That excitement is likely to last as long as oil prices remain above $30 a barrel, a bottom-line benchmark once cited by leaseholder Royal Dutch Shell. With commercial production at least a decade away, the company has since backed away from that number even as a barrel of oil remains near $100.
Posts from ‘September, 2008’
Economies of shale
OPEC: Good is Bad – Bad is Good
The first famous cartel in the oil industry - the Seven Sisters - came in the 1920s and lasted until the early 1970s. This famous cartel dissolved only to be replaced by another.
Oil’s Plunge Is Biggest In Dollars Since 1991
Crude-oil futures plummeted more than $10 a barrel Monday after the House voted down a plan to rescue financial markets, magnifying doubts about demand growth.
Ministers meet locals on Corrib project
TWO GOVERNMENT Ministers have described as "very constructive" a series of discussions on the controversial Corrib gas project held with politicians and community groups in Ballina, Co Mayo.
Shell’s Pernis FCC seen shut for 10 days-traders
Shell declined to comment on the duration of the shutdown.
Shell says U.S. Gulf refineries ramping up after Ike
Shell said Saturday its U.S. Gulf refining throughput was about 1 million barrels per day out of a total of 1.2 million bpd.
Iran seeks foreign money for $8bn gas pipeline
Total and Royal Dutch Shell, which had been in talks with Iran about LNG projects, earlier this year said they wont enter any new energy deals because of the countrys heightened political risk.
Timor fights to tap undersea gas field
...the venture partners, which also include Royal Dutch/Shell and Osaka Gas, are "prepared to consider the results of the Timor Leste government's independent study," Woodside said in a statement, the country's official name.
Nigerian Oil Union opposes Chevrons sale
Nigeria, Africas most populous country of 140 million people, has the continents biggest hydrocarbon reserves. A spate of militant attacks earlier this month has interrupted production at some oil fields operated by Royal Dutch Shell Plc and other foreign companies.
Bush Poised to Sign Temporary-Budget Bill
Democratic leaders had hoped to extend the drilling bans, but such a move would have risked drawing opposition from Republicans and the White House. President Bush has announced that he would allow the bans to expire at the end of September. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Marvin Odum, the head of Royal Dutch Shell PLC's U.S. operations, acknowledged that "it is a possibility that [the ban] comes right back on."
Investors let down by online reports
Smiths evaluates online reports on 21 criteria, some of which reflect Investor Relations Society best practice. Top of the league table is Royal Dutch Shell.
Shell leaves Ogoni land, but trouble looms in oil-rich Niger Delta region
BUSINESS DAILY
A Shell petrol station in Kenya. Nigerias government decision to replace Shells operations in Ogoni was first celebrated, but not any more.
Written by Zachary Ochieng’
September 29, 2008: The peace process in Ogoni land a major test for efforts to bring stability to the oil-rich Niger Delta is likely to fail if the Nigerian government refuses to consult local communities about new oil operations, a new report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank warns.
The reportNigeria: Ogoni Land after Shell examines the political and economic implications of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) departure from Ogoni land and gives recommendations on resuming peaceful oil operations in the economically strategic and politically volatile region.
Russia, China and India consider stake in Spanish oil
The national oil companies of Russia, China and India are all running the slide rule over a 5 billion euro stake that has been put up for auction in Repsol, the Spanish oil giant. European majors also known to be taking a look include Royal Dutch Shell, Total of France and Italys Eni.
Carbon clean-up in Stinky Town
Some suggest that oil sands require double the energy usually needed for production. Shell disputes that, putting the figure at just 15 per cent more. Whatever the truth, the oil giants need to capture their emissions via CCS to offset the higher energy use required for oil-sands exploitation.
Radical new vision of a cooler life on earth
Natalie Davies, 26, joined Shell in March last year and now works as a project services engineer based in Assen, northeast Holland. She is part of an extensive project to renovate and update the facilities and equipment used in processing gas from the huge Groningen field to make them more efficient and environmentally friendly.
Scotland the green
Flexitricity works to match up small electricity suppliers and the national grid; its parent company, Martin Energy, won a £40,000 award from Shell Springboard, which promotes low-carbon business ideas.
Stop drilling, B. C. mayors urge Shell
VANCOUVER - British Columbians ratcheted up their opposition to a proposed Shell Canada Ltd. coal-bed methane project yesterday as a group of mayors unanimously approved a resolution demanding Premier Gordon Campbell halt the company's drilling.
American Red Cross Receives $1 million from Shell Oil Company and Motiva Enterprises LLC
Shell and Motiva announced a $1 million donation to the Red Cross to support the organizations large and lengthy hurricane relief efforts in Texas and Louisiana.
Palin, polar bears, Shell Oil and The Nature Conservancy
Republican vice presidential nominee Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin staunchly opposed listing the polar bear as an endangered species, arguing that the federal designation could hurt drilling such as Shells plans to extract oil from the Chukchi Sea, where polar bears have lived for millennia.
Political uncertainties compound losses
Oil and gas companies are notoriously unpredictable investments.
The Times: Need to know: Saturday September 27, 2008
Shell Oil The president of Shell Oil, Marvin Odum, said that he expected the majority of the companys oil production in the Gulf of Mexico that was shut as a precaution against hurricanes Gustav and Ike to be back on line within two weeks.
Regulators stuck in a fine mess
The biggest fine ever imposed by the Financial Services Authority was £17 million. On Shell, sitting on $270 billion-worth (£146.8 billion) of oil, according to the last accounts.
South Africa: Community takes on big polluters
The South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) chairperson, Desmond D'sa, told IRIN they were in the process of preparing a class action lawsuit against the refinery owners - Engen, and Shell and British Petroleum (BP) - in a bid to make the companies accountable.
Nigeria threatens to halt energy firms’ LNG schemes
Nigeria's largest LNG export plant, on Bonny Island in the southern Niger Delta, is controlled by a group of Western companies -- Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Eni unit Agip. NNPC owns 49 percent.
Impact felt across south-east
Juan Kemp, Shell Gulf coast operations manager, said demand had been three times higher than normal in this area. Shell sought to limit disruptions by leasing 35 generators it could deploy within 24 hours along the Gulf coast, but Shell still has up to 50 sites without power.
Shell V-power ‘a waste of money’ says Which?
First testing a Ford Focus 1.6l with Shell V-power fuel, they found that although the car had a marginal power increase using super fuel, it ended up costing £115 more than unleaded filling the car for 12,000 miles.
Shell Oil Co. pays $300,000 fine for 2006 spill
The settlement calls for Shell to pay $250,000 in civil penalties, $50,000 to the city of Martinez for improvements to the city's marina or waterfront, and $10,000 to pay for the response by state oil spill cleanup crews.
Abu Dhabi will remain a Leader in World Energy Industry says Shell
"We'll need all the help technology can give, as the world faces such great energy and environmental challenges. But, above all, the world will need leadership. And here Abu Dhabi can and will play a very strong role," said Malcolm Brinded, Executive Director Exploration and Production, Royal Dutch Shell.
Shell sees bulk of US offshore fields back in 2 wks
NEW YORK, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Shell Oil (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the largest oil producer in the storm-battered Gulf of Mexico, said on Thursday it expects the bulk of its offshore fields back on line within two weeks.
Shell and Tree Canada together plant one million trees
CALGARY, Sept. 25 /CNW/ - Shell Canada and Tree Canada today announced the planting of their one millionth tree, part of a planting program that will sequester more than 650,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Shell opens new office in Baghdad in deal with Iraqi Government
Shell, BP to Shut Refineries for Repair, Cut Europe Fuel Supply
Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc, BP Plc and Total SA are leading oil companies that will shut at least 6 percent of Europe's refining for repairs next month, reducing inventories already diminished by U.S. demand after Hurricane Ike.
Repsol Gains on Report Total, Shell May Consider Making Bid
Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Repsol YPF SA rose in Madrid trading after Expansion said Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are studying the possibility of buying the Spanish oil company, citing unidentified people close to the conversations.
Speculator? Oil Firm? Theories on Crude Spike
Chevron Corp. declined to comment and referred questions to the American Petroleum Institute, where a spokeswoman said she had no information on the matter. Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP PLC didn't return phone calls. An Exxon Mobil Corp. spokesman declined to comment.
Total and Shell study buying Repsol stakes-paper
The Spanish government has indicated it would look favourably on Total taking over Repsol, Expansion cited sources close to discussions on the issue as saying.
Gazprom Chief Optimistic Despite Share Price Plunge
Gazprom's consolidated debt stood at 1.2 trillion rubles ($48 billion) at the end of 2007, up 52 percent on a year earlier, after the company acquired control both of the major Sakhalin-2 offshore project and of Moscow utility Mosenergo.
Palin’s Big Oil infatuation
Palin’s Big Oil infatuation. She is as much a product of the oil industry as the current president and his vice president.
By Robert F. Kennedy Jr. September 24, 2008 I was water-skiing with my children in a light drizzle off Hyannis, Mass., last month when a sudden, fierce storm plunged us into a melee of towering waves, raking rain, painful hail and midday darkness broken by blinding flashes of lightning. As I hurried to get my children out of the water and back to the dock, I shouted over the roaring wind, “This is some kind of tornado.”The fog consolidated and a waterspout hundreds of feet high rose from the white ocean and darted across its surface, landing for a moment on a moored outboard to spin it like a top, moving toward a distant shore where it briefly became a sand funnel, and then diffusing into the atmosphere as it rained down bits of beach on the harbor. For 24 hours, a light show of violent storms illuminated the coastline, accompanied by booming thunder. My dog was so undone by the display that she kept us all awake with her terrified whining. That same day, two waterspouts appeared on Long Island Sound.
Environment takes back seat to economy in U.S.: CAPP
Mr. Collyer spent 30 years at Shell Canada Ltd., most recently serving as president and country chair of Shell Canada, a division of Royal Dutch Shell PLC. He is replacing Pierre Alvarez, who led CAPP for nine years.
Nigerian oil output around 2 mln bpd – minister
(Adds comment from Shell)
By Felix Onuah
ABUJA, Sept 24 (Reuters) – Nigerian Oil Minister Odein Ajumogobia said recent militant attacks on oil facilities had not significantly hit output and that the country was currently producing around 2 million barrels per day.
Nigerian militant group the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) staged attacks on oil platforms, pipelines, flow stations and gas plants in the heartland of Africa’s biggest oil and gas industry last week.
When Corporations Spy
The Sunday Times reported in 2001 that Hakluyt hired Manfred Schlickenrieder, a German foreign intelligence operative tasked by the firm to spy on Greenpeace at the behest of oil giants BP and Shell.
Manila to produce oil at Malampaya field in 2 yrs
The gas field is run by a consortium headed by a unit of Royal Dutch Shell.
War in Nigeria
We are like mosquitoes, and come out only at night to suck the blood from the oil majors, Mend said in a recent e-mail to the FT.
Nigerian pledge to break will of oil rebels
A Nigerian general has pledged to break the will of armed groups responsible for a week-long campaign of sabotage against the oil industry in the Niger Delta by launching more raids on their hideouts.
More refineries press restart button
Shell expects to start making motor fuels at its Deer Park refinery this week. The Motiva plant in Port Arthur, which Shell co-owns with Saudi Aramco, could start making gasoline and other products by the end of the week, Shell said.
Shell and Manchester University’s biofuels project
OIL giant Shell is teaming up with Manchester University experts to work on the development of biofuels.
Shell’s $4bn Iraq breakthrough could boost Britain’s natural gas supplies
The deal has angered anti-war campaigners and senior Iraqi figures who complained yesterday that there was no competitive tendering for the contract.
Shell Signs New Biofuels Research Agreements With Chinese Institutes
Dr. Graeme Sweeney, Shell executive vice president Future Fuels and CO2 said, "Shell's in-house biofuels R&D is longstanding, leading and globally coordinated.
Apartheid class action group in US court again
23 September 2008
Apartheid class action group in US court again
Legal Affairs Correspondent
THE Khulumani Support Group would hold pickets in three provinces on Thursday to coincide with the reopening of its long-running lawsuit in the New York District Court, the groups media advocacy co-ordinator, advocate Sipho Mantula, said yesterday.
The group filed a lawsuit in November 2002 in New York against 23 corporations and banks on the basis that they had aided and abetted the apartheid government in gross human rights violations. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 87 people against multinational companies including BP, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Rheinmetall, Shell and Total.
In Gas Deal, Shell Gains Iraq Presence
raqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani told reporters Monday the deal with Shell was worth "billions of dollars." Shell declined to put a price on the investment, saying the agreement signed Monday merely set out the commercial principles of the joint venture, which will be 51% owned by Iraq's state-run South Gas Company and 49% by Shell.
Shell makes move into Iraq
Linda Cook, Shell's head of gas and power, was in Baghdad yesterday to sign a multi-billion dollar agreement to make commercial use of gas currently being flared off in southern Iraq.