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October 20th, 2007:

The Sunday Times: Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrows Big Changes by Mark J Penn with E Kinney Zalesne

EXTRACT: He is also the chief executive of Burson-Marsteller, (part of the British-based WPP Group), a public relations firm that in the course of its career has been retained to winch some sensationally grimy clients out of the mud, such as Union Carbide after Bhopal, the Argentine military junta and Royal Dutch Shell after some very poor publicity in Nigeria.

THE ARTICLE

October 21, 2007

Reviewed by Aledander Cockburn

Mark Pennâ€s America – the America of Microtrends – is a bright-eyed, mostly upbeat world. As he bowls along, Penn tosses market-researched stats and polling data like confetti, and soon the reader is spattered with golly-gee micro-measurements: growing numbers of home knitters (“knitting is very hip”), decline of baseball fans, burgeoning population of vegan children, rise of women archers, longer bestselling books, more college-educated nannies, a surge in employees in the nonprofit sector, more kids who are cross-dressers and who, Penn says brightly, “are triggering a large, new tolerance movement in schools and communities”. 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.

breitbart.com: Iran to fire ‘11,000 rockets in minute’ if attacked

Oct 20 07:28 AM US/Eastern
       
Iran warned on Saturday it would fire off 11,000 rockets at enemy bases within the space of a minute if the United States launched military action against the Islamic republic.

“In the first minute of an invasion by the enemy, 11,000 rockets and cannons would be fired at enemy bases,” said a brigadier general in the elite Revolutionary Guards, Mahmoud Chaharbaghi.

“This volume and speed of firing would continue,” added Chaharbaghi, who is commander of artillery and missiles of the Guards’ ground forces, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. 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.

Sunday Herald (Scotland): Hayward to hint at BP recovery despite ‘dreadful’ profit figures

US refineries back in action and new fields opening

By John Phelps
21 October 2007

BP CHIEF executive Tony Hayward is expected to claim that the embattled giant is finally nearing the end of a three-year downward spiral on Tuesday when he is due to confirm news of a further profits setback despite soaring energy prices.

The new boss, who took charge after Lord Browne’s abrupt departure in May, has already warned of “dreadful financial results for the third quarter” and analysts have been scrambling to downgrade expectations over the past fortnight or so. 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.

Interfax: KazMunayGas to get larger share in Kashagan oil project

ASTANA.  Oct  20  (Interfax)  –  All  participants  in a project to develop  the  giant  Kashagan  oil field in Kazakhstan, including Kazakh officials,  on Saturday reached an essential agreement to enlarge Kazakh state company  KazMunayGas’  share  in the project but did not agree the future size of its share yet, a source told Interfax.

Today KazMunayGas holds an 8.33% share in Agip KCO, the consortium running the project. Project operator Eni holds a stake of 18.52% in it. So do Total, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell. The share of ConocoPhillips is 9.26%, and that of Inpex 8.33%. 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.

Houston Chronicle : For oil paleontologists, it’s layer upon layer of work: Looking at the fossils helps tell where crude is in the Gulf

By KRISTEN HAYS
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Oct. 19, 2007, 11:58PM: Energy

As oil and gas companies push into deeper ocean waters and more remote areas to find their bounty, a branch of science that conjures images of digging for bones of dinosaurs and human ancestors is becoming more integral in the search.

Paleontologists — scientists who study the history of life on Earth — are increasingly joining engineers and roughnecks on drillships, though they’re usually hunched over a microscope. 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.

FT REPORT – WEEKEND MONEY: Makis Kaketsis – F&C UK Dynamic Fund

By Sharlene Goff, Financial Times
Published: Oct 20, 2007

Makis Kaketsis has managed the F&C UK Dynamic Fund since December 2005. And he has turned around the performance of the fund.

What is your current top tip?

BG – formerly British Gas. This company has turned itself into an expert in the exploration, production and distributor of gas. The management has demonstrated time and time again that it has the ability to find solutions to problems that have plagued other UK groups such as BP and Shell, and increase production. Technological advances, which have made it cheaper and easier to liquidify gas, are playing straight into BG’s hands. Recent finds in Brazil are proof of BG’s successful exploration process. 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: Why mining has left oil sector standing

EXTRACT: The main reason the UK oil sector has underperformed is because of the sluggish performance of its two biggest companies – BP and Royal Dutch Shell.

By Neil Hume
Published: October 20 2007 03:00 | Last updated: October 20 2007 03:00

They both extract minerals, both have emerging markets exposure and both are in industries that have had big price rises. So why has the mining sector significantly outperformed the oil sector this year?

While the FTSE All Share mining index has gained 50 per cent, the equivalent oil index has risen just 14.6 per cent. But is that gap about to narrow? With the crude price at a fresh record high yesterday, should investors be looking to switch out of miners, which trade on 13.3 times 2008 earnings, into cheaper oil stocks, which trade on 11.5 times. 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.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Tank fire at Shell refinery extinguished

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ANACORTES, Wash. — Firefighters were able to extinguish a fire that started Friday in a diesel storage tank at the Shell Puget Sound refinery.

Three employees were treated for minor injuries, Shell spokesman Brian Sibley said.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but operations at the refinery were not interrupted, he said.

The fire broke out shortly after noon, according to a Shell news release. The immediate area was evacuated, and the fire was reported extinguished shortly after 2 p.m. 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.

Khaleej Times (UAE): Shell Pakistan records Rs533m profit on oil gain

(Bloomberg)
20 October 2007

KARACHI — Shell Pakistan Ltd., a unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, posted a profit in the first-quarter as the value of oil stocks gained because of higher crude prices.

Net income rose to Rs532.7 million ($8.8 million), or Rs9.72 a share, in the first-quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss of Rs215.5 million, or Rs3.93, a year ago, the Karachi-based company said in a statement to the stock exchange today. Sales fell to Rs32.7 billion  from Rs34.3 billion.

Fuel demand in Pakistan is increasing, spurred by an economy that is forecast to expand 7.2 per cent in the 12 months started July 1, 2007, from 7 per cent last year. Oil prices reached a record $89 a barrel yesterday, bolstering the value of oil inventories held by Shell Pakistan. 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: UPDATE 2-Shell Anacortes, WA, refinery ops normal after fire

Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:17pm BST 

HOUSTON, Oct 19 (Reuters) – Operations were normal at Shell Oil Co’s 145,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery in Anacortes, Washington, after a Friday afternoon fire at a giant storage tank, a spokesman said.

Three firefighters suffered minor injuries, said Shell’s Brian Sibley. Two firefighters sustained abrasions and one had a small cut. All received first aid at the scene.

Sibley declined to say what substance was in the tank when the fire broke out.

The fire was quickly put out, he said. 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.

Agence France-Press: New fire outbreak at Nigerian Shell facility: official

LAGOS (AFP) — A fire broke out at a southern Nigerian gas plant run by Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell on Friday, the day after it was reopened following closure because of a blaze last week, officials said.

“The incident happened at the same spot as last Friday’s. A helicopter fly-over shows there is a burning boat in the vicinity but it can’t be ascertained yet that it is sabotage,” Shell spokesman Aori Obaigbo told AFP.

Obaigbo said Shell’s firefighters have already been moved to the site at the 300-million-standard cubit feet gas plant at Utorogu, adding that the company is waiting results of a probe into the fire. 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.

Oil & Gas Journal: SEIC to boost Sakhalin 2 liquefaction capacity

Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19 — The annual capacity of the Sakhalin 2 liquefaction plant under construction on Sakhalin Island will be increased by 7 million tonnes, said a state official Oct. 18.

Regional Gov. Alexander Khoroshavin said the working group of project operator Sakhalin Energy Investment Co. has begun to draft a plan for the plant’s third stage.

The plant currently has two units with a total capacity of 9.6 million tonnes/year of LNG. It is due to be commissioned in 2008 after completion of start-up operations now under way. 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.