August 23rd, 2007:

22.08.2007, 17.03
 
YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, August 22 (Itar-Tass) – The oil company Sakhalin Energy has transferred 100,000 US dollars for the provision of aid to the population affected by a strong earthquake in the town of Nevelsk on Russia’s Sakhalin Island.

Moreover, the company personnel have raised 365,000 roubles in personal donations to the Nevelsk residents. This money will most likely be spent on the purchasing of new medical equipment for the central hospital of the Nevelsk district, Sakhalin Energy Chief Executive Officer Ian Craig said at a meeting with Sakhalin region governor Alexander Khoroshavin on Wednesday. read more

By Gavin Evans and Sophie Tan

Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil rose from an eight-week low in New York on signs disruption from Hurricane Dean and summer driving demand will reduce U.S. fuel supplies.

Gasoline gained after Royal Dutch Shell Plc cut output at its Deer Park, Texas, refinery because of potential delays in crude shipments after Dean. Gasoline jumped yesterday after an Energy Department report showed U.S. consumption increased to a record last week and stockpiles fell the most in four years. read more

By Upstream staff

A major US refiner cut runs and other buyers expected to see supply delays after Mexico was forced to shut in 80% of crude production due to Hurricane Dean.

Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell reduced throughput at its Deer Park refinery joint venture with Mexico’s Pemex after the state oil company shut in 2.65 million barrels per day of production before Hurricane Dean ripped through the nation’s Campeche Sound oil-producing region.

Citgo Petroleum, another buyer of Mexican crude, said it expected delays in deliveries. Valero and ExxonMobil said they did not expect any problems. read more

Maxwell James, The Daily Trust (Nigeria)
Published: Aug 22, 2007

For the record, I wish to state that my empathy for the Niger Delta region is strictly based on my brief experience as a development worker (not a journalist) with a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that has been working in the area of peace and development in Nigeria for decades. I have never been an agent of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) or any other pressure group in the region, neither have I met the MOSOP leader, Ledum Mitee before as Rev. Fr. Matthew Hassan Kukah deliberately misinformed the public in his self-protective article entitled “MOSOP, the Ogonis and I: Some Clarifications” (Daily Sun, June 30, 2007); a purported reply to my earlier piece “Ogoniland, Shell and Fr Kukah,” in which I made some compelling points against the strategies employed in the ongoing Ogoni peace talks. read more

By Peter Smith in Sydney
Published: August 23 2007 02:15 | Last updated: August 23 2007 02:15

Woodside Petroleum, the Australian oil and gas producer part-owned by Royal Dutch Shell, on Wednesday said it was considering the future of its operations in Africa as it reported a 16 per cent rise in first-half profits.

Don Voelte, chief executive, said the company was exploring a range of options, including selling the assets, hiving them off into a separate businesses, or a public listing. Woodside has suffered oil-drilling setbacks at its operations in Mauritania. It also has interests in ventures in Libya and Algeria. read more

Published: August 23 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 23 2007 03:00

Scotland, north-east England and the Midlands have been selected as the shortlisted bidders vying to win the headquarters of the government’s proposed £1bn Energy Technologies Institute.

The ETI, announced in the last Budget by the then chancellor, Gordon Brown, has aroused keen interest from competing potential locations as it is expected to act as the focus of the UK’s low carbon energy research and development.

Bringing together government and some of the world’s biggest energy companies, it will aim to help establish Britain as a world leader in non-nuclear, clean energy development, bridging the gap between research and the marketplace. read more

Associated Press 08.22.07, 5:55 PM ET
 
DEER PARK, Texas – Royal Dutch Shell PLC said on Wednesday that it would cut crude runs at its Deer Park, Texas, refinery due to a shutdown of Mexican oil production caused by Hurricane Dean.

Shell and a subsidiary of Mexico’s state-owned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, entered a joint venture at the South Texas refinery in 1993, with each holding a 50 percent stake. Pemex began shutting down offshore production on Sunday in the Bay of Campeche, which was along the hurricane’s path. read more

MOSCOW. Aug 22 (Interfax) – Shell and Russia’s Alliance Group have wrapped up the creation of a joint venture to run the Russian company’s filling station network in Ukraine, Shell said in a press release.

The joint venture will run 150 filling stations in Ukraine, operating under the Shell brand.

Shell and Alliance signed the joint venture agreement on March 29. Alliance agreed to contribute 150-160 filling stations and Shell to contribute cash, licenses and its trademark. Shell owns 51% of the joint venture. read more

August 23, 2007; Page A10

Just about everyone claims the U.S. must urgently become “energy independent,” yet at the same time just about every policy that may actually serve that goal is met with environmentalist opposition. That contradiction has impeded the Bush Administration’s attempts to increase domestic energy production. And even the modest progress so far may be blocked because litigation is driving the conflict out of politics and into the courts.

To see this trend at work, look north to Alaska, where lawsuits are blocking an offshore drilling program. Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay that will suspend all operations until at least September, when the court will hear full arguments. The decision noted that the litigants — environmental pressure groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council — had shown “a probability of success on the merits.” Uh-oh. read more