January 18th, 2008:

UPDATE
01.18.08, 9:32 AM ET
(Update adds academic’s comments)

THE HAGUE (Thomson Financial) – The Dutch government has played down reports it is growing increasingly concerned about possible political and social fallout from a planned anti-Islamic film.

According to media reports, the government held crisis talks over the film by far-right MP Geert Wilders, which is sharply critical of Islam and of the Koran. The film is due to be released this month.

Authorities have also prepared for a possible evacuation of Dutch embassies and citizens from the Middle East in the event of the film’s planned release going ahead, De Volkskrant newspaper and RTL-news said. read more

Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:19pm GMT 

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s most vocal environmental inspector whose crusades were the scourge of Western companies including oil major Shell, has tendered his resignation, Itar-Tass news agency reported on Friday.

Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of the state Rosprirodnadzor agency, part of the natural resources ministry, has submitted his resignation to minister Yuri Trutnev, Tass said, quoting the resignation request but giving no reason for the move.

A ministry spokesman declined to comment. read more

Fri Jan 18, 2008 8:49am EST 

BUENOS AIRES, Jan 18 (Reuters) – Argentina will slap a lien on a Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) refinery after the firm failed to pay $20.7 million in fines for violating the country’s fuel supply laws, a government source said Friday.

The measure against Shell’s only refinery in South America, which refines nearly 100,000 barrels per day and is a key provider of diesel fuel in Argentina, will be “taken in the coming days,” the source said on condition of anonymity. read more

18.01.2008, 12.08
 
MOSCOW, January 18 (Itar-Tass) – Russia’s deputy environmental watchdog chief Oleg Mitvol has tendered his resignation.

On Friday, he sent a resignation letter to Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev.

According to the ministry’s press service head, Rinat Gizatulin, “the ministry has not seen this letter yet.”

Mitvol refrains from comments on the reason for his resignation, Gizatulin said.

Last week mass media sources reported on the resignation of Rosprirodonadzor chief Sergei Sai. But the governmental press service made a statement on January 10 that Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov “did not sign Rosprirodonadzor chief’s resignation.” read more

By Kristian Rix

Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc was fined 66 million pesos ($21 million) in Argentina for failing to return gasoline prices to their Oct. 31 level, newspaper Clarin said, without saying where it got the information.

The Argentine government stopped companies from exporting gasoline to ensure domestic supplies and asked for prices to be cut. Shell didn’t comply with the request and is being fined for endangering supplies, Clarin said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kristian Rix in Madrid at [email protected] . read more

There will be two garage protests in Dublin this weekend – one at Shell and one at Statoil.
Although the forecourt businesses have been sold, all the fuel sold at Shell and Statoil garages is still supplied directly from these companies, so asking consumers to boycott these petrol stations is a very valid way of expressing opposition to the Corrib gas scheme.

Shell are the major partner in Corrib, and Statoil own 36 per cent. Since Statoil is partly-owned by the Norwegian State, this means that people in Norway will see lasting benefits from Irish natural gas in the form of pensions, schools, roads and other infrastructure. There is no Irish stake in the Corrib scheme. read more

Joanne Von Alroth
Thu Jan 17, 5:33 PM ET
Oh, how far the mighty have fallen.
 
Last year, the United Kingdom was still coasting on an uninterrupted growth cycle that began in 1992. It averaged annual GDP growth of 2.5% for years. In September, the British pound hit a high of $2.03. Many expected the British economy to kick into overdrive and reach a 3% increase for 2007.

Then came the credit crisis, a troubled housing market and a reduction in consumer spending. British residents depend more heavily on credit than even U.S. citizens, and they’re hurting. The pound has slipped and economists’ outlook on the British economy has become as perky as a cold, rainy London day. read more

THE ECONOMIST
EDITORIAL COMMENTARY
Last updated January 17, 2008 11:50 a.m. PT

New Year’s Eve has been and gone, but for oilmen, the party continues. On Jan. 2, helped across the line by a New York trader eager for bragging rights, the first business day of the year, the price of their product topped $100 a barrel for the first time. Oil is now almost five times more expensive than it was at the beginning of 2002.

It would be natural to assume that ever increasing price reflects ever-greater scarcity. And so it does, in a sense. Booming bits of the world, such as China, India and the Middle East have seen demand for oil grow with their economies. read more

By Lydia Chen
2008-1-18  
 
CHINA and Britain hoped to drive up bilateral trade 50 percent to US$60 billion in 2010, Premier Wen Jiabao and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in Beijing today.

Bilateral trade between the two countries reached about US$40 billion last year.

Increasing trade was among the nine agreements reached during talks between the two leaders at the Great Hall of the People this morning, Xinhua news agency reported.

Other agreements covered issues such as climate change, education, energy and the Olympics, the report said. read more

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Firms Back a Plan to Put The Green in ‘Green Gold’

By TOM WRIGHT
January 18, 2008; Page B1

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Global food and consumer goods companies are backing a plan to certify palm oil — the vegetable oil used in products ranging from margarine to cosmetics, and, increasingly, biodiesel — to ensure that its soaring production doesn’t spur greater destruction of tropical rainforests.

The push for “green” palm oil has been joined by Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Nestlé SA and H.J. Heinz Co. The companies have signed up with a consortium of 200 oil producers, commercial buyers and environmental groups to improve the industry’s image and avert a consumer backlash. Almost 90% of all palm oil is produced in Indonesia and Malaysia, which have seen widespread deforestation in recent years, much of it from illegal land-clearing and logging. The development of oil-palm plantations is causing the loss of forests in Indonesia, putting the survival of animals like the orangutan at risk, the United Nations Environment Program said in a report last year. read more

By ANDREW PEAPLE and LAURENCE NORMAN
January 18, 2008

BEIJING — U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is the latest in a string of European leaders to beat a path to China looking for stronger commercial ties.

The British leader was scheduled to arrive Friday, though his departure from London Thursday was delayed by the emergency landing at Heathrow Airport of a British Airways jet arriving from Beijing.

The European Union is now China’s top trading partner and European governments are keen to attract trade deals and investment from the Asian powerhouse. Mr. Brown’s visit follows those by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose-Manuel Barroso in November, as European leaders step up the frequency of their contacts with the Chinese government. read more

By GUY CHAZAN
January 18, 2008; Page A8

BP PLC said it still needs to make progress on safety issues, after a worker died in an accident Monday at the company’s Texas City refinery, scene of a blast nearly three years ago that claimed 15 lives.

“We’re not yet where we want to be,” said BP spokesman Ronnie Chappell in Houston. He said BP’s goal was still to be an industry leader in process-safety management, but “this is not a journey any company can make overnight.” William Gracia, an operations supervisor who had worked at the refinery for 30 years, died from head injuries suffered when the metal lid of a pressurized water-filtration vessel he was preparing for restart blew open. read more

By George Parker, Political Editor
Published: January 18 2008 02:00 | Last updated: January 18 2008 02:00

Gordon Brown will arrive in Beiijing today with a promise that Britain will keep its doors wide open to Chinese investment – including its $200bn (€136bn, £101bn) sovereign wealth fund – but he expects something in return, writes George Parker en route to Beijing.

The UK prime minister, travelling with 25 British business leaders, will urge Beijing to lift restrictions to entry to their markets, particularly in areas such as financial services. read more

Rumour of the day

Providence Resources, the gas explorer of the Irish Sea, 40 per cent owned by the newspaper tycoon Sir Anthony O’Reilly, is said to be close to obtaining a new licence from the Irish Government to explore further areas of the Atlantic west of Ireland in conjunction with its partner ExxonMobil. The shares were steady at €5.80
 
Bet of the day

As oil prices creep back above $90 a barrel, the share price of Shell fell 36p to £19.13, hit by worries over BP guiding down analysts’ expectations for its fourth-quarter profits in February. The higher oil price has increased BP’s costs and taxes. BetsForTraders.com is offering odds of 2-1 for Shell to be trading above £20.25 in five market days. read more