July, 2007:

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 10, 2007
Filed at 2:05 a.m. ET

SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil prices inched down Tuesday in Asia, extending an overnight decline that came after the shutdown of a huge oil processing unit at a U.S. refinery raised concern of lower demand for crude.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 9 cents to $72.10 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, midmorning in Singapore. The contract fell 62 cents to settle at $72.19 a barrel Monday, after dipping as low as $71.81 a barrel. read more

By ANDREW E. KRAMER
Published: July 10, 2007

Royal Dutch Shell and Rosneft, the Russian state oil company, agreed to explore possibilities to work together to develop oil fields and market gasoline and other petroleum products worldwide.

The deal was presented as a framework to discuss future deals. While short on specifics, it suggested Shell was still seeking opportunities in Russia despite being forced last fall to sell a controlling stake in its Sakhalin II development to Gazprom, another Russian state company, at a low price. read more

· IEA attacks countries with tight grip on production
· Demand for gas and oil growing faster than ever

Terry Macalister
Tuesday July 10, 2007

A growing trend towards nationalism over resources in Russia and even Britain could backfire by cutting expenditure on oil and gas worldwide at a time when demand is likely to rise faster than expected over the next five years, the International Energy Agency warned yesterday.

At the same time, Shell signed a strategic agreement with Kremlin-controlled oil company Rosneft, weeks after BP agreed a similar deal with government-owned gas group, Gazprom. Both companies appear to be signalling that they need the influence of local operators in order to be involved in big developments in Russia. read more

Chris McGreal, Africa correspondent
Tuesday July 10, 2007

The three year-old British girl kidnapped in Nigeria, Margaret Hill, was released because the men holding her were hunted by rebel forces angered at being associated with the abduction, according to Nigerian officials.

The toddler was freed on Sunday evening, four days after she was snatched from a car on her way to school in Port Harcourt, a city at the heart of Nigeria’s oil industry.

Yesterday Margaret appeared buoyant showed few signs of her ordeal, other than numerous mosquito bites, as she played with her British father and Nigerian mother, Mike and Oluchi Hill. read more

By Tom Stevenson
Last Updated: 1:25am BST 10/07/2007

The latest report from the International Energy Agency makes scary reading. You don’t have to be a “peak oil” doom-monger to believe the world faces an energy crunch. Investors, and everyone else for that matter, need to think through the implications of a significantly higher oil price.

Oil has risen by around 50pc this year to within a whisker of the peak hit last August after Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. At $76 a barrel, the price of crude is seven times its recent low. Crucially, it is close to the inflation-adjusted levels at which the global economy has, in the past, started to squeal. read more

By Mike Pflanz in Port Harcourt
Last Updated: 2:03am BST 10/07/2007

The parents of the British girl, Margaret Hill, celebrated her release yesterday but denied having paid a ransom for her.
 
But even as Mike and Oluchi Hill rejoiced, evidence emerged that corrupt politicians and officials are involved in Nigeria’s “cottage industry” of kidnapping foreigners.

Mr Hill, who comes from Co Durham, said his three-year-old daughter had been taken to hospital for a check-up after being held for four days. read more

July 10, 2007
Steve Hawkes

Shell has struck a groundbreaking partnership in Russia seven months after it was forced to surrender control of the country’s vast $21 billion (£10.4 billion) Sakhalin-2 offshore development.

The Anglo-Dutch group said yesterday that it had entered into a broad alliance with Rosneft, the Kremlin-backed oil giant, to cooperate on oil and gas projects in the country. The agreement mirrors a separate deal being thrashed out between Gazprom, the Kremlin’s favoured gas group, and BP. read more

July 10, 2007
Patrick Hosking, Business Commentary

Jeroen van der Veer has kissed and made up with Vladimir Putin. Only seven months after he ceded control of the Sakhalin-2 offshore gasfield to a Russian company, the Shell chief executive has struck a fresh deal in the country, this time with Rosneft.

There are two ways of seeing the rapprochement. One is that a previously arrogant Shell has learnt the rules of the game in Russia. By adopting a bit of humility, it regains its position in the most important energy producing nation outside the Middle East. Like all other oil companies, Shell does not have much choice about whom it does business with. It goes where the black stuff is. The deal could significantly boost its reserves. read more

(Stormy outlook : oil producers will be unable to increase production in line with demand and prices cold soar)

By David Litterick in Chicago
Last Updated: 1:26am BST 10/07/2007
 
The International Energy Agency has predicted a supply crunch in the world’s oil markets that could send prices soaring and place a severe dent in global growth.

In a report that painted a bleak outlook for the global economy, the IEA said spare capacity in oil production would dry up over the next five years, even as demand continues to jump significantly. read more

By Javier Blas, Commodities Correspondent
Published: July 9 2007 13:25 | Last updated: July 9 2007 13:25

The world is facing an oil supply “crunch” within five years that will force up prices to record levels and increase the west’s dependence on oil cartel Opec, the industrialised countries’ energy watchdog has warned.

In its starkest warning yet on the world’s fuel outlook, the International Energy Agency said “oil looks extremely tight in five years time” and there are “prospects of even tighter natural gas markets at the turn of the decade”. read more

10 July 2007 07:41

It is a phenomenon which has alarmed scientists – grey whales showing worrying signs of malnutrition. Could this be another example of the ravages of climate change?

By Leonard Doyle
Published: 10 July 2007

When two anorexic creatures appeared from over the horizon in the waters of Laguna San Ignacio, off Mexico’s Baja California last January, William Megill was quick to identify them.

“We have Kate Moss and we have Twiggy,” said Dr Megill, with a wry smile, of the female grey whales he saw struggling down the coast as he was speeding around in the University of Bath’s research vessel. read more

By Thair Shaikh
Published: 10 July 2007

A British oil worker has been kidnapped by an armed gang in southern Nigeria, the Foreign Office said last night.

His capture from an oil production barge in the oil-rich Niger Delta region came just hours after the parents of three-year-old Margaret Hill were celebrating her release after four days in captivity.

The Briton was captured alongside a Bulgarian colleague. Both are consultants working for Exprotech (Nigeria), part of the UK-based Expro Group. They were on the Agbani barge in Calabar, near Cross River State, when gunmen on speedboats attacked them at 8pm local time. read more

Christopher Helman, 07.09.07, 4:40 PM ET

HOUSTON – The strategic alliance announced Monday between Royal Dutch Shell and Rosneft represents a thinly veiled kowtow by a Western oil giant of yesteryear to the fast-rising Russian champion of today.

The deal, signed by Shell (nyse: RDSA – news – people ) Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer and Rosneft chief Sergey Bogdanchikov, did not involve any specific projects and mentioned no dollar values. Ultimately it is little more than a vague agreement that Shell is willing to put up its billions to buy into Rosneft’s big new projects, everything from drilling oilfields to building refineries and operating gas stations. read more

By Estelle Shirbon
Reuters
Monday, July 9, 2007; 5:03 PM

ABUJA (Reuters) – Four more people have been abducted in the Niger Delta, authorities said on Monday, underscoring insecurity in Nigeria’s oil-producing region hours after a 3-year-old British girl was freed by her kidnappers.

Margaret Hill was released on Sunday night after four days in the hands of unknown ransom seekers who snatched her from the car in which she was being driven to school on July 5 in Port Harcourt, the delta’s main city. read more

Tuesday, July 10, 2007. Issue 3695. Page 1.
By Anatoly Medetsky
Staff Writer

Shell and Rosneft will look at joint oil projects in Russia and elsewhere in a potentially lucrative deal that could give the European energy major a chance to widen its access to Russian reserves and shore up its position in the country.

The deal, announced Monday, could also help Rosneft, burdened with heavy debt after a series of acquisitions earlier this year, secure a foreign partner to finance greenfield development. read more

Jack Reardon, guest columnist  —  7/09/2007 11:18 am

A recent editorial in The Capital Times congratulated Gov. Jim Doyle for challenging the oil industry’s annual rip-off of raising prices at the start of the summer driving season.

Consumers are indeed mad at this “predictable price-gouging ritual” that fattens oil company profits. We want someone to blame, so why not blame the oil companies?

The Capital Times also lauded Doyle for “understanding that government has a right and a responsibility to force energy firms to become what they are not: responsible to consumers and to the future.” read more

09 Jul 2007
 
On July 6 2007 Rosneft Open Joint Stock Company (Rosneft) and Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell) concluded an Agreement on Strategic Cooperation. The agreement was signed in Moscow by Rosneft President Sergey Bogdanchikov and Shell Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer.
 
The Agreement provides the opportunity for joint implementation of upstream and downstream oil and gas projects. It sets the basic principles of strategic cooperation between the two major international energy companies and lays the foundation for a long-term cooperation between Shell and Rosneft both in Russia and elsewhere. read more

9 July 2007

Dear Friends

The recent heritage listing of a large tract of the Burrup Peninsula by the Federal Government acknowledges the great importance of the rock art for all Australians. Public pressure is working.

But, despite the listing, Woodside continues to move forward with their unnecessary plans to clear more rock art on Site B; currently excluded from heritage protection by the Federal Government. We must maintain pressure on the WA State Government and Woodside to abandon this wrong-headed policy and demand that the Pluto LNG Plant is relocated off the Burrup. read more

By KATHARINE HOURELD 07.09.07, 10:21 AM ET

Gunmen attacked two oil installations in southern Nigeria, kidnapping two senior Nigerian employees of Royal Dutch Shell PLC and two foreigners, security officials and colleagues said Monday.

Late Sunday night, gunmen in speedboats attacked a facility on Calabar River and kidnapped two foreign employees, two security contractors said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the press.

Sunday night’s attack coincided with the release of Margaret Hill, a British toddler whose father works for an energy company. The 3-year-old was the first foreign child to be kidnapped in the restive Niger river delta region, which has seen about 150 foreigners seized this year. read more

16:31 | 09/ 07/ 2007 

MOSCOW, July 9 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s state-controlled oil company Rosneft [RTS: ROSN] said Monday it had signed a strategic partnership agreement with Royal Dutch Shell on the prospective implementation of joint oil and gas projects.

Under the deal signed July 6 in Moscow, Rosneft and Shell plan to carry out joint geological surveys, and produce, refine and sell hydrocarbons. The deal formulates the basic principles for a strategic partnership and creates a basis for the companies’ long-term cooperation in Russia and abroad, Rosneft said. read more

By BENOIT FAUCON
July 9, 2007 8:10 a.m.

LONDON — Royal Dutch Shell Monday said it has signed a cooperation deal with Rosneft for oil and gas production and refining in Russia and abroad.
 
The agreement comes after the recent loss of control of a Sakhalin project by Shell and after similar cooperation deal between BP PLC and OAO Gazprom. It underpins how Russia is still seeking the participation of foreign investors as minority partners in Russia, as well as their help abroad after unwinding deals signed with them in the 1990s. read more

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive!
(Quote from Sir Walter Scott 1771-1832)

The Royal Dutch Shell Group is once again caught deceiving the public.

The Dutch Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that a complaint made by Friends of the Earth Netherlands about a Royal Dutch Shell “green” themed advertising campaign was well founded and that the advertising was misleading i.e. deceptive.

We all live in a world of spin especially in relation to marketing and advertising where things are not always what they appear. I live in the UK. Here the packet size for potato chips (we call them “crisps”) is getting bigger, while the number of potato chips actually inside each packet is getting less. Packets are double the size actually needed. I recently bought a box of chocolates and discovered that the tray containing the chocolates was surrounded by a cardboard construction to make it appear that far more chocolates are inside than was actually the case. Both brands are obviously more interested in fooling the public to sell product than in environmental considerations. read more

Mon Jul 9, 2007 2:32 PM BST

(Adds details, analysts throughout)

By Dmitry Zhdannikov and Tanya Mosolova

MOSCOW, July 9 (Reuters) – Oil major Royal Dutch/Shell on Monday signalled an attempt to rebuild its exposure to Russia, which was badly cut last year, by signing a framework cooperation deal with state-controlled Rosneft.

Shell said it would cooperate with Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil firm, in oil production and refining in Russia and abroad — six months after being forced to cede control of the Sakhalin-2 project to gas monopoly Gazprom. read more

11:37 | 09/ 07/ 2007 

MOSCOW, July 9 (RIA Novosti) – Sakhalin Energy, the operator of the Sakhalin II oil and gas project off Russia’s Pacific Coast, said Monday it had started drilling the first offshore gas wells from the Lunskoye-A platform.

The platform is Russia’s first gas-producing offshore platform located at the Lunskoye gas and condensate field, 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) off northeastern Sakhalin. The platform is designed for year-round operation in harsh weather conditions, and is able to withstand high seismic activity, the company said. read more

By Greg Walters

July 9 (Bloomberg) — OAO Gazprom and Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Sakhalin-2 project started drilling from Russia’s first offshore natural gas platform.

Project operator Sakhalin Energy Investment Co. began drilling from the Lunskoye-A platform off Sakhalin Island in Russia’s Far East, the company said in an e-mailed statement today. The well is one of two the venture plans to drill this year to start gas production.

Sakhalin Energy, which plans to start Russia’s first exports of liquid natural gas in 2008, last week began testing an LNG plant on Sakhalin. read more

By Steve Newman
Universal Press Syndicate
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.09.2007
 
Noise starvation

The critically endangered western gray whale population has abandoned its only known feeding area this summer, and conservationists blame noise pollution from a gas and oil project in the Russian Far East.

The World Wildlife Fund said the construction of an offshore facility at Shell’s Sakhalin-2 project has resulted in a constant, high level of noise. Only about 100 western gray whales remain in the world, and they have historically fed around where the Sakhalin Energy facility is being built. read more

LONDON (Thomson Financial) – Sakhalin Energy said it has started drilling wells at the offshore Lunskoye gas and condensate field in north-eastern Sakhalin island.

The holes will be spudded from the Lunskoye-A platform, which is designed to withstand harsh climate and rough seas, it said.

‘The commencement of drilling of the first wells from Lunskoye-A platform is a major development milestone. Lunskoye-A will provide the main volume of gas for LNG production, opening the new energy markets in Asia-Pacific and North America for Russia,’ said chief executive Ian Craig. read more

· Father of snatched child says no ransom was paid
· Intense security service pressure led to freedom

Sarah Knapton
Monday July 9, 2007

Margaret Hill, the three-year-old British girl abducted by gunmen in southern Nigeria last week, was last night released and returned to her parents. She was unharmed apart from a rash of mosquito bites, and apparently in good spirits as she told reporters on the telephone that she was “fine”.

The little girl, who was seized from a chauffeur-driven car on her way to school last Thursday, was released after Nigerian security services piled pressure on the group holding her, according to her father, Mike Hill. “She’s in a bit of a trance,” he said. “She is covered in mosquito bites. I am going to have to get her to the clinic, because she will need some injections. She’s been in the bush. And I don’t think they fed her very much.” read more

July 9, 2007
Suzy Jagger in New York

Libya has invited international energy companies to bid for 12 onshore and offshore gas drilling permits as part of its drive to boost gas exports.

The National Oil Corporation (NOC), the state-owned Libyan oil group, said yesterday on its website that exploration and production companies had until December 9 to apply.

NOC held presentations to potential partners in Tripoli yesterday and said that it would also discuss the contractual framework and technical summaries of the exploration blocks in a similar presentation next Sunday in London. read more

Published: Jul 09, 2007

In New Zealand, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) said today there had been no fresh news about two kidnapped New Zealanders also employed by Lonestar Drilling. Bruce Klenner, 47, of New Plymouth, and Brent Goddard, 49, of Wellington, were kidnapped along with Mr Lane and the other two workers from Lebanon and Venezuela. An MFAT spokeswoman said today the ministry was in constant contact with Shell and “the various parties involved”, trying to secure the release of the men, but there had so far been no further developments. MFAT has advised New Zealanders against travel to the Niger Delta, citing “extreme risk” to personal safety. NZPA srp read more

Ciaran Hancock
Published: Jul 09, 2007

CSR: The merits of corporate social responsibility have been debated for decades but the concept is becoming popular in corporate Ireland.

Earlier this month, energy giant Shell said it had spent $273 million (201 million) worldwide on CSR in 2006.

Susan Shannon, who heads Shell’s social investment initiatives in Ireland, says independent research it has commissioned recently suggests that trust is gradually being rebuilt after recent low points in public relations over its plans to build a natural gasline in Co Mayo. read more

By Sheila McNulty in Houston and Ed Crooks in London
Published: July 8 2007 20:51 | Last updated: July 8 2007 20:51

BP has agreed to withhold millions of dollars in payments to Lord Browne and John Manzoni until the conclusion of a shareholder lawsuit in Alaska that accuses the outgoing executives of mismanagement.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of BP investors in state court in Alaska, seeks damages from 39 present and past BP managers and directors.

The plaintiffs sought to freeze the funds, fearing they would have no means to attach payments to Lord Browne, BP’s former chief executive, and Mr Manzoni, its departing refining chief, if they were released from liability on leaving the UK oil giant. By agreeing to withhold the payments until the conclusion of the litigation, access to those funds is assured. read more

By Ed Crooks in London
Published: July 8 2007 22:01 | Last updated: July 8 2007 22:01

Gazprom is “very close” to a deal to develop the vast Shtokman gas field in Russia, making a concession to international energy groups by allowing foreign companies to be partners in the project, according to one of the company’s top executives.

Signing a deal to develop one of the world’s biggest gas reserves would be an important success for any of the three groups that have been in talks with Gazprom: Statoil and Norsk Hydro of Norway, which are in the process of merging, Total of France and ConocoPhillips of the US. The cost of the project has been estimated at $20bn-$30bn. read more

By Mangoa Mosota

Kenya Shell has resumed business in Western Kenya after a four-year absence.

The company opened Kisumu retail station last weekend and is planning to open another six in the next one year.

Managing Director Mr Patrick Obath said some of the new stations will be opened in Eldoret and Bungoma. “Our investment in Western Kenya will go hand in hand with the re-branding of BP retail sites to Shell,” said the MD.

He blamed dumping of counterfeit oil products for the closure of Kenya Shell retail outlets in the region four years ago. “There was dumping of export oil that was meant for export. This unfair competition forced us to close in 2003,” said Obath. read more

Monday July 09 2007

A SPECIES of fish which likes to hide away in dark spaces has cost the Shell company over €250,000 by blocking drilling operations at the controversial Corrib gas field, 83 kilometres off the Mayo coast.

Shell E&P Ireland (SEPIL) engineers were baffled when suction piling – drilling by suction – mysteriously failed to achieve the required depths.

The operation was being carried out by an underwater robot which was being used to instal protection covers on the Corrib sub-sea wells. When the suction panel was removed in an expensive operation, the cause of the problem became apparent – a 4ft ling, subsequently nicknamed “Larry” by bemused rig workers. The ling had formed a perfect shut valve on the suction pipe. SEPIL communications manager John Egan explained that the fish had temporarily prevented a 130 tonne structure reaching its design building depth on the sea bed – 350 metres below sea level. read more

Martin Ayankola, Lagos – 09.07.2007

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) on Friday in Lagos awarded a $530 million engineering contract to the National Engineering and Technical Company Limited (NETCO).

NETCO is a subsidiary company of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The contract covers a range of activities in support of project portfolios of Shell companies in Nigeria and it is spread over five years with an option of two years.

SPDC’s General Manager, Engineering, Mr. Victor Dania, explained that under the terms of the contract, NETCO would be required to provide detailed engineering and associated studies in support of individual projects that would develop from initial conceptual engineering and provide procurement support thereafter. read more

7/9/2007 

Houston, TX – VetcoGray, a GE Oil & Gas business, is supplying its latest MS-700 system deepwater technology to Shell Group Companies for the deepwater BC-10 project, recently named Parque das Conchas, located in Brazil’s Campos Basin.

The contract with Shell includes the supply of 12 MS-700 slimbore subsea wellhead systems and seven 42-inch liners, with delivery beginning in July of 2007. Once installed, the MS-700 slimbore wellhead systems will enable Shell to drill and complete wells in conjunction with their reduced bore riser and a surface blowout-preventer (BOP), thus exploiting the drilling capabilities of rigs with conventional operating envelopes, typically less than the actual water depth at Parque das Conchas (up to 1930m water depth). read more

By Emma O’Brien

July 9 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc has been in contact with the kidnappers of five oil workers in Nigeria, including two New Zealanders, and confirmed that they are alive, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said.

Shell has conveyed to the New Zealand government that it has “every reason to believe that the men are alive and well,” Clark told reporters in Wellington today, adding that the oil company was the main point of contact with the kidnappers. read more

Monday, July 9, 2007. Issue 3694. Page 1.
By Miriam Elder
Staff Writer  
 
For several months last year, Shell fought off daily accusations that its construction of the giant Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project was causing unspeakable damage to the land and animals of the far eastern island.

Then, at a Dec. 21 Kremlin ceremony, welcoming Gazprom as a majority shareholder into the foreign-owned project, President Vladimir Putin declared that all of the island’s environmental problems had been resolved. read more

                     NATIONAL UNION OF OGONI STUDENTS
                                          (NUOS INTL.) USA
                         3116 W. DEVON AVE SUITE #204
                                CHICAGO ILLINIOS 60659
               www.nuos-ogoni.org – [email protected] – 773.250.7004

COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF THE NATIONAL UNION OF OGONI- STUDENTS’ ANNUAL  CONFERENCE HELD AT UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, KANSAS CITY, SATURDAY, JULY 7, 2007 read more

Best bets are coal-to-liquid fuel, shale, nuclear power

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.08.2007
Opinion by Gerald E. Marsh

CHICAGO — If Congress is going to subsidize energy to free us from dependence on foreign oil, it should — at the very least — spend our hard-earned taxpayer dollars on something that will work.

The unfortunate truth is that neither ethanol nor any other so-called renewable alternative energy now being discussed on Capitol Hill is likely to make any significant contribution to our energy needs. read more

Royal Dutch Shell CEO, Jeroen van der Veer

Oman is set to become an important centre for developing economical and effective enhanced oil recovery (EOR), according to Royal Dutch Shell’s Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer in a viewpoint article in Emerging Oman 2007, the authoritative publication produced by Oxford Business Group (OBG) the UK-based publishing, research and consultancy service.

‘Shell recently established an EOR research centre in the sultanate and Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is undertaking a major EOR project to raise recovery at Harweel as much as fourfold. Another major EOR project, using steam to recover perhaps a billion barrels of oil, is also underway in the Mukhaizna field. This openness to new technology extends across all areas of operations and typifies Oman’s imaginative approach to the development of its natural resources,’ says Mr van der Veer. read more

CAMPAIGN: Oil giant has spread its wealth to rebuild reputation tainted in 2006.

By WESLEY LOY
[email protected]

Published: July 8, 2007
Last Modified: July 8, 2007 at 12:24 AM

Have you noticed? BP is on a PR offensive.

The London-based oil titan, the most important company operating in Alaska, in recent weeks has been holding receptions and barbecues, handing out money for Little League teams and running newspaper ads across the state touting “our strong relationship with the people of Alaska.” read more

Despite poverty and strife, demand opens doors with China, the West

By EDWARD HARRIS
Associated Press

PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA — Europe’s great powers once scrambled for dominance across vast, underdeveloped African lands rich in raw resources including the scarlet palm oil used to grease the first cogs of the industrial revolution.

A century later, a new group of nations are competing for a different valuable, viscous material, with sub-Saharan Africa closing in on the Persian Gulf as the prime overseas supplier of oil to the last remaining superpower. read more

EXTRACT: Last fall, it was environmental infractions in pipeline construction that forced Royal Dutch Shell and Japanese partners to sell a controlling stake in their $22 billion Sakhalin II oil and gas development to Gazprom, the state gas monopoly. Then, this June, BP’s local joint venture, TNK-BP, sold its share of a huge gas development after regulators threatened to revoke the license because the field was developed too slowly, which was a technical violation of the terms of TNK-BP’s license. Gazprom, again, was the beneficiary. read more

DAN UDOH,
Published: Jul 08, 2007

Nigerian gunmen who kidnapped a British girl have demanded a ransom, her mother said, while police say she may be released soon.

Oluchi Hill, a Nigerian, refused to say how much cash was sought for the safe return of Margaret Hill, 3, or who contacted her.

“Where do you expect me to get that type of money?” she told The Associated Press, weeping during the short conversation Saturday.

Police, meanwhile, said they had received information that the girl may be released by Sunday, said police commissioner Felix Ogbaudu, in charge of the oil industry center of Port Harcourt, where Margaret was kidnapped on her way to school Thursday. He did not elaborate. read more

Published: Sunday, 8 July, 2007, 02:03 AM Doha Time  
 
Royal Dutch Shell had recently taken a group of journalists to visit their first gas-to-liquids plant in Bintulu, Malaysia. Gulf Times’ Leonard H Manickam was one of the two journalists from Qatar who made the trip. He writes about the ‘founding capital of the GTL world’ and Pearl GTL, which is set to propel  Qatar as the new GTL capital of the world.

As Qatar positions itself to become the GTL capital of the world in a few years’ time, the first-ever gas-to-liquids plant – the Shell MDS Malaysia – will be pushed a little further into history, but not to be forgotten. read more

EXTRACT: But this is not necessarily the case with the mega caps, which are capitalised above that level. This is where shareholder activists believe they have an opportunity. Some of these stocks, such as Glaxo Smith Kline, BP, Shell and Vodafone, are still greatly undervalued on fundamentals. Shares in Shell bounced about 4% last week, partly due to the rise in the oil price, but even after this rally several top brokers issued buy notes. If the markets don’t attribute the right values to these stocks, an activist will try to shake the tree to ensure this. read more