December 23rd, 2007:

Addis Ababa: Sunday December 23, 2007

Oil giant Shell Ethiopia is negotiating with the new entrant in the country’s oil business, Nile Petroleum Company (NPC), and selling its operations in Ethiopia.

The state-owned Sudanese Nile Petroleum Company (NPC), which was registered in 2003 in Ethiopia, is negotiating to take over Shell’s gas stations and the main depot in the next few months.

Sources told Capital that the two parties have been negotiating for the past two months and an agreement is expected to be finalized and announced by January 2008. read more

Sunday 23rd December, 2007

Washington, Dec 23 : Scientists at the University of Arkansas have signalled the end of future clean energy woes by exploring supercritical methanol as a method of converting chicken fat into biodiesel fuel.

The researchers say that the findings may develop commercially viable fuel out of plentiful, accessible and low-cost feedstocks and other agricultural by-products.

R.E. Babcock, professor of chemical engineering said that the findings would lead the energy producers to think on combining petroleum-based diesel with a biodiesel product. read more

By Robert Elder

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, December 23, 2007

In September, Gov. Rick Perry asked Texas’ two largest public pensions to sell their holdings in companies that do business in Iran, a nation that he said “seeks to harm American men and women serving in the Middle East and funds terror attacks on our allies in the region.”

Three months later, Perry’s rallying cry has fallen flat.
 
The pension funds, which together control $142 billion in assets for public school educators and state employees, are moving forward with plans to divest from Iran. But they are doing so on such a small scale, pension experts say, that the impact on Tehran will be negligible, if any. read more

HOUSTON — In accordance with Motiva Enterprises LLC’s previously announced plan to transition all Shell-branded retail sites to wholesale-supplied, Colbea Enterprises LLC will acquire 34 Shell-branded retail sites in Rhode Island from Motiva, Motiva stated.

CSNews Online reported in a newsflash yesterday that Colbea, which currently operates 21 Shell-branded sites, will become one of the largest Shell-branded wholesalers in the Northeast as a result of the purchase, according to Motiva, which has partial ownership in Colbea. The stations will remain Shell-branded to better serve customers and maintain the brand’s awareness in the region, the company stated. read more

The Wall Street Journal: A Happy New Year? It’s All Up to You.

By GREGORY ZUCKERMAN
December 23, 2007

Forget China, corporate spending, oil prices and even the growing credit crisis. The key to whether the global economy holds up, and whether the stock market can rise in 2008, likely is in the hands of the U.S. consumer.

Meanwhile, for some brave investors, the anxiety about weak consumer spending and a possible recession in the U.S. may have already created some bargains.

Reining in Spending read more

Sunday, December 23, 2007 | Volume: 10216

TEHRAN (PIN) – Pars Oil and Gas Company Managing Director Ali Vakili Saturday announced that the POGC was holding wide-ranging negotiations with companies on investment in Assaluyeh.

“We are about to sign big investment contracts,” said POGC head, promising to give good news in the near future.

He made the remarks in a conference on job creators in South Pars field and added, “In defiance of international pressures for boycotting companies that invest in Iran, scores of giant companies from different countries are keen to make investment in Iran.” read more

National Oilwell Varco has locked in $8 billion in orders. BP’s Thunder Horse production platform, which cost more than $1 billion to build in the Gulf of Mexico, has yet to generate a penny. It was left listing after Hurricane Dennis in 2005. (By Robert M. Reed — Bloomberg News)

Deep-Water Problems Helping Industry Servicers

By Jim Kennett and Amy Strahan
Bloomberg News
Sunday, December 23, 2007; F03

Oil prices above $90 a barrel are doing more for shareholders of Cameron International and Baker Hughes than Exxon Mobil and Chevron. A lot more. read more

23 December 2007

LAGOS (AFP) — Despite being the world’s eighth petroleum exporter and sitting on huge gas reserves, Nigeria will not have it easy over the next two years, between peristent unrest in the Niger Delta and strained relations with the major oil companies.

“In view of the current problems, their goal of 4.0 million barrels per day in 2010 seems inaccessible in the current situation,” said the head of one multinational company operating in the delta, the oil region where violence and insecurity are endemic. read more