November, 2007:

By Tim Hepher

BEIJING, Nov 25 (Reuters) – Oil company Total SA, battling to preserve a major gas investment in Iran amid French government pressure on businesses to trim their dealings there, is playing the energy security card by highlighting Iran’s huge gas reserves.

Total CEO Christophe de Margerie told Reuters that Iran could be a valuable source of new energy supplies as Europe frets about possible gas shortages and heavy reliance on Russia.

De Margerie said talks over the South Pars development had slowed, but denied this was the result of a French government call in September to show restraint in dealing with Iran as the West tries to rein in its nuclear program. read more

08:50 – 27 November 2007

First Minister Alex Salmond was accused of playing politics with North Sea safety last night after calling for the Scottish Government to take over regulation of the oil and gas industry.

North-east union leaders and rival politicians dismissed as “inappropriate” Mr Salmond’s call for responsibility for health and safety matters to be devolved to Edinburgh.

And UK Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain said the best way to keep North Sea oil workers safe was through a consistent health and safety regime that operated regardless of borders. read more

By Upstream staff

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond has called for the Scottish government to take control of policing the offshore industry, it was reported today.

Salmond claimed yesterday that the UK’s Health & Safety Executive (HSE) should report directly to the Scottish government on all aspects of oil and gas installations operating in Scottish waters, a report in the Edinburgh-based Scotsman newspaper said.

He added that the move would make the North Sea a “safer place”. read more

By Isabel Gorst in Almaty
Published: November 27 2007 02:00 | Last updated: November 27 2007 02:00

A high ranking foreign delegation arrived in Astana yesterday to discuss Kazakhstan’s demands for compensation for production delays and soaring costs at the Kashagan oilfield in the Caspian Sea.

A group led by Italy’s Eni is under intense pressure to meet a November 30 deadline set by Kazakhstan for amicable settlement of the dispute which erupted after the Italian energy group presented a revised development plan for Kashagan, one of the world’s biggest oilfields. read more

By Paul Betts
Published: November 27 2007 02:00 | Last updated: November 27 2007 02:00

Kazakhstan has always been at the heart of “great game” politics. Back in the 19th century, the Russians, the British, the Germans and the French were already conspiring against each other for central Asia’s rich natural resources. After the second world war, a new player entered the game – the US. Ever since, the Americans have not been shy of moving every weapon in their arsenal to tighten their hold on the region’s energy assets. read more

EXTRACT: “Every time we put our credit card in the gas pump, we’re paying so that the Saudis get rich – filthy, obscenely rich, and that money then ends up going to funding madrassas,” schools “that train the terrorists,” said Huckabee. “America has allowed itself to become enslaved to Saudi oil. It’s absurd. It’s embarrassing.”

myway.com: Huckabee: America Enslaved to Saudi Oil

Nov 25, 2:59 PM (ET)

WASHINGTON (AP) – Consumers are financing both sides in the war on terror because of the actions of U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said Sunday. read more

EXTRACT: Oil giants BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, for example, have been forced to sell stakes in lucrative energy projects to Kremlin-controlled companies.

By ALISTAIR MACDONALD
November 27, 2007; Page C5

Black Earth Farming Ltd., a Swedish-run company that invests in Russian farmland, is planning an initial public stock offering aimed at raising 1.6 billion Swedish kronor ($255.7 million) to take advantage of soaring grain prices by buying more land.

Black Earth, which plans to offer the stock in Stockholm by the end of the year, is one of several Western European companies hoping to capitalize on the glut of cheap farmland in the nutrient-rich belt that stretches from Ukraine into central Russia. read more

Reuters: November 26, 2007 at 5:10 PM EST

CALGARY — — Royal Dutch Shell PLC  [RDS.B-N]said Monday it has suspended bitumen production at its oil sands mine near Fort McMurray, Alta., as it works to repair a fire-damaged upgrader that converts the tar-like bitumen into synthetic crude oil.

Shell will advance the timetable of maintenance work at the Muskeg River mine while repairs at the 155,000 barrel per day Scotford upgrader are completed following a Nov. 19 fire.

Storage facilities at the mine are full, and with the upgrader damaged, there is no place to send the bitumen for processing. read more

Nov. 26, 2007, 4:08PM

© 2007 The Associated Press

FRISCO, Texas — Comstock Resources Inc., an oil and gas producer, said Monday it agreed to buy some oil and gas properties from Swepi LP, an affiliate of Shell Exploration & Production, for $170 million.

As part of the deal, Comstock will acquire producing properties and 70 producing wells in south Texas.

The deal is expected to close in December and will be funded by borrowing under its $600 million credit facility.

Comstock said the deal expands its presence in south Texas. read more

Photograph by: Donald Weber

Portfolio Magazine: Putin’s Power Grab

by James Verini  December 2007 Issue

The Russian president’s global ambitions—and his drift toward totalitarianism—hinge on the staggering energy reserves of the onetime Siberian gulag of Sakhalin Island. Royal Dutch Shell knows the drill.

Even in August, a visitor to Sakhalin Island, off the eastern shores of Russia, can detect a chill in the air. The pine and birch forests are still a brilliant green, the sky azure and cloudless, but intimations of the island’s savage Siberian winter are already here. Katerina Lekomtseva, a veteran of 28 such winters, shivers as she stands on a hill above Aniva Bay, on Sakhalin’s southern coast. When Lekomtseva was a child, during the death throes of the Soviet Union, there were constant electricity shortages, and she and her father would sit in the candlelight playing a game called In Town. He would name a city, and she would name another beginning with the last letter of the city he mentioned. After her father, who hadn’t yet given up on the U.S.S.R., would say “Moscow,” Lekomtseva, who had accepted her country’s eventual demise, would counter with “Washington.” Then she would imagine how wonderful Washington must be: no electricity shortages, no candles. “I hated that game,” she tells me. read more

Monday, November 26, 2007

Russian President Vladimir Putin has parlayed Russia’s huge energy resources into a powerful political tool. Portfolio magazine’s James Verini has written about what lies ahead for Russia and its largest energy project, Sakhalin II. He talks with Kai Ryssdal.

TEXT OF INTERVIEW

KAI RYSSDAL: Vladimir Putin’s a little peeved at the United States. Today the Russian president accused Washington of leaning on election observers, pressuring them to stay away from parliamentary elections that’re set for this Sunday. Putin’s party is widely expected to win in a landslide this weekend. Which would help him hang onto power when he leaves the presidency this spring. Not hurting either, are the rising prices of oil and natural gas. Putin has parlayed Russia’s huge energy resources into a powerful political tool. Portfolio Magazine writer James Verini wrote about Russia’s, and the world’s, largest energy project, Sakhalin II, this month. read more

Nov 26, 2007 (Datamonitor via COMTEX) — RGPMF | charts | news | PowerRating — UK-based oil and gas exploration and production company Regal Petroleum has named David John Greer as chairman and CEO, Antonio Mozetic as non-executive director and Hendrikus Verkuil as an executive director.

In addition, Francesco Scolaro has stepped down as non-executive chairman and Neil Ritson has resigned from his position as CEO and director.

Mr Greer has extensive oil industry experience, having worked for Shell International Exploration and Production for 28 years. He has held a wide variety of engineering, production, commercial and senior executive positions in Shell’s operations in the UK, Netherlands, Norway, Canada, Oman, Argentina and the Philippines. read more

UPDATED: 4:42 pm EST November 26, 2007

PALM BAY, Fla. — Thousands of homes in Central Florida contain defective water pipes that could burst at any time. A huge lawsuit has provided millions of dollars for homeowners to replace the pipes but most consumers are not covered or don’t even know they can apply for the funds.

Patty Van Zweden is a victim of polybutylene water pipes. It’s a hard plastic pipe, usually colored gray, used by home builders for nearly 20 years as a cheap alternative to copper. But by the late 1980s, plumbers found the poly pipes failed at alarming rates. At Van Zweden’s Palm Bay house, a pipe burst in the master bath when nobody was home. read more

Uchenna Izundu
International Editor

LONDON, Nov. 26 — More than half of the oil and gas industry’s basic assets in the UK North Sea that have been inspected over the past 3 years are in poor condition, and companies will face closure or prosecution if they do not improve safety standards, warned the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in a report.

After inspecting almost 100 oil and gas platforms, HSE said various safety-related incidents had occurred because of the poor upkeep of basic structures, and that some maintenance backlogs were “unacceptable.” read more

By David Lee Smith November 26, 2007

This one will put me in strange territory, since I’m not usually one to come down on the energy companies. The group typically has more than enough detractors, many of whom are irrational and uninformed. But in the case of BP (NYSE: BP) and the aftermath of the 2005 explosion at its Texas refinery, I’ll make a vocal exception.

First some facts: On March 23, 2005, an octane-boosting unit at the company’s Texas City, Texas, refinery exploded as it was being restarted following repairs. The resulting blast, which killed 15 and injured hundreds, blew out windows five miles away. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board subsequently found that the company’s excessive budget cuts had compromised safety at the facility. read more

By Sonja Franklin Maher Chmaytelli

Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) — Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Austria’s OMV AG agreed to reduce their share of production from an oil venture in Libya, holder of Africa’s largest petroleum reserves, to reflect record prices.

Los Angeles-based Occidental and Vienna-based OMV, which are jointly developing fields in the central region of Sirte, agreed to take a smaller share and increase production from the project, Libya’s state-run National Oil Corp. said today on its Web site. Occidental is the fourth-largest oil company in the U.S., and OMV is the largest in central Europe. read more

Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:34 PM GMT
(Adds comment and detail)

CALGARY, Alberta, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell said on Monday it has suspended bitumen production at its oil sands mine near Fort McMurray, Alberta, as it works to repair a fire-damaged upgrader that converts the tar-like bitumen into synthetic crude oil.

Shell will advance the timetable of maintenance work at the Muskeg River mine while repairs at the 155,000 barrel per day Scotford upgrader are completed following a Nov. 19 fire. read more

11/26/2007 4:18:27 PM Comstock Resources, Inc. (CRK) announced that it has agreed to purchase certain oil and gas properties from SWEPI LP, an affiliate of Shell Exploration & Production for $170.0 million.

With the acquisition, Comstock would acquire producing properties in the Dinn Ranch, Fandango, Rosita, and Rosita East fields in Duval and Zapata counties in South Texas on 11 thousand acres. The transaction is expected to close in December.

The properties being acquired include 70 producing wells that are producing about 21.9 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. Comstock expects that these properties have net proved reserves of about 57.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas. In addition to the proved reserves, Comstock anticipates that the properties could yield an additional 90 Bcf of resources potential from future exploitation.
 
http://www.rttnews.com/sp/Quickfactsnew.asp?item=147 read more

Posted on Nov. 26, 2007
By Lee Geng

BP is continuing its aggressive expansion in China, and its latest comes at Shell’s expense. Shell had been in negotiations with Sinopec and Kuwait Petroleum Corp. to build a 300,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong, but China has selected BP. The refinery is slated for operation in 2010.

Both BP and Shell are active in China’s downstream. BP holds a 9.4 percent stake in Sinopec Zhenhai Refining and Chemical Co., China’s largest. Shell holds a 50 percent stake in an ethylene cracker in Guangdong Province that produces 800,000 tons per year. CNOOC holds the remaining 50 percent. read more

Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:48 PM GMT
(Recasts with chairman’s comments, updates shares)

LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) – Czech-based MND Exploration and Production will not table a new offer to Regal Petroleum Plc for a Ukrainian joint venture, according to the chairman of its parent company on Monday.

“MND Exploration and Production is not considering submitting a new bid to Regal Petroleum Plc now,” said Miroslav Jestrabik, chairman of MND’s parent company KKCG Oil & Gas in a statement translated from Czech. read more

Mon Nov 26, 2007

MOSCOW, Nov 26 (Reuters) – The Gazprom (GAZP.MM: Quote, Profile, Research)-led Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project has stopped oil production early after a storm damaged its offshore facility, company management said on Monday.

“Earlier this week due to severe weather conditions production at the Vityaz complex offshore facility… was suspended,” the project, called Sakhalin Energy, said in a statement.

Damage to the buoy at Vityaz resulted in a small oil spillage, and the floating storage and offtake vessel were also disengaged. read more

Smoke can be seen coming from the right of the platform

BBC News: Scots ‘should handle’ oil safety: Monday, 26 November 2007: 14:46 GMT 

First Minister Alex Salmond has said the Scottish Government should handle North Sea offshore safety.

He was speaking as an investigation got under way into the cause of a major fire that broke out on a platform.

More than 100 workers were evacuated from the Thistle Alpha platform after Sunday’s fire but no-one was hurt.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said its inspectors would visit the site, 120 miles north-west of Shetland, as soon as weather conditions allowed. read more

08:50 – 26 November 2007

Fresh concerns were raised last night about safety on North Sea installations after the evacuation of over 100 workers when fire broke out on a platform.

The blaze on the Thistle Alpha, which lies 120 miles north-east of Shetland, came just days after the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published a 71-page brief criticising North Sea operators for poor safety levels.

In all, 116 personnel from the 159 crew on the platform had to be evacuated when fire broke out about 8am yesterday. read more

Daily Trust (Abuja)
EDITORIAL
26 November 2007

Broken promises, lack of commitment, shady deals and ignored legislations have marred the history of flare-out targets in Nigeria. The country’s oil resources have been exploited for more than four decades.

Yet, oil companies including Shell, ExxonMobil and TotalFinaElf continue to profit from the resource, while communities in the oil-rich but conflict-ridden areas live in polluted environment where the gas associated with oil extraction is burnt off in to the atmosphere. While 99% of associated gas is used or re-injected into the ground in western Europe, Nigeria at present accounts for 20% of the total gas flared in the world, making it second to none in flaring. Within Nigeria, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) flares more gas than any other oil company.
 
Representatives of the major oil companies operating in Nigeria collectively reached an agreement with the government in August 2000 that the required phase-out of gas flaring would be met by January 1, 2008. This was to replace a previous deadline of 2004. However, multinational oil companies have recently appealed to the federal government again to shift the terminal date of zero-flare in all oil fields in the country to 2010 even though the abandoned “Vision 2010” report had earlier set the same 2008 as deadline for ending gas flaring in Nigeria. While making the appeal at the 25th Annual Conference of the Nigeria Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), the Area Manager, Nigeria, ExxonMobil Corporation, Ms Kim Bates, cited insecurity in the Niger Delta region of the country and pricing regime as part of the problems prompting their proposal for a new target date. read more

Originally created 11/26/07
By Special to the Times-Union

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine how things would be if the U.S. was a major oil exporter rather than a major importer. Better balance of trade; stabilized oil prices for domestic consumption; debt reduction; stronger world influence.

Far-fetched? Not really if we commit our nation to it. The Manhattan Project produced an atomic bomb in three years. The man on the moon project took eight years.

Most of the world’s unconventional oil reserves are in North America, 1.7 trillion barrels in Canadian tar sands and 2 trillion barrels in U.S. oil shale. That’s 3.7 trillion barrels total. Seventy percent of the best oil shale is already under federally controlled and managed U.S. land. read more

(Adds background)
Monday 26 November 2007

LONDON (Thomson Financial) – Regal Petroleum PLC has confirmed the memorandum of understanding it signed with Royal Dutch Shell PLC has been terminated.

Under the MoU, announced on Nov 21, Shell was to acquire 51 pct of Regal’s gas projects in Ukraine for 50 mln usd in cash and invest a further 360 mln usd to develop the fields.

Regal, in a statement released today, said it is considering its options for the development and commercialisation of the Ukrainian assets. read more

By Dulue Mbachu, The Associated Press

LAGOS, Nigeria – For decades, Nigerian governments were content to let international oil companies do the pumping, merely taking taxes, royalties and a cut of profits.

Now with global oil prices surging near $100 a barrel, Africa’s leading oil exporter wants to review agreements allowing oil companies to recoup their costs before sharing profits from deep water exploration, and consolidate all its joint venture oil assets into one potentially powerful company with a global reach. read more

Mon 26 Nov 2007
 
LONDON (SHARECAST) – Shell has terminated a Memorandum of Understanding covering interests in Ukraine signed with oil explorer Regal Petroleum last week, Regal said Monday.

“The company is considering its options for the development and commercialization of its Ukrainian assets,” said Regal this morning.

The agreement with Shell over a sale of a 51% stake in its Ukraine interests was announced last Wednesday.

That was supposed to supplant a similar arrangement with MND Exploration and Production that expired in September 2007. read more

November 26, 2007

Vladimir Putin’s not-so-secret secret weapon is the courts. The Kremlin’s firm control over the judiciary keeps Russia an illiberal state and comes in handy against Mr. Putin’s enemies.

Two new politically tinged cases again show the Putin legal method at work. A Moscow court on Saturday night sentenced Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion who leads a coalition of opposition parties, to five days in prison for leading an “unauthorized” demonstration in the capital. If forced to serve out the term this week, Mr. Kasparov would be out of the picture in the lead-up to Sunday’s parliamentary elections.
 
A day earlier, prosecutors indicted one of the last liberal government ministers, Sergei Storchak, on embezzlement and fraud charges. His arrest the previous week fueled speculation about the government’s motives — none of which concerned the merits of the case against the deputy finance minister and chief debt negotiator. Ever since the Yukos prosecutions three years ago, Russia’s courts are seen as tools of politicians. read more

Regal’s Shake-Up
Of Management
Comes as Surprise
A WALL STREET JOURNAL NEWS ROUNDUP
November 26, 2007; Page A14

LONDON — Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it won’t proceed with an agreement reached days ago to acquire the Ukraine assets of United Kingdom-listed Regal Petroleum PLC, following Regal’s surprise move to appoint a new chairman and chief executive.

Shell spokeswoman Eurwen Thomas said the management change at Regal “wasn’t expected by Shell, and we see from the new management’s comments that they may have changed their thinking on this transaction.” read more

By Ed Crooks in London
Published: November 26 2007 02:00 | Last updated: November 26 2007 02:00

StatoilHydro, the Norwegian national oil company, has begun a two-year drilling programme in Arctic waters to determine the potential of Norway’s share of one of the world’s few remaining unexplored oil prospects.

It also hopes to co-operate with Russian companies such as Gazprom to find oil and gas further into the Arctic, including areas disputed between Russia and Norway.

Helge Lund, StatoilHydro’s chief executive, has called for an international framework to protect fragile communities and environments in the Arctic, to enable development to go ahead without unacceptable damage. read more

Niraj Shah & Helen Schuller – www.egoli.com.au

Monday, 26 November 2007

Royal Dutch Shell shed 1.6% on news it had dropped a deal to buy a 51% stake in the Ukrainian gas assets of UK oil explorer, Regal Petroleum. The news saw Regal’s shares plunge 14.1%.

http://livenews.com.au/Articles/2007/11/26/MarketWatch__Overnight_26112007

November 25, 2007
Edited by Louise Armitstead
IT’S panto season and Prufrock’s favourite Widow Twanky is back.

Frank Timis, the thrice-convicted former chairman of Regal Petroleum, has returned to scupper the fortunes of the company he founded – again.

With Timis’s reputation as one of the most unpredictable and irregular of company directors, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that he effected a boardroom coup moments after Regal announced a miraculous deal with Shell. Obviously, Shell then ran a mile. read more

By Lucian Kim

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) — OAO Gazprom’s Sakhalin-2 offshore project had a “small release” of oil into the Pacific Ocean after equipment was damaged during severe weather, project operator Sakhalin Energy said.

“We think the spill is less than 10 liters,” company spokesman Jim Niven said in a phone interview from Yuzhno- Sakhalinsk today, citing preliminary estimates. There is no oil slick, only a thin “sheen” of oil on the water surface, he added. Officials are at the scene to prevent a further release of oil and investigate the exact cause, Niven said. read more

By Benoit Faucon
Last Update: 12:06 PM ET Nov 25, 2007

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Oil production at the OAO Gazprom led Sakhalin-2 project was suspended last week for the rest of the year after severe weather conditions damaged a buoy, the Gazprom venture operating the project said Sunday.

The project normally produces 80,000 barrels a day of oil, but the production has been interrupted earlier than expected, said a spokesman for the venture, Sakhalin Energy Investment Co. Ltd.

In a statement on its Web site, Sakhalin Energy said that oil production was suspended due to severe weather conditions at the Vityaz complex. read more

Shell reserves fraud discovery documents published on Sunday 25 November 2007

The first item, Exhibit 186, is email correspondence on 3 January 2004 from Frank Coopman, Chief Financial Officer, Shell Exploration and Production B.V. to Curtis Frasier of Shell International, which was copied to John Darley, SIEP-EPT. This was sent just 6 days before the Shell reserves fraud was announced to a stunned world. Frank Coopman made it plain that the “independent” Group reserves auditor, Anton Barendregt (*a retired former Shell employee who acted as the Group reserves Auditor on a part-time basis) was in fact “not completely independent”. read more

AP – 25.11.2007 14:09

Nigerian troops clashed early on Sunday with armed militants in the Niger Delta oil region near a natural gas facility run by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, a military official said. The latest encounter between troops and militants in rising violence in the troubled region occurred in Soku, in the southern swamps of Rivers state, where Shell runs a natural gas gathering facility, military spokesman Maj. Sagir Musa said. No details were yet available on casualties or the impact of the clash on oil and gas operations, he said. read more

A “very serious” fire on a North Sea oil platform with 159 people on board has been extinguished.

A major rescue operation had been launched to evacuate crew from the Thistle Alpha platform after smoke and flames were seen after 0800 GMT.

Seven helicopters and an RAF Nimrod aircraft were alerted and helicopters began carrying those on board to other platforms in the area.

The fire was extinguished by 1045 GMT. All crew were said to be safe.

The Thistle Alpha is 120 miles north east of Sumburgh in Shetland. read more

EXTRACT: Silva said more than 12,000 former workers and residents in areas near the banana plantations are in litigation in courts in the United States, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Colombia, with U.S. companies accused of manufacturing, selling and spraying Nemagon, even though its perils were known since 1958. The product was banned in the United States in 1979. The litigants are claiming a total of nearly $17 billion in reparations against food industry corporations such as Dole Food Co., Chiquita Brands and Del Monte, and against Shell Oil, Dow Chemical and Occidental Chemical, the petrochemical companies that manufacture the pesticide, Silva said. read more

By John Donovan

Shell internal email correspondence proves Walter van de Vijver, Chief Executive of Shell EP, warned Philip Watts about “aggressive” reserves bookings and other matters in August 2002:

Walter van de Vijver to Phil Watts:

“I feel strongly that we should stop talking to analysts about things we have not delivered yet…”:

“With aggressive historical proved reserves booking, massive investment in Nigeria with increasing risks, few material discoveries, ROACE pressures, we just need to be very careful.” read more

November 25, 2007
Grant Ringshaw

OIL giant Shell is considering selling stakes in two offshore Nigerian oil and gas projects to CNOOC, the Chinese state-controlled company, in a deal worth about $900m (£437m).

Shell holds stakes of 49.8% in each of the projects. Bankers said that CNOOC is likely to view the operations as prize assets as the Chinese group seeks to expand its interests in Africa aggressively.

Analysts said that the potential deal shows that Shell is prepared to take hard decisions. It has had a troubled time in Nigeria, where its interests in the delta region have been attacked by militants. read more

Saturday, November 24, 2007  10:47 IST    
 
NEW DELHI: Petroleum and Natural Gas minister Murli Deora leaves for Russia Saturday with a long shopping list, whose top item is a share in the new Sakhalin projects that will be opened for bidding soon.

Deora is being accompanied by chiefs of Indian Oil Corporation, Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) and ONGC Videsh limited (OVL).

India has a 20 percent stake in the Sakhalin-I field, which is operated by a consortium led by Exxon Mobil. The Indian share is 2.4 million tonnes of crude per year. read more

Saturday, November 24, 2007
by Robert Amsterdam  

There’s a new test for Russia’s famous axiom, “What Gazprom wants, Gazprom gets.” The answer from the embattled LSE-listed oil company Imperial Energy: not so fast.

On Friday the company rejected a bid from Gazprombank to acquire a 25% stake, which caused their stock price to dip slighting in trading. Earlier this month it was revealed that this banking arm of the Russian government was behind this “mystery bid” for the company, which was generally seen as the Kremlin’s peace offering to make all those pesky regulatory troubles go away (this energy firm is only just the latest of many private companies to come under the wrath of Rosprirodnazor’s Oleg Mitvol over its reserves numbers). read more

By Dino Mahtani
Published: November 24 2007 03:49 | Last updated: November 24 2007 03:49

Royal Dutch Shell has called off a $410m (£199m) deal to farm into Ukrainian gas fields held by Regal Petroleum just one day after the controversial Aim-listed oil company announced a sudden change in management.

Europe’s biggest oil company this week agreed a memorandum of understanding with Regal for a 51 percent stake in the two fields. Analysts said the proposition was a good deal for Regal because Shell would have carried all the capital investment costs to develop the assets read more

Marianne Barriaux
Saturday November 24 2007

Shell has pulled out of a £200m deal to buy into Ukrainian gas fields only two days after it was signed after a boardroom row at its controversial would-be partner, Regal Petroleum.

The Anglo-Dutch company agreed on Wednesday to buy a 51% stake in Regal’s Ukrainian gas fields for $50m (£24m), saying it would invest the first $360m of development costs. But on Thursday Regal abruptly announced that its chief executive, Neil Ritson, and chairman, Francesco Scolaro, had been replaced by David Greer, a former Shell executive. read more

November 24, 2007
Robin Pagnamenta

Royal Dutch Shell has pulled out of a deal, announced just two days ago, to acquire a large stake in the Ukrainian gasfields of Regal Petroleum after Regal appointed a new management team on Thursday.

A Shell spokeswoman said: “We were not expecting it and are deciding not to proceed. Our memorandum of understanding was with the previous management team.”

In a deal that had been considered an encouraging step for Regal, Shell had agreed on Wednesday to invest up to $410 million (£199 million) to acquire 51 per cent of Regal Petroleum’s gasfields in Ukraine and to cover much of the development cost. read more

By Russell Hotten
24/11/2007 00:01AM GMT

Royal Dutch Shell faced embarrassment last night after withdrawing from a preliminary deal signed on Wednesday to take a majority stake in assets run by oil explorer Regal Petroleum.

It follows a surprise decision by Regal to replace its chief executive and chairman just 24 hours after agreeing with Shell to sell a 51pc stake in gas fields in the Ukraine.

News that Shell was working with Aim-listed Regal was seen by analysts as potentially risky.

Shell said: “Our memorandum of understanding with Regal was agreed with the previous management team. The management change at Regal was not expected by Shell.” read more

Shell Oil Company’s Deer Park refinery and petrochemical facility is shown in the background as vehicles travel along Highway 225 Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2007 in Deer Park, Texas. Energy futures wavered, hesitating on a drive to $100 a barrel Wednesday after the government reported that oil inventories fell unexpectedly last week, but that supplies at a closely watched oil terminal in the Midwest rose for the first time in weeks. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) (David J. Phillip – AP)

The Washington Post: Oil Prices End Over $98 in Light Trading read more