In Iraq, companies such as BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and Total will now receive stakes of 75 per cent rather than 49 per cent if their bid wins. Iraq has also lowered the production targets it initially demanded that companies achieved before they were paid for their work.

Enron, Lehman Brothers, Royal Bank of Scotland…Royal Dutch Shell – what have these corporations got in common? Quite a lot actually but what I was thinking of in particular is that they all have issued glossy and self-promoting documents extolling their “Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR) – and all of them have been brought to their knees by the grotesquely dysfunctional actions of their most senior executives.

I have written before about the illusionary myth that is CSR and I suppose that the one good thing that might come out of the global financial crisis is that none us will ever again trust the disingenuous garbage that corporations choose to throw at us from time to time. The idea that, say, a tobacco giant like BAT can be socially responsible is absurd but they still peddle this nonsense even though they surely can’t expect us to believe it. Do they really believe it themselves? – I doubt it. read more

Morning Edition, February 27, 2009 · As oil companies plan for the future, they are expecting prices and demand to be higher. Oil company executives were on Capitol Hill this week to discuss offshore drilling, which they say needs to be part of America’s long-term energy policy. Shell Oil Company President Marvin Odum tells Steve Inskeep that he expects demand throughout the world to double by 2050.

Video clip available at… npr

Steamboat Springs — The Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District filed a statement of opposition on Friday to Shell Frontier Oil and Gas’ Dec. 30 request for substantial water rights on the Yampa River.

The only woman to enter the top 20 pensions list was Linda Cook, Shell's gas and power boss. Ranked number 83 on the Forbes list of the world's most powerful women recently, she is under 50 but already looking forward to a pension of £513,057.

OTTAWA -(Dow Jones)- Project costs for a 100,000-barrel-a-day expansion at Royal Dutch Shell PLC's (RDSA) Athabasca Oil Sands Project have climbed to $13.7 billion, partner Chevron Corp.(CVX) said in a filing with the SEC.

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s biggest company, has amassed a $207 billion stockpile of its own shares that exceeds the market value of all but one of its publicly traded rivals.

Oil giants BP, Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil plan to invest upward of $30 billion apiece this year to gather assets, either through the drill bit or through buying outfits that run out of cash and refinance options.

Oil and natural gas development off the coast of Sakhalin Island in Russia's Far East could have forced endangered whales to leave their habitat in the area, a local WWF spokesperson said on Thursday.

In yet another example of Kremlin energy politics that so unsettle Western investors, in late 2006 Gazprom wrested control of the huge oil and gas field from Shell after it was accused of breaking environmental laws. Gazprom then became the majority owner.

BG likely hopes the move is a knockout punch in its battle with Royal Dutch Shell's Australian joint venture partner, Arrow Energy Ltd., for the coal seam gas producer.

The costs of a 100,000 barrel per day expansion of Royal Dutch Shell Plc's Athabasca Oil Sands Project have climbed to $13.7 billion, partner Chevron Corp said in a filing, well ahead of earlier estimates.

BG’s increased offer of A$8.25 a share is final in the absence of a higher bid, the Reading, U.K.-based company said today in a statement to the Australian stock exchange. The move further boosts BG’s offer above a rival cash and stock bid by Arrow Energy Ltd., Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Australian partner in coal-seam gas.

"It's a concerning area, of course, because as you put more royalty and tax burdens on the industry, particularly a cyclical industry, you just have to be cognizant of the potential impact it has on investments," said Marvin Odum, the president of Royal Dutch Shell's U.S. operations, after meetings with various lawmakers about energy policy.

Richard Wiseman, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell has confirmed that IT staff have commenced blocking undesirable websites accessed by employees whilst at work.

BG Group PLC, the British oil and gas company, and Royal Dutch Shell PLC's Australian partner Arrow Energy Ltd. are competing for Pure Energy Resources Ltd., an Australian player in coalbed methane.

Sibir's shares reached a peak of 830p last summer, giving it a market value of £2.5bn ($3.6bn), and it was contemplating a move to the main market, while there was speculation that Royal Dutch Shell, its partner in the Salym fields, would bid for the group.

The UK's Co-op banking and investment group is paying £50,000 ($71,000) to fund a legal action in Canada that could block the development of the country's oil sands by companies such as Royal Dutch Shell and BP.

Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are among companies working on technology to extract the oil by heating the rocks.

The company’s strong performance was underpinned by its transaction with Royal Dutch Shell which saw the oil giant pay $319 million during December 2008 as part payment for a 30 percent share of Arrow’s interests in all of its Australian upstream tenements.

WASHINGTON — Top executives from some of the nation’s biggest oil companies on Wednesday pleaded with Congress to expand ?offshore drilling to help wean the U.S. off foreign energy sources and spur new jobs.

WASHINGTON - Shell Oil Co.'s chief executive for North America, Marvin Odum, complained Wednesday that regulatory red tape has slowed the company's $2 billion investment in offshore leases in Alaska.

Canada's Beaver Lake Cree Nation group say their traditional way of life is being devastated by the rush to extract oil from vast tar sand fields

The fact that your informant feels he should have unlimited access to pornography through Shell computers (presumably while at the office) says as much about him, as it does about you for supporting him.

The Jordanian government has finalized negotiations with the European oil and energy giant Royal Dutch Shell over an agreement for the extractions of oil from oil shale, following the signing in December of an initial agreement between the company and the Natural Resource Authority, the Jordanian newspaper Jordan Times reported.

As usual I will ignore the gratuitous, libellous and insulting language you use about me.

The agreement came even as Shell disclosed that it lost 1.6 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas since November because of "shut-ins," or halts in production, caused by theft and sabotage, costing the government $180 million a month, a Shell official said Tuesday.

Ann Pickard, head of Shell in Africa, voiced concerns expressed privately by other oil groups at a conference with senior Nigerian officials in Abuja, the capital.

Manufacturers of hazardous substances should not be liable for contamination that occurs after a product is sold, attorneys for Shell Oil Co. told the Supreme Court today in a case addressing two critical liability issues for toxic-waste cleanups.

Foreign investors want more confidence about access to Russia's energy riches before helping the country tap its far-flung fields, said Malcolm Brinded, a senior executive at Europe's largest oil company, Royal Dutch Shell.

No surprise, then, that the same names keep showing up: ExxonMobil, BP, Total, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell. But that list should also include the national oil companies and the sovereign wealth funds from Asia and the Middle East.

Campbell Keir, director of Royal Dutch Shell in Kazakhstan, says the offshore Kashagan field is one of the most technically challenging fields in the industry, which may be the future of the energy sector.

ABUJA, Nigeria (AFP) — Nigeria and oil giant Royal Dutch Shell Tuesday announced a 1.6 billion dollar (1.25 billion euro) gas production project in the volatile Niger Delta.

"Hopefully soon, in the coming weeks, we can bring production back on," Ann Pickard, Shell's regional executive vice president for Africa, told an industry conference in Abuja.

Ms Pickard said Shell was in favour of the government’s plan to restructure the NNPC, which is designed to tackle a chronic lack of investment in its joint ventures with Western majors, but said questions over the future shape of the tax regime were hurting new investment.

“We believe the oil sector is entering a steeper and longer downturn than either the oil or equity markets imply and that large-cap oil shares are not as defensive as currently priced,” BarCap’s Tim Whittaker said.

Daily Telegraph

23 February 2009

Royal Dutch Shell plans to continue with its $31 bn (£21 bn) investment programme this year despite the collapse in crude oil prices from a record high of $147 a barrel last July. 

Jeroen van der Veer, Shell’s chief executive, said that “for our projects, we never took into account that prices would remain so high for so long”. He added: “All our investments, and the few we postponed, can perfectly withstand current oil prices.” 

The majority of oil companies are pulling back their spending as the fall in crude prices erodes profits. read more

Heavyweight oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell came under pressure after broker Barclays Capital raised the prospect of both companies cutting their dividends if the oil price continues to decline.

It had been travelling from the Brent oil field in the North Sea with 19 passengers and two crew on board.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may decide to make another production cut should oil prices continue to fall...

In a connected appeal, Shell Oil Co. says it shouldn’t be held responsible for selling Brown & Bryant a pesticide known as D-D, which leaked into the ground and threatened water supplies. Shell, an affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, is also pressing the court to apportion any costs the company must pay.

DUBAI, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Saudi Aramco and Royal Dutch Shell's (RDSa.L) joint venture Jubail refinery restarted oil exports on Monday after bad weather interrupted the flow for four to five days, shipping sources said.

Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc, one of four oil refiners in Australia, said interim results of a secret ballot of workers at its Clyde plant near Sydney indicate the company’s proposed labor agreement was rejected.

AustinBusinessJournal

19 February 2009

EXTRACTS

Shell Oil Co. has donated $313,500 to support academic programs at the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business, Cockrell School of Engineering and Jackson School of Geosciences.

Shell has given the university more than $26 million in gifts and research grants.

FULL ARTICLE

As revealed in The Australian in December, Golar has edged out energy giant Shell, which had been widely expected to take LNG produced from the plant after last year buying into Arrow Energy's CSG reserves.

Like its competitors, Total now faces one of the sharpest downturns in the history of the oil business...

Five gardai in Co Mayo earned €325,141 in overtime payments last year, as the cost of policing Shell’s gas pipeline put a serious strain on the force’s budget.

Officials announced Monday that Shell Oil Products US would start field activities in the early spring to check for benzene, which was released from an underground pipeline 23 years ago. Benzene is a chemical component of gasoline and other petroleum hydrocarbons with the most serious potential health effects. A total of 8,400 gallons of benzene leaked from an underground pipeline that was used by Wood River Refinery while it was owned and operated by Shell Oil Co.

Shell America (Houston) is so full of Baptists, its at the point where its commonly referred to as the Baptist Mafia and they are moving up and through Shell management structure to the dismay and dislike of the Dutch and British.

As many as 100,000 barrels of crude oil are being stolen or smuggled from Nigeria every day, representing 5 per cent of national production, according to estimates from Shell.