September 5th, 2007:

Mehdi Shahbazi with fenced-off gas pumps at a Shell station in Marina Thursday, Aug. 30, 2007. Shahbazi is operator of the station, but he is in a dispute with Shell, alleging they, and other oil companies, fix high gas prices. He stays with friends and runs the gas station every day but hasn’t pumped gas for over a year. He is now is in day 61 of a hunger strike to call attention to his situation. (Patrick Tehan / Mercury News)

SELLER HOPING TO SPARK SUIT AGAINST BIG OIL
By Jeff Thomas
Mercury News
Article Launched: 09/05/2007 01:38:22 AM PDT read more

From: RIA NOVOSTI: What the Russian papers say
20:00 | 05/ 09/ 2007

Vladimir Kozlov, head of the Sakhalin office of Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom, openly confirmed Gazprom’s claim to all gas produced in the Sakhalin-1 project.

Therefore, the expectations of those companies, which hoped to gain large profits under the product sharing agreement to develop the oil and gas resources on the island’s shelf, are likely to be frustrated.

The Gazprom manager said that until 2016 gas from the Sakhalin-1 project would be the only source of gas for Russia’s Far East. According to Gazprom’s estimates, the Far East and the Trans-Baikal area will require 13 billion cubic meters of gas until 2010, 16 billion by 2015, and 19.2 billion by 2020. Experts say that these figures are overstated, as the only large domestic gas consumer in the region is the Khabarovsk Territory which needs 3 to 4 billion cubic meters of gas a year. read more

By Upstream staff

An executive of Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell working on Kashagan, a project under pressure from the Kazakh government for being overbudget and behind schedule, has quit, company sources told a website that monitors the company.

John Donovan, a Shell critic who runs the website and acts as a conduit for whistleblowers at the company, said Shell insiders had told him that John Stubbs, a senior project manager on Kashagan, had left the company.

Stubbs previously worked for Shell in Nigeria, where he had a leading role in the $3.6 billion Bonga oil and gas project, and the North Sea, where he was project director on the $1.8 billion Shearwater gas development, which Shell said was up to 10% below budget. read more

By Greg Walters and Anthony DiPaola

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) — Kazakhstan expects the Eni SpA-led group “to compromise” in talks with the government on developing the biggest oil find in more than three decades.

There’s not been “any progress yet” and the government is waiting for the group to propose a plan that will allow the field to begin pumping oil “as soon as possible,” Deputy Finance Minister Daulet Ergozhin said by telephone from Astana, the Kazakh capital today. read more

By Tara Patel

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) — Total Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie is willing to travel to Kazakhstan to help resolve a dispute over the Kashagan oil field.

“The priority is to resume talks with the authorities,” he told analysts during a presentation in Paris today. The Kashagan development is worth “several billion dollars” for Total, Europe’s third-biggest oil company, de Margerie said.

Kazakhstan last week ordered the Eni SpA-led group that includes Total to halt work at the world’s biggest oil discovery in 30 years for at least three months while it investigates alleged violations of environmental rules. read more

Published: Sep 05, 2007

MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) – Russian energy giant Gazprom is aiming for a “solid position” on world markets for liquefied natural gas (LNG) with the help of the Sakhalin-2 project in far eastern Russia, the company said on Wednesday.

“The completion of the Sakhalin-2 project will guarantee stability of energy supplies to countries of the Asia-Pacific region and North America,” Alexander Medvedev, deputy CEO of Gazprom, was quoted as saying in a company statement. read more

Published: Sep 05, 2007
Excerpt from report by Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency

Astana, 5 September: A representative of the ConocoPhillips [US oil company] has been removed from regular talks on the Kashagan project, which were held in Astana on Wednesday [5 September].

An informed Kazakh source has told Interfax-Kazakhstan that ConocoPhillips sent to the talks “a representative of lower rank than other contractors”.

The companies participating in Agip KCO [consortium developing Kashagan. which includes Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp, Total, ConocoPhillips, Japan’s Inpex Holdings Inc and Kazakh state oil and gas company KazMunayGaz] were represented by vice-presidents. read more

Published: Sep 05, 2007

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (Thomson Financial) – Kazakhstan’s deputy finance minister Daulet Yergozhin said Eni SpA’s role as operator of the Agip KCO consortium is not in doubt despite the delays in developing the Kashagan oil field, Interfax reported.

“We demand that they present us with a practical action plan to see how they are going to pursue this project,” he said.

He added that the Kazakh government expects to complete an official estimate of its losses as a result of the delays by Sept 7. read more

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Jiffy Lube, with more than 2,200 service centers in North America, serves approximately 27.5 million customers each year. Jiffy Lube pioneered the fast oil change industry in 1979 by establishing the first drive-through service bay, providing customers with fast, professional service for their vehicles. Headquartered in Houston, Jiffy Lube International is a wholly owned, indirect subsidiary of Shell Oil Company. Visit http://www.jiffylube.com to learn more about Jiffy Lube and vehicle care. read more

Published: September 5 2007 09:43 | Last updated: September 5 2007 13:57

Oil reserves are slippery. With different companies using various methodologies to assess reserves – sometimes regarding the same field – the numbers can be open to a fair degree of interpretation.

One system most oil investors are familiar with is that of the Securities and Exchange Commission, whereby oil companies attach an unaudited report on their proved reserves to their accounts. The US regulator has signalled, however, that it might update its methodology in response to calls from the industry. read more

By Tim Reilly
Published: September 5 2007 03:00 | Last updated: September 5 2007 03:00

From Mr Tim Reilly.

Sir, Katinka Barysch’s article “The best answer to Gazprom is faster reform” (September 3) reveals more about European Union energy policy than it does about Gazprom. At every turn the views are incomplete, outdated or plain wrong. It is not in any Russian political group’s interest to damage Gazprom; to be used somewhat around election time, yes, but to suffer collateral damage, no. read more

By Richard McGregor in Beijing and Peter Smith in Sydney
Published: September 5 2007 03:00 | Last updated: September 5 2007 03:00

China’s soaring energy demand has forced it back into the global natural gas market in search of cleaner burning though potentially more expensive fuels to power industry and provide residential electricity.

Hu Jintao, China’s president, presided over the signing of a 20-year agreement between PetroChina and Royal Dutch Shell in Perth yesterday for liquefied natural gas from the Gorgon project off Western Australia. read more

The Kazakh government threatens to withdraw the license of a Western consortium developing the country’s largest oil field, citing environmental irregularities. From IWPR.

By IWPR (04/09/07)

The Kazakh government is using concerns about environmental damage at the country’s largest oil field as a pretext for removing the western consortium which is developing it, say NBCentralAsia analysts.

On 21 August, Kazakh environmental protection minister Nurlan Iskakov said that the Agip KCO consortium, which is developing the major Kashagan oil field, had broken environment laws. “According to the law, we have to withdraw its license, since further development of the deposit will cause irreparable environmental damage,” he said. read more

In Salt Lake City, he says development is a must to meet needs
By Steven Oberbeck

Shell Oil president John Hofmeister says it is possible for this country to approach energy independence but to do so it must embrace new fuel technologies and rethink existing policies preventing additional oil and gas development.

    Hofmeister was in Salt Lake City last week as he neared the tail end of a 50-city “listening tour” to address the public’s growing frustration and concern with high energy and gasoline prices, and record oil company profits. read more

By Angela Macdonald-Smith

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) — Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia’s second-largest oil and gas producer, said its California natural gas import project started a public review after regulators declared the company had provided all the required information.

The ruling by the U.S. Coast Guard and the City of Los Angeles that the port license application is “complete” signals the beginning of the environmental assessment for the OceanWay liquefied natural gas receiving plant, Perth-based Woodside said today in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange. read more

By Dan Lonkevich

Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) — Major oil companies interested in Russia’s production, the second largest in the world, should recognize the days of “the Banana Republic” are over, the country’s Natural Resources Ministry said.

Foreign oil companies can no longer cut regulatory deals to enter Russia, said Oleg Mitvol, deputy administrator of the country’s Natural Resources Management. “Those times are a thing of the past,” he said today in an interview in New York. read more

Martyn Wingrove, Lloyds List
Published: Sep 05, 2007

BRITAIN’s oil industry has begged the government to improve fiscal terms to maximise recovery of the country’s energy resources, particularly gas reserves West of Shetland.

Speaking at the Offshore Europe event in Aberdeen yesterday, executives from BG Group, Shell and ExxonMobil called for better tax terms for developing the UK’s gas fields.

BG Group’s chief executive, Frank Chapman, said the British government needed to make changes to allow smaller gas fields to be developed. read more

Tony Gray, Lloyds List
Published: Sep 05, 2007

THE chances of Australia’s troubled Gorgon liquefied natural gas project going ahead have improved, with Shell striking a long-term supply deal with China, writes Tony Gray.

Shell Eastern LNG and PetroChina International have concluded a binding heads of agreement, covering the supply of 1m tonnes of LNG a year over 20 years.

The massive Gorgon project, off the north-west coast of Western Australia, would be the ‘primary source’ of the LNG, Shell said. The two companies would work together to conclude a detailed LNG sale and purchase agreement before December 2008. read more

By LIAM MOLONEY
September 5, 2007

ROME — Talks under way between the consortium developing the Kashagan oil field and the Kazakh authorities are “open and constructive,” and all efforts are being made to resolve the dispute, Stefano Cao, head of the exploration and production division at Eni SpA, said in an interview.

The Eni-led Kashagan consortium last week kicked off negotiations with the Kazakh authorities in Astana aimed at resolving a rapidly escalating dispute over the field’s development, which may lead to the Asian country obtaining a greater share of profit from the oil field’s eventual production. read more

Lengthy LNG Deal
Pumps New Vigor
Into Gorgon Project
By ALEX WILSON and STEPHEN BELL
September 5, 2007; Page A13A

MELBOURNE, Australia — Royal Dutch Shell PLC signed a provisional agreement to sell liquefied natural gas from the giant Gorgon project off the coast of Western Australia state to PetroChina Co.

The deal is a vote of confidence in the stalled Gorgon project from the Chinese, who are expected to announce more LNG purchase deals in coming days in a move seen as signaling a shift away from Middle Eastern suppliers toward Australian gas. read more

By REUTERS
Published: September 4, 2007
Filed at 11:21 a.m. ET

ABERDEEN (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp. is in discussions with Russia’s Gazprom about the sale of gas from the next phase of Sakhalin-1, Robert Olsen, chairman and production director at Exxon Mobil said on Tuesday.

Exxon Mobil, an operator of the Sakhalin-1 project, established the first oil production from it at the end of 2005 and hit its plateau production in March this year, he said.

The next phase is a significant expansion of gas production from the first stage of the project. read more

Nick Fletcher
Wednesday September 5, 2007

Oil groups were among the big gainers yesterday, as the London market shrugged off an indifferent start and moved higher for the 11th out of the last 12 trading sessions.

Oil firms benefited from a jump in the crude price to nearly $75 a barrel on fears that hurricanes in the Atlantic could hit supplies. On top of that, analysts believe Opec is likely to ignore calls for an increase in oil production when it meets next Tuesday.

So BP added 10.5p to 561p, while Royal Dutch Shell rose 58p to £19.79. Shell was also helped by analysts at UBS moving their recommendation on the company from neutral to buy. read more

By Ben Bland
Last Updated: 12:28am BST 05/09/2007

Oil and gas leviathan Royal Dutch Shell was the star performer after UBS upgraded the stock to buy from neutral, saying that it looks too cheap following the recent market shakedown.

The “B” shares added 56p to £19.85, with Shell contributing at least 5 points to the overall gain on the FTSE 100 index.

Jon Rigby, an analyst at UBS, said the macro-economic outlook has improved since he downgraded Shell in July. “The oil price has been very robust despite concerns over underlying demand and the possible unwinding of speculative derivatives positions,” he said. read more

September 5, 2007
Robert Lindsay: Large caps

The FTSE 100 fightback continued yesterday as oil prices and a positive opening on Wall Street helped to calm nerves. The blue-chip index closed up 61.6 points at 6,376.8, driven by oil stocks such as Shell, which topped the leaderboard, up 56p at £19.85.

UBS, the broker, moved Shell to “buy”, from “neutral”, and said that its share price fall since early July had gone too far. It left its price target of £23 unchanged. Shell also announced a deal to sell liquefied natural gas to China. read more