Gazprom's action to secure a foothold in Nigeria, where western groups have led the development of the oil industry for half a century, has given rise to concerns in Europe that Moscow is seeking to gain control of Nigerian reserves to tighten its grip on the European Union's gas supplies.

TENSION was high last night near the site of a controversial planned gas pipeline, as a mammoth pipe-laying ship prepared to return. The imminent re-arrival of the Solitaire off Broadhaven Bay in Co Mayo yesterday was accompanied by increased drama.

THE SUPREME Court has quashed Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.’s attempts to stop the Bureau of Customs (BoC) from collecting the corresponding amount for the P209 million worth of allegedly fraudulent tax credit certificates, or TCCs, it used in 1997 and 1998.

TWO FISHERMEN opposed to the laying of the Corrib gas offshore pipeline have been arrested at sea, just hours before the Shell contracted pipelaying ship Solitaire was due to arrive at the site.

SHELL EP Ireland yesterday defended the ongoing security operation at its Corrib gas sites in north Mayo on the final day of a Bord Pleanála hearing into the development.

US OIL company Marathon is selling its share of the Corrib natural gas field off the west coast to Canadian rival Vermilion in a deal potentially worth $400 million (€285 million).

REUTERS

Fri Jun 26, 2009 1:52am EDT

LAGOS, June 26 (Reuters) – Nigeria’s main militant group said on Friday it had blown up a well-head in a Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) oil field in Delta state overnight, hours after President Umaru Yar’Adua announced an amnesty offer for rebels.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it attacked the well-head in the Afremo oil field because the military had gone on a “punitive expedition” in Delta state shortly after the amnesty proclamation. read more

Militants said yesterday they attacked a Royal Dutch Shell Plc pipeline supplying an export terminal in Nigeria, Africa’s largest producer.

An industry outsider, a foreigner and an oil novice with a critical eye may be a good thing. Royal Dutch Shell thought as much when it hired Jorma Ollila, the former Nokia boss, to run its boardroom...

We may at last have a chance of winning Wimbledon but it is a bit of a blow to the national self-esteem that we can’t find a Brit to chair BP.

By John Donovan

Since we have many new American visitors, we thought some might be interested and amused by the story of how Shell management attempted in proceedings launched via The World Intellectual Property Organisation to seize three Shell related domain names including the domain name for this website – royaldutchshellplc.com.

This happens to be the precise dotcom domain name for the unified company Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

It was of course an uneven contest with Shell and its army of 650 in-house lawyers, including Shell Legal Director Richard Wiseman on one side and an 88 year old 2nd World War veteran, Alfred Donovan (my father) on the other, who had no legal representation. Shell lost the action on all three domain names. read more

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil rose toward $69 on Thursday, after Nigeria's main militant group raided a Royal Dutch Shell pipeline and disrupted a major export terminal, recouping losses caused by hefty builds in U.S. fuel stocks.

JUNE 25, 2009, 4:03 A.M. ET

By GUY CHAZAN

BP PLC said Thursday that it appointed Carl-Henric Svanberg, chief executive of Swedish telecommunications-equipment maker Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson, as its chairman, finally bringing to an end the protracted search for a replacement for current Chairman Peter Sutherland.

Carl-Henric Svanberg

The move mirrors the appointment of Jorma Ollila, then CEO of Finnish mobile-handset maker Nokia, as chairman of Royal Dutch Shell PLC, BP’s rival, in August 2005. read more

BP said on Thursday that it had appointed Carl-Henric Svanberg, chief executive of Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson, to take the place of Peter Sutherland as chairman of the UK oil major.

The Solitaire, described as the world’s largest pipelaying ship, had to abandon attempts to lay an offshore pipe last summer. It is scheduled to complete renewed attempts to lay the pipe from Broadhaven Bay out to the wellhead by the end of August.

Thu Jun 25, 2009 12:50am EDT

ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria’s main militant group said on Thursday its fighters had attacked a Royal Dutch Shell oil pipeline in Rivers state in the Niger Delta.

“(The fighters) struck again today … at the major Shell Bille/Krakama pipeline in Rivers state,” the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said in a statement sent by email.

“Cawthorne Channel 1, 2 and 3 flow stations feeding the Bonny export terminal have been effectively put out of service.” No independent confirmation of MEND’s statement was immediately available. read more

CALGARY, ALBERTA: Vermilion Energy Trust will purchase Marathon Oil Corp. subsidiary Marathon International Petroleum Hibernia Ltd. and its 18.5 percent interest in the Corrib natural gas development 83 kilometers (52 miles) offshore Ireland. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2009.

The implications of the settlement of damage claims against Shell, based on the allegation that it was complicit in the executions of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the other "Ogoni 9" in 1995, as well as numerous other human rights violations, has been underestimated...

And the European majors, BP and Royal Dutch Shell, who made names for themselves in leading the oil majors into renewables, now seem to be backtracking in those areas.

The truth is, the field may be pretty big, but even if the most optimistic estimates are right, it will not come close to the top of the list of the world’s biggest gas fields.

RTÉ Business

Wednesday, 24 June 2009 15:34

US energy company Marathon Oil has agreed to sell its 18.5% stake in the Corrib gas field off the coast of Mayo in a deal which could be worth up to $400m (€285m).

The stake is being bought by Vermilion Energy Trust, an oil and gas company based in Canada. Vermilion will pay an initial $100m, with the rest being made when the first commercial gas is produced at Corrib. Vermilion says it expects first gas by the end of 2011.

Shell holds a 45% interest in the Corrib project, while Statoil Hydro has 36.5%. An Bord Pleanála is due to finish its oral hearing this week into Shell’s application for a modified onshore pipeline route to bring the gas ashore. read more

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, June 23 (Reuters) - Nigerian security forces arrested nine gunmen suspected to be involved in last week's pipeline attack that forced Agip to halt some oil output in the Niger Delta, the military said on Tuesday.

(Reuters) - Japanese oil distributor Showa Shell Sekiyu KK and Saudi Aramco Oil Co plan to jointly set up small-scale solar power facilities in Saudi Arabia next year, the Nikkei business daily reported without citing sources.

Some 120 companies expressed interest in bidding for the contracts at the June 29 and 30 auction, according to the oil ministry. Thirty-five companies qualified to bid, including Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Italy's Eni SpA, Russia's Lukoil and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec. The six oil fields at stake are believed to hold reserves of more than 43 billion barrels. Foreigners won't get the most prized piece of the action -- ownership stakes in the reserves -- but will be paid fees for ramping up output.