November, 2007:

Although a lawsuit has put Beaufort Sea drilling on hold in 2007 company moved ahead with Chukchi seismic and other programs

Vol. 12, No. 47  Week of November 25, 2007
Alan Bailey

Despite the setback of a court-enforced suspension of Shell’s Beaufort Sea drilling program, Rick Fox, the company’s Alaska asset manager, gave an upbeat assessment of Shell’s progress in Alaska at the Resource Development Council annual conference on Nov. 14.

“We had an excellent year although we didn’t get to drill,” Fox said. read more

Press Statement from the 1st Ken Saro Wiwa Memorial Seminar Organized in Cape Town by the Ogoni Solidarity Forum (OSF) on the 22nd and 23rd of November 2007 to mark the 12th anniversary of the killing of the Ogoni 9
 
On the 22nd and 23rd of November 2007, representatives of Social Movements, Community Based Organizations, Faith Based groups, Non Governmental Organizations, Scholars and Academics, Activists and Journalists from different parts of South Africa meet in Community House, Cape Town, to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the killing of Ken Saro Wiwa, who was a well known writer, environmentalist, minority rights crusader and eight other Ogoni activists, namely; Dr. Barinem Kiobel, John Kpuinee, Paul Levura, Daniel Gbokoo, Felix Nuateh, Saturday Doobee, Nordu Eewo and Baribor Beera, were callously killed by the hands of the Nigerian nation state on the 10th of November 1995.
 
The purpose of the two day meeting was to sensitize the South African public about the plight and struggle of the Niger Delta Communities in general and the Ogoni Ethnic Nationality in particular.
 
The meeting was attended by a total of 102 delegates including Prof. Dennis Vincent Brutus, ex-Robben Islander, and well known South African poet, Bobby Peek, renowned South African Environmentalist, Dr. Tam-George, Prof. Eugene Cairncross, Prof. Kevin Winter and Dr. Kolade Arogundade who presented different papers based on researches done on oil exploration and exploitation of the Niger Delta peoples and the Ogoni situation.
 
The two day seminar was motivated by activists from the Ogoni Ethnic Nationality, who came to South Africa since 2003 to solicit for support from their fellow Africans, to expose the cruel hands of imperialism on the African indigenous peoples.
 
That after the two day meeting, the participants came to the following understanding and resolutions:
 
That the Ogoni ethnic nationality and other groups of the Niger Delta, were grafted into a Nigerian nation state on account of colonial and imperial business interest. read more

Fri Nov 23, 2007 4:33 PM GMT

LONDON, Nov 23 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) has pulled out of a deal, announced only two days ago, to buy a 51 percent stake in the Ukrainian gas assets of UK oil explorer Regal Petroleum (RPT.L: Quote, Profile , Research) following Regal’s announcement of a new chief executive on Thursday.

“Our MOU with Regal was agreed with the previous management team. The management change of yesterday at Regal was not expected by Shell,” the Anglo-Dutch oil major said in a statement on Friday. read more

23 Nov 2007 

Shell Verwaltungsgesellschaft fuer Erdgasbeteiligungen mbH (Shell) and ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding (ExxonMobil) have agreed to sell the transport business of their German joint venture BEB Erdgas und Erdoel GmbH (BEB) including the technical operations currently provided by ExxonMobil Production Deutschland GmbH to NV Nederlandse Gasunie (Gasunie). Subject to regulatory approvals it is expected that the transaction will be closed in 2008.  

Gasunie will continue to operate BEB transport and the transferred technical operations and will ensure compliance with existing BEB transportation agreements and will also retain the current staff. read more

Friday, November 23, 2007; Posted: 08:08 PM

Regal Petroleum firmed 3/4p to 163 3/4p amid speculation that the latest boardroom shenanigans, involving Regal’s mercurial former founder and chief executive Frank Timis, have put the GBP400 million Ukrainian joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell, down 47p at 1945p, in doubt.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/852505/

By ANDREW LANGLEY
November 23, 2007

MOSCOW — Oil producer Imperial Energy Corp. said Thursday that it rebuffed an offer from the banking arm of Russia’s OAO Gazprom, which had been seeking to buy a stake in the London-listed company.

Imperial previously said that OAO Gazprombank wanted to buy a 25% stake in the company in new stock at a discount to market levels. Such a stake is currently valued at more than $300 million.

The announcement that Imperial rejected the bid drove the shares down 8.3% to £10.97 ($22.65) late Thursday, off 99 pence. read more

By Dino Mahtani
Published: November 23 2007 02:00 | Last updated: November 23 2007 02:00

Shares in Imperial Energy, the UK-listed oil and gas company with assets in Russia fell by 8 per cent after it rejected an offer by the banking arm of Gazprom to buy a 25 per cent stake in the company.

The offer, made by Gazprombank, was seen by many analysts as a potential solution to the poor relations the company has had with an agency within Russia’s natural resources ministry, which has accused the company of exaggerating its reserves. read more

By Ed Crooks and Dino Mahtani
Published: November 23 2007 02:00 | Last updated: November 23 2007 02:00

In a development that is extraordinary even by the standards of the company, Regal Petroleum has replaced its chairman and chief executive the day after agreeing a memorandum of understanding with Royal Dutch Shell that was hailed as a very good deal for the company.

It was announced yesterday that John Ritson, chief executive, and Francesco Scolaro, chairman, had resigned, to be replaced by David Greer, an experienced former Shell executive, who will be chairman and chief executive. read more

23/11/2007
By Toni Bourke

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Mr John Gormley TD, has given Shell a sharp slap on the hand for drilling boreholes in Glenamoy Bog, a Special Area of Conservation, but has decided not to prosecute. The holes were drilled by RPS, consultants employed by Shell, and their actions were described as a “matter of grave concern” by the minister.

Minister Gormley said it was unacceptable that this occurred at a time when his Department had been making special efforts to keep in communication with Shell. read more

November 23, 2007
Robert Lindsay

Shell has initiated a shake-up of the board of Regal Petroleum after its $410 million (£198 million) deal to enter a joint venture to develop its assets in Ukraine. The chief executive and chairman have both quit to make way for John Greer, who headed Shell’s Sakhalin project, as executive chairman. He is joined by another Shell director, Harry Verkuil. The shares dropped 17p as investors worried whether there were performance issues yet to be revealed but later closed down just 1p at 163p. read more

By Nikhil Kumar
Published: 23 November 2007

Regal Petroleum has named David Greer, a veteran oil man from Shell, as chairman and chief executive as part of a sudden shake-up in the top management at the London-based energy company.

The surprise announcement comes a day after Regal entered into exclusive negotiations to transfer a majority stake in its Ukrainian operations to Shell.

Neil Ritson, who announced the agreement with Shell two days ago, is understood to have resigned as chief executive yesterday because he was opposed to an initial plan for Mr Greer to join the company as executive chairman. read more

By Russell Hotten
Last Updated: 12:47am GMT 23/11/2007

Oil explorer Regal Petroleum surprised the City yesterday with the appointment of former Royal Dutch Shell executive David Greer to run the business, throwing into confusion a deal the two companies had signed only 24 hours previously.

Mr Greer, who becomes Aim-listed Regal’s chief executive and chairman, resigned from Shell earlier this year soon after writing a notorious email that was ridiculed as something that could have been penned by David Brent from cult television comedy The Office. read more

Friday 23 November 2007

Shell reserves fraud litigation before U.S. Courts. Videotaped deposition of REMCO AALBERS, formerly Shell Group Reserves Coordinator

Exhibit 14 (400 pages)

http://www.shellnews.net/classactiondocs/ex14_341_2.pdf

Exhibit 15 (50 pages)

http://www.shellnews.net/classactiondocs/ex15_341_3.pdf

Exhibit 16 (50 pages)

http://www.shellnews.net/classactiondocs/ex16_341_4.pdf

Exhibit 17 (69 pages)

http://www.shellnews.net/classactiondocs/ex17_341_5.pdf

Exhibit 285 (54 pages)

http://www.shellnews.net/classactiondocs/ex285_436_3.pdf read more

Last Updated: Thursday, 22 November 2007, 15:27 GMT 

Royal Dutch Shell may sell stakes in two oil and gas fields in Nigeria, with Chinese oil firm CNOOC a potential buyer, the Wall Street Journal said.

The two 49.8% stakes could sell for as much as $900m (£435.8m, 606.4m euros), the paper reported.

China’s booming economy has sucked in commodities from all over the world and it has invested in a string of ventures in Africa in recent years.

Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, remains wracked by poverty. read more

Thu Nov 22, 2007 4:18 PM GMT

LONDON, Nov 22 (Reuters) – British oil & gas explorer Regal Petroleum Plc (RPT.L: Quote, Profile , Research) said on Thursday Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) veteran David Greer would be its new chairman and chief executive, replacing Francesco Scolaro and Neil Ritson respectively.

Regal said on Wednesday it had sold 51 percent of its Ukraine gas fields to oil giant Shell for $50 million.

Greer had been with Shell for 28 years, working most recently as deputy chief executive of the company’s Sakhalin 2 project in Russia. (Reporting By John Bowker; Editing by Quentin Bryar) read more

22 November 2007
Nathaniel Jonah
Abuja

The new bribery scandal involving some former and still serving top government functionaries has elicited President Yar’Adua’s anti-corruption war. Will this succeed? asks Nathaniel Jonah

Nigeria’s polity has been terse in the last few months with intriguing developments, especially issues that border on corruption and graft practices among the political class.
 
The melodramatic thearetrics which climaxed into the “drama of the absurd” at the House of Representatives has been described by Nigerians as most unfortunate for a nation struggling with the realities of democratic values after so many years of military interregnum in the body polity. read more

ROYAL DUTCH/SHELL GROUP OF COMPANIES: Investor Relations Presentation

By Philip Watts, Jeroen van der Veer,Judy Boynton, Walter van de Vijver, Harry Roels and Paul Skinner: Tuesday, December 18, 2001, New York City. (60 pages every paged marked “Confidential”)

http://www.shellnews.net/classactiondocs/436.pdf

EXTRACT FROM PAGE 53:

MR. WATTS:  On the Russian side, specifically regarding Sakhalin, I was there in July with the CEOs of Mitsui and Mitsubishi, visualizing what it will be like. We are doing serious work on the engineering. There are two aspects to it. One is the gas market to Japan or Korea; second is the situation in Moscow on the PSAs and how quickly they will come out. I am personally reasonably encouraged with the way things are going. As you know, it is coming into focus on the marketing side. On the Russian scene the issue of the PSA is at the front of the leaders’ minds in Russia. Jeroen and I were in Zapolenoya at the signing in 1997 of the alliance with Gazprom. read more

The judge overseeing the criminal case involving the BP Texas City refinery explosion stepped down after a lawyer protesting BP’s plea bargain pointed out that the judge’s former law firm had represented the oil giant.

U.S. District Judge Gray Miller noted that he was not required to recuse himself but agreed to do so since others at the firm where he was a partner, Fulbright & Jaworski, handled some civil issues that overlapped with the criminal case.

Corpus Christi lawyer David Perry, who represents 12 victims of the 2005 blast that killed 15 people and injured scores more, had asked Miller to step down. read more

Cnooc May Consider
Buying Shell Stakes
Offshore Of Nigeria
By BENOÎT FAUCON
November 22, 2007

LONDON — China’s Cnooc Ltd. is considering buying interests in Nigerian blocks held by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, a person familiar with the matter said yesterday — the latest indication of China’s rising assertiveness in Africa’s oil sector.

Shell is considering selling interests in two Nigerian offshore blocks as it restructures its business in the troubled region, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday. A block is a geographic area of territory over which the owner holds exploration and drilling rights. read more

By Dino Mahtani
Published: November 22 2007 02:00 | Last updated: November 22 2007 02:00

Signing deals with an oil company that saw its shares crash when it failed to find commercial quantities of oil from a much-hyped exploration concession could be a risky venture for a partner.

But yesterday’s memorandum of understanding between Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s biggest oil company, of a preliminary agreement to farm into two Ukrainian gas fields owned by Regal Petroleum, the Aim listed oil and gas company, is being promoted as a sound investment. read more

By Andrew Hill
Published: November 22 2007 02:00 | Last updated: November 22 2007 02:00

Royal Dutch Shell’s net capital spending regularly exceeds $20bn a year, so in its very grand scheme of things, $360m (£175m) laid out on the development of gas fields in Ukraine, plus $50m for a majority stake in Regal Petroleum’s Ukrainian subsidiary, is almost pocket-change.

For Regal, however, Shell’s investment would be significant, possibly even crucial. The convoluted legal wrangling that ended with confirmation of Regal’s title to the Ukrainian gas assets took its toll on the group in 2006. Administrative costs linked to finding a partner there exacerbated its losses for the first half of this year. In spite of the celebration of Shell’s interest in the Ukrainian venture, yesterday’s statement also delivered the less welcome news that talks with the first suitor – MND, a private Czech group – had fallen through, and that it could take another eight weeks before the Shell agreement was secured. read more

By John O’Doherty in London and Roman Olearchyk in Kiev
Published: November 22 2007 02:00 | Last updated: November 22 2007 02:00

Royal Dutch Shell has signed a preliminary $410m agreement to take a 51 per cent interest in two Ukrainian gas fields controlled by a subsidiary of Regal Petroleum, the Aim-listed oil and gas group founded by Frank Timis.

Under the terms of a non-binding memorandum of understanding, Shell will pay $50m for a 51 per cent stake in the Mekhediviska-Golotvschinska and Svyrydivske gas fields, Regal’s main assets, and invest an initial $360m to develop the two fields 180km north-east of Kiev. read more

By Sheila McNulty in Houston
Published: November 22 2007 02:00 | Last updated: November 22 2007 02:00

BP’s hopes of drawing a line under its problems in the US after agreeing a $380m (£184m) settlement with the authorities have been dealt a blow by a legal challenge over the fatal explosion at its Texas City refinery.

Last month BP agreed to pay a $50m criminal fine in respect of the 2005 explosion, as part of a deal to resolve all the cases being pursued by the US government, including actions related to its trading activities and oil spills in Alaska. read more

Terry Macalister
Thursday November 22 2007

Shell is to become a partner of Regal Petroleum, a company with an unfortunate history of legal wrangles, executive departures and dud wells. The Anglo-Dutch group has signed a deal to buy a 51% stake in Regal’s Ukrainian gas fields for $50m (£25m).

Shell will become operator and invest the first $360m to develop the Mekhediviska-Golotvschinska and Svyrydivske gas fields, whose ownership was recently the subject of a Ukrainian court challenge.

“The memorandum of understanding is another important step in Shell’s development in Ukraine,” said Patrick van Daele, general manager, Shell Ukraine exploration & production, which already controls other operations in the Dnieper-Donetsk basin where the Regal fields are located. read more

By Russell Hotten, Industry Editor
Last Updated: 1:29am GMT 22/11/2007

A three-year investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has condemned the condition of oil and gas platforms in the North Sea and warned energy companies that they are running the risk of a major accident because of years of under-investment.

The HSE, which looked at nearly 100 offshore installations in the British sector of the North Sea, criticised senior managers for not giving sufficient priority to maintenance and put operators on notice that it will “name and shame” companies unless they improve their facilities. read more

By Ian Austen
Thursday, November 22, 2007

OTTAWA: The Canadian government plans to announce Thursday that it will convert 25.5 million acres of northern woodland into a new national park and wildlife protection areas.

The result will be one of North America’s largest conservation areas, about 11.5 times the size of Yellowstone Park, and ease pressure from the mining and energy industries on an area that is important for wildlife, if sparsely populated by humans.

“This is the largest land withdrawal for protection ever in Canada,” said Monte Hummel, president of the World Wildlife Fund Canada. “This is real conservation history being made.” read more

Written by Emma Amaize    
Thursday, 22 November 2007 

TWO militants group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND) and the Niger Delta Coastal Forces (NDCF) are now claiming responsibility for the recent bombing of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SDPC) crude oil delivery pipeline to the Forcados Terminal in Delta state, raising doubts as to the intent of the groups. MEND was the first to claim responsibility in an online statement, signed by Jomo Gbomo while the NCDF came up with its own claim on Tuesday in a statement by its Commander Amawei Cubral, adding that the strike was a warning to the President Umar Yar’Adua that his ongoing military partnership with the United States to further destroy the Niger Delta people in the guise of fighting criminality would be resisted. read more

By Nikhil Kumar
Published: 22 November 2007

Royal Dutch Shell, the oil giant, is to make another foray into Ukraine’s lucrative oil and gas market by paying Regal Petroleum more than $400m (£195m) for a majority stake in the British company’s gas fields in the region.

Regal has been the sometime laughing stock of listed London oil and gas equities but will gain some credibility from the deal. Supporters of Regal have long argued the case for its Ukraine assets, though the legal ownership of the fields was in doubt until last year after a tortuous battle in the Kiev courts. read more

November 22, 2007
Nick Hasell: Tempus 

Only a year or so ago, Shell and Regal Petroleum might have been seen as the two least-likely bedfellows in the oil and gas sector. The debacle surrounding Regal’s dry well in Greece, in a field previously claimed to contain a billion barrels of oil, and the promotional antics of founder Frank Timis – notorious for his two convictions for heroin possession in the 1990s – made Regal a byword for the excesses and overhyping of AIM’s natural resources stocks. read more

November 22, 2007
Robin Pagnamenta

Royal Dutch Shell and its partners have told the Russian Government that developing vast gasfields in the Siberian Arctic would take half a century and cost “hundreds of billions” of dollars.

Jeroen van der Veer, Shell’s chief executive, met President Putin this month to discuss the proposed project in the Yamal Peninsula and Kara Sea. He was accompanied by a high-level Dutch business delegation.

They estimated that the region could hold more than 30 trillion cubic metres of gas, more than the combined proved reserves of Gazprom, the state-controlled Russian gas monopoly. read more

IN RE ROYAL DUTCH/SHELL TRANSPORT SECURITIES LITIGATION: Appealable Judgment by U.S. District Court Judge Joel A. Pisano: Ordered that the Clerk is directed to enter a final judgment in this matter directing that Peter M. Wood’s and the other Non-U.S. Purchasers’ claims are dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction: 16 November 2007

http://www.shellnews.net/classactiondocs/456_appealable_judgment.pdf

Posted 21 November 2007

LONDON – China’s Cnooc Ltd. is considering buying interests in Nigerian blocks held by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, according to a person familiar with the matter, the latest indication of China’s rising assertiveness in Africa’s oil sector.

Cnooc spokesman Xiao Zongwei declined to comment.

The stakes, each of 49.8 percent, could fetch up to $900 million, a source said, adding Nigerian oil companies had also expressed interest for them. Agip, a unit of Eni SpA, owns the remaining 50.2 percent in each block. read more

Category: Articles Posted by: raja petra

Recent street protests have highlighted the self-serving nature of Malaysia’s Government

GUEST COLUMNISTS
Michael Backman
The Age

THE Government of Australia will probably change hands this weekend. There will be no arrests, no tear gas and no water cannons. The Government of John Howard will leave office, the Opposition will form a government and everyone will accept the verdict.

For this, every Australian can feel justifiably proud. This playing by the rules is what has made Australia rich and a good place in which to invest. It is a country to which people want to migrate; not leave. read more

07-11-2007
Email us your feedback at [email protected]

KUALA LUMPUR: Shell Malaysia Ltd, British American Tobacco Group Service Delivery and Samsung Electronics Display (M) Sdn Bhd have been announced as the finalists for the Malaysia Outstanding HR Achievement Award category presented to large organisations with 300 employees and above for the Malaysia HR Awards 2007.

The Malaysia HR Awards is organised by the country’s largest recruitment company, Kelly Services, in partnership with the Malaysian Institute of Human Resource Management (MIHRM). read more

*Some of the 399 former Shell employees known as “Team A”

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007

KUCHING: The Federal Court (FC) here has granted leave or permission to 399 former employees of two major petroleum corporations to appeal against their ex-employers in connection with their pension funds.

The FC yesterday agreed that there was merit to their application for leave.

The applicants led by one Chong Thian Fook contended that the pension funds namely Retirement Benefit Fund or Provident Fund (lump sum) had been miscalculated and as a result had shortchanged them. read more

By Angela Macdonald-Smith

Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) — Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia’s second-largest oil and gas producer, said the Belicoso-1 well that was targeting a discovery that may supply an expansion of the Pluto liquefied natural gas project failed to find gas.

Results from the well still support further exploration in the area off Australia’s northwestern coast, Perth-based Woodside, which is 34 percent owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc, said today in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange. The failure of the well isn’t critical for future expansion of Pluto, it said. read more

November 21, 2007 
 
SANTO DOMINGO. – The President’s adviser on Energy matters, Arístides Fernandez Zucco, said the US$183 million price the company Shell set for its stake in the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (Refidomsa) is an amount which “they themselves don’t believe.”

Whereas former Refidomsa president Leopoldo Espaillat Nanita considers Shell’s price “is a maneuver which totally violates the agreement signed with the Dominican State and approved by Congress and the company’s own statutes.” He said Shell must justify it’s 50 percent of the shares, as the alliance agreement limited its participation to only 25 percent. read more

By Greg Walters

Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc and its partners said Russia’s Yamal peninsula and Kara Sea may hold more than 30 trillion cubic meters of gas, enough to supply the world for a decade, in a plan presented in the Kremlin.

Shell Chief Executive Officer Jeroen van der Veer and his counterparts in Dutch companies including gas trader GasTerra BV told Russian President Vladimir Putin that development of the Arctic region may cost “several hundred billion” dollars and take more than 50 years, according to a slide presentation received yesterday from GasTerra. read more

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Shell Exploration & Production Ukraine Investments (I) B.V. has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Regal Petroleum plc, to acquire a 51% interest in Regal Petroleum (Jersey) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Regal Petroleum plc indirectly holding the licences for the Mekhediviska-Golotvschinska and Svyrydivske gas fields in Ukraine.

Under the terms of the MOU, Shell would become the operator of the gas fields which are in the Dniepr Donetsk sedimentary basin where most of Ukraine’s gas and condensate production is located. read more

November 22, 2007

CRUDE oil rose above $US99 a barrel for the first time after a fire at an oil-sands plant in Canada raised concerns about supplies to US refineries.

New York futures rose to within US71¢ of $US100 a barrel after the blaze at a Royal Dutch Shell plant in Alberta cut its 155,000-barrel-a-day output by more than half.

“Now that we are so close to $100, we have to get there,” said Dariusz Kowalczyk, chief investment strategist with CFC Seymour in Hong Kong.

Crude oil for January delivery climbed as much as $US1.26, or 1.3%, to a record $US99.29 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract climbed $US3.39, or 3.6%, to $US98.03 a barrel yesterday, the highest close since trading began in 1983. read more

21 November 2007

A three year investigation and the inspection of nearly 100 offshore installations has resulted in the offshore industry receiving a stark warning from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). 

The sector was told that while significant improvements had been made “more must be done!” 

The stark message came at the launch of the KP3 report – a major investigation carried out by the HSE’s Aberdeen based Offshore Division into the safety and integrity of offshore installations and the equipment on them. read more

Wednesday, 21 November 2007, 11:25 GMT 
 
North Sea oil companies have been told that more must be done to improve their offshore safety record.

It follows a three-year investigation by the Health and Safety Executive.

HSE inspectors focused in particular on the safety and integrity of almost 100 offshore installations and their equipment.

Industry body Oil and Gas UK said the report highlighted the need for more work to be done, despite recent investment in maintenance. 

The report revealed that the HSE found a wide variation in performance across the sector and “worrying” variations within some companies. read more

By Dino Mahtani
Published: November 21 2007 02:00 | Last updated: November 21 2007 02:00

The government’s Health and Safety Executive is today due to issue a “stark warning” to the UK oil industry for failing to make sufficient improvements to the safety of its offshore facilities.

The HSE undertook a three-year investigation and inspection of nearly 100 offshore installations and noted a wide variation of performance across the sector and within companies.

The body accuses senior managers in the oil industry of “not giving ongoing maintenance sufficient priority” and has asked the industry to do more to avoid further action being taken. read more

By John O’Doherty in London and Roman Olearchyk in Kiev
Published: November 21 2007 09:36 | Last updated: November 21 2007 09:52

Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday announced that it has signed a preliminary $410m agreement to take a 51 per cent interest in two Ukrainian gas fields controlled by a subsidiary of Regal Petroleum, the Aim-listed oil and gas group founded by Frank Timis.

Under the terms of a non-binding memorandum of understanding, Shell will pay $50m (£198m) for a 51 per cent stake in the Mekhediviska-Golotvschinska and Svyrydivske gas fields, Regal’s main assets, and invest an initial $360m to develop the two gasfields 180km northeast of Kiev. read more

The Wall Street Journal: Oil Surges Above $98 a Barrel

Inventory Data
To Become Focus;
Gold Touches $800
By MATT CHAMBERS
November 21, 2007; Page C8

Crude-oil futures surged to a record settlement high above $98 a barrel as the dollar fell, potentially paving the way for another run at $100.

Expectations of colder weather toward the end of the month in the Northeast, the world’s biggest heating-oil market, as well as a fire at an oil-sands upgrader in Canada and positioning before key weekly U.S. inventory data also boosted crude prices. read more

Published: November 21 2007 02:00 | Last updated: November 21 2007 02:00

Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, president of Iran, reckons he has pinpointed the soft underbelly of the US: the dollar. He urges Opec to consider pricing crude oil in other currencies.

Iran can invoice its oil customers in cowrie shells if it likes, but that would not change the underlying value of the product. Shifting oil markers to other currencies would only make for inefficient markets. It could potentially hit the dollar, though only through secondary effects: by knocking confidence and spurring diversification of global foreign exchange holdings. read more

08:50 – 21 November 2007

The Health and Safety Executive will today tell the offshore industry that more must be done, despite significant improvements.

This follows a three-year investigation and the inspection of nearly 100 offshore installations.

The stark message to the industry will be made at the launch of the KP3 report – an investigation carried out by the HSE’s Aberdeen-based offshore division into the safety and integrity of platforms and the equipment on them. The report’s findings included a wide variation in performance across the sector and, worryingly, wide variations within some companies. read more

Nov 20 03:49 PM US/Eastern

God is Brazilian,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Tuesday in relation to his government’s announcement earlier this month that massive new oil reserves had been discovered offshore.

“This discovery… proves that God is Brazilian,” he said during a speech at his presidential palace in the capital Brasilia.

His theological assertion is not original: Brazilians have long claimed that God shares their nationality on the basis of the natural resources at their disposal. read more