January, 2008:

By Steve Hawkes
19 January 2004 

SHELL chairman Sir Philip Watts was left with more egg on his face today after a little-known UK firm made one of the biggest ever oil discoveries in India on land sold off by the supermajor for £4m two years ago.

Cairn Energy’s shares leapt 148 1/4p to 518 1/4p as it revealed an exploration well in the Rajasthan basin, western India, had struck reserves estimated to hold up to 200m barrels of recoverable crude. Analysts valued the discovery at more than $400m (£222m). read more

By Joanna Chung in London

Published: January 19 2004 20:14  

Royal Dutch/Shell, which slashed its reserves estimates this month, suffered another blow as it emerged it sold its stake in an oil field that could be one of the finds of the year.

Shell sold its 50 per cent interest in the Rajasthan Basin in western India to Cairn Energy, the UK independent, for just $7.25m in September 2002.

On Monday, Cairn Energy’s shares shot up 49 per cent after it announced “a significant discovery” that could be worth 75 times as much. read more

By Danielle Rossingh (Filed: 19/01/2004)

Major shareholders of Royal Dutch/Shell are this week expected to meet Lord Oxburgh of Liverpool, its senior UK non-executive, to discuss changes to the way the Anglo-Dutch oil giant is run.

The move follows recent investor anger over how Shell released its shock statement earlier this month that it had overstated its oil and gas reserves by 20pc. The announcement stunned the City, dragged down oil stocks worldwide and ended with major investors calling for changes to Shell’s bureaucratic structure, which consists of a Dutch board, a British board and a committee of managing directors. 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 Donovan, a long term activist 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. Sources include a former Shell Chief Executive. 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 Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, brought about his “resignation”. We have even published the top secret minutes of Shell Group Managing Director Meetings. We also played a key role as a result of leaked Shell internal documents, in Shell’s humiliating loss of its ownership stake in the Sakhalin-2 project. A loss which cost Shell billions of dollars. read more

Shell’s Deer Park refinery and petrochemical plant in Texas

By Tom Leonard in New York
Last Updated: 2:01pm GMT 18/01/2008

A love affair with vast, gas-guzzling 4×4 vehicles and contempt for environmental activism has helped Texas become the world’s seventh biggest polluter.

The challenge facing the green lobby in America is illustrated by the latest figures for the Lone Star state from the US Energy Information Administration.
  
In 2003, Texas pumped 670 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – more than countries including Britain and more than that of California and Pennsylvania, the second and third-ranking US states – put together. read more

By Alistair Gray
Published: January 19 2008 02:00 | Last updated: January 19 2008 02:00

Growth in its end markets of oil, gas and shipping has allowed Aveva, which makes engineering software for companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, DuPont and BP, to continue to locate growth while many peers face declining IT budgets and a consumer slowdown. Another strong trading performance – in the usually slower third quarter – prompted profit upgrades. The City was particularly pleased by good figures at the Asian division. Strong demand coupled with high energy prices means Aveva’s customers continue to invest, although concerns have emerged recently that Asian shipbuilders may face declining orders, which may eat into growth. Future prospects are bolstered by Aveva Net, the network collaboration software dubbed “Google for engineers”. Moreover, with a healthy cash balance in excess of £60m, the company will return cash to shareholders if acquisitions are not forthcoming. The shares, which moved into the FTSE 250 just over a year ago, rose by 11 per cent yesterday. Before that jump they traded on a price to earnings multiple of 19.4, although its niche products make comparisons with the rest of the IT sector rather unhelpful. Alistair Gray read more

Dave Olecko/Bloomberg News
Jeroen van der Veer
 
By JAD MOUAWAD
Published: January 19, 2008

Energy demand is expected to grow in coming decades. Jeroen van der Veer, 60, Royal Dutch Shell’s chief executive, recently offered his views on the energy challenge facing the world and the challenge posed by global warming. He spoke of the need for governments to set limits on carbon emissions. He also lifted the veil on Shell’s latest long-term energy scenarios, titled Scramble and Blueprints, which he will make public next week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. read more

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

Thu Jan 17, 2008 9:47pm GMT 

CALGARY, Alberta, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Completing the Broadwater LNG terminal in Long Island Sound will help smooth out natural gas price spikes in New York City, one of the project’s backers said on Thursday.

Hal Kvisle, chief executive of TransCanada Corp (TRP.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), said the regasification facility will bring badly needed natural gas to Manhattan and Long Island, relieving a supply bottleneck that pushed prices above $21 per million British thermal units during a cold snap last month. read more

Shell Shelled Out $80,000 in Second Half of 2007, Matching First Half’s Bill, on Exploration

January 17, 2008: 04:44 PM EST

NEW YORK (Associated Press) – Shell Exploration & Production Co., part of Royal Dutch Shell, paid Van Scoyoc Associates $80,000 in the second half of 2007 to lobby the federal government, according to a disclosure form.

The firm lobbied on legislation and issues related to oil and gas exploration, according to the form posted online Wednesday by the Senate’s public records office. read more

London, 17 January: The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been urged to withdraw a loan that was used to finance Gazprom’s purchase of a majority share in the controversial Sakhalin II oil and gas project.

Nineteen environmental campaign groups and NGOs have written to Fred Goodwin, chief executive of the bank, asking him to rescind the loan, which was made by ABN Amro before it was acquired by a consortium of banks led by RBS (see ABN Amro slammed for $1 billion Sakhalin deal).

They argue that the project – on the Russian island of Sakhalin – endangers the survival of the rare Western Grey Whale, while work inland damages wild salmon runs. They say the project breaches the Equator Principles, which set sustainability criteria for project finance deals by private banks. read more

Angela Macdonald-Smith
January 18, 2008

WOODSIDE Petroleum, the country’s second-largest oil and gas producer, said fourth-quarter sales rose 7 per cent as prices climbed and the Stybarrow field started producing crude.

Sales rose to $1.17 billion in the quarter to December 31, from $1.1 billion a year earlier, the group said yesterday. Overall production fell 5 per cent to 18 million barrels of oil and gas.

Woodside’s full-year sales grew 5 per cent to $4 billion, as output climbed 4 per cent. read more

The Nation (Nairobi)
17 January 2008
Nairobi

Three multinational oil firms are finally dumping shareholding in the local refinery, statements from Nairobi and New Delhi confirmed on Wednesday. An Indian firm, Essar Energy Overseas Limited, is to buy half the stake in the only refinery in the region.

The other half of the Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd (KPRL), which is in dire need of upgrading, is owned by the Kenya Government.
 
“Shell, BP and Chevron have signed a share purchase agreement to sell their shareholding in Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd to Essar Energy Overseas Ltd,” said Shell external affairs manager, Ngaari Mwaura in a brief statement on Wednesday. “The sale is subject to certain conditions precedent. The transaction is expected to close in 2008.” Shell last year took over BP downstream operations in Kenya as the British oil giant set off a process where it would disengage with the rapidly competitive local market. read more

Gilbert Boyefio
17/01/2008
 
A group of petroleum dealers in Accra and Kumasi have filed an interlocutory injunction at the Fast Track High Court restraining oil giant, Shell Ghana Limited or their agents from going ahead with its intention to terminate the dealership agreement they have with the company, pending the determination of a suit before the court.

According to them the unilateral action by Shell will seriously undermine their business.

The dealers are seeking among other things a declaration that they are entitled to reasonable notices for the termination of the agreement and that the action of the company is unreasonably short, unconscionable, unfair and unlawful. read more

© 2008 The Associated Press
Jan. 17, 2008, 7:14PM

BERWICK, La. — Residents from 79 homes were allowed to return Thursday, a day after a pipeline at a pumping station leaked, spilling oil into a ditch system designed to contain spills.

The leak was discovered after mobile home park residents complained of a strong odor shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday, Police Chief James Richard said.

The leak occured near a pumping station along Shell Pipeline Co.’s line between Houma and Houston, said Shell spokesman Mike Smith. The leak was stopped by shutting down the pipeline, he said. read more

By George H. Wittman
Published 1/17/2008 12:08:07 AM

Russia wants to expand its role in global energy operations, and it has selected the gas deposits of Nigeria as a main target. Politics and the petroleum business in Nigeria begins and ends with payoffs, and the Russians are now in it up to their state-owned Gazprom’s neck. Effectively it is one government cartel dealing with another — with plenty of private deals in between.

“Dash,” as the practice of offering a special economic inducement is known in West Africa, can be as simple as a cash gratuity or as complex as an economic aid program set in a politically important region. The Russians have shown that they know the game and now are in full scale negotiations with officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). read more

By Angela Macdonald-Smith

 Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) — Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia’s second-largest oil and gas producer, said fourth-quarter sales rose 7 percent as prices climbed and the Stybarrow field started crude output.

Sales rose to A$1.17 billion ($1 billion) in the three months ended Dec. 31, from A$1.1 billion a year earlier, the Perth-based company said in a statement today. Production fell 5 percent to 18 million barrels of oil and gas.

Woodside, 34 percent owned by Royal Dutch Shell Plc, in November cut its output forecast for 2008 by as much as 20 percent because of slower start-ups of new projects and the sale of fields in Mauritania. Output in 2007 was 70.6 million barrels, within a reduced forecast given in October. read more

By NEIL KING JR.
January 17, 2008; Page A4

Output from the world’s existing oil fields is declining at a rate of about 4.5% annually, a new study concludes, depriving the world of the same amount of oil that No. 4 producer Iran supplies in a year.

Yet the study’s authors, Boston-based Cambridge Energy Research Associates, argue that their assessment supports a generally rosy view of the industry’s future, given that new projects in the works will make up for the decline.

Set for release today, the study, based on data from 811 fields around the world, takes aim at a growing school of thought that the world’s oil production may soon hit its peak just as demand is surging in Asia and the Middle East. read more

Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:41am EST 

SINGAPORE, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has shut down several key processing units at its 333,000 barrel per day, joint-venture refinery in Deer Park, Texas for scheduled maintenance, the company said in a filing on Thursday.

The fluid catalytic cracker, cat cracked gasoline hydrotreater, alkylation unit, girbotol unit, and sulfur recovery units 3, 4 and 5 have been shut down and were expected to resume operations on Feb. 4, Shell said in a filing with the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality. read more

By Sheila McNulty
Published: January 16 2008 19:22 | Last updated: January 16 2008 19:22

Susan Longacre retired from Chevron in 2002, yet five years later she still puts in up to eight weeks a year on the job. The second-biggest oil company in the US could not afford to let the 66-year-old geologist simply take her 35 years’ experience and disappear.

Chevron has only 15 to 20 people with the experience Ms Longacre has gained reading samples drawn from deep underground to determine potential volumes of hydrocarbon resources. read more

Published: Jan. 16, 2008 at 12:03 PM

TEHRAN, Jan. 16 (UPI) — Energy companies throughout Europe continue to defy U.S.-negotiated sanctions against Iran by putting several new deals on the table.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy in September warned the French company Total against investing in Iran but the oil giant continued to negotiate a $15 billion liquefied natural gas deal to explore Iran’s South Pars gas field, the FARS news agency said Wednesday.

Italy’s APS Engineering also confirmed a $585 million deal in the South Pars field as part of a consortium with Germany’s Linde and Italy’s Eni subsidiary. read more

Reuters
Wednesday January 16 2008
By Eva Kuehnen

FRANKFURT, Jan 16 (Reuters) – European shares hit their lowest close in 16 months on Wednesday in choppy trade as fears the U.S. economy might slide into recession clouded investor sentiment, sending financials and oil majors lower.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index ended 0.9 percent lower at 1,383.16 points, having also hit its intra-day lowest level since September 2006 at 1,372.15 points earlier in the session.

“The stock market is very sensitive at the moment. Last year there was greed, now there’s fear and somewhere in between there is reason,” said Dennis Nacken, analyst at Allianz Global Investors. read more

January 16, 2008

A 90 year old war veteran, Alfred Donovan and his 60 year old son, John, operate a website – royaldutchshellplc.com – focused on Shell which has cost the oil giant billions of dollars. It regularly humiliates Shell senior management, including its CEO, Jeroen van der Veer. 

The Times newspaper recently published an article under the headline: – 

 “A word in your Shell-like — it’s all gibberish” (5 Jan 2008). 

http://royaldutchshellgroup.com/2008/01/04/the-times-a-word-in-your-shell-like-%e2%80%94-it%e2%80%99s-all-gibberish/  read more

January 16, 2008: 08:40 AM EST

BUENOS AIRES -(Dow Jones)- The Argentine government will allow three of the nation’s four top fuel retailers to continue to export fuels after they rolled back pump prices to October levels, a government official told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.

The government’s price control agency, the Interior Commerce Secretariat, gave the local units of Repsol YPF SA (REP), Petroleo Brasiliero (PBR), and ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) the green light to export fuels Tuesday, the official said on the condition he not be named. read more

Reuters Wednesday January 16 2008
By Tanya Mosolova

MOSCOW, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Russian oil output growth will fall this year below 2 percent for the first time since 1999, due to a lack of greenfield developments, stagnation at mature Siberian fields and rising capital costs, a Reuters poll showed.

A survey of 15 analysts and officials found on average that production would rise by 1.8 percent to slightly over 10 million barrels per day for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. read more

Jan 16 12:42 AM US/Eastern

Bush Pushes For More Oil Production
 
Democratic White House hopeful Hillary Clinton on Tuesday accused President George W. Bush of “begging” for cuts in oil prices in “pathetic” encounters with Gulf leaders.

The former first lady hit out at the US president as he wrapped up a tour of the Middle East, during a 2008 Democratic presidential campaign debate here.

“President Bush is over in the Gulf now begging the Saudis and others to drop the price of oil,” Clinton said. “How pathetic.” read more

Published: Wednesday, 16 January, 2008, 01:55 AM Doha Time
 
LONDON: Britain’s top shares dropped 3% yesterday, with European and US stocks tumbling after Citigroup reported its first quarterly loss and weak US retail sales data inflamed fears of a US recession.

The FTSE 100, which has lost nearly 7% so far this year on fears of a US recession, ended yesterday’s trading down 3.1%, or 190.1 points, at 6,025.6.

In Paris the CAC 40 lost 2.83% to finish at 5,250.82 while in Frankfurt the Dax gave up 2.14% to close at 7,566.38. read more

By Yuji Okada

Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) — Japanese oil refiners led by Nippon Oil Corp. plan to shut 19 percent less capacity during the peak spring maintenance season, reducing the need for gasoline imports from Singapore and South Korea.

Asia’s second-largest oil processing industry will idle 10 crude distillation units, or 21.5 percent of capacity, in the second half of May and first half of June, down from a maximum of 26 percent last year, according to a table compiled by the Petroleum Association of Japan and obtained by Bloomberg News. Refiners typically do maintenance and safety checks annually. read more

By Samantha Zee

Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, said a leak in the vent line piping in a tank at its Deer Park, Texas, refinery led to gases being released into the atmosphere.

The refinery is working to limit the emissions associated with the event, according to a report with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Industrial chemical 1,3-Butadiene was released into the atmosphere following the leak, which is associated with tank V- BD-902, the report said. The incident occurred at 1 p.m. today and is ongoing. read more

By Shigeru Sato

Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) — Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K., the Japanese unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, dropped to the lowest in more than 2 1/2 years in Tokyo trading after Morgan Stanley cut the stock’s rating to “underweight” from “equal-weight.”

Showa Shell fell 72 yen, or 6.7 percent, to close at 1,002 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. That is the lowest since May 18, 2005, when the stock closed at 1,000 yen.

The surge in benchmark New York Oil prices to records has increased retail prices for auto and heating fuels in Japan, cutting local demand for petroleum products. Sluggish fuel sales have eroded earnings at Showa Shell and other refiners, prompting them to diversify to compensate for weakness in their main business. read more

By Chris Flood
Published: January 15 2008 11:56 | Last updated: January 15 2008 18:46

Energy and base metal prices weakened on Tuesday as disappointing retail sales data stoked fears over the possibility of a US recession, but gold consolidated its position above the $900 level.

Hopes for an Opec supply increase also contributed to downward pressure on oil prices. During a visit to Saudi Arabia, President George W. Bush said Opec must understand that providing more oil supplies would be “helpful” and that high energy prices could cause the US economy to slow. read more

Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer

15 January, 2008 12:00:00
EJIOFOR ALIKE

Following persistent attack on Shell workers and facilities by Niger Delta militants, Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Royal Dutch has stated the conditions under which the company will continue to operate in the country.

This is coming as the company intensifies plans to select the next chief executive before van der Veer leaves office in 2009.

In the January 2008 publication of Royal Dutch Shell’s in-house magazine, the Shell boss outlined the company’s strategy in its operations in the country. read more

January 16, 2008
Carl Mortished

Stuff you can burn, stuff you can eat and stuff you can hoard. The world is going back to basics. We knew about oil in three digits and gold beating its record and now silver is getting a polish. In Britain, we had forgotten about coal – and the price of the ugly, polluting fuel is riding the up escalator.

Banks that invest in whizzy things such as credit card receivables and mortgage securities are yesterday’s cold turkey. Instead, the moneymen are buying something to stave off the chill, to store under the mattress and to put food on the table. Greed is finding common cause with hunger and people are betting on harvests, scanning grain siloes and plantation warehouses. Are they half-empty or half-full? read more

January 16, 2008
Bronwen Maddox

Britain’s sour scrap with Russia over the British Council is an odd but unpleasant start to the year. At best, it is neutral in what it implies for relations with Moscow – a self-contained row over an issue that Russia has chosen to find provocative for a long time but which matters very little to Britain in practice and, indeed, leaves it on the moral high ground. At worst, it is a sign that Russia (or at least Vladimir Putin in his last three months as President) is in the mood for a fight and will extend that to issues that do matter – such as Iran and energy investments. read more

Blackonomics
By James Clingman
2008-01-16

Have you had enough yet? Are you convinced yet? Now that oil has hit that magical price of $100 per barrel, are you finally ready to respond with a strategy that makes sense this time? Or, do you want to call for another Gas Out Day? Been there, done that, right? Although we missed a great opportunity back in 2002 to show the oil thieves we would not take being ripped-off lying down, now that we are paying through the nose, and every other orifice, for gasoline and related oil products, maybe now we are ready to strike back. read more

Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:33pm GMT 
By Marcin Grajewski

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe’s top business lobby attacked on Tuesday European Commission plans for implementing deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, saying that auctioning pollution permits could hurt industry in global competition.

In a letter to Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, BusinessEurope urged the European Union executive to avoid forcing firms to buy carbon dioxide emissions permits, rather than receiving them for free as they do now. read more

Posted: January 14, 2008
9:29 p.m. Eastern

By: Pat Buchanan

Since it began to give credit ratings to nations in 1917, Moody’s has rated the United States triple-A. U.S. Treasury bonds have been seen as the most secure investment on earth. When crises erupt, nervous money seeks out the world’s great safe harbor, the United States. That reputation is now in peril.

Last week, Moody’s warned that if the United States fails to rein in the soaring cost of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the nation’s credit rating will be down-graded within a decade. read more