August 22nd, 2007:

August 23, 2007
Richard Owen in Rome

Romano Prodi, the Italian Prime Minister, is to meet Karim Masimov, his Kazakh counterpart, in an attempt to stave off the cancellation of Eni’s Kashagan oil project because of alleged ecological damage to the Caspian Sea and its wildlife.

Nurlan Iskakov, the Kazakh Environment Minister, said: “Taking into account the company’s previous failure to meet its obligations, we must withdraw the permit, as the company’s work is causing irreparable damage.”

However, energy analysts said that the real reason for the move is that Kazakhstan, like Russia and Venezuela, is putting pressure on international oil companies to agree to more favourable terms. Last month, its Government demanded 40 per cent of the profits from the Kashagan project, rather than the original 10 per cent, claiming that its costs had more than doubled to $136 billion (£68 billion). read more

By Ed Crooks and Javier Blas in London
Published: August 22 2007 22:47 | Last updated: August 22 2007 22:47

A large western oil company has offered $700m for oil assets in Iraqi Kurdistan owned by DNO, the small Norwegian oil company. The offer signals that international oil companies are willing to put significant amounts of money into Iraq in spite of the security problems and lack of a legal framework.

DNO refused to name the company, but industry executives speculated that Royal Dutch Shell was a possible bidder. Shell on Wednesday refused to comment. read more

Publication Date: 01/01/2003
Author: Carnes, Kathryn

It is a windy and sunny day in Houston, and from his windowed office high above the city’s downtown, David Pirret is watching for the leading edge of the cold front expected to hit that afternoon.

But Pirret, the new president and leader of Shell Lubricants within Shell Oil Products US, has his eye on more than the weather. After being named to his post in the middle of May 2002, Pirret had little time before he would take over as head of the No. 1 marketer of lubricants in the United States, when the acquisition of Shell with Pennzoil-Quaker State (PZL-QS) was finalized on Oct. 1. read more

By Alexander Kwiatkowski

Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) — Nigeria may ship three cargoes of the Forcados crude oil grade in October, three traders of West African oil said, reflecting the resumption of production in the western Niger Delta amid militant unrest.

The cargoes are 950,000 barrels each, the traders said, asking not to be identified because of company policy. Exports from the Forcados terminal had stopped in early 2006 because of attacks and kidnappings by militants who were demanding a greater share of surging oil revenue. read more

Aug. 22, 2007

Kazakh government vows to halt work at one of the biggest fields of the country developed under PSA – the Kashagan field. The bureaucrats blame violation of environmental laws on investors, including Italian Eni. The analysts speculate that Kazakhstan has become particularly pressurizing in time when it attempts to review the terms of PSA, having actually adopted the tactics successfully tested by Russia at Sakhalin-2 project past year.

The work in Kashagan field, Kazakhstan’s area of the Caspian Sea, could be terminated on the breach of environmental laws by Italian Eni, Environmental Protection Minister of Kazakhstan Nurlan Iskakov told the cabinet yesterday. read more

WENDY STUECK
August 22, 2007

VANCOUVER — A group of protesters, including members of the Tahltan and Iskut Indian bands, blocked a road in northwestern British Columbia yesterday, preventing Royal Dutch Shell PLC crews from heading into a contested region to do road repair work and reigniting a debate over coal bed methane exploration in the area.

Shell is reviewing its options, spokesman Larry Lalonde said yesterday, adding that it’s too early to say if the company will seek an injunction to gain access to its exploration projects. read more

EXTRACT: Following the Enron debacle, the SEC increased scrutiny on oil and gas reserves and found discrepancies in some companies’ reported reserve volumes on the same fields. Companies such as El Paso (EP) and Royal Dutch Shell later disclosed they had over-booked. Shell repeatedly revised downward its reserves, sparking a dramatic fall in its share price and a loss of faith in senior management. Many top executives, including the chief executive, were forced to resign in the wake of the scandal. read more

Thursday, August 16, 2007
For Immediate Release

U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye announced today that the State of Hawaii will receive nearly $1.3 million from the Department of Homeland Security to support security and disaster preparedness in the islands. 

Of that total, the Hawaii State Department of Transportation will receive $764,625 for port security efforts. 

The State will also get $501,570 through Homeland Security’s emergency management performance grant program, which supports comprehensive State and local emergency management and preparedness for a broad range of threats and hazards.  read more

There are vast reserves of oil trapped within Alberta’s rockbed – the trick is getting it out

NORVAL SCOTT
August 22, 2007

CALGARY — OSUM Oil Sands Corp. believes it might have the answer to one of the oil patch’s most perplexing problems – extracting the billions of barrels of crude trapped in Alberta’s limestone deposits.

To date, energy companies have largely concentrated on producing crude from Alberta’s oil sands, where tar-like bitumen is extracted from sandstone and dirt using either mining or steam-assisted extraction. While the province’s limestone deposits – or carbonates – also hold vast amounts of crude, the reserves are too deep for mining and are frequently perceived as being incompatible with steam-assisted extraction, preventing easy recovery. read more

By Karen Gullo and Tina Seeley

Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) — Chevron Corp., the second-largest U.S. oil company, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s biggest oil company, were sued by California gas station dealers who allege a conspiracy to fix gas prices.

The complaint filed today in federal court in San Francisco accuses the companies and a unit of the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. of artificially inflating gas prices by as much as 60 percent and destroying documents showing evidence of price fixing. The lawsuit was filed by 20 dealers on behalf of 25,000 dealers nationwide operating Shell- or Texaco-branded stations that bought gas from Shell, Texaco or their units from 1998 to 2001. read more

Gabrielle Dunlevy,
Published: Aug 22, 2007

BRISBANE, Aug 22 AAP – Independent fuel retailers battling the big chains have appealed to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for a lifeline.

The ACCC inquiry into unleaded fuel prices today heard from Queensland independent chains Neumann Petroleum and Matilda Fuels at a public hearing in Brisbane. Neumann Petroleum general manager Charles Wright told the inquiry, headed by ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel, that his outlets were forced to set prices close to cost for weeks, in order to compete with nearby Caltex/Woolworths outlets. “We are getting down to very, very thin margins, close to break-even or in some cases, negative,” he said. “We try and stop at our cost (price) but some of the charts I have seen though, I think, show negative.” read more

Ben Sharples

PERTH, Aug 22 AAP – Woodside Petroleum Ltd’s improved 2007 half year profit has been overshadowed by expected cost overruns at the North West Shelf Joint Venture (NWSJV) and the Otway project in Victoria. Perth-based Woodside posted a first half profit of $610.1 million, 16.3 per cent higher than the $524.35 million reported in the corresponding period of 2006.

Underlying net profit for the six months to June 30 came in at $545.4 million, 10.6 per cent higher than the previous corresponding period. Woodside today indicated that the construction of a fifth liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply train at the NWSJV in Western Australia was facing its second cost overrun. read more

Published: Aug 22, 2007

AMSTERDAM (Thomson Financial) – Royal Dutch Shell said it has established a joint venture with the OJSC Alliance Group to operate about 150 Shell-branded retail sites in Ukraine.

Shell and Alliance said in March they intend to set up a joint venture and formal approval from the Ukraine government was the final step for completion of the deal.

The joint venture officially started operations yesterday, Shell said.

Shell has operational control with a 51 pct share and Alliance a 49 pct stake. read more

By Catherine Belton in Moscow and Ed Crooks in London
Published: August 22 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 22 2007 03:00

Kazakhstan yesterday threatened to revoke the licence of a consortium led by Italy’s Eni to develop the vast offshore Kashagan oil field over environmental violations, stepping up the pressure as it seeks a review of the project’s terms.

Just one day after Eni and the Kazakh government began talks on the future of the project, Nurlan Isakov, the country’s environment minister, said the work of the Agip KCO consortium, which also includes Shell, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, could be stopped due to environmental concerns. read more

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 22, 2007
Filed at 2:25 a.m. ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nearly two dozen gas station owners in California sued Shell Oil Co., Chevron Corp. and Saudi Refining Inc., on Tuesday, claiming the companies conspired to fix prices for 23,000 franchise owners nationwide.

The case filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco seeks class-action status for the plaintiffs. It is similar to another lawsuit filed in 2004 by other California gas station owners that was thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court last year. The new group of plaintiffs hopes the court will consider a slightly different argument. read more

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, at the MAKS-2007 international airshow. Photograph: Dmitry Astakhov/AFP/Getty Images

Luke Harding in Moscow
Wednesday August 22, 2007

Vladimir Putin announced ambitious plans to revive Russia’s military power and restore its role as the world’s leading producer of military aircraft yesterday.

Speaking at the opening of the largest airshow in Russia’s post-Soviet history, the president said he was determined to make aircraft manufacture a national priority after decades of lagging behind the west. read more

Associated Press – August 21, 2007 6:34 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Nearly two dozen gas station owners in California are suing Shell Oil Co., Chevron Corp. and Saudi Refining Inc..

The gas station owners claim the big oil companies conspired to fix prices for 23,000 franchise owners nationwide.

The case filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco and seeks class-action status.

It is similar to one California station owners filed in 2004 — a case that was tossed out the U.S. Supreme Court. read more

By JAD MOUAWAD
Published: August 22, 2007

The government of Kazakhstan threatened yesterday to suspend work performed by a consortium of foreign oil companies at the Kashagan offshore field, one of the world’s largest oil projects, because of an assertion of environmental damage in the Caspian Sea.

The warning came amid official anger over lengthy delays and large cost overruns at the field, discovered in 2000.

Kazakhstan, which like other oil-producing countries has been seeking a larger share of the revenue from output, said this week that it had begun talks with Eni, the project’s Italian operator, about the future of Kashagan. read more

By – Takahiko Hyuga Bloomberg News Published: August 21, 2007

Royal Dutch Shell said Monday that it had hired Kathleen Eisbrenner to head its global liquefied natural gas business.

Eisbrenner, who was president of Excelerate Energy, a Texas-based developer of LNG import terminals, was appointed executive vice president, global LNG, effective Oct. 1.

Eisbrenner, who will be based in The Hague, will be responsible for Shell’s global LNG business, including LNG trading, and will report to Linda Cook, executive director of Shell Gas & Power International, said Andy Norman, a spokesman for Shell Gas & Power. read more

08.21.07, 10:42 PM ET
 
SYDNEY (Thomson Financial) – Australia’s largest producer of oil and gas, Woodside Petroleum Ltd, reported Wednesday first-half net profit of 610.1 million Australian dollars, 16.3 percent more than a year earlier, aided by one-offs including gains on the sale of its Legendre assets.

The Royal Dutch Shell (nyse: RDSA – news – people ) group owns 34 percent of Woodside.

Woodside said its underlying net profit for the first half, excluding all one-offs, was 545.5 million dollars. read more

Aug. 22, 2007, 12:22AM

By RACHEL KONRAD AP Business Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — Nearly two dozen gas station owners in California sued Shell Oil Co., Chevron Corp. and Saudi Refining Inc., on Tuesday, claiming the companies conspired to fix prices for 23,000 franchise owners nationwide.

The case filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco seeks class-action status for the plaintiffs. It is similar to another lawsuit filed in 2004 by other California gas station owners that was thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court last year. The new group of plaintiffs hopes the court will consider a slightly different argument. read more

August, 21 – 11:29 AM 
 
SANTO DOMINGO. The Cabinet-level minister Miguel Mejía said the company Shell’s “continuous plots” have prevented the full compliance of the Petrocaribe agreement between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.

He said Shell, the State’s equal partner in the Dominican Petroleum Refinery, always imposes its criteria in fuel imports.

Mejia, who was part of the delegation which accompanied president Leonel Fernandez to the Petrocaribe Summit held early last week in Caracas, said though the agreement allows the country to import up to 50,000 barrels of oil daily under financing, it has only obtained some 27,000 barrels. read more