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June, 2010:

Employees move to block Shell exit from Kenya

A Shell Petrol Station along Nyerere Avenue, Mombasa. Photo/ ABDULRAHMAN SHERIFF

SUNDAY NATION

Sunday June 20, 2010
By MUNA WAHOME and KENNEDY SENELWA
Posted Saturday, June 19 2010 at 19:51

Shell’s intended exit from 21 African countries appears headed into headwinds in Kenya where employees are plotting to block the departure in court.

The Sunday Nation learnt that behind-the-scene consultations between two law firms representing both parties failed to satisfy the employees who accuse Shell Kenya of “glossing over” the matter. read more

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A review of “Corporate Social Responsibility” in the light of Deepwater Horizon

Please visit this link

for an article by Paddy Briggs about Corporate Social Responsibility in the light of BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster.

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Shell vows to keep office, Alaska staff

Beset by another delay in its planned exploration, Shell officials say the company intends to keep its Alaska offices open and its staff of about 70 intact and working toward a 2011 drilling program.

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BP’s ‘Strategic Default’ Option

Seeking Alpha

June 17, 2010

Prior to the oil spill, BP stock had a market value of nearly $200 billion. This has been cut by about HALF as a result on the spill.

On the other hand, the culprit, BP America, represents nearly a quarter of BP’s value, or about $50 billion in round figures. This is the amount that BP stands to lose if the oil spill bankrupts BP America. That also appears to be a reasonably good estimate of BP’s potential liability at this time. The $20 billion, to be put into an escrow account, represents a reasonable “down payment.” read more

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Markey Will Demand Oil Companies Rewrite Spill-Response Plans

Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips, Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc were described as being as unprepared as BP Plc to respond to spills during a House Energy Committee hearing on June 15.

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BP set for overhaul as it seeks cash to pay for oil spill crisis

Telegraph.co.uk: Which assets will BP sell and what shape will the oil giant take after the Gulf of Mexico spill?

By Rowena Mason, Energy Correspondent
Published: 9:29PM BST 18 Jun 2010

Protesters hold a banner that reads ‘Seize BPs Assets’ in front of the White House on June 16 Photo: GETTY IMAGES

The wounded BP behemoth will take many years to get back on to its feet after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. In the meantime, a number of scavenging rivals are likely to be circling around the scraps of assets it must offload to pay for the crisis.

BP’s market value has almost halved to £67bn since the Deepwater Horizon rig sank on April 20. Its growth prospects in the US are looking grim and analysts believe the costs could range anywhere from $30bn to $100bn (£67.5bn) – given the litigation and fines it’s facing. read more

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BP Fund Is a Magnet for Fraud, Experts Say

A version of this article appeared in print on June 19, 2010, on page A11 of the New York edition.

By JOHN SCHWARTZ

The $20 billion BP compensation fund announced by the Obama administration this week has those along the coast hoping that it will provide a more benevolent gusher than the one at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

While it has been applauded as an advance in addressing economic losses, the fund will also be a lure for the unscrupulous, said Richard A. Nagareda, a professor at Vanderbilt University Law School and an expert on mass litigation. “Any time you put a multibillion-dollar pot out there, you’ve just got to be really careful,” Professor Nagareda said. “The vast majority of lawyers involved are people of integrity, but that doesn’t describe all of the legal profession.” read more

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Shell’s View on the Future of Oil

As energy heats up on Capitol Hill, executives are focused on not being squeezed out.

by Daniel Stone June 17, 2010

Almost seven weeks after the Deepwater Horizon incident that has ravaged the gulf and imperiled BP, other oil companies are beginning to feel the pinch of President Obama’s six-month moratorium on drilling. No drilling means no revenues, but also no jobs for the thousands of rig employees drilling deepwater wells. “At this point, public perception is a critical component of what we need to do,” said Roxanne Decyk, executive vice president of group government relations for Shell, speaking at an executive forum hosted by NEWSWEEK on Monday at the National Press Club. (Following are selected video clips of the event. Click here to view NEWSWEEK’s executive forum in full.) read more

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Shell: $40B in Nigerian investments in jeopardy

Associated Press

06.17.10, 08:42 AM EDT

LAGOS, Nigeria — Royal Dutch Shell PLC is warning Nigerian authorities that $40 billion of planned investments in the country could be jeopardized if lawmakers pass a new law overhauling the petroleum industry. read more

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Half a World From Gulf, a Spill Scourge 5 Decades Old

THE NEW YORK TIMES

As many as 546 million gallons of oil spilled into the Niger Delta over the last five decades, or nearly 11 million gallons a year, experts said.

A version of this article appeared in print on June 17, 2010, on page A1 of the New York edition.

By ADAM NOSSITER

BODO, Nigeria — Big oil spills are no longer news in this vast, tropical land. The Niger Delta, where the wealth underground is out of all proportion with the poverty on the surface, has endured the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez spill every year for 50 years by some estimates. The oil pours out nearly every week, and some swamps are long since lifeless.

Perhaps no place on earth has been as battered by oil, experts say, leaving residents here astonished at the nonstop attention paid to the gusher half a world away in the Gulf of Mexico. It was only a few weeks ago, they say, that a burst pipe belonging to Royal Dutch Shell in the mangroves was finally shut after flowing for two months: now nothing living moves in a black-and-brown world once teeming with shrimp and crab. read more

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Shell Nigeria investment on hold pending reform

Reuters Africa

Thu Jun 17, 2010 7:27am GMT

By Nick Tattersall

LAGOS (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has some $40 billion worth of potential investment in deepwater oil projects in Nigeria on hold amid uncertainty over planned reforms to the energy sector, a senior executive told Reuters.

Mutiu Sunmonu, country chairman for Shell Nigeria, said it was difficult to make commitments without clarity over the terms of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), legislation which will change the fiscal and regulatory framework in the OPEC member. read more

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With Criminal Charges for Oil Spill, Costs to BP Could Soar

As BP watches its bill rise quickly for the oil spill, including $20 billion it is setting aside for claims, it could find the tally growing much faster in coming months if the United States Department of Justice files criminal charges against the company.

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Shell not hunting buyers for Montreal refinery

REUTERS

*Media reports say Delek offers C$150 mln for refinery

*Shell spokesman reiterates that sale process ended June 1

Wed Jun 16, 2010 5:05pm EDT

Alberta, June 16 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L) is sticking by statements that it is no longer looking for a buyer for its Montreal East oil refinery despite reports that a new offer has emerged.

Radio-Canada and other media in Quebec reported on Wednesday that Delek U.S. Holdings, an arm of Israeli energy, automotive and real estate conglomerate Delek Group (DELKG.TA), had doubled a previous offer for the 130,000 barrel per day plant to C$150 million ($147 million) but no source for the information was given. read more

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BP Is Not The Only Spill Master—Check Shell In Nigeria

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

JUNE 16, 2010

By Benoit Faucon

BP’s technical mishaps in the deep waters of the Gulf Mexico have transfixed global opinion and inspired embarrassment for both a U.S. president and a British Prime minister. Yet, in the remote wetlands of Nigeria’s Niger Delta, far from the eyes of the Western public, equipment failure can also cause severe heartburn.

The fire and smoke plume from the Trans-Niger pipeline in the Niger Delta, April 2009.

In April last year, a leak on the Trans-Niger pipeline caused a huge column of fire, forcing the operator, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, to shut down at least 150,000 barrels a day of production. read more

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Delek Interested in Buying Montreal Refinery, CBC.ca Reports

BusinessWeek Logo

By Aaron Clark

June 16 (Bloomberg) — Delek US Holdings Inc. is one of two companies interested in buying Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Montreal refinery, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported on its French-language website without identifying a source for the information.

Delek has made an offer of C$150 million ($145.8 million), up from an initial offer of C$75 million, according to the article. Delek operates one refinery in Texas and 1,600 fueling stations on three continents, according to the article. read more

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Shell Restores Output at Forcados Terminal in Nigeria

June 16 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it has restored output at its Forcados crude export terminal in Nigeria, which was shut because of disruptions by armed groups in the southern Niger River delta

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Cosan Trades Like Investment Grade on Shell Accord Speculation

June 16 (Bloomberg) -- Cosan SA Industria & Comercio’s bonds are trading like investment-grade assets on speculation the world’s largest sugar-cane processor will complete a $12 billion joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

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Barack Petroleum from the Oval Office

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh76oepKFc8

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BARACK PETROLEUM

BP – BARACK PETROLEUM (Headline from The Drudge Report)

THE NEW YORK TIMES

A version of this editorial appeared in print on June 16, 2010, on page A30 of the New York edition.

Editorial

From the Oval Office

Americans have been anxiously waiting for President Obama to take full charge of the gulf oil catastrophe. On Tuesday, in his first address from the Oval Office, he vowed to “fight this spill with everything we’ve got for as long as it takes” and declared that “we will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused.” read more

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Shell, Exxon, Chevron and Conoco no better prepared to deal with a major oil spill than BP

Getty Images: ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, Chevron CEO John Watson, ConocoPhillips CEO James Mulva, Shell President Marvin Odum, and Lamar McKay, president of BP America, at a House hearing.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By STEPHEN POWER JUNE 15, 2010

WASHINGTON—Senior House Democrats accused all five oil companies attending a congressional hearing Tuesday of relying on “cookie cutter” spill-response plans.

Rep. Edward Markey (D., Mass.) said a review of oil companies’ response plans found that, like BP PLC, three other companies had made references in plans to protecting walruses, “which have not called the Gulf of Mexico home for three million years.” He added that two other plans “are such dead ringers for BP’s that they list a phone number for the same long-dead expert.” read more

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US oil firms ‘unprepared’ for major offshore disaster

BBC NEWS

The chief executives of five major US oil firms are giving evidence

The major oil companies drilling off the US coastline are as unprepared as BP for a major spill, the chairman of a Congressional panel has said.

Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell all have identical response plans to BP, Henry Waxman told the House energy and commerce committee.

BP’s US chief Lamar McKay is to give evidence over the Gulf disaster amid damning accusations BP took shortcuts.

He and other oil bosses will testify about deepwater drilling safety. read more

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Exxon, Chevron Chiefs Faulted for ‘Carbon-Copy’ Safety Plans

June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips, Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc executives told Congress deepwater oil wells can be drilled safely after a BP Plc well blew out, as lawmakers criticized their disaster plans as inadequate “carbon copies.”

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Nigeria: ‘World oil pollution capital’

BBC NEWS

By Caroline Duffield BBC News, Niger Delta

Olusegun Aganga talks to Steve Evans about ‘the curse of oil’

Visitors to the Nigerian village of Kpor, deep in the Niger Delta, are greeted by strange sights: silver frogs blink from gleaming puddles, sunlight bounces from an eerie black lake, and dragonflies hover over cauldrons of tar.

This is Rivers State, an area abundant in oil and gas. Environmentalists call the Delta the global capital of oil pollution, but unlike the Gulf of Mexico, there are no underwater robots, flotillas of scientists or oil booms here. read more

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BP’s Rating Cut by Fitch to Two Levels Above ‘Junk’

BusinessWeek Logo

By Brian Swint and John Glover

June 15 (Bloomberg) — BP Plc’s credit rating was cut to two levels above “junk” by Fitch Ratings on concern over the potential cost of cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and meeting future liabilities.

BP’s long-term issuer default and senior unsecured ratings were lowered six levels to BBB from AA, Fitch said in a statement today. That follows a reduction from AA+ on June 3.

President Barack Obama and U.S. lawmakers said this week that BP should suspend dividends and set aside funds now for legal claims against the company from the spill, the worst in U.S. history. Fitch said it would be “surprised” if BP didn’t suspend the quarterly payout until the full costs are known. The cost of cleanup and liabilities may reach $40 billion, Standard Chartered Plc. estimated last week.

“The recent claims by U.S. state and federal authorities that BP escrow significant sums preemptively, ahead of any agreed claims process, represent a material change in approach,” Fitch said in a statement. read more

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Exxon Distances Itself From BP’s ‘Dramatic Departure’ in Gulf

June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Federal investigators must determine if BP Plc took risks “beyond industry norms” with the Gulf of Mexico well that exploded and caused the worst U.S. oil spill, Exxon Mobil Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson said.

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Efforts to Repel Gulf Oil Spill Are Described as Chaotic

THE NEW YORK TIMES: From the beginning, the effort has been bedeviled by a lack of preparation, organization, urgency and clear lines of authority among federal, state and local officials, as well as BP. As a result, officials and experts say, the damage to the coastline and wildlife has been worse than it might have been if the response had been faster and orchestrated more effectively.

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BP hires investment banks in wake of spill

REUTERS

Michael Erman NEW YORK Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:56pm EDT (Reuters) – BP Plc has hired investment banks Blackstone Group LP, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Credit Suisse Group AG as advisers in the wake of its massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a source familiar with the matter.

BP spokesman Tony Odone said the company had “no comment on who our advisers are and what their role is.”

Odone also said there was no truth to a previous report that the company had hired banks with a mandate to defend it from unwanted takeover attempts.

The company has lost more than 40 percent of its market value since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig that led to the worst U.S. oil spill ever.

Millions of gallons of oil have gushed into the Gulf since an April 20 explosion on an offshore rig killed 11 workers and ruptured BP’s well. The spill has soiled 120 miles of U.S. coastline, imperiled a multibillion-dollar fishing industry, and killed birds, sea turtles and dolphins. read more

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Exxon, Chevron Seek Reprieve From Oil ‘Crucifixion’

Exxon, which pumps more crude than every member of OPEC except Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq, abandoned an exploration project known as Blackbeard in the Gulf of Mexico in 2007 rather than risk a blowout. The company quit the project, which sought to drill more than six miles (9.7 kilometers) beneath the seafloor, after repeated pressure surges indicated the well was unstable.

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Oil groups distance themselves from BP

Financial Times

By Sheila McNulty in Houston

Published: June 13 2010 20:29 | Last updated: June 13 2010 20:29

The chief executives of the world’s biggest international oil companies will testify on Tuesday that the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico “was preventable’’, publicly distancing themselves for the first time from the UK company, the Financial Times has learnt. read more

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BP’s growing isolation

MarketWatch

June 14, 2010, 2:18 p.m. EDT

By MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — BP PLC executives troop back to Capitol Hill Tuesday for another tongue-lashing over the catastrophic Gulf oil spill. This time, however, lawmakers are pulling BP’s long-time peers into the slugfest.

On Tuesday, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce will question top executives from Exxon Mobil Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!xom/quotes/nls/xom (XOM 61.37, -0.49, -0.79%) , Chevron Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!cvx/quotes/nls/cvx (CVX 74.18, +0.12, +0.16%) , ConocoPhillips /quotes/comstock/13*!cop/quotes/nls/cop (COP 52.80, -0.70, -1.31%) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC /quotes/comstock/13*!rds.a/quotes/nls/rds.a (RDS.A 52.38, -0.02, -0.04%) about the spill’s impact on their industry. read more

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Drilling Ban May Collide With Reality

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

JUNE 14, 2010

By James Herron

The Obama administration’s decision to ban new offshore drilling for six months in response to the BP oil spill was understandable given the scale of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, but was always destined for a head-on collision with economic reality.

Sure enough, there has been a rising clamor from oil industry workers, their families and Gulf State politicians chasing their votes, all of whom say the drilling moratorium could result in thousands of job cuts and huge losses for businesses in the area. read more

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Drilling Rules Hit Alaska Pipeline

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By BRIAN BASKIN And CASSANDRA SWEET

JUNE 14, 2010

Extracts

On May 27, President Barack Obama ordered a six-month offshore drilling moratorium in the wake of the April explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig, which killed 11 workers and started oil gushing into the Gulf. The rig was leased by BP. The president also commissioned an independent panel to recommend new offshore energy regulations.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC was awaiting the Interior Department’s final approval to drill up to five offshore wells this year when the moratorium was put into effect. The ban effectively postpones any work in Alaska until at least next summer, as sea ice prevents winter drilling. Work could be pushed back to 2012 if the government extends the ban. read more

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Shell plans to drill well near site of Corrib gas

Monday, June 14, 2010

SHELL EP Ireland plans to drill a satellite well north of the Corrib gas field which could produce additional gas reserves.

The Sedco 711-submersible rig arrived on location some 80km off the Mayo coast last week and has been booked for the summer.

Seismic information gathered last year on the Corrib North block has proved to be “very positive”, according to industry sources.

If the field proves commercial, it could result in a significant extension of the Corrib offshore and onshore infrastructure, subject to Government approval. read more

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BP oil spill: Where the U.S. has fallen short

Richard Blendermann comments on the article “U.S. and BP slow to accept Dutch expertise

Only a few days after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico I was asking my self the same questions, and 2 to three weeks into the spill I could tell that the approach and finger pointing from our administration (and the U.S. main stream Media) would only lead to delays that would make the situation much worse. My father helped to design and build the Texaco Plant in Port Arthur TX (the largest in the world at the time) from the ground up and worked at the plant all his life as a Chemical Engineer. So I have been around this industry for a very long time. In Texas and in fact every where in the world there have been unforeseen problems and disasters with oil exploration. read more

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Former Shell exec John Johns threatens defamation proceedings

Nothing about Mr Johns contact with me since May 2007, using multiple aliases, including “Mr X”, until he resurfaced in the guise of being the founder of RDS Forensics, has been straightforward, but instead mired by creepy deceptive behavior on his part, completely incompatible with his claims of transparency.

Former Shell exec John Johns threatens defamation proceedings

By John Donovan

Former Royal Dutch Shell executive Mr John Johns sent me several several legal notices last week threatening defamation proceedings.  I have no intention of retracting my comments about him made on this website, which were justified.

He also demanded that I remove information from an article published on 5 May 2010 that was copied from his Royal Dutch Shell Forensics Website. The information included the following assertions by Mr Johns in relation to transparency:

“Lets be clear and transparent to help Mr Donovan and others.” read more

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In Ireland, as in the US, government is bending over backwards to Big Oil, despite safety risks

Village Magazine: June – July 2010

From Louisiana to Mayo: cometh the Candyman

MICHAEL MCCAUGHAN

US INTERIOR MINISTER, Ken Salazar, promised more rigorous regulation of oil and gas leasing last January after acknowledging that the petroleum industry called his office “the candy store” for its surrender to corporate energy interests.  “Whatever they wanted to happen, happened”, said Salazar.

The outcome of this policy became apparent in April when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing eleven people and sending a toxic plume into the ocean, the worst environmental catastrophe in US history.  President Obama promised tighter rules for future drilling.  Two weeks later, it emerged that Obama’s officials granted 27 exemptions from carrying out detailed environmental studies of oil exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico since the oil spill. read more

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U.S. and BP slow to accept Dutch expertise

Three days after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, the Dutch government offered to help.

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Shell’s Mississippi oil spill due to out-and-out negligence

DEC. 29, 1988 — Workers clean oil sludge from the Gasconade River near its confluence with the Missouri River. The men, employees of Riedel Environmental services of St. Louis, vacuumed the oil into tank trucks. (Gary Bohn/P-D)

Lessons of gulf pipeline spill found in unexpected place — the Ozarks

By Todd C. Frankel ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 06/13/2010 VIENNA, MO. — From his backyard deck, Guy Wittler only has to look at the Gasconade River running below to see something familiar in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. A massive pipeline ruptured on Wittler’s property nearly 22 years ago and spewed more than 860,000 gallons of crude oil into the Gasconade. It was the worst inland oil spill in U.S. history.

Until recently, the spill had been largely forgotten. But memories of the incident have flooded back with the gulf’s deepwater catastrophe. And parallels between the two spills, despite vast differences in size, are striking — offering possible hints of what is to come in the gulf’s still-unfolding drama. read more

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Disaster gives entire oil industry a black eye

The Spokesman-Review

June 13, 2010

For the second time in as many years, we are witnessing catastrophic failure by one of America’s mightiest industries.

The loss of life and the environmental destruction in the Gulf of Mexico has exposed a level of ineptitude that is shocking. The oil industry and the government agencies supposedly monitoring its operations have failed in every way possible to look after the most fundamental of their responsibilities: the protection of human life and the natural resources necessary for its sustenance. read more

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BP offers Barack Obama clean-up billions

From The Sunday Times

// <![CDATA[//

June 13, 2010

Danny Fortson

BP is considering putting several billion dollars into a ring-fenced clean-up fund to appease American concerns over the soaring cost of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. read more

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Obama urged to ‘punish’ BP with $100bn action

The Independent

By Mark Leftly

Sunday, 13 June 2010

Senior US politicians are pushing President Barack Obama to seek $100bn in damages against BP for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in an attempt to kill the company.

If such an action were to be taken and won, the Ftse 100 flagbearer would almost certainly collapse into bankruptcy. Many prominent US figures would welcome this as suitable punishment for the environmental devastation off the Louisiana coast.

The news will heap further pressure on an embattled board, which meets tomorrow to decide whether to suspend dividend payments, vital to UK pension funds, as up to £1.8bn goes out to investors each quarter. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Retired Shell Global Chief Petroleum Engineer Iain Percival comments on BP oil slick

Article by former Royal Dutch Shell executive Paddy Briggs…

“Obama is not being anti-British over BP

…stimulates following comments on Shell Blog from retired senior Shell staff

MUSAINT on Jun 12th, 2010 at 2:47 pm

Paddy, I cannot fully support your comments concerning those made by Obama over the BP oil spill. Certainly BP have a less than acceptable safety record which needs to be immediately addressed. However, I believe that Obama is using this spill as an ideal way to deflect the problems he has in America and his very low support ratings from the voters there. (Bad news is Good news when it is used to hide major political problems.) What I sincerely hope is that Transocean and Cameron-Hydril also start to get their long overdue bashing from Obama and the American public. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Adventures in Shell ‘Matulaland’

Posting on Shell Blog by IT4me on Jun 11th, 2010 at 11:27 am

IT COST SAVING IDEA #317: STOP FIDDLING WITH THE SUPPLY SIDE.

If you’re a CIO and you’re bored, one of the things you might do is to fiddle with the supply side. Changing all your suppliers overnight makes a nice splash in the media and marks you out as a thrusting and dynamic leader.

Thus we learned a few years back that Shell IT now had just 4 ‘Key Application Suppliers’ globally: IBM and WIPRO for the ‘oily rag’ stuff (sourcing mainly from India) plus LOGICA and ACCENTURE to talk persuasively and rack up impressive dry-cleaning bills. They how I understood it, anyway. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Obama is not being anti-British over BP

The British media and commentariat is working itself into a frenzy over President Obama’s attack on BP. The Mayor of London, the patrician Boris Johnson, has said ‘I do think there’s something slightly worrying about the anti-British rhetoric that seems to be permeating from America … when you consider the huge exposure of British pension funds to BP it starts to become a matter of national concern if a great British company is being continually beaten up on the airwaves.” Much of the press comment has been in the same vein – but it is nearly all uninformed, xenophobic and self-righteous. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

BP oil spill: BP could be bid target as US woes send shares sliding

Analysts believe BP's crash in value has now made it vulnerable to an approach with PetroChina touted as the most likely bidder. Other would be poachers include Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil. Both are seen as aggressive and could seize the opportunity to snap-up global oil and gas assets at a knockdown price.

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Investors fear no limit to BP damages

Financial Times

By Ed Crooks

Published: June 10 2010 22:15 | Last updated: June 10 2010 22:15

The reason investors have been panicking about BP over the past couple of days is that the US administration has apparently crossed a line in its determination to take action against the company.

When Ken Salazar, the interior secretary, said he would hold BP responsible for the wages of workers on oil rigs who lost their jobs, he raised the prospect that the cost to BP could be limited only by the administration’s restraint. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

U.S. Fury at BP Stirs Backlash Among British

LONDON — British investors in BP are growing increasingly frustrated with the White House’s involvement and comments about the company’s efforts to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and partly blame politicians for the sharp drop in the share price.

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The US falls outta love with Big Oil

Daily Telegraph: The Gulf of Mexico was meant to be America’s the new frontier, where oil companies bankrolled a new black gold-rush.

By Rowena Mason
Published: 6:00AM BST 11 Jun 2010

The US falls outta love with Big Oil

This remote, watery landscape is where BP boasts a fifth of all deepwater platforms, a new well as deep as Mount Everest and billions of barrels in oil reserves.

Over the last decade, it has been clear why BP was attracted to spend $115m (£78.2m) a week in the US on finding new prospects. George Bush, a Texan oilman himself, championed the region and gave special exceptions to the ban on US offshore drilling to all the energy majors from Exxon and Chevron to BP and Shell. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Predators circle BP, the stricken British giant

By Sam Fleming
Last updated at 11:25 PM on 10th June 2010

The political firestorm surrounding BP led to a roller-coaster ride for the company’s shares on stock exchanges yesterday.

Rumours the firm could consider bankruptcy protection vied with speculation it had become a bid target.

On Wall Street last night BP’s New York-listed shares staged a 9.5 per cent rebound on talk a rival could pounce. That followed a 16 per cent rout the evening before.

Some investors now see the firm as a tempting target after it lost £55billion of value since the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico, which killed 11 workers. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

China to the Rescue: Will PetroChina Acquire BP?

Associated Press BP PLC CEO Tony Hayward

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

WSJ BLOGS  JUNE 10, 2010

By Michael Corkery

While it is difficult to know for certain what the Obama Administration believes will be the end game for BP, Deal Journal is pretty sure it isn’t this: A take over by PetroChina, a deal that would give the Chinese oil giant a huge hold on the world’s energy supplies.

And yet analysts at Standard Chartered Bank are making waves this morning with a report that floats out the idea of a PetroChina-BP merger.

PetroChina, which has a $60 billion war chest for acquisitions, is seeking to tap into overseas reserves to feed China’s insatiable demand for oil. According to Bloomberg, Chinese demand for crude is expected to rise at 15 times the rate of the demand in the US. And acquisition of BP would give PetroChina access to 18 billion barrels of oil and gas reserves around the world — a huge boost to its overseas supplies. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.