSPBEX.RS) earlier this year. read more

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) – The ‘killer kerosene’ that has left at least 20 people dead and many more badly burnt in Nigeria’s southern Delta state was actually condensate siphoned by unscrupulous persons from a Shell pipeline, the private Punch newspaper reported Thursday.

The newspaper said it got the information from a preliminary report of the team raised by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to probe the series of explosions in Warri and Effurun in recent times.

The report said the condensates were siphoned from the pipelines leading to the Utogu Gas Plant of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to various markets in the state as kerosene. read more

Profits at fuel stations helped Shell beat its European rival BP

26 July 2007
 
High oil prices have helped Royal Dutch Shell to increase profits by more than 20% in the April-to-June quarter.

The Anglo-Dutch firm said net profit, measured by current cost of supply, was $7.6bn (£3.7bn) for the period, up from $6.3bn in the same period a year ago.

The rise came after increased profit margins at its refinery business and on fuel sales, which outweighed the anticipated 2% fall in production.

Earlier this week, rival BP reported a fall in its second-quarter earnings. read more

Published: Jul 25, 2007

Tokyo, July 25 (Jiji Press)–Japanese oil distributor Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. said Wednesday it will transfer its international trading operations to its top shareholder, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, on Aug. 1.

To be integrated into Royal Dutch Shell’s global trading network are Showa Shell’s international trading operations in oil products, including gasoline, kerosene and jet fuel, and chemical feedstocks, including naphtha and condensate.

The operations will be subject to a business lease, with Showa Shell to receive lease fees from the parent. read more

H. JOSEF HEBERT
Published: Jul 25, 2007

Oil executives denied that U.S. drivers are overpaying for gasoline because the fuel expands in hot weather and provides less energy per gallon.

“The idea that temperature adjustments will somehow give people more for their money simply does not take into account the realities of the gasoline market,” Hugh Cooley, a vice president for Shell Oil Co., told a U.S. House hearing Wednesday.

Critics say that when drivers buy gasoline during hot weather, they are paying as much as $1.5 billion (A1.09 billion) a year in overcharges. That amounts to 3 cents to 9 cents per gallon, depending on the pump price and the temperature, consumer advocates say. read more

By REUTERS
Published: July 26, 2007
Filed at 3:19 a.m. ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has expelled Britain’s top commercial and trade diplomat as part of its retaliation in a continuing row over the extradition of a murder suspect, the Moscow Times newspaper reported on Thursday.

The English-language daily reported that Andrew Levi, minister counselor for economic affairs at the British Embassy in Moscow, was the highest ranking of the four British diplomats asked to leave by the Foreign Ministry last week. read more

Britain’s indulgence of Russian and Chinese business models is undermining what is left of liberal democracy

John Kampfner
Thursday July 26, 2007

From terrorism to floods and back to terrorism again; even in the infancy of his premiership, Gordon Brown has demonstrated a sure touch in coping with crises. His statement to MPs yesterday on bolstering security, following the failed bombings in London and Glasgow, managed to please authoritarians while just about reassuring enough civil libertarians – for the time being. read more

Terry Macalister
Thursday July 26, 2007

Shell has produced a stunning financial performance over the second quarter of the year with profits soaring by 20% to $7.6bn (£3.7bn) on the back of very high refining margins and despite a fall in production.

The record results – amounting to some £1.5m an hour – underlined Shell’s current supremacy over arch-rival BP which barely lifted its profits when measured on the same basis.

The Anglo-Dutch group raised its dividend 14% to $0.36 per share and gave an upbeat assessment of future prospects. read more

By BENOIT FAUCON
July 26, 2007 2:41 a.m.

LONDON — Royal Dutch Shell PLC Thursday posted an 18% rise in net profit for the second quarter as strong refining margins more than offset barrels lost from unrest in Nigeria.

The Anglo-Dutch oil giant posted a net profit of $8.67 billion, or $1.38 per share, for the three months ended June 30, compared with $7.32 billion, or $1.13 a share, for the same period last year.

The rising profit confirms the merits of being an integrated oil major, as refining margins make up for stagnant oil output and prices. The number contrasts with Shell’s rival BP PLC, whose second-quarter results were hurt by outages at a U.S. refinery. read more

July 26, 2007

Natural resources
Down 0.8%

Braemore Resources, the London-listed nickel and platinum mining group, plans to launch a test facility for processing platinum group metals and nickel using new technology ahead of building a smelter and refinery in South Africa.

Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil and gas group, is coming under intense pressure to scrap a £5 billion natural gas project in Iran after a call from a group of leading US pension funds for energy companies around the world to cut their ties with the Middle Eastern state. read more

July 26, 2007

Anglo-Dutch oil giant reveals profits of $7.6 billion for the second quarter of the year, trumping rival BP by $1.5 billion

Steve Hawkes

Shell has turned the screw on rival BP by posting a record quarterly profit of £40 million a day on the back of sky-high crude oil prices and refining margins.

Results today showed the Anglo-Dutch giant made $7.56 billion (£3.7 billion) in the three months to June 30, up 20 per cent on last year and nearly $500 million ahead of its previous best.

Analysts had expected Shell to report quarterly profits of $6.7 billion. read more

10:34 | 26/ 07/ 2007 

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK (Far East), July 26 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s industrial safety regulator said Thursday it had suspended the construction of a pipeline, part of the giant Sakhalin II oil and gas project in the country’s Far East, citing violations.

“According to findings, the project operator has deviated from design-stipulated requirements on the drainage system at a tectonic fracture for the Sakhalin II project to develop the Piltun-Astokh and Luna fields,” said Lidia Vostretsova, chief inspector at the local branch of the Federal Environmental, Engineering, and Nuclear Supervision Agency. read more

The Associated Press
Published: July 26, 2007

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Thursday net profit rose 18 percent in the second quarter, thanks to asset sales and strong increases in margins at oil refineries — but the company’s oil production fell.

Net profit at the Hague, Netherlands-based company was US$8.67 billion (€6.27 billion), up from US$7.32 billion, as sales rose 2.2 percent to US$84.9 billion (€61.4 billion).

In all, asset sales and other benefits totaled US$660 million (€478 million), compared with a charge of US$232 million in the same quarter a year ago. read more

By Richard Blackden
Last Updated: 8:12am BST 26/07/2007

Oil giant Shell has seen its second-quarter profits rise faster than rival BP after the company made more money from its refining operations.

Profits climbed to $7.5bn from $6.3bn in the same period in 2006, helped by record prices for petrol in the US.

Chief executive Jeroen van der Veer said: “We have delivered another set of competitive results, driven by operating performance.”

While crude oil prices were lower in the second quarter than in the equivalent period in 2006, Shell was boosted by jump in US petrol prices during the period. US petrol retail prices hit a record $3.22 a gallon in May. read more

Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:03AM BST
 
By Tom Bergin

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) posted a 20 percent rise in second-quarter current cost of supply (CCS) profit to $7.556 billion (3.687 billion pounds) on Thursday, as fat refining margins helped outweigh lower production.

Shell said in a statement that the CCS result, which strips out changes in the value of inventories, included a non-operating gain of $660 million.

 Excluding this gain, the underlying result was up 5 percent at $6.896 billion, beating an average forecast of $6.770 billion from a Reuters poll of 10 analysts. read more

26 July 2007

Just passing this along re: your peak oil post today…you might also want to check out our latest post on projections as well.

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/2716

PG

Full 2nd Quarter 2007 Results can be viewed via this link…

http://www.shell.com/home/content/investor-en/quarterlyresults/2007/q2/q2_2007_results_26072007.html

By Rebecca Bream
Published: July 25 2007 22:54 | Last updated: July 25 2007 22:54

Royal Dutch Shell has been criticised by a group of US pension funds over its activities in Iran, home to the world’s second-largest gas reserves.

A group of the largest public pension funds in the US, including the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (Calpers), the New York State Common Retirement Funds and New York City Pension Funds, have written to Shell emphasising the risks of doing business in Iran. read more

Published: July 25 2007 22:44 | Last updated: July 25 2007 22:44

Tony Hayward, BP’s new chief executive, will have saddened investment bankers everywhere this week with his rejection of speculation about a possible merger with Royal Dutch Shell.

As well as denying rumours that the companies were in talks, he suggested a merger would be the wrong answer to BP’s problems. BP needed to fix its operations, not its strategy, he said.

In saying so, he contradicted what is now a widely held view among bankers, consultants and analysts who follow the industry: that consolidation is in fact the only answer to the challenges facing the oil “majors”. They predict a fresh wave of mergers to match the spate at the end of the 1990s that brought BP together with Amoco, Total with Elf, Exxon with Mobil, and Chevron with Texaco. read more

Jul 25, 2007
 
A political row threatens to overshadow tomorrow what promises to be one of the best sets of results from Shell for months after it emerged that a group of US pension funds have called on the group to scrap billions project in Iran.

Some of America’s most influential institutional investors have written to Shell and other seven international energy companies warning they are becoming increasingly exposed by guarding their ties with the pariah state.

The investors include New York City’s five main pension funds and the California Public Employee’s Retirement System. read more

By Stephen Voss and Fred Pals

July 26 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, said second-quarter profit rose 18 percent because it earned more from its refining operations.

Net income climbed to $8.67 billion from $7.32 billion in the year-earlier period, The Hague-based company said today in a statement. Profit excluding gains from holding oil inventories and one-time items was $6.9 billion, higher than the median estimate of $6.7 billion from 11 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. read more

(Delta militants have carried out a series of attacks and abductions)

Wednesday, 25 July 2007

Unknown gunmen on motorcycles have shot and wounded a US-based British professor and a security guard in Nigeria’s oil city, Port Harcourt.

Professor Michael Watts was in Port Harcourt to attend an awards ceremony at a local newspaper office.

In another oil city, Yenagoa, the mother of a local state legislator was kidnapped on Tuesday night.

A Nigerian oil worker was also shot dead in his home in Rivers State, say police. read more

By DAN UDOH 07.25.07, 10:47 AM ET

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria – Gunmen on motorbikes shot and wounded an American professor and a security guard Wednesday at a newspaper office in oil-rich southern Nigeria, witnesses said.

Elsewhere in the volatile south, the heartland of the West African nation’s oil industry, the mother of a state official was kidnapped and a Nigerian oil worker was shot dead in attacks Tuesday.

The American professor, who was visiting from California to attend an awards ceremony at the National Point newspaper, was taken to a hospital along with the security guard for treatment after the shooting in Port Harcourt in Rivers State, said Patrick Naagbanton, a local environmental activist who arrived for the ceremony shortly after the shooting. read more

Published: July 25 2007 18:36 | Last updated: July 25 2007 18:36

When Conoco­Phillips was battling to prevent a state takeover of its multibillion-dollar investments in Venezuela last month, why was one of its top executives talking to elementary school teachers about lightbulbs?

Jim Gallogly, head of refining and marketing, was conducting a day of questions and answers on recycling and other issues in Columbia, South Carolina. The third-biggest oil company in the US had sent him to a small city – where it has no operations – at this a critical time. read more

By John Donovan
25 July 2007

We have removed the Live Chat posting relating to “Jim McGuire” because it has already been posted directly on the statement/article relating to him…

ShellNews.net: Statement regarding Mr Jim McGuire formally of Sakhalin Energy

Please bear our *disclaimer in mind if you do read the comments/allegations purportedly made by “Michelle Mufarresh” (which could be a fake name) – we have no practical way of checking.

Extract from Disclaimer Notice read more

By Ashley Fantz
CNN
    
PINEDALE, Wyoming (CNN) — Call it modern horse-trading. Balancing the nation’s energy needs with its interests in protecting wildlife and habitats.

An antelope grazes near a gas well in Jonah Field, one of the hot spots for natural gas in Wyoming.

The practice is playing out in Wyoming, where energy companies pumped 2.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas from the ground last year — produced in 20 of the state’s 23 counties. That’s enough gas to heat every home in Michigan for seven years. read more

LIVE FEED: http://www.cnn.com/video/live/live.html?stream=stream2

Natural gas tanks explode in Dallas

DALLAS, Texas (AP) — A series of explosions at a facility that sells liquefied natural gas sent flaming debris raining onto highways and buildings near downtown Dallas. At least two people were injured, hospital officials said.

Authorities evacuated a half-mile area surrounding the Southwest Industrial Gases Inc. facility and shut down parts of two of the area’s busiest highways, Interstates 30 and 35. read more

By VOA News
25 July 2007

Russia has launched an expedition to the North Pole aimed at proving that a ridge of arctic seabed thought to contain vast oil and natural gas reserves is an extension of continental Russia.

Russian media say two ships, a research vessel and a nuclear-powered icebreaker, left the northern port of Murmansk Tuesday on a five-day journey to the North Pole.

On arrival Sunday, two Russian lawmakers, Artur Chilingarov and Vladimir Gurzdev, and a researcher will board a submersible and descend 4,200 meters to the arctic floor. read more

By Chris Rauber: San Francisco Business Times

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System urged four companies in its public equity portfolio to take steps to “minimize the risk of investment in Iran,” as part of a broader effort by large U.S. pension funds to reconsider financial investments in the increasingly isolated Middle East powerhouse.

CalPERS, the nation’s largest public pension fund with assets of more than $245 billion, wants the companies to “report policies and steps to minimize the risk of investment in Iran,” pension fund officials said Tuesday. CalPERS has more than $2 billion invested in the four foreign energy companies in question: ENI, Repsol YPF, Royal Dutch Shell and Total.
 
Chief investment officer Russell Read said CalPERS needs information to “assess the potential threat to investments” by those companies. “Letters from CalPERS and others in a coalition of city and state pension funds are asking companies to describe the policies and safeguards they have in place to mitigate the risks of doing business in Iran,” Read said in a July 24 statement. read more

17:50 | 25/ 07/ 2007 

MOSCOW, July 25 (RIA Novosti) – Worsening Russia-U.K. relations could be partly due to energy giant Gazprom’s new role in the Sakhalin II project in Russia’s Far East, the head of the Audit Chamber said Wednesday.

The natural gas monopoly bought a controlling stake in the vast oil and gas project late last year from Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell at a lowball price following pressure from regulators. London and Moscow are currently embroiled in a tit-for-tat row over Moscow’s refusal to extradite a murder suspect. read more

13:58 | 20/ 07/ 2007 

WASHINGTON, July 20 (RIA Novosti) – A former Reagan official has issued a public warning that the Bush administration is preparing to orchestrate a staged terrorist attack in the United States, transform the country into a dictatorship and launch a war with Iran within a year.

Paul Craig Roberts, a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, blasted Thursday a new Executive Order, released July 17, allowing the White House to seize the assets of anyone who interferes with its Iraq policies and giving the government expanded police powers to exercise control in the country. read more

25 July 2007
 
SANTO DOMINGO. – The Justice minister and the anti-corruption prosecutor said separately yesterday the sale of the shares on the part of the company Shell will not detain “under any circumstance” the investigation into the alleged alterations of shipping invoices on the part of the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (Refidomsa) executives.

Justice minister Radhamés Jiménez said “only the death” of those allegedly implicated in the process would detain the criminal probe. Anti-corruption prosecutor Octavio Líster said the sale of Shell’s shares doesn’t change the legal situation. “If the action was committed and we manage to prove it, because evidently that aside of whom acquires the shares, whom would not have to do with that, the people in charge would have to respond before the courts.” read more

Call by influential investors comes a day before oil group is expected to report bumper profits

July 25, 2007
Steve Hawkes

A political row threatens to overshadow tomorrow what promises to be one of the best sets of results from Shell for months after it emerged that a group of US pension funds have called on the group to scrap a £5 billion project in Iran.

Some of America’s most influential institutional investors have written to Shell and other seven international energy companies warning they may suffer international sanctions because of their ties to the pariah state. read more

EXTRACT: First, start using European muscle to protect European companies. Oil producers BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have been treated disgracefully as Russia seeks to reassert control over its energy assets. Just like any country, Russia needs outside expertise — and in return it must recognize that it can’t just expropriate assets.

THE ARTICLE

By Matthew Lynn

July 25 (Bloomberg) — Poisonings in London restaurants, expulsions of diplomats, foreign ministers snarling at each other. At this rate, they may have to rebuild Checkpoint Charlie, and dust off those Cold War spy manuals. read more

By Grant Smith

July 24 (Bloomberg) — The North Sea dated Brent premium, used to price nearly two-thirds of the world’s oil, declined as profits for European refiners fell to their lowest in 18 months.

So-called dated Brent for loading within 21 days fell to a premium of $1 a barrel over the cost of cargoes loading in September, from $1.40 yesterday, according to data supplied by PVM Oil Associates Ltd. in London. That works out to $76.79 a barrel today, from $78.84 previously, according to Bloomberg calculations based on PVM data. read more

By William Selway

July 24 (Bloomberg) — A group of the nation’s largest public pension funds called upon Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total SA, and six other energy companies doing business with Iran to explain how they will guard their stock prices from the risks of escalating tensions.

The group, which includes the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the New York State Common Retirement Fund and New York City’s pensions, sent letters asking how the companies will mitigate the risk that tighter economic sanctions, divestment campaigns and regional conflict could pose to share prices. The group owns $3.7 billion of stocks in the companies, New York City Comptroller William Thompson said in a statement. read more

(Comment by ShellNews.net: From the oil companies, only Desmarest appears on the list below…. Does this say something about who will have the biggest job soon…?)

A heavy reliance on stock options to compensate executives puts the French at the top of Fortune’s highest-paid list.

By Peter Gumbel, Fortune
July 25 2007: 5:45 AM EDT

(Fortune Magazine) — This year, Fortune’s list of the highest-paid corporate leaders in Europe reads like a Who’s Who of le tout Paris, with French executives taking ten of the 20 top spots, including first and second place. Carlos Ghosn, CEO of French automaker Renault, easily topped the list with $45.5 million (which doesn’t include the millions he gets for also running Japan’s Nissan (Charts), whose principal owner is Renault). That was more than seven times the size of his 2005 package and more than double that of the second-place CEO, Jean-Paul Agon of L’Oréal (Charts), with $19.3 million. read more

July 25, 2007
By Len Hart

US involvement in Iraq is complicated by weird theology. Fundamentalist Christians insist upon an unconditional pro-Israeli policy no matter what! Israel is God’s chosen nation. To oppose Israel, they say, is to damn our nation to hell.

Another complication is our nation’s symbiotic relationship with oil producing “infidels”. GOP faithful believe that middle east oil is ours to plunder. Oil Junkies for Jesus openly boast of stealing Iraqi oil. For them, waging war for oil is not a war crime, it’s a crusade, it’s not an atrocity its a commandment. SUV’s are not abominable energy hogs, they are God’s own chariot. While we fear the mother of all energy crunches, Hubbert’s Peak, oil junkies for Jesus look forward to just flying away from it all. read more

From Ahamefula Ogbu in Port Harcourt, 07.25.2007

Police in Rivers State have said  that militants in the Niger Delta were using improvised explosive devices to carry out attacks and explained that it was the deadly device that was used to raid Lone Star Drilling in Soku, where four expatriates were kidnapped and a mobile policeman killed.

Briefing newsmen yesterday in Port Harcourt, over several arrests made where the militants worked explosives into some cans of soft drinks, so that they are easily carried without arousing suspicion. read more

Published: Jul 25, 2007

Text of report by Nigerian newspaper The Guardian website on 23 July 2007

SIX years after its revocation, the choice oil block that was awarded to a firm owned by the then Petroleum Minister, Chief Dan Etete, is still mired in controversy.

But President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua will from this morning begin the process of sorting out the maze.

Granted to Etete Malabu Oil and Gas Limited in April 1998, Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 245 was in 2001 revoked by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who awarded it to Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited (SNUD), after a competitive bidding. read more

By Ed Crooks, Energy Editor
Published: July 25 2007 03:00 | Last updated: July 25 2007 03:00

Tony Hayward, BP’s new chief executive, has poured scorn on the idea of a merger with rival Royal Dutch Shell, saying the two companies had not been discussing a deal, and it would in any case do nothing to resolve the problems BP faced.

There was “absolutely nosubstance to any speculation” that a merger was under consideration, Mr Hayward said. He was speaking as BP unveiled what he described as “disappointing” profits for the first half of the year. read more

By JAD MOUAWAD
Published: July 25, 2007

As American and European governments debate how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program, some of the nation’s largest public pension funds are leaning on European and Asian oil companies to reconsider their investments in Iran.

In letters citing the risk that international sanctions might jeopardize their investments, a coalition of funds from New York, California, North Carolina and Illinois has cautioned eight foreign energy companies working in Iran about investing there. read more

John Hofmeister, President, Shell Oil Co.

By John Hofmeister
Wed. 25th July, 2007

Before I start, I would like to raise some pertinent questions; why am I representing an industry that some would say has zero credibility; selling a product that you don’t want to taste, touch, smell or even see; pushing on policymakers to open up access to the Gulf of Mexico or other outer continental shelf locations, which essentially irritates virtually everyone that we talk about it; pushing alternative fuels, new technologies, like coal gasification and other technologies that will take years to penetrate the market; promoting the notion of conservation or energy efficiency, which, if we are really good at it, will take decades to make a difference; and finally, trying to promote the notion of how do we manage greenhouse gases in a way that we have a sustainable atmosphere, not only in this country or dispute whether there’s even problem? Why?” read more

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System urged four companies in its public equity portfolio to take steps to “minimize the risk of investment in Iran,” as part of a broader effort by large U.S. pension funds to reconsider financial investments in the increasingly isolated Middle East powerhouse.

CalPERS, the nation’s largest public pension fund with assets of more than $245 billion, wants the companies to “report policies and steps to minimize the risk of investment in Iran,” pension fund officials said Tuesday. CalPERS has more than $2 billion invested in the four foreign energy companies in question: ENI, Repsol YPF, Royal Dutch Shell and Total. read more

· Hayward says oil group head office is overstaffed
· Indirect criticism of former chief executive

Terry Macalister
Wednesday July 25, 2007

Lord Browne’s legacy at BP was further tarnished yesterday when the new chief executive, Tony Hayward, delivered an unflattering verdict on the company he has inherited.

The man who took over from John Browne in May said the oil group was overstaffed at its London head office, the wider organisation was far too complex and he called for much more transparency around the business. read more

By GUY CHAZAN
July 25, 2007; Page A2

BP PLC’s new chief executive, on the heels of a disappointing quarter, promised to turn around a company dogged by stagnant output, refinery outages and the rising costs that are increasingly pressuring the world’s biggest oil companies.

BP — the world’s third-largest nonstate-controlled oil company by market capitalization behind Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC — posted a net profit of $7.38 billion, up 1.5% from a year earlier, the latest in a string of big numbers from oil companies as petroleum prices linger near highs. read more

Last Updated: 12:40am BST 25/07/2007

A round-up of headlines from across the financial sectors, provided by Bloomberg News

ENERGY

• BP, Europe’s second-largest oil company, reported better-than-expected earnings in the second quarter, boosted by record petrol prices.

• Sterling Energy, a UK-based oil and natural gas explorer, said first-half revenue rose 5pc on net sales of 4,900 barrels a day.

• Royal Dutch Shell’s venture in Nigeria has restarted a limited amount of production at pumping stations feeding its Nembe Creek pipeline and the Forcados export terminal, a company spokesman said. read more

By Damian Reece, City Editor
Last Updated: 12:40am BST 25/07/2007

If Tony Hayward is nervous about the task ahead he betrayed no sign of it at yesterday’s second-quarter results meeting. He is more relaxed than his predecessor at BP, Lord Browne, and his tone was as light as it could or should be while presenting awful results.

He should enjoy the honeymoon because BP faces serious challenges. After an extended period in which managers were encouraged to deliver financial performance, even if that meant cutting corners, Hayward must alter that culture. Although he won’t emulate Lee Raymond, his counterpart at Exxon Mobil, by personally checking the performance of every oil rig daily, BP is obviously moving to more central control. It’s not without risk but it’s the right model. read more

By Tom Stevenson
Last Updated: 12:53am BST 25/07/2007

BP’s new chief executive vowed to fix the problems at the struggling oil giant after announcing a slide in second quarter profits. Tony Hayward, who took over from Lord Browne in May, admitted that BP’s “current operational performance is not good enough”.

Dismissing rumours that BP continues to investigate a possible merger with rival Royal Dutch Shell, he opened a new chapter for the company by promising to rebuild revenues and simplify the business. read more

July 25, 2007
Nick Hasell: Tempus

Rarely can results showing that a company has made £32 million a day be received with little more than a shrug of the shoulders in the City.

So if Tony Hayward was looking to calm the storm of controversy surrounding his new charge, he achieved it yesterday, with the straightforward delivery of a set of second-quarter numbers that contained not even the slightest hint of his future strategic thinking. The new chief executive’s main priority must simply be to buy more time to right the wrongs plaguing the £115 billion company. read more