August 24th, 2007:

12:55:14PM, Aug 24 2007

SHELL IS asking the B.C. Supreme Court for an injunction to lift a Tahltan blockade preventing crews and equipment from going into the Klappan area to drill for coalbed methane natural gas.

It had papers served this morning at the turnoff from Hwy37 North to the Ealue Lake Road, the entry point into the Klappan, saying it has arranged for a court date of Aug. 31.

This is the third time in three years resource companies have been blocked from going into the Klappan, regarded by the Tahltan as an environmentally and culturally sensitive area, and the third time companies have gone to the Supreme Court for an injunction. read more

24.08.2007

The Russian government is eyeing establishment of a new oil giant to produce over 3,5 billion bbl per day or nearly 35% of all Russian oil production, “Energy Intelligence Group” (EIG) reported.

The report says that Russia may create a cartel that will produce more oil than international giants such as Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and BP. This corporation may be set up before the March 2008 presidential elections, EIG said.

Citing an undisclosed source, EIG reports that the new monopoly is to be controlled by the state holding “Rosneftegaz” that already holds a 75,16% stake in “Роснефти” and a 10,74% stake in “Gazprom”. read more

August 24, 2007: 11:30 AM EST

BUENOS AIRES -(Dow Jones)- An Argentine judge has rejected a request by the local unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) for an injunction against fines the government has levied against the company for allegedly failing to supply the domestic market, a company spokesman said Friday.

Nestor Kirchner’s administration has levied 55 fines totaling 55 million pesos ($17 million) against Shell since it reactivated a 1974 “Supply Law” in October of last year amid reports of diesel shortages. read more

By Tommaso Ebhardt and Steve Scherer

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) — Eni SpA Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni said he’s prepared to renegotiate an agreement with the Kazakh government to operate the Kashagan oil field because the outlook for petroleum prices is now much higher.

“The conditions are right to negotiate a new contract,” Scaroni said in an interview in Rimini, Italy. “The contract with Kazakhstan includes a series of parameters that will have to be adjusted.” read more

By JOEL CONNELLY
P-I COLUMNIST

In his Savile Row threads, the senior partner from a distinguished Los Angeles law firm rose in a Seattle courtroom and argued a case that made the blood leave my face: The Exxon Corp. had suffered enough.

Eighteen years have passed, and Exxon is still imploring judges to feel its pain. On Tuesday, it asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appellate ruling that it owes $2.5 billion in punitive damages from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

The big “E” has been appealing since 1994, when an Anchorage, Alaska, jury awarded $5 billion to class-action plaintiffs. Fishermen, cannery workers and Alaska natives claimed lasting economic damage from the fouling of Prince William Sound and 400 miles of Alaska coastline. read more

EXTRACT: Gasoline for September delivery was at $1.9250 a gallon. It gained 1.8 percent $1.9232 yesterday as Royal Dutch Shell Plc cut production at its Deer Park refinery, anticipating delayed crude deliveries after Hurricane Dean close Mexican oil fields. The plant, which can process about 340,000 barrels a day, should return to normal operating rates this weekend, the company said late yesterday.

THE ARTICLE 

By Christian Schmollinger and Gavin Evans

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil was little changed in New York after rising yesterday on speculation cash injections into the U.S. economy may contain losses on bad home loans and help maintain growth in the world’s largest oil user. read more

09:56 | 24/ 08/ 2007 

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, August 24 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s environmental regulator said Friday it had found new legal violations committed by Gazprom-controlled Sakhalin Energy, which operates the Sakhalin II oil and gas project off the country’s Pacific Coast.

Rosprirodnadzor’s branch in Sakhalin said its experts had found that a subsidiary of Sakhalin Energy, building a stretch of a pipeline crossing several rivers, had failed to carry out riverbank reinforcement and landslide containment work. read more

Jerry Frank
Published: Aug 24, 2007

THE world cannot get enough oil and, with reserves running down and overall investment unable to keep up with the sheer scale of demand, there are serious returns to be made for those with the cash and the courage to work the offshore drill rig sector.

Growing international demand, high oil prices and fears over the security and scarcity of supply are a potent mix, which is keeping the world’s drill rig fleet busier than ever and overstretched.

Researchers at international finance house DVB Group believe that these market ingredients, together with huge levels of investment needed in an ageing rig fleet, spell further good news for the offshore sector. read more

Ruby Anne M. Rubio
Published: Aug 24, 2007

Oil refiner Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. has earmarked P1.6 billion for capital expenditure this year.

In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Shell said bulk of the capital expenditure will be allocated for refinery, depot, retail, commercial and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) operations.

“For the year 2007, a budget of P1.6 billion has been approved for capital expenditures,” it said.

The company is 67% owned by The Shell Petroleum Com. Ltd., a company registered under United Kingdom laws and 33% owned by Filipino and other foreign stockholders. read more

Published: Aug 24, 2007

SYDNEY (Thomson Financial) – Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Australia’s largest oil and gas producer, has signed a multi-billion-dollar deal to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Tokyo Gas Co and Kansai Electric Power Co Inc of Japan, Woodside said Friday.

Woodside will supply the Japanese companies with up to 3.75 million tonnes of LNG per year from its Pluto project in northwestern Australia. The deal is for 15 years, starting in late 2010.

Tokyo Gas and Kansai Electric have stakes of five percent each in the Pluto project. read more

Published: Aug 24, 2007

Madam, – The recent exchanges on the issue of a Garda Reserve applicant being refused permission to wear a Sikh turban while on duty is sadly typical of the debate, or more appropriately non-debate, in this country on the subject of immigration.

The issue on the letters page today (August 23rd) has become totally muddied, with several contributors making snide references to Ash Wednesday and, more bizarrely still, the criminal actions of the anti-Shell gang in Mayo.

In fact on August 22nd Dr Steve Loyal was given opinion space to attack the concept of integration and float the absurd notion that failure to allow this person to wear a turban somehow compromises Irish democracy. read more

Simon Mossman,
Published: Aug 24, 2007

MELBOURNE, Aug 24 AAP – Motorists are smart enough to know how best to exploit Australia’s petrol price cycle, a leading industry figure said today. The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria’s (RACV) petrol pricing spokesman David Cumming told the competition watchdog’s public inquiry into fuel pricing that the petrol cycle had been around for a long time. And he warns any changes or attempts by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to scrap contentious shopper discount docket schemes could ultimately lead to less competition and higher petrol prices. read more

EXTRACT: In the same sector, Regal Petroleum rallied 10.4 per cent to 212p on rumours that Royal Dutch Shell had offered 300p a share for the company’s gas assets in the Ukraine.

By Yee To Wong
Published: August 24 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 24 2007 03:00

The share price of ReneSola continued its sharp fall yesterday.

The slide came as the company, which recycles scrap wafers used in solar panels, reported lower-than-expected second quarter profits and reduced its full-year output guidance by 20 per cent. read more

Terry Macalister
Friday August 24, 2007

Russia’s Gazprom is trying to muscle its way into the American energy market by encouraging BP to share a stake in its liquefied natural gas operation in Trinidad, which supplies the US.

Gazprom, the world’s largest gas producer, has already secured a 25% share of the wholesale gas market in Europe – something that has caused widespread political unease – and wants to increase its influence in the US.

Trinidad supplies around two-thirds of America’s imported LNG and although the volumes remain relatively small they are expected to grow. BP declined to comment on any specific talks with Gazprom on Trinidad but admitted wide-ranging discussions were ongoing about future areas for cooperation. read more

EXTRACT: Several major British firms and FTSE100 companies in the banking, petroleum and mining sectors have operations in Zimbabwe, including Barclays, Standard Chartered, BAT, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, BP and Shell. But with their interests under threat, few would be drawn on the potential consequences of the law yesterday.

By Byron Dziva in Harare and Tom Stevenson
Last Updated: 3:14am BST 24/08/2007

President Robert Mugabe has paved the way to effectively seize control of foreign-owned companies, many of them British, dealing another blow to Zimbabwe’s tottering economy.
 
Under a bill laid before Zimbabwe’s parliament, all firms undergoing structural changes, and any new investments in the country, must be 51 per cent controlled by “indigenous Zimbabweans”. read more