Posts on ‘February 16th, 2006’

Published comment By John Donovan in response to the headline story about BP 12 February 2006 Sir- It is no wonder that under US Securities & Exchange Commission rules, Shell�s replacement rate of new oil is only 60%-70% of what it has pumped out. Directors of Royal Dutch Shell Plc may perhaps be slightly distracted [...]

Shell is paying out a lot of cash to it’s shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks, while at the same time facing huge capital expenditure in respect of Sakhalin, Pearl, Bonga, and other new developments. In the E&P world, LNG and Deep Water always mean one thing: enormous capital costs. The developments [...]

(Bloomberg) — Oil companies will probably sell at least as many U.K. North Sea assets as they did in 2005 to cash in on high prices and get rid of maturing oil and gas fields, a U.K. acquisitions consultant said. The U.K. had 28 offshore-asset sales last year, worth about $5 billion, including a $3.5 [...]

LOTHIAN'S top young businessman today urged other business hopefuls to emulate him as he helped launch the Lothian Shell Livewire Young Entrepreneur contest for 2006. Donald MacFarlane, creator of Edinburgh-based Tangent Multimedia, said scooping the title last year had helped pull in clients such as Capital “cashmere queen” Belinda Robertson. He said: “Winning the award [...]

February 16, 2006 OIL giant Shell will hire extra fuel carriers to avert problems with petrol supplies after delivery drivers in Victoria called a 72-hour strike. The tanker drivers, who are members of the Transport Workers Union (TWU), voted to stop work after the breakdown of talks on a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) with [...]

Thursday, 16 February 2006 Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) yesterday denied allegations by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). The military choppers belonging to the Joint Task Force (JFT) on security in the Niger Delta used its Osubi Airport to launch attacks on private facilities in Warri, Delta State. A company [...]

By ANNE-SYLVAINE CHASSANY February 16, 2006; Page A2 PARIS — French oil company Total SA said the impact of the Sanofi-Aventis merger and a switch in accounting for inventory led to a 37% drop in quarterly earnings, despite a surge in global energy prices. However, high oil prices and solid refining margins led to a [...]

By STEPHEN BELL February 16, 2006 PERTH, Australia — Woodside Petroleum Ltd. said its 2005 net profit fell 3.4%, but revenue rose 29%, driven by high oil and gas prices. While the profit result met expectations, the operator of the multibillion-dollar North West Shelf gas project disappointed investors as it cut its 2006 production forecast [...]

Despite concern about declining oil stocks, the energy industry is booming and on the lookout for new recruits. Nick Jackson reports Published: 16 February 2006 Energy is big business. Just how big was shown last week when BP's share-price dropped after it published its annual report: �11bn profits were just not enough for BP shareholders. [...]

By Peggy Hollinger in Paris Published: February 15 2006 10:49 | Last updated: February 15 2006 21:50 Total, the world�s fourth largest oil group by income, on Wednesday reignited the debate about corporate profitability in France as it posted a record �12.6bn ($15bn) annual net profit on the back of last year�s high oil prices. [...]

Feb 16, 2006 Is investing in this valuable resource as much a no-brainer as it seems? OIL prices are at near record levels, American President George Bush has admitted his country is addicted to oil, and a slew of oil majors have produced billion-euro profits in the past few days. In light of this, investing [...]

By Deborah Brewster Published: February 16 2006 02:00 | Last updated: February 16 2006 02:00 Fidelity's flagship Magellan fund is undergoing a sharp change in direction, with its new manager dumping big-name US consumer stocks such as Home Depot and Pfizer and putting a quarter of the fund into overseas markets. Fidelity last October appointed [...]

Investment in Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 offshore projects being implemented under production sharing agreements, amounted to USD 4.662 billion in 2005, a source in the region administration�s economics committee told Interfax. In particular, investment in the Sakhalin-1 project amounted to USD 1.719 billion, and in the Sakhalin-2 project – USD 2.943 billion. The source said that [...]