President Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia should unilaterally claim part of the Arctic, stepping up the race for the disputed energy-rich region.
Medvedev
Russia threatens to seize swathe of Arctic
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website,
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are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Even Dimitri Medvedev cannot stop slide in Moscow’s stock market
Investors have been shedding their exposure to the Russian market, taking fright initially from the power struggle at TNK-BP and latterly from the falling oil price and the conflict in Georgia.
Is Russia Becoming an Investment Gulag?
Late in 2006, another of Europe's Big Oil contingent,Royal Dutch Shell was pushed into selling its assets on remote Sakhalin Island to Gazprom at a below-market price.
Kremlin ‘Capitalism’ Is a Threat to the West
Gazprom wrested control of the $22 billion Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project from Royal Dutch Shell for a fraction of market value.
BP Venture In Russia Hit as CFO Steps Down
However, a person close to BP said it looked bad for the London-based oil major. "This is another step in the corporate takeover," he said. "They've got the CEO to leave the country, they've got the 148 BP specialists out, and now they've got the CFO to resign."
Russia’s Medvedev warns officials against ‘terrifying’ businesses
In an address to Russian ministers yesterday, Mr Medvedev said "law enforcement and state institutions should stop terrifying business" - a comment widely interpreted as a response to the escalating TNK-BP battle.
The retreat from Moscow
"ExxonMobil is the only one that could really pull it off but it is more logical for BP to do a merger of equals with Shell with Tony Hayward running both companies," Gheit added.
Head of BP Venture, Citing Harassment, Leaves Russia
People close to BP say TNK-BP's troubles stem from a Kremlin drive to transfer control of the company to a state entity like OAO Gazprom, leaving BP as a minority partner.
The Bitter Battle To Lead TNK-BP
Ultimately, these people say, the Kremlin is seeking to gain control over the venture for a state company like OAO Gazprom, likely leaving BP as a minority partner.
The Russia-Venezuela Alliance: Using Energy for Geopolitical Advantage
When Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez touches down in Moscow on July 22 to meet with the duumvirate of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev, he will be ready for more than the usual diplomatic photo-op. This odd trio will be well-positioned to plan substantial international mischief.
Brown fails to ease tensions with Kremlin
Gordon Brown's hopes of a thaw in Britain's relationship with the Kremlin received a setback yesterday after "sharp-edged" talks with the new Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev.
Robert Dudley clings on by fingertips to TNK-BP job
However, he appears to have won only a temporary respite from their attempts to remove him.
BP’s rivals shift in Russian tussle
A similar barrage of official harassment was unleashed in 2006 against Royal Dutch Shell to force it to sell a controlling stake in its giant Sakhalin gas venture to Russia's state-dominated energy champion Gazprom.
From Russia With Contempt
The truth is that the rule of law in Russia was mocked, not strengthened, under Vladimir Putin, and it remains a sham. It offered no more protection for Shell (squeezed out of the Sakhalin-2 gas project after being threatened with a $30 billion environmental lawsuit) or Yukos (dismantled by the Tax Ministry and sold off to Kremlin allies) than it does now for BP or 140 million ordinary Russians.
G8 needs to tell Russia to apply the rule of law
In Russia it's all war and no peace for BP.
Russia, TKN TNK-BP and the rule of law
Whatever expectations one has of the Russian government and civil institutions, they always disappoint.
Higher oil could lead to a worldwide economic collapse, says top analyst at Germany’s largest bank
Russia Could be Trigger for $200 Oil and Global Recession
Russians are menacing to BP, says Mandelson
EU officials believe that the Russian shareholders will eventually sell their stake to Gazprom or another state-run entity. Their battle against BP is a ruthless attempt to drive up the multibillion-dollar price of any deal, they say.
LNG project on Yamal could be structured as Shtokman – Gazprom
The LNG plant on Yamal is planned at the North and South Tambeiskoye fields, not at Kharasaveiskoye (whose gas is earmarked for transport on the Unified Gas Supply System). Project implementation "assumes participation of foreign companies, which might include Shell," he said.
Possible way out of a minefield
The deals to oust Royal Dutch Shell as the majority shareholder in the Sakhalin 2 project, and to displace TNK-BP from the Kovykta gas field, both favoured Gazprom. Signs of the changing attitude were apparent at the St Petersburg Economic Forum last weekend. One Russian government official said: "For BP, it is it the best scenario if Alfa sells out to Gazprom.
BP vents its frustration on Russian partners
BP chairman Peter Sutherland warned that unless President Dmitry Medvedev backed up his promises to restore "the rule of law", Western companies would likely turn their back on the country...
Boardroom Brawl Roils BP’s Russia Venture
In 2006, environmental regulators threatened to shut down a vast oil and gas project off the Far East island of Sakhalin operated by Royal Dutch Shell PLC. Shell was forced to sell half its stake to state-owned Gazprom.
Benchmark Cruel: $250?
Alexei Miller spoke at an OAO Gazprom presentation in which he also predicted the gas giant would be the world's biggest company by market value within seven to 10 years, with a capitalization of $1 trillion. Its current market cap is around $360 billion; Exxon Mobil Corp. is the current market-cap leader at about $463 billion.
Senior Shell executive likened Russian take-over of Sakhalin-2 to eating “a polonium sandwich”
Shell was forced to sell part of its stake in a $20bn (13bn, £10bn) energy project in Sakhalin to state-owned Gazprom - after months of pressure and investigations by the Russian environmental regulatory agency. A senior Shell executive likened the experience to eating "a polonium sandwich".
MEMO FROM ST. PETERSBURG
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia The lineup told it all about Russias importance today. There, on one stage, sat the leaders of BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips, Total, Schlumberger and Dow Chemical, as well as the chairman of the Russian energy giant Gazprom and the president of the Russian oil company Lukoil.
Gazprom Wants to Build Pipeline From Alaska
Royal Dutch Shell and Gazprom signed a preliminary agreement Saturday to study liquefied-natural-gas projects on the Yamal Peninsula, Bloomberg reported. The companies may also consider LNG projects in third countries, Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer told reporters at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Kremlin leaves BP shaken, but it won’t stir
There have also been allegations about visa breaches and infringements of corporate law that remind observers of the campaign waged two years ago against Shell, which reluctantly surrendered control of a huge oil project on the Russian island of Sakhalin.
Russia Probes BP Exec in Attempt to Reclaim Energy Sector
Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A) was forced to relinquish control of its Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project to OAO Gazprom (OGZPY.PK) for $7.45 billion when the Russian government threatened to block investment plans by canceling building permits on environmental grounds. And just last year, TNK-BP was talked into selling its 62.8% stake in one of the worlds largest gas fields, the Kovytkta field, to Gazprom, after Russian authorities threatened to revoke the companys license to develop it.
The risks of Russia
There is no sign Russia is going to be a safer place to do business in the near future. For now, investors should be aware the Russian risk premium is here to stay. Russians should be aware that, ultimately, it will be they who will pay it.
Hayward faces test of mettle over TNK-BP
The struggle for control of TNK-BP is the first big test for Tony Hayward's leadership of BP.
BP Says It Is Committed to Russian Venture
Formed in 2003, TNK-BP has netted BP huge gains and accounts for about a fourth of the companys global production. As oil prices have spiked, however, the Kremlin has sought to take back lucrative energy assets. The problems plaguing the venture appear to many as an attempt to squeeze the companys British partners out of the country.
Fresh pressure on BP as its chief in Russia faces inquiry
At BP's headquarters in St James's Square, there is a distinct sense that, after months of scattered but sustained disruptions to its vital Russian business, the end game is approaching.
Tony Hayward lets Kremlin know that its reputation is at risk over bitter TNK-BP struggle
The chief executive of BP issued a veiled warning to the Kremlin yesterday that Russia was putting its economic reputation at risk in the increasingly bitter struggle over the future of TNK-BP.
Jeroen van der Veer: Shell is among the largest investors in the Russian economy
Shell projects in Russia involve the development of Sakhalin II Project offshore Sakhalin island together with OAO Gazprom, Mitsui and Mitsubishi, and the development of the Salym oil fields (Khanty-Mansi autonomous okrug), jointly with OAO NK Evikhon, a subsidiary of Sibir Energy. Shell also participates in Caspian Pipeline Consortium.
Two can play at this game
TNK-BP ceded its controlling stake to Gazprom, a bit like Royal Dutch Shell, which a year earlier gave up a majority of its Sakhalin 2 gas and oil project to the state-controlled company.
As TNK-BP director Jean-Luc Vermeulen quits, spy allegations fly in Moscow
The Kremlins campaign against foreign ownership of Russian energy resources forced Shell to cede control of the $20 billion (£10 billion) Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project to Gazprom last year. As the only big energy company not under Russian control, TNK-BP is firmly in its sights.
Intrigue in Russia Ensnares BP Venture
In 2006, Shell sold control of a major project in Russia to Gazprom after Russian environmental regulators threatened to shut it down. The regulatory problems, which were widely seen as a pressure tactic by the Kremlin, cleared up within weeks after Gazprom took over.
BP’s rough ride in Russia
Those with long memories will recall that in December 2006, Gazprom secured a majority stake in the Sakhalin-2 Russian oil and gas field formerly led by Royal Dutch Shell; at the time, Medvedev was chairman of Gazprom's board of directors. Sakhalin-2 contains estimated reserves of 1.1 billion barrels of oil and 500 billion cubic meters of natural gas; the "friendly" buyout left Royal Dutch Shell with a 27.5-percent stake.
Gazprom Russian Energy Report available from Research and Markets Ltd
The new study draws results of Gazprom's work under Putin the president and estimates future development of the main Russian company under Putin the prime minister and Medvedev the president.
As Gazprom Goes, So Goes Russia
In transactions involving both Shell and BP, Mr. Putin met directly with corporate executives. For a time, Kremlinologists thought that he might segue into the chairmans job at Gazprom; executives say Mr. Putin, a former spy, shows a keen interest in the oil and gas business.
Thaw in relations between BP and Russia?
Finally Moscow announced it was sending its environmental chief to probe the biggest field operated by BP in Russia. No-one at BP was unaware that Oleg Mitvol's steely handling of international oil giant Royal Dutch Shell on Sakhalin Island two years ago had effectively forced them to sell up to Russian firm Gazprom
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
