TNK-BP, half owned by oil major BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research,Stock Buzz), has become the first oil producer to cut its staff, the daily says reporting on sacking of 390 managers in the head office in Moscow. (ROSSIISKAYA GAZETA)
Moscow
TNK-BP sacks 390 managers in Moscow HQ
BP will back CPC pipeline expansion if allowed to sell stake
MOSCOW, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Oil major BP will back the long-delayed expansion of the CPC pipeline from Kazakhstan to Russia as early as December if it faces no obstacles in selling its stakes in the pipeline venture, it said on Friday.
Sakhalin Energy’s Pipeline
Friday, November 07, 2008 Updated at 07 November 2008 0:11 Moscow Time.
Gazprom’s Sakhalin Energy venture began filling an oil pipeline from Sakhalin-2 that may allow it to start year-round crude production this year.
Sakhalin Energy expects the first tanker loading at the port of Prigorodnoye by the end of 2008, said Marina Makarova, the firm’s pipeline development manager.
(Bloomberg)
Sibir loses top spot on Aim
Sibir sank 32.9 per cent to 204¾p, valuing the company at £791m. Three months ago it had been worth £3.2bn, bolstered by hopes that Royal Dutch Shell would take a stake.
Second TNK-BP executive resigns
Anthony Considine, the companys head of downstream business, responsible for its oil refining, trading and marketing businesses, is leaving after five years to pursue other opportunities as the battle for control of the business escalates.
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.
Gazprom Neft Proposes Asset Swap With Chevron, Eni, Shell
Russia's OAO Gazprom Neft (SIBN.RS) has proposed to swap assets with a number of international majors, including Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC the company said Tuesday.
Oil: BP loses grip on troubled Russian venture as head of finance quits
The company has spent the past year fighting off claims from the tax, environmental and immigration authorities in what has been seen by some industry specialists as a rerun of the kind of problems that afflicted Shell until it sold part of its shareholding in Sakhalin to state-owned Gazprom.
BP chief Tony Hayward takes tough line against Russian partners
July 26, 2008
BP chief Tony Hayward takes tough line against Russian partners
BP threw down the gauntlet to its Russian partners yesterday, saying that the group would not be forced out of its troubled joint venture.
We intend to hold our ground and we are not going to be intimidated, Tony Hayward, the chief executive of BP said in an interview with The Times.
But despite the rhetoric, Robert Dudley, TNK-BPs American chief executive, remains in hiding outside Russia as speculation grows that his abrupt departure was triggered by fears of imminent arrest. Mr Hayward said that he had been forced to leave because of a refusal by the Russian authorities to grant him a visa and investigations by state security agents.
Paying the price for Russia’s ‘loveable rogues’
Russian stocks are in freefall, spooked by threats of anti-trust inquiries by Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, falling oil prices and the chicanery over TNK-BP.
Russians issue legal threat to TNK- BP’s Robert Dudley
BP has been under siege in Russia for months, with police raids on its Moscow office, problems getting visas for staff seconded to TNK-BP, and legal action from a minority investor. On Wednesday, the UK company withdrew its remaining 60 engineers.
Appetite for Arctic oil rises in line with crude prices
The appetite for Arctic oil has surged in line with rocketing crude prices but environmental concerns and a diplomatic stalemate stand in the way of exploration, experts say.
BP accused of arrogance and incompetence by oligarch partner in joint Russian venture
BP's reputation in Russia came under attack yesterday when the billionaire oligarch at the centre of a row over the company's troubled Russian joint venture accused BP of "arrogance" and Nazi-style behaviour
TNK-BP chief faces Russia inquiry
Robert Dudley, the BP-backed chief executive of TNK-BP, the Russian oil venture, will go to Russia's Interior Ministry today for questioning as part of a criminal investigation into corporate tax evasion, people close to the company said yesterday.
BP: Roughed Up in Russia
In 2006, Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) ceded control of its Sakhalin II project to Gazprom after pressure from the authorities.
BP chief Tony Hayward warns Russia that rule of law is key
"Our fear is that the news [about Mr Dudley] may represent the next phase in attempts to put pressure on the chief executive and the organisation to bring the TNK-BP resources under state control."
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.
Russian Police Summon Chief of British-Russian Energy Venture in Tax Probe
...energy analysts compared the BP situation to Gazprom's forced 2006 takeover of the giant Sakhalin-two project in Russia's Far East. A Western consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell agreed to sell its controlling interest in the Sakhalin project, after Russian threats of huge lawsuits against the consortium for alleged environmental infractions.
Russia’s TNK-BP says no impact from shareholder row
Mon Jun 2, 2008 1:55pm EDT MOSCOW, June 2 (Reuters) - Russian oil company TNK-BP said on Monday a row between its shareholders had not affected its operations which it said remained aligned with annual forecasts.
TNK-BP board member quits over shareholders’ row
Mounting state pressure on the firm, including the arrest of an employee on an industrial espionage charge, a raid on its Moscow offices and a court injunction to stop it using BP specialists, are signs the time to sell is approaching, analysts say.
Russian agents raid BP office in Moscow
Royal Dutch Shells plan to award three executives was yesterday rejected by investors at its annual meeting. One-third of Shell shareholders who voted opposed the bonus scheme. When added to those who withheld their votes, 49.5 per cent of voting shareholders did not support the bonuses.
BP’s Russian office raided by top security agency
MOSCOW -BP, Europe's second-largest oil company, said Russian security agents raided its Moscow offices in search of unspecified documents Tuesday.
BP Staff Locked Out As Visa Trouble Ends
A court order banning BP employees from working for its Russian unit, TNK-BP, came at a time when some of them were ready to come back to their jobs after a suspension, a BP spokesman said Wednesday.
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: 
MORE DETAILS:
A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
