March 14th, 2008:

By Kathy Taylor
Friday March 14, 2008

BShell Canada Waterton served up not only beef on a bun, but a huge side of apology at an open house at the Pincher Creek Community Hall last Thursday.

While apologetic, Shell representatives were still unable to fully explain how a gas leak, the first of its kind for the company in Alberta, occurred west of Beaver Mines last November.

According to Shell Communications Representative for Exploration and Development Jeff Gabert, the sour gas leak occurred after internal corrosion ruptured a piece of the steel pipeline in the North Waterton Field. The break occurred off the Seven Gates Road in the Screwdriver Creek Valley Nov. 19, 2007. read more

Fed Endorses Rescue Effort for Bear Stearns and Pledges to Supply Cash to Financial System

Friday March 14, 12:08 pm ET
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve invoked a rarely used Depression-era procedure Friday to bolster troubled Bear Stearns Cos. and said it will provide even more help to combat a serious credit crisis.
 
The action won praise from the administration, with President Bush saying that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was “doing a good job under tough circumstances.” read more

By Rey E. Requejo
Friday, March 14, 2008

The Supreme Court has ordered Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. to pay its tax liability arising from its use of fraudulent tax credit certificates 10 years ago.

According to the Court, the collection of the taxes may proceed even as Shell is challenging the Customs bureau’s decision to nullify the tax credit, which Shell used to settle portion of its import duty obligations in 1997.

The First Division through Associate Justice Renato Corona dismissed Shell’s petition assailing the decision of the Bureau of Customs to cancel the TCCs. Shell bought the TCCs from another company but finance department officials found out that the TCCs were fraudulently issued and transferred. read more

March 14, 2008

Ron Haruni: Bio & more articles

A decade or so ago, sustainable energy was thought more in terms of availability relative to the rate of use.

Friday March 14, 10:08 am ET
By Stephen Bernard, AP Business Writer 
JPMorgan Chase, With Federal Reserve Bank of NY, to Provide Funding to Bear Stearns

NEW YORK (AP) — The federal government and JPMorgan Chase & Co. teamed up on a bailout of Bear Stearns Cos. on Friday, a last-ditch move to save the investment bank, which acknowledged its dire financial straits after a week of firm denials.
 
Bear Stearns lost half of its value within 30 minutes of the market open.

While it was not clear exactly how much money Chase would pump into Bear, a person familiar with the bailout, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private, said Chase may end up buying Bear Stearns outright. read more

Friday March 14, 10:13 am ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer 

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks plunged early Friday as investors worried that a plan to ease a liquidity crisis at Bear Stearns Cos. indicates how severe credit troubles have become. Each of the major indexes lost more than 1.5 percent; the Dow Jones industrials fell about 200 points.
 
Investors were busy examining the plan from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the New York Federal Reserve to provide secured funding to Bear Stearns for an initial period of 28 days. The move offers Bear Stearns relief from a sudden liquidity crunch and could help instill confidence in the stagnant credit markets. read more

By Carli Lourens

March 14 (Bloomberg) — BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s South African oil refinery, Sapref, has restarted and may resume full production over the weekend, the South African Press Association said, citing unidentified refinery officials.

The Sapref refinery in the port city of Durban “tripped” during a March 11 storm, causing its shutdown for safety reasons, the facility said yesterday.

To contact the reporters on this story: Carli Lourens in Johannesburg at read more

March 14, 2008: 07:12 AM EST

LONDON, Mar. 14, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) — The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA) said it is in exclusive negotiations with Royal Dutch Shell PLC and ExxonMobil Corp unit Esso Exploration and Production Ltd for the purchase of some of their North Sea assets.

The talks relate to Shell and Esso’s equity interests in the Tern, Eider, Cormorant North, South Cormorant fields and related sub-sea satellite fields and infrastructure. read more

March 14, 2008; Page B8

Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it will name Deutsche Bank AG’s chairman as nonexecutive director. The Anglo-Dutch oil company said it will propose the appointment of Josef Ackermann to its board at its May 20 shareholders meeting.

Mr. Ackermann is the chairman of both the management board and the group executive committee of Deutsche Bank. Shell said it gets a limited number of financial services from Deutsche Bank, and that Mr. Ackermann hasn’t been involved in those services. read more

Poll Shows Sharp Drop
In First-Half Forecasts;
Retail Sales Decline
By PHIL IZZO and SUDEEP REDDY
March 13, 2008; Page A14

A WSJ survey of economists reveals that 71% of those surveyed believe Americans are currently in a recession.

Economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey are increasingly certain the U.S. has slid into recession, a view reinforced by new data showing a sharp drop in retail sales last month.

“The evidence is now beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Scott Anderson of Wells Fargo & Co. read more

JIM BLACKWELL
Friday March 14, 2008
 
Some 2,000 years ago, the Chinese piped natural gas through bamboo poles from shallow wells, and then burned the gas to heat large pans to evaporate sea water for salt.

Today, state-of-the-art liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers call on ports from China to Japan to South Korea and beyond, and countries that include India, Thailand and Singapore are seeking to import LNG to satisfy growing demand.

Natural gas has always helped power economic growth in Asia, and the importance of this abundant, clean-burning fuel in the region’s energy portfolio will only continue to grow. read more

By  Monica Mark     
Dow Jones Newswires     
Thursday, March 13, 2008 

International oil majors would be willing to settle for service contracts in known oil fields in Iraq, the chairman of the advisory committee to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Thursday.

Speaking in an interview with Arab Oil and Gas Magazine, Thamir Abbas Ghadhban, who is a former oil minister, said he was certain international oil companies would accept service contracts…for already discovered oil fields ” in view of their geological characteristics, their very great potential, their low production costs and the current and future level of oil prices.” read more

Published: March 13, 2008 at 8:25 PM

LONDON, March 13 (UPI) — North Sea oil companies are looking for further incentives to explore.

A package of modest tax breaks for North Sea oil and gas companies was recently set out but industry officials said they are hoping for more substantial incentives to investment in the future, the Financial Times U.K. reported.

The oil and gas industry was expected to pay roughly $19 billion in corporation tax and petroleum revenue tax in the coming fiscal year, a $2 billion increase. read more

By Matthew Green in Lagos
Published: March 14 2008 02:00 | Last updated: March 14 2008 02:00

Umaru Yar’Adua, Nigerian president, wants to raise $20bn from energy companies to invest in harnessing gas reserves to solve the country’s chronic power crisis.

Nigeria is an increasingly important supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) – gas cooled into liquid for easier shipping – to growing markets in the US, Asia and Europe. But a new policy, seen by the Financial Times, calls for “unequivocal” action to “prioritise domestic gas supplies over export”. read more

By Emiliya Mychasuk
Published: March 14 2008 02:00 | Last updated: March 14 2008 02:00

The multi-national Royal Dutch Shell board boasts a Swiss-German accent with the hiring of Deutsche Bank chief Josef Ackermann .

Shell said yesterday that it gets a “limited number of financial services” from Deutsche Bank, but he had no involvement in that.

The 60-year-old, Swiss- born Mr Ackermann may be looking to build his board portfolio for life post-banking, after three decades at the German bank. He is also a member of Siemens’ supervisory board. read more

Bloomberg
Published: March 14, 2008, 00:29

Singapore: Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA may have to find more gas in Brunei to extend liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies to Asian customers, an official said.

Sales contracts to utilities in Japan and South Korea expire in 2013, Mohammad Damit, general manager of LNG marketing at Brunei LNG Bhd, said in Bangkok yesterday. Supplies from the 7.2 million metric tonnes-a-year plant fell 2.3 per cent last year to 213 cargoes from 218 in 2006.

Brunei LNG plans to charge a premium to crude oil benchmarks for extensions made to existing contracts, Damit said. Current prices are at a discount to crude benchmarks, he said without giving further details. read more