January 1st, 2008:

Turnaround Depends
On Reducing Its Risks,
Fixing U.S. Troubles
By MATTHEW DALTON
January 2, 2008

BP PLC is hoping to reach operational health in 2008, but questions remain about whether problems within U.S. operations could undermine its turnaround.

The oil giant’s two largest U.S. refineries and its oil field at Prudhoe Bay in Alaska are expected to operate at capacity for most of the year for the first time since 2004.

But the main issue isn’t whether the London-based company has fixed problems that several investigations said caused a deadly March 2005 explosion at its refinery in Texas City, Texas. The question is whether BP has diminished the risk of catastrophic events that all companies engaged in the exploration, production and processing of hydrocarbons face. read more

Door Wilbert de Vries, dinsdag 1 januari 2008 12:56, views: 13.497

Shell werkt aan plannen om nagenoeg zijn gehele it-afdeling uit te besteden aan automatiseerders. Hierdoor zouden mogelijk meer dan drieduizend it-banen bij de oliemaatschappij op de tocht staan.

Eerder al had Shell aangegeven te willen besparen. De schaal waarop dit nu lijkt te gaan gebeuren, heeft ook eigen werknemers verrast. Enkelen hebben de plannen daarom laten uitlekken, zo meldde Telegraph.co.uk eind vorige week. Hoewel er ook op de financiële afdeling zou worden gesaneerd, wordt de it-afdeling het hardst geraakt, aldus de krant. Op deze afdeling zouden 3200 banen op de tocht staan die mogelijk worden uitbesteed aan automatiseerders. read more

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:19:40 
 
An Iranian official says Tehran will not extend the June 2008 deadline for Royal Dutch Shell to sign a major gas deal with the country.

Ali Vakili, the Managing Director of Iran’s Pars Oil & Gas Company, said the Anglo-Dutch company has not officially called for an extension of deadline to decide whether to invest in two phases of Iran’s South Pars gas field.

“Iran will not agree to extend the deadline once it expires,” he warned.

Shell, Europe’s largest oil and gas company, teamed up with Spain’s Repsol to sign a preliminary deal with Tehran to invest $10 billion to develop phases 13 and 14 of the South Pars project. read more

By BENOÎT FAUCON
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ASIA
January 2, 2008

LONDON — Royal Dutch Shell PLC is finalizing details of a corporate shake-up aimed at cutting costs, as the side effects of sky-high oil prices pose a challenge to profits at major oil companies.

High oil prices, once a key contributor to the earnings growth at oil majors, are hurting refining margins, or the profit a refiner makes by processing crude oil into fuels like gasoline or diesel. The high prices are also driving governments to seek better terms for production contracts — at the expense of major oil companies. read more

(Wall Street Journal image of Alfred Donovan, the 90 year old co-owner of the website royaldutchshellplc.com. Alfred and his son John, a long term Shell shareholder, have been involved in bouts of litigation with Shell for over 14 years.)

Alfred says… As of 1 January 2008, we have assembled by far the worlds largest online library of news articles and confidential Shell documents and Shell internal email correspondence, some leaked by insider sources.  Our appetite for Shell news and insider information is fed by a network of Shell insider sources around the globe. Emails from senior executives including Jeroen van der Veer have been supplied to us on the day they were sent. As our regular visitors will recall, a leaked email from David Greer, Deputy CEO of SEIC, brought about his “resignation”. We have even published the top secret minutes of CMD Meetings. read more

By  Benoit Faucon    
Dow Jones Newswires 

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) in 2008 is due to finalize elements of a multi-pronged reorganization, paralleling a similar move by its rival BP PLC (BP), as the side effects of sky high oil prices challenge oil majors’ profits instead of boosting them.

The changes include outsourcing 3,000 computing staff, cuts to finance positions, reshaping expatriates’ packages and a restructuring in its Nigeria ventures, according to announcements and company insiders. read more

Royal Dutch Shell is to scrap thousands of jobs in an effort to cut jobs and streamline the company’s structure, according to a report in the British Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

Shell is negotiating ‘one of the largest ever outsourcing deals’ which it hopes to complete within the next couple of months, the paper says. The oil company is also planning to reorganise various departments, including finance operations.

The IT department is to bear the brunt of the cuts with 3,600 jobs on the line, the paper says. According to one unnamed source, 3,200 of these jobs will be outsourced. The finance department could also be under fire.

The information comes from a leak by disillusioned Shell staff, the Sunday Telegraph says. The paper adds that Shell is planning a series of meetings with staff starting on January 8 to outline further details. read more

EJIOFOR ALIKE

Mum is the word at the Shell companies in Nigeria as speculation that the parent company is allegedly planning to lay off 3,600 jobs in its worldwide operations.

The proposed job cut is part of the restructuring exercise in Europe’s largest oil company.

Analysts view the move as part of Shell Group’s plan to join rival BP in trying to cut costs and simplify its operational structure.

Royal Dutch Shell is planning to reorganise many departments, including finance, a move that will lead to 3,600 job cuts out of about 108,000 people it employs worldwide. read more

1 januari 2008

LONDEN (ANP) – Shell is van plan duizenden banen te schrappen om de kosten te drukken en de bedrijfsstructuur te vereenvoudigen. Dat meldden diverse Britse media. 

VORIGE STARTSTOPVOLGENDE
Het zou met name gaan om 3600 banen bij de informatietechnologiedivisie. Het olieconcern wil een groot deel van de it-activiteiten uitbesteden. Shell zou ook streven naar banenreducties bij andere onderdelen, waaronder de financiële afdeling. Bij het concern, actief in 130 landen, werken 108.000 mensen. read more

Vanguard (Lagos)
Posted to the web 1 January 2008
Yemie Adeoye
Lagos

THE west base operations of the Anglo Dutch Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) which covers Delta State has suffered a drop of about 80,000 barrels per day in its maximum output, just as the company announces cost cutting measures to enable it remain afloat as the Niger Delta crisis takes toll on its operations.

An official of the organisation who spoke under condition of anonymity hinted that the company is experiencing a lull in its activities in Delta and Rivers states, where several of its installations had been vandalised and out of use.
 
From its one million barrel per day production capacity, Shell is said to be producing only half of the total output. read more

Joreen and Edward Arceneaux of Aurora share a kiss during the New Year’s Eve celebration on the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver in 2003. (Denver Post file photo | CRAIG F. WALKER)

EXTRACT: “It was a complicated year, 2007 — I work for Shell Oil, and a lot of jobs are getting moved off-shore to places like Kuala Lumpur. It was a tough year, but I can’t believe it rolled by so quickly.”

THE ARTICLE

By Manny Gonzales

31 December 2007

Those in Denver to bid farewell to 2007 tonight first sought refuge from the freezing temperatures, huddling in bars and coffeeshops along the 16th Street Mall to await the fireworks. read more