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May, 2006:

AFX Europe (Focus): Anglo American/Shell alliance may develop 5 bln aud Australian project – report

May 30, 2006
 
SYDNEY (XFN-ASIA) – Royal Dutch Shell group and mining giant Anglo American Corp have formed an alliance that may result in the 5 bln aud Monash synthetic diesel and electricity project being developed in the Australian state of Victoria, the Age newspaper reported, citing the companies.

Shell and Anglo have formed the global alliance to pursue “clean”, coal-converting energy opportunities and have nominated the Monash project as their leading candidate, the daily said. read more

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

Financial Times: Doubles partner goes solo

By Christopher Brown-Humesin Stockholm
Published: May 30 2006 03:00 | Last updated: May 30 2006 03:00

Talk about a hard act tofollow. When Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo takes over as chief executive of Nokia on Thursday, he will be stepping into the shoes of Jorma Ollila, who over 14 years built the company into the world’s leading maker of mobile phones, a man repeatedly hailed as one of Europe’s top businessmen.

Not that 52-year-old Mr Kallasvuo appears daunted. “Mr Ollila is a hard act to follow. But I am not looking back, I am looking forward to the tasks and challenges ahead,” he tells the FT. read more

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

Financial Times: Putin’s double vision

Published: May 30 2006 03:00 | Last updated: May 30 2006 03:00

There are many reasons to express doubts about the move by Arcelor, the Luxembourg-based steel group, to buy Severstal of Russia in order to sidestep the hostile bid by Mittal Steel. One is the way the Arcelor board is presenting the takeover as a done deal, which only an absolute majority of all shareholders will be able to reject. A second is the opportunity for yet another oligarch’s fortune to leave Russia, with Alexei Mordashov picking up nearly one-third of Arcelor in return for his90 per cent of Severstal.
But the reason to welcome this deal, which will have been cleared in advance with the Kremlin, is that Vladimir Putin, the president, is evidently showing none of the neurosis about one of his country’s top two steelmakers coming under foreign control that he displays about foreign ownership in Russia’s energy sector. If only his evidently relaxed view on Severstal could become the template for a more general Russian openness to foreign investment. But only last week, at his summit with the European Union, Mr Putin was touchily describing the energy sector as “the holy of holies of our economy” and demanding reciprocity for any EU investment in it. read more

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

Financial Times: China region feels weight of industrial revolution

By Tom Mitchell in Daya Bay
Published: May 30 2006 01:39 | Last updated: May 30 2006 01:39

South China’s first industrial revolution bypassed Donglian, a poor village on the picturesque shores of Daya Bay. The factory sprawl that raced through Guangdong province’s manufacturing heartland in the 1980s and 1990s never reached this corner of the Pearl River delta, 80km north-east of Hong Kong. Even as the 20th century gave way to the 21st, Donglian’s residents still used water buffalo to plough their rice paddies.
 
Then Guangdong’s second industrial revolution landed right on top of Donglian in the form of CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Company (CSPC) – Royal Dutch Shell’s $4.3bn (€3.4bn, £2.3bn) petrochemical joint venture with offshore oil producer CNOOC. Donglian’s ramshackle concrete and brick dwellings were razed, its wooded hills flattened and ancestral graves transplanted. read more

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

Reuters: Oil tops $71.50 on Iran concern, ahead of OPEC

By Neil Chatterjee

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices rose toward $72 on Tuesday, as a dispute between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear programme rumbled on and OPEC delegates said the cartel would keep pumping at near maximum rates to soothe market fears.

U.S. crude for July delivery was trading 38 cents up at $71.75 a barrel by 0053 GMT. London Brent crude traded 32 cents up at $70.91, after both markets were closed on Monday for holidays.

“The gains are a little surprising but people are looking at Iran and waiting for the big OPEC meeting,” said Tetsu Emori, chief commodities strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo. read more

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

Sydney Morning Herald: Anglo signs Shell to Latrobe brown coal project

By Barry FitzGerald
May 30, 2006

PROSPECTS for the vast brown coal resources in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley to host a $5 billion synthetic diesel and electricity project have soared.

Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell has thrown its money and technology behind the project, the Monash energy project near Traralgon, in a global alliance with the project promoter, South Africa’s Anglo American.

Shell and Anglo have formed the alliance to pursue “clean” coal conversion energy opportunities and have nominated the Monash project as their leading candidate. read more

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

MarketWatch: Petrobras, Shell to lose Bolivia gas stations — report

Last Update: 10:49 AM ET May 29, 2006

RIO DE JANEIRO (MarketWatch) — Brazil’s state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR), or Petrobras, Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB.LN), and other private firms within a month will have to turn over their Bolivian gas station network to state-energy firm Yacimientos Petroliferas Fiscales Bolivianos, or YPFB, the Estado newswire said Monday.

Petrobras owns about 25% of Bolivia’s gas stations.

The transfer of the fuel distribution business also hits the companies Copenac, Pisco, Refipet, and Pexim, the newswire said. read more

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

The Guardian: China invites oil firms to join invasion of Tibet

Terry Macalister
Tuesday May 30, 2006

The Chinese government is to woo foreign companies such as BP and Shell to explore for oil in Tibet.

The controversial move follows a failure by the partly state-owned PetroChina to realise Beijing’s hopes that the disputed land could quickly become a major source of fuel for energy-starved China.

PetroChina is to oversee the opening up of 10 exploration blocks for foreign participation in the Qiantang basin, in the far north of Tibet. The company has asked its Daqing Oilfield subsidiary to prepare a package of data and bidding documents that it will present to foreign oil companies in the second half of this year. read more

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

Financial Times: International companies: Big profits and big troubles

By Thomas Catan
Published: May 29 2006 13:34 | Last updated: May 29 2006 13:34

Amid soaring energy prices, international oil companies are making unprecedented profits.
 
ExxonMobil posted the largest annual profit in corporate history this year. BP, Royal Dutch Shell and the other “supermajors” are having a difficult time working out what to do with the money.

Over the past two years, the largest oil companies have returned well over $120bn to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. Exxon alone is returning more than $2bn to investors each month. read more

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

The Guardian: Arcelor merges with Russian steel group in final snub to Mittal’s €25bn bid

David Gow in Brussels
Saturday May 27, 2006
The Guardian

Arcelor, the pan-European steel group, yesterday torpedoed Mittal’s latest hostile takeover bid by buying Russia’s Severstal in an agreed 13bn euro (£8.8bn) deal designed to create an “unrivalled global champion” out of reach of its Indian-owned predator. The friendly transaction will see Alexei Mordashov, who owns 89% of Severstal, take 32% of the new group and, potentially, become its chief executive and even owner within a few years. read more

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

Monsters and Critics.com: Industry divided on energy from coal


ST. LOUIS, MO, United States (UPI) — U.S. energy industry leaders are divided on the best way to produce energy from coal — with some providers showing reluctance to adopt cleaner technology.

U.S. coal reserves could last at least 200 years at the current rate of energy consumption, but coal is largely responsible for increases in global warming, The New York Times reported.

A 500-megawatt coal-fired electricity plant that generates enough power for 500,000 homes annually produces roughly the same emissions as 750,000 cars, Royal Dutch Shell estimates. read more

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

MarketWatch: Petrobras, Shell to lose Bolivia gas stations — report


  

May 29, 2006
 

RIO DE JANEIRO (MarketWatch) — Brazil’s state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR), or Petrobras, Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB.LN), and other private firms within a month will have to turn over their Bolivian gas station network to state-energy firm Yacimientos Petroliferas Fiscales Bolivianos, or YPFB, the Estado newswire said Monday.
 

Petrobras owns about 25% of Bolivia’s gas stations.
 

The transfer of the fuel distribution business also hits the companies Copenac, Pisco, Refipet, and Pexim, the newswire said.
  read more

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

The Independent: Shell and Statoil seek partner for new ‘clean energy’ project

By Tim Webb

Published: 28 May 2006

Shell and Norwegian oil company Statoil are seeking a partner for their revolutionary $1.5bn (£800m) project to take millions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from a new power station and pump it under the sea.

The two companies, which announced plans for the carbon sequestration project in March, want a third company to build and operate the power station.

They are expected to approach Norwegian energy giant Norsk Hydro, Danish firm Elsam and US chemicals group DuPont, among others, about joining the venture. Informal discussions with some companies have already taken place. read more

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

The Independent: Russia seeks to seize control of Sakhalin

By Andrew Osborn in Moscow

Published: 26 May 2006
Royal Dutch Shell’s flagship investment in Russia was facing uncertainty last night after the Natural Resources Ministry threatened to scale back the company’s stake in a huge liquefied natural gas project to allow the Kremlin greater control.
The threat concerns the Sakhalin-2 project, the largest direct foreign investment in Russia, and a venture that will result in the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas plant in the far east of Russia. Shell has a 55 per cent stake in the $10bn (£5.3bn) project while two Japanese firms own the other two stakes. The Russian government has a revenue-sharing arrangement with the consortium but is known to be keen to get a direct stake in the project as Moscow seeks to bring more strategic energy reserves under the Kremlin’s control.
President Vladimir Putin has already urged Shell to honour a promise it apparently made to surrender a 25 per cent stake in the project in exchange for a share of a Siberian gas field.
Yesterday the pressure intensified when the Natural Resources Minister said it supported radical advice it had received from the country’s Academy of Natural Science urging it to take a 51 per cent stake in three different revenue-sharing projects including Sakhalin-2.
“The Academy suggests boosting the presence of Russian companies in these consortiums to 51 per cent as one of the measures to boost efficiency,” it said.
The other two projects were the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas venture, in which Exxon has a 30 per cent stake, and a large oil extraction operation in Russia’s far north in which Total is involved.
The ministry said it intended to act on the academics’ recommendation and to write to other government ministries to “correct the situation”.
Shell declined to comment but is known to have incurred the Kremlin’s wrath due to massive cost overruns on Sakhalin-2, which have prompted the Anglo-Dutch firm to ask the government to allow it to double its investment to $20bn.
There were also reports that the Natural Resources Ministry intended to take legal action against Total, a company the authorities believe is mismanaging its Russian investments, and to initiate detailed investigations into the efficiency of Shell and Exxon.
When revenue-sharing projects such as Sakhalin-2 were launched in the 1990s, Russia was relaxed about giving foreign firms large stakes in big oil and gas projects, but under Vladimir Putin that policy has changed and Russian, often state-controlled, firms usually take a 51 per cent stake.
The Natural Resource Ministry’s threat came on a day when Mr Putin told a summit of EU leaders the West could count on Russia as a reliable energy partner. read more

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

THE NEW YORK TIMES: 2 Industry Leaders Bet on Coal but Split on Cleaner Approach

Published: May 28, 2006
WRIGHT, Wyo. — More than a century ago a blustery Wyoming politician named Fenimore Chatterton boasted that his state alone had enough coal to “weld every tie that binds, drive every wheel, change the North Pole into a tropical region, or smelt all hell!”

Skip to next paragraph Peabody Energy, left; Brendan McDermid/Reuters, right

Gregory Boyce, of Peabody Energy, left, and Michael Morris of American Electric Power disagree on a new technology.

Multimedia

Audio Slide Show: The Return of King Coal

Audio Slide Show: The Return of King Coal

A Closer Look at Coal

Interactive Graphic: A Closer Look at Coal

The Energy Challenge

Green, at a Cost

Articles in this series will periodically examine the ways in which the world is, and is not, moving toward a more energy-efficient, environmentally benign future. read more

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

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