September 20th, 2007:

By Mark Shenk

Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil in New York rose to a record for a seventh day after the U.S. said that production in the Gulf of Mexico was shut in because of a storm threat.

More than 360,000 barrels, or 28 percent, of daily oil output was idled, the U.S. Minerals Management Service said today in a statement. Prices were already higher on signs that U.S. interest-rate cuts and a falling dollar will bolster demand.

“The storm threat and falling dollar are pushing us higher,” said Nauman Barakat, senior vice president of global energy futures at Macquarie Futures USA Inc. in New York. “We will see even bigger inventory draws in next week’s statistics as a result of the evacuations in the Gulf.” read more

September 20, 2007
Michael Herman

The entire board of BAE Systems and several former directors including Michael Portillo, a former UK Secretary of Defence, are being sued by a US pension fund over bribery and corruption claims at the defence group.

The City of Harper Woods Employees’ Retirement Scheme, a public pension fund in Michigan, has accused the board and former directors of intentional, negligent and reckless breaches of their duties as company officers.

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court in Washington, DC this morning, is seeking unspecified damages and calls for BAE to implement sweeping corporate governance changes. read more

Industry executives say there’s no reason crude prices should be anywhere near current levels. Others say the fundamentals are there, and Big Oil is playing politics.

By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer
September 20 2007: 4:02 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — To listen to Big Oil executives, there’s no reason why a barrel of crude costs $80. But others say strong demand and limited supply justifies at least that much, and that the industry is clearly looking out for itself by saying oil is overvalued. read more

Thu Sep 20, 2007 7:25pm BST
By Tanya Mosolova

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is against the creation of state energy “monster” that would straddle the entire economy, sucking away banking and other resources, the Kremlin reported on Thursday.

When asked about a possible merger between state controlled Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research), the world’s biggest gas company by reserves, and Rosneft (ROSN.MM: Quote, Profile, Research), Russia’s largest oil firm, Putin said he had heard nothing about a such a plan. read more

Thu Sep 20, 2007 11:38am ET

(Updates oil prices, adds comments from BP spokesman, background, paragraphs 3, 7-9)

HOUSTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) – Energy companies evacuated personnel and shut in oil and natural gas production from rigs in the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical depression barreled toward the region.

U.S. National Hurricane Center and other weather models show a tropical storm could form Thursday as the tropical disturbance enters the Gulf. [ID:nN20378924]

Oil prices gained 27 cents to $82.20 a barrel as dealers weighed the possibility of significant production outages from the region, home to about a quarter of U.S. oil production and 15 percent of the nation’s natural gas production. read more

The Associated Press
Published: September 19, 2007

JUNEAU, Alaska: Nearly every Alaskan will soon receive a check for $1,654 (€1,183), their share of the state’s oil riches, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced.

The dividend checks are derived from the state’s oil royalty investment program and distributed each year to eligible residents — just for living here for a full calendar year.

Slightly more than 600,000 men, women and children in 248 communities will receive the dividend this year, according to the Revenue Department. The state’s estimated population is just over 670,000 people. read more

Thursday, September 20, 2007
By: Fiona McGarry

THERE has been mixed reaction to the announcement by Shell E&P Ireland (SEPIL) that it is to set up an investment fund to benefit the Erris region.

The money, which will go towards long-term projects, is being established on the recommendation of the independent mediator, Peter Cassells, but certain groups have dismissed it as a publicity stunt and say they will not apply. Last week, the Corrib Gas Partners also announced a oneoff investment of •150,000 in Belmullet GAA Club. read more

Borzou Daragahi in Dubai
Friday September 21, 2007

A SENIOR Iranian military official says his country has drawn up plans to attack Israel from the air in case of war between the two countries.

In an interview published by the Iranian semi-official Fars News Agency on Wednesday, General Mohammed Alavi, a deputy commander in the air force, was quoted as saying his country could attack Israel with long-range missiles as well as fighter aircraft in case of war.

General Alavi spoke in the wake of remarks by the French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, who said on Sunday that nations should prepare for a possible war with Iran if it continued with its nuclear drive. read more

Vidya Ram, 09.20.07, 1:58 AM ET

LONDON – Italian energy company Eni is treating the outcome of a meeting of its Chief Executive Paulo Scaroni with the Kazhakh government as a closely guarded secret. But the outcome of the negotiations — whenever they emerge — will be an important sign of whether Eni can remain at the helm of a joint venture to exploit one of the largest oil fields discovered in the past four decades, capable of pumping out 1.5 billion barrels per day.

Last week, Scaroni visited the former Soviet republic after the government suspended operations at the Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea. A spokesperson contacted by Forbes.com on Wednesday said the company wasn’t commenting on the outcome. Last week the company said the talks were “held in a climate of cooperation.” read more

By Samantha Zee

Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) — Motiva Enterprises LLC, a joint venture of Shell and Saudi Arabia’s state oil company, will flare chemicals for several days as it restarts the fluid catalytic cracking unit at its refinery in Port Arthur, Texas.

The unit was shut last week after Hurricane Humberto caused a power failure at the refinery. The unit’s waste heat boiler requires repairs because of damage during the storm, according to a report today on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Web site. read more

Published: Sep 20, 2007

IRELAND’s new energy minister, Eamon Ryan, is about to launch the country’s latest frontier exploration licensing round, covering the Porcupine basin, writes Martyn Wingrove.

Oil companies will have until December 18 to submit their tenders for hydrocarbon exploration licences and blocks in the Atlantic Ocean, south west of Ireland.

Analysts said the Department of Communication, Energy and Natural Resources will open up 229 blocks and three part blocks in this year’s round, 145 of these in the southern part of the Porcupine basin and the rest in the northern area. read more

Published: Sep 20, 2007

ANGOLA has launched its next hydrocarbon exploration licensing round with its ultra-deepwater blocks likely to be the pick of the bunch, writes Martyn Wingrove.

The West African country, which joined the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries this year, wants to attract fresh investment from oil majors and smaller companies through this year’s round.

State oil firm Sonangol is offering 10 licences, including seven offshore and three land blocks, with tenders to be submitted in the fourth quarter. read more

Martyn Wingrove, Lloyds List
Published: Sep 20, 2007

ROYAL Dutch Shell has taken Ocean Rig’s semi-submersibleLeiv Eiriksson from offshore Angola to begin a multi-well exploration campaign off northern Europe, writes Martyn Wingrove.

The rig is en route to Las Palmas for modifications and upgrades, which will allow it to operate on the Irish, British and Norwegian continental shelves.

Norwegian contractor Ocean Rig said the unit will be working for Shell under a two year term on dayrates of at least $465,000. read more

By Ed Crooks
Published: September 20 2007 04:59 | Last updated: September 20 2007 04:59

The irony of Scotland’s oil is that the debate over control of the country’s resources has flared up again just as it has become clear that the UK sector of the North Sea is in irreversible decline.

Alex Salmond, the first minister in the Scottish Nationalist administration at the Scottish Parliament, has set taking control of Scotland’s oil and gas resources as a priority. The UK government at Westminster has made it clear it has “no intention” of ceding such control, but the hard truth is that the argument is becoming a historical relic. The days of bumper oil revenues are fading into the past. read more

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 20, 2007
Filed at 12:45 a.m. ET

SINGAPORE (AP) — Oil prices dipped on profit-taking Thursday after reaching record highs in the previous session on U.S. refinery outages and declines in U.S. oil inventories.

The decline was limited by worries over a potential tropical storm threat to oil and gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico, analysts said.

A weather system with the potential to become a tropical storm appeared to be heading toward the U.S. state of Louisiana, prompting emergency officials to be on guard Wednesday. Shell Oil Co. announced evacuation plans for hundreds of staff from its rigs in the region. read more

September 20, 2007
Martin Waller: City Diary

Jorma Ollila, the former chief executive of Nokia and now chairman of Royal Dutch Shell, has been setting the record straight.

He has no intention, he tells CNBC Europe in an interview tonight, of running for the presidency of Finland, contrary to suggestions there by the country’s former finance minister. And he is a keen ornithologist with a great fondness for birds. Grouse, ptarmigan, he loves them so much he shoots them with a shotgun at his “summer place”, having switched his affections from moose, deer and a rifle. “So I enjoy being in the nature,” he says. So much so that he shoots lots of it. read more

EXTRACT: Shell’s $18 billion Pearl GTL project at Ras Laffan is the biggest single investment by the oil major anywhere in the world.

THE ARTICLE

Once synonymous with interminable WTO wrangles, Doha is now better known for its $50bn QIA fund hoovering up global assets

Nick Hasell
September 20, 2007

The marble-clad lobby of the Ministry of Finance is the closest that the curious visitor will get to the Qatar Investment Authority. The government-backed fund, whose assets are estimated conservatively at $50 billion (£25 billion), does not do interviews. read more

The pension fund will stop investing in firms at work in Sudan, Iran.

By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Published September 20, 2007

TALLAHASSEE – Florida made a political statement with its pension fund Wednesday by cutting investment ties with 57 companies doing energy-related work in the Sudan and Iran.

Intended as a condemnation of genocide in Darfur and terrorism in Iran, the action was also meant to spur other states to take similar steps.

At least two other states have also passed laws requiring divestiture of stocks tied to Sudan, but Florida is the first state to target both countries. read more

By BILL KACZOR
Associated Press
Sept. 20, 2007, 12:28AM

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s public employee retirement fund will divest nearly $1.3 billion invested with 21 companies doing business in Iran or Sudan, an action state officials hope will be imitated across the nation.

The State Board of Administration authorized the divestiture Wednesday.

“You will be telling every one of these companies that from this day forward we won’t invest another dollar, Florida’s public dollars, in those companies,” state Sen. Ted Deutch, the law’s sponsor, told the board. read more

By Shigeru Sato

Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) — Inpex Holdings Inc said it will maintain its plan to develop natural gas in Australia’s Ichthys field with Total SA, ruling out an option of taking Royal Dutch Shell Plc as a partner.

Shell, which has discovered gas in a permit area adjacent to Ichthys, is considering options for developing the field, including joining with companies such as Inpex, the Australian said today, citing Linda Cook, Shell’s executive director, gas and power.

“Total and Inpex will go ahead with the project on our own without joining Shell,” Kazuya Honda, an Inpex spokesman, said by telephone in Tokyo. “There are enough gas reserves in the field to build our liquefied natural gas plant as planned.” read more

US Attorney General Newswire

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today issued the following statement on the State Board of Administration’s implementation of the Protecting Florida’s Investments Act:

“Today, Florida’s State Board of Administration sent the message to nations that support terrorism and brutal treatment of their own citizens that we will not do business with them or assist in financing terrorist activities,” said Attorney General McCollum. “As a member of the State Board of Administration, I strongly support the vote to formally sever ties between the Florida Retirement System Trust Fund and companies that have certain business relationships with the countries of Sudan and Iran. The activities of these terrorist nations could clearly jeopardize our state’s investments and this decision reinforces my fiduciary responsibility to the people of Florida.” read more

By BILL KACZOR 20 Sept 2007

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s public employee retirement fund will divest nearly $1.3 billion invested with 21 companies doing business in Iran or Sudan, an action state officials hope will be imitated across the nation.

The State Board of Administration authorized the divestiture Wednesday.

“You will be telling every one of these companies that from this day forward we won’t invest another dollar, Florida’s public dollars, in those companies,” state Sen. Ted Deutch, the law’s sponsor, told the board. read more

Published: Sept. 19, 2007 at 2:21 PM
By ANDREA R. MIHAILESCU

Russian gas giant Gazprom has resumed negotiations with the Japan Bank for International Coop. to secure financing for the $20-plus billion Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas development project.

Financing the multibillion dollar project has become a key issue after the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a core member of the planned lending syndicate, pulled out in early August because of concerns about how Gazprom gained control. read more