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September 6th, 2007:

Daily Telegraph: Argentina orders Shell to shut plant

By Russell Hotten, Industry Editor
Last Updated: 2:17am BST 07/09/2007

Royal Dutch Shell’s long-running battles with the government of Argentina intensified after the company was ordered to close a refinery for allegedly breaching environmental laws.

The order to shut the facility, which produces about 12pc of Argentina’s diesel fuel, will further anger the Anglo-Dutch company, which has already accused Buenos Aires of “discrimination” and “unacceptable” behaviour. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Guardian: Exploration firm suspends two executives

Terry Macalister and Graeme Wearden
Friday September 7, 2007

Max Petroleum, a small UK oil and gas exploration firm that became a darling of the London stock market, has suspended its two top executives and started a wide-ranging investigation into their share option dealings and other issues.

The Aim-listed company said yesterday that chief executive Steve Kappelle and chief operating officer Ole Udsen were removed from their posts “pending an investigation into potential breaches of their employment contracts involving the undisclosed receipt of share options.” It added: “The scope of the investigation, however, will not be limited to these matters.” read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Palawan Report: David lifts George: ‘Of course I remember David Greer…’

David Greer

By Redempto D Anda,
Editor, Palawan Sun Newsweekly

Of course I remember David Greer. He was the irrepressible can-do guy who led Shell’s pioneering and technically ambitious pipeline laying project from Palawan’s Camago-Malampaya gas field to the shores of Batangas in Luzon.

David was in the news months ago, after his internal memo addressed to the troubled engineers of Royal Dutch Shell’s Sakhalin 2 gas pipeline project in Russia was leaked to an anti-Shell activist website and then passed on to the highly respected Financial Times of London. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Aberdeen Press & Journal: UNIONS CALL FOR PROBE INTO SHELL’S NORTH SEA OPERATIONS

08:50 – 06 September 2007
thisisnorthscotland.co.uk

Union bosses are demanding a Health and Safety Executive inquiry into oil giant Shell’s North Sea operations.

Graham Tran, regional officer with the Unite union’s Amicus section, and the OILC’s Jake Molloy, say there are gaps in “safety-critical positions” on Shell installations which are up for sale.

The unions are announcing today that they want the HSE to look at Shell’s “management of change processes” and whether the company can meet its statutory safety obligations. But Shell insists that no workers are in danger as a result of its current disposal programme. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

UpstreamOnline: Unions call for Shell safety probe

By Chris Hopson

UK trades union Unite and the Offshore Industry Liaison Committee (OILC) have called on the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) to look into safety processes in place at supermajor Shell’s North Sea operations.

The unions are asking the HSE to look at the company’s “management of change” processes and whether Shell can meet their Safety Case requirements in relation to the offshore Prevention of Fire & Explosion, & Emergency Response (PFEER) Regulations 1995. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters: Shell keen for more oil and gas deals with Norway

Thu Sep 6, 2007 12:16 PM BST

ABERDEEN, Scotland, Sept 6 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) aims for more investment in oil and gas exploration and production in Norway as it looks to sell off assets in the mature UK sector of the North Sea.

“We are keen to grow our presence in Norway,” Tom Botts, executive vice president Europe at Shell, said at an industry conference this week.

Botts was involved in cross-border talks with Norway that led to Shell’s involvement in the Ormen Lange gas project, due to begin delivering gas to the UK next month. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Boston Globe: PM: Kazmunaigas should join oil project

September 6, 2007

ASTANA, Kazakhstan –Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Masimov suggested Thursday that the state-run energy company Kazmunaigas should take a major role in a troubled foreign-led project to develop the massive Kashagan oil field.

Karim Masimov’s remarks were the government’s latest warning to the consortium developing Kashagan. The government is seeking to renegotiate the terms of the development deal after the consortium, led by Italy’s Eni SpA, announced delays. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Shell Promises Relief for Community

Daily Champion (Lagos)
6 September 2007
Dennis Udoma
Uyo

OFFICIALS of Dutch Shell Tuesday, led a Joint Investigation Team to communities ravaged by oil spill in Akwa Ibom State and promised to tackle all environmental problems already impacting negatively on host communities and people of the state.

This followed recent claims by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) that the marginal oil bloc at Ikot Ada Udo, Ikot Abasi local government area of the state was allocated to Monopolu Oil Limited.
 
It would be recalled that the company had earlier snubbed Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly’s invitation to explain its exploitative activities and poor handling of environmental problems arising from abandoned corked oil wells in the state. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters: Shell to meet staff over N.Sea safety concerns

ABERDEEN, Sept 6 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) (RDSa.AS: Quote, Profile , Research) will meet with staff later on Thursday to discuss safety concerns raised by employees on offshore platforms in the UK North Sea, a company spokesman said.

Staff have written to Shell’s vice president for production in Europe John Hollowell, raising concerns over staffing levels and safety on offshore installations, some of which were put up for sale in June this year. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Financial Times: Lex Column: SEC and oil

Published: September 6 2007 03:00 | Last updated: September 6 2007 03:00

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

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Financial Times: Total cuts oil output targets

By Peggy Hollinger in Paris and Dino Mahtani in London
Published: September 6 2007

Total’s ability to resist the pressures on production facing its international rivals was called into question on Wednesday as the French oil major cut output targets by 20 per cent for the four years to 2010.

Christophe de Margerie, the new chief executive who took over in February, said on Wednesday that Total expected only 4 per cent growth between 2006 and 2010, against previous forecasts of 5 per cent.

It is the second time in three months that Total has been forced to rein in production forecasts and prompted a bitter reaction from some analysts, even though the group still expects to outpace rivals BP and Shell. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Financial Times: Iraqi oil law faces challenge

By Ed Crooks
Published: September 6 2007 03:00 | Last updated: September 6 2007 03:00

More than 100 MPs have called on the government to explain its involvement in Iraq’s new oil law, raising concerns about the influence of western oil companies.

A parliamentary early-day motion demanding that “decisions on the Iraqi oil industry should be made by the Iraqi people without outside interference” has been signed by 118 MPs, including Vincent Cable, the Liberal Democrat’s Treasury spokesman, and Clare Short, the former international development secretary. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Financial Times: Companies line up for Libyan gas

By Dino Mahtani
Published: September 6 2007 03:00 | Last updated: September 6 2007 03:00

Libya announced yesterday it had approved more than 50 oil and gas companies, including some of the world’s biggest multinationals, to bid on its first gas-only licensing round.

Libya said western groups ExxonMobil, Chevron Corp, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Eni and Total had been nominated as potential project operators as well as Russia’s Lukoil, Malaysia’s Petronas, Brazil’s Petrobras and India’s ONGC Videsh. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

BBC News: Two offshore unions have called on the HSE to investigate Shell’s operations in the North Sea

Headline: Offshore safety concerns raised  
 
Unions want reassurances over worker safety

Two offshore unions have called on the Health and Safety Executive to investigate Shell’s operations in the North Sea.

Unite and the OILC believe the recent loss of key personnel from platforms Shell is selling means remaining staff may be unable to cope in an emergency.

The unions say they have had complaints from staff on five Shell installations.

Shell said the company had made sure the platforms had appropriately-trained safety workers. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Wall Street Journal: Standard Chartered to Buy Oil Firm

By BENOIT FAUCON and MARGOT PATRICK
September 6, 2007

LONDON — Standard Chartered PLC agreed to buy London-based oil- and gas-finance boutique Harrison Lovegrove & Co. for an undisclosed amount, as the bank moves aggressively into the lucrative mergers-and-acquisitions boom in the oil and gas industry.

Harrison Lovegrove, with operations in London, Moscow, Kuala Lumpur, Perth, Calgary, Houston and Washington, has advised on oil and gas transactions totaling around $20 billion, Standard Chartered said. Its client list includes Royal Dutch Shell PLC, BP PLC’s TNK-BP Russian venture, Gaz de France and BHP Billiton, according to its Web site. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

National Public Radio: Exploring for Oil in the Arctic’s ‘Great Frontier’

National Public Radio photo

Rick Fox, head of Shell’s Alaska operations, sees the Arctic as a “great frontier” and a “major play for us.” (Tracy Wahl, NPR)

by Steve Inskeep

Morning Edition, September 6, 2007 · These days, the frontiers of oil exploration include the waters north of Alaska. Nobody knows how much energy is hidden beneath the Arctic waves. But oil companies want to find out.

A federal court blocked Royal Dutch Shell proposal to drill for oil in the Beaufort Sea, above Alaska’s northern coast. But the company is still trying. And its story tells you a lot about the forces shaping the Arctic’s future. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Ventura County Star: Another form of price deception at the gas pump

Thursday, September 6, 2007

It’s one thing for consumer advocates to argue endlessly that oil companies are guilty of long-running collusion in setting prices.

There’s plenty of evidence they are correct in that contention — the similarity of prices offered by different companies at the same intersections is one indicator. But no one has yet produced a smoking gun to prove such a conspiracy.

Yet, there’s another form of gas-pricing deception for which there is plenty of proof, even including defiant admissions from some oil company executives in congressional testimony. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Bloomberg: PetroChina Agrees to Buy Up to A$60 Billion of Australian LNG

By Angela Macdonald-Smith

Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) — PetroChina Co. agreed to buy as much as A$60 billion ($49 billion) of Australian liquefied natural gas in two accords signed this week, as China’s demand for the fuel forces it to accept prices that have tripled in five years.

Asia’s biggest oil company by market value would buy as much as 3 million metric tons a year of LNG from Woodside Petroleum Ltd.’s Browse project in Western Australia under an initial agreement, Woodside said today in a statement. The 15-to-20 year accord would start as soon as 2013. PetroChina this week agreed with Royal Dutch Shell Plc to buy LNG from the Gorgon venture. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters: UDPATE 1-Argentina shuts Shell refinery, citing pollution

Thu Sep 6, 2007 4:38 AM BST
(Adds details)

BUENOS AIRES, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Argentina’s government on Wednesday ordered the closure of Royal Dutch Shell’s 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery, citing environmental concerns.

The move comes amid increasing tensions between the company and the government of President Nestor Kirchner, which has clashed with the oil major over energy prices and supplies.

The facility, the Anglo-Dutch oil company’s sole refinery in South America and located in the Buenos Aires province, was ordered shut after government officials detected leaks, contamination in soil samples and other infractions, the Environment Secretariat said in a statement. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters: INTERVIEW-Russian watchdog warns of bogus oil reserves

Wed Sep 5, 2007 10:25PM BST
By Matt Daily and Richard Valdmanis

NEW YORK, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Several foreign oil and mining companies operating in Russia have been overstating reserves by as much as 800 percent, the deputy head of Russia’s environment watchdog said on Wednesday.

“This is a new kind of business that has unfortunately appeared to have started in Russia,” Oleg Mitvol told Reuters in an interview. “There is no Russian legislation that has been broken. All we are saying is ‘be careful’.” read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Financial Times: Combative Knight to signal dissatisfaction with bank

By Sundeep Tucker in Hong Kong
Published: September 6 2007 22:15 | Last updated: September 6 2007 22:15

If the top brass at HSBC haven’t heard of Eric Knight, they are in for a rude awakening. Knight Vinke Asset Management, his fund management firm, is on Friday expected to issue a public statement signalling its dissatisfaction with what it regards as the bank’s underperformance.

A statement by a single disgruntled minority shareholder – KVAM rarely takes stakes above 1 per cent – is not usually enough to frighten management. Yet, judging by the fund’s record of engaging with companies in the past three years, HSBC can expect an uncomfortable period of scrutiny from investors and pressure to reform its strategy and management structure. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.