August 21st, 2007:

By Nariman Gizitdinov

Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) — Kazakhstan may suspend work at Eni SpA’s Kashagan oil project because of ecological damage as the Caspian Sea state seeks more profit from its biggest oilfield.

“Taking into account the failure to meet the previous obligation by the company, we must withdraw the permit as the company’s work brings irreparable ecological damage,” Environment Minister Nurlan Iskakov said today at a government meeting in Astana. “We will send the necessary materials to the energy ministry to decide on the halting of work at Kashagan.” read more

By Upstream staff

The Shell-led partners in New Zealand’s flagship Maui field have been awarded a new exploration block along the border of the Maui field.

The Maui field is owned by Shell (83.75%), OMV (10%) and Todd Energy (6.25%) and is operated by Shell Todd Oil Services (STOS), a 50-50 joint venture between Shell and Todd.

STOS said today it had been awarded Block PEP 381203 – a 214 square kilometre area along the south-east border of the current Maui petroleum mining licence.

“The joint venture has started re-processing 3D seismic data covering the original Maui PML and part of the new area. This will identify any prospects that could be commercially developed using the existing Maui infrastructure,” said STOS. read more

APRIL CASTRO
Published: Aug 21, 2007

While forecasts say Hurricane Dean will hit northern Mexico, state officials prepared for the possibility that heavy rain from its outer bands could flood parts of the Rio Grande Valley.

The National Guard and search and rescue teams have been mobilized. Shelters were set up in 28 communities. As many as 80,000 barrels of gasoline have been shipped to Rio Grande Valley gas stations.

The state sent six C-130 aircraft on Monday to the state’s southern corner in case any critically ill patients needed evacuation from hospitals. About 3,000 buses were on standby for possible evacuations. read more

BEIJING, Aug 21 Asia Pulse – Lured by huge opportunities in the Chinese oil product market, Shell has come back to the country’s refining sector through participation in the Nansha greenfield refinery, a refining branch of Sinopec’s Guangzhou Petrochemical.

Dow Chemical, the global chemical giant, has followed Shell’s move. Of interest at the 12 million ton/year Nansha greenfield refinery is the soon to be constructed ethylene plant with an annual capacity of one million tons. read more

By Javier Blas
Published: August 21 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 21 2007 03:00

Commodities prices were volatile yesterday, with some base metals rising on hopes that actions by central banks to add much-needed liquidity to the credit market would support the world economy and help demand for commodities to grow.

Energy commodities, however, moved lower as hurricane Dean, the first this season to threaten the Gulf of Mexico, was forecast not to hit US oil production and refineries in the area.

In late London afternoon trading, Nymex September West Texas Intermediate fell $1.50 to $70.48 a barrelwhile ICE September Brent dropped $1.22 to $69.22 abarrel. read more

By Ed Crooks, Energy Editor
Published: August 21 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 21 2007 03:00

A new gas-fired power station in south Wales has been given the go-ahead, marking the latest stage in what has been described as a fresh “dash for gas” by electricity generators.

Carron Energy, an independent generator and electricity supplier, has won approval from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform for an 800MW, gas-fired power station at Newport, beside the river Usk. About 650 jobs will be created at the plant. read more

By Sheila McNulty
Published: August 21 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 21 2007 03:00

In a suburb of Fort Worth, down a dirt road, past a field with some horses and asmall house, a single rig is drilling. The well below it goes 8,000 feet under the ground and then 2,000 feet across without disturbing more than an acre ofthe rolling grass of this part of north Texas.

Into this well workers pump water under intense pressure to fracture the Barnett Shale rock in which massive amounts of natural gas are trapped. The process creates millions of escape routes through which the gas flows intoa network of pipes. read more

By Gareth Smyth in Tehran
Published: August 21 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 21 2007 03:00

Iran appointed a new deputy oil minister for international affairs yesterday as part of a government reshuffle. Hossein Noghrehkar-Shirazi, who will take over responsibility for liaison with foreign companies, was appointed by the acting oil minister, Gholam-Hossein Nozari.

The oil ministry said Mr Noghrehkar-Shirazi had previously been a diplomat in Austria and had studied in the US.

Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the president, has tried, with limited success, to reshape Iran’s state-owned oil industry since he was elected two years ago on a slogan of redistributing the country’s oil wealth more widely. read more

Helen Pidd
Tuesday August 21, 2007

Journalists love going undercover. Not only does it make their job feel infinitely sexier, but it can also be a fast track to the front page. There was, however, one clandestine mission no one really wanted last week, and that was infiltrating the Camp for Climate Action outside Heathrow. “Infiltration” in this context meant donning your grungiest clothes, walking through the camp’s gate – hoping no one recognised you from your byline photo – getting under the string fence and through the aeroplane cutout bearing the legend “EXIT THE SYSTEM”. And then camping in a soggy field until something exciting happened, and then writing a story even when it didn’t. Probably on the compost toilets. Or, if you got really desperate, the vegan food. Suddenly the Daily Mirror’s “Inside Buckingham Palace – the Queen uses Tupperware!” scoop seemed like the story of the century. read more

Article from: AAP
By Peter Veness
August 21, 2007 12:33pm

MAJOR petrol companies Shell and Caltex are trying to run competitors BP and Mobil out of business, a petrol inquiry was told today.

Motor Traders Association chief executive Michael Delaney said the attempt by Shell and Caltex would create a huge market duopoly.

Mr Delaney made the comments under questioning from Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman Graeme Samuel on the first day of a public inquiry into petrol prices. read more

Daily Trust (Abuja)
20 August 2007
Posted to the web 20 August 2007
Edet Ekanem
Uyo

The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has vowed to sanction Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited if the company fails to appear before it to explain oil spillages at Ikot Abasi local government of the state.

The house gave the oil company until Wednesday to appear before it.
 
The Speaker of the House, Engr. Ignatius Edet made this known in Uyo when the company defied its invitation to appear before an executive session of the House last week. read more

Aug. 21, 2007

The last assets of YUKOS were sold last week to finish several months of sales of what was once Russia’s largest oil producer. Bankruptcy procedures for the company are to be over by November when it will be liquidated. It took roughly four years to wind up one of Russia’s biggest oil holdings. Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s empire was virtually handed over to state-run Rosneft. The state-controlled oil firm, which used to be a mediocre player in the YUKOS golden age, has snapped up most of its production units and refineries at knockdown prices to become the leader of the Russian market, in terms of capitalization, production, refining, the size of oil reserves and even the number of gas stations in the country. Rosneft now aspires to become a world leader, something that YUKOS was also aiming at. read more