June 14th, 2006:

June 14, 2006
 
With the recent militant attacks in Niger Delta, oil companies have been forced to halt operations in the region resulting in Nigeria losing a massive $40 million a day as 550 000 barrels of oil are not being produced.
 
By Martin Ayankola

Nigeria’s daily oil production will approach three million barrels per day (bpd) if the oil fields that were closed down in the wake of militant attacks on oil installations in the Niger Delta return to full operations, said the minister of state for petroleum and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) president, Dr Edmund Daukoru. read more

Wednesday, June 14, 2006 10:11:29 AM ET

1301 GMT [Dow Jones] Tullow Oil (TLW.DB) -2.3% at 301p, selling off after brief spike to 315p. Traders note earlier speculation that Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) was looking at the company, but Tullow Oil has said it was not aware of any approach, while Royal Dutch Shell declined to comment. The company has frequently been the target of bid speculation in the past, note traders. (PBA)
 
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By Greg Palast,
Posted June 14, 2006.

World oil production today stands at more than twice the 15-billion a-year maximum projected by Shell Oil in 1956 — and reserves are climbing at a faster clip yet. That leaves the question, Why this war?

Did Dick Cheney send us in to seize the last dwindling supplies? Unlikely. Our world’s petroleum reserves have doubled in just twenty-five years — and it is in Shell’s and the rest of the industry’s interest that this doubling doesn’t happen again. The neo-cons were hell-bent on raising Iraq’s oil production. Big Oil’s interest was in suppressing production, that is, keeping Iraq to its OPEC quota or less. This raises the question, did the petroleum industry, which had a direct, if hidden, hand, in promoting invasion, cheerlead for a takeover of Iraq to prevent overproduction? read more

Jun. 13, 2006. 06:50 PM
CANADIAN PRESS

CALGARY — Shell Canada (TSX: SHC) said Tuesday it had received approvals from the federal industry minister and Competition Bureau for its $2.4-billion takeover bid for BlackRock Ventures Inc. (TSX: BVI).

Shell said it is encouraging BlackRock shareholders to tender their common shares soon as possible. The offer remains open until 1:01 a.m. MT on Friday, unless it’s withdrawn or extended by Shell Canada.

Under the friendly takeover deal, announced in May, Shell is offering $24 per BlackRock share — a 27 per cent premium over the May 5 closing price of $18.88 before the announcement. read more

Wed 14 Jun 2006
STEPHEN MCGINTY

SHELL endangered the lives of hundreds of staff by operating North Sea oil platforms that were known to have “dangerously high levels of risk”, according to a former senior manager with the British-Dutch company.

A major review of seven offshore platforms revealed the falsification of safety compliance documents, a backlog of temporary repairs and repeated violations of operating procedures.

Official handover notes from one shift worker contained the order “TFA”, which meant “touch f*** all”. This meant that important safety equipment, repairs of which would result in the shut-down of production, was left to rust. read more

Oil giant Shell has been accused of operating platforms in the North Sea at dangerously high risk levels.

Former senior manager Bill Campbell, who led a safety review, claimed the company ignored his warning in 1999 that an accident was bound to happen.

Four years later two men were killed by a gas leak on the Brent Bravo platform.

Shell dismissed the claims. It said: “The allegation regarding operating with high risk levels is untrue and we absolutely refute this.”

The company added that it had responded to the review and put a detailed improvement plan in place. read more

Crude Calculations

Middle East Consumes More
As U.S. Seeks Security;
‘Higher Prices for Years’
What Sen. Lugar Saw in Libya
By BHUSHAN BAHREE and CHIP CUMMINS
June 14, 2006; Page A1

There is more to today’s oil crunch than temporary jolts to supply and demand. What is also roiling the energy world is an enduring shift in the balance of power between the fuel-guzzling West and oil-rich developing countries.

Since World War II, the industrialized world has relied on stable and affordable supplies of crude to fuel economic growth. The U.S., Europe and Japan together needed more oil than they could produce. The developing world had plenty of oil, but little use for it and few alternative markets. So industrialized countries tapped the cheap resources of poor ones. read more

Oil prices tumbled again, shedding nearly $2 to settle at less than $69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on worries that rising interest rates will choke global economic growth and demand for oil. Here is Tuesday’s roundup of oil and energy news.

* * *
INVESTING IN GREEN: Despite the recent tumble in oil prices, many companies are still planning for a future that includes expensive crude. In Tokyo, Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe told reporters the world’s soon-to-be No. 1 auto maker plans to double its line of gasoline-electric hybrid cars by 2010 and pump more money into researching plug-in electric cars. And in Paris, Archer Daniels Midland CEO Patricia A. Woertz told an analyst conference the agricultural products giant plans to double its spending on ethanol, biodiesel and similar projects to between $3.5 billion and $4 billion in the next few years — projects that will be profitable even if oil falls stays below $70 a barrel, Ms. Woertz said. read more