July 15th, 2006:

Stephen O’Brien, Political Correspondent
16 July 2006
 
PETER Cassells, the mediator in the Shell gas dispute in Mayo, is expected to recommend an alternative land route for the company’s controversial pipeline in a final report to Noel Dempsey, the energy minister.

Cassells, the former general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, announced last week that his seven months of talks with Shell, local objectors in Rossport, and the wider North Mayo community had failed to reach agreement. But he promised to outline “the ingredients of a way forward” in a series of recommendations to be given to Dempsey before the end of the month. 
 
Cassells may stop short of specifying a compromise route for the pipeline, but a number of sources close to the mediation process expect he will recommend a move away from the route planned along the southern side of the Rossport peninsula. This will take it “away from the houses” owned by four of the five men jailed for three months last year for refusal to follow a court order. read more

TYSON SLOCUM, Washington, D.C. – Letter 
(Director of Public Citizen’s energy program.)
July 15. 2006 8:00AM

EXTRACT: The European Renewable Energy Council, the International Energy Agency and even Shell Oil have all conducted studies demonstrating the feasibility of moving to renewable technologies such as wind, solar, geothermal and wave/tidal power. These sources can more quickly reduce CO2 emissions and meet U.S. energy needs in the coming decades without the cost, risk and burden of nuclear power.  read more

Royal Dutch Shell Plc .com

EXTRACT: “Brian Straub, Shell’s senior vice president for oil sands, said the company wants to assure itself that “we can execute successfully … right now our focus is on mitigating the costs and risks.”

THE ARTICLE

Shares of leading oil sands players have taken a hit in the latest shake-up resulting from capital cost overruns.

Amir Arif, an analyst with Friedman Billings Ramsey, triggered a 2 percent drop in Suncor Energy shares July 10 by suggesting that investors “should be taking profits” because the risk of falling short-term oil prices along with cost inflation “mutes our near-term enthusiasm” for the oil sands. read more

From Bloomberg News

EXTRACT: “Royal Dutch Shell, the second- largest European oil company, and Shenhua Ningxia, a unit of Shenhua Group, China’s biggest coal producer, will study the technical and commercial viability of building a 70,000 barrel-a-day plant in the northern Chinese province of Ningxia, the companies said this week.”

THE ARTICLE
 
HONG KONG China, the world’s biggest energy consumer after the United States, on Friday announced restrictions on projects that turn coal into liquid fuels and chemicals to avoid overcapacity and the waste of resources.
 
China will not approve coal-to-fuel, or synfuel, projects that have an annual production capacity of less than three million metric tons, the National Development and Reform Commission, the top Chinese economic planning agency, said in a statement on its Web site.
 
Record oil costs are spurring China to build plants that can turn some of its coal reserves, the world’s third-largest, into auto fuels and raw materials for making plastics. Sasol of South Africa, the biggest producer of motor fuel from coal, said last month that China had the potential for at least 12 coal-to- fuel plants.
 
“The development of coal-to-chemicals is important in reducing the dependence on oil,” the commission said in the statement. But “the projects have to match market demand and the different economical and environmental conditions.”
 
Coal-to-methanol and coal-to-dimethyl-ether projects with annual capacity of less than one million tons as well as coal-to-olefin projects with capacity of less than 600,000 tons will not be approved, the statement said.
 
Methanol and olefin are used as raw materials to produce plastics, and dimethyl-ether is used in the manufacture of rubber and pharmaceuticals.
 
China produced 5.4 million tons of methanol in 2005, and nine million tons of additional capacity is being built, according to the statement.
 
Royal Dutch Shell, the second- largest European oil company, and Shenhua Ningxia, a unit of Shenhua Group, China’s biggest coal producer, will study the technical and commercial viability of building a 70,000 barrel-a-day plant in the northern Chinese province of Ningxia, the companies said this week.
 
Shenhua Group owns a majority stake in Shenhua Ningxia, and Ningxia Coal Industry Group owns the rest. Shenhua Group is the parent of Hong Kong-listed China Shenhua Energy.
 
Sasol and Shenhua Ningxia last month signed an initial agreement for an 80,000 barrel-a-day coal-to-fuels plant in Ningxia.
 
 HONG KONG China, the world’s biggest energy consumer after the United States, on Friday announced restrictions on projects that turn coal into liquid fuels and chemicals to avoid overcapacity and the waste of resources.
 
China will not approve coal-to-fuel, or synfuel, projects that have an annual production capacity of less than three million metric tons, the National Development and Reform Commission, the top Chinese economic planning agency, said in a statement on its Web site.
 
Record oil costs are spurring China to build plants that can turn some of its coal reserves, the world’s third-largest, into auto fuels and raw materials for making plastics. Sasol of South Africa, the biggest producer of motor fuel from coal, said last month that China had the potential for at least 12 coal-to- fuel plants.
 
“The development of coal-to-chemicals is important in reducing the dependence on oil,” the commission said in the statement. But “the projects have to match market demand and the different economical and environmental conditions.”
 
Coal-to-methanol and coal-to-dimethyl-ether projects with annual capacity of less than one million tons as well as coal-to-olefin projects with capacity of less than 600,000 tons will not be approved, the statement said.
 
Methanol and olefin are used as raw materials to produce plastics, and dimethyl-ether is used in the manufacture of rubber and pharmaceuticals.
 
China produced 5.4 million tons of methanol in 2005, and nine million tons of additional capacity is being built, according to the statement.
 
Royal Dutch Shell, the second- largest European oil company, and Shenhua Ningxia, a unit of Shenhua Group, China’s biggest coal producer, will study the technical and commercial viability of building a 70,000 barrel-a-day plant in the northern Chinese province of Ningxia, the companies said this week.
 
Shenhua Group owns a majority stake in Shenhua Ningxia, and Ningxia Coal Industry Group owns the rest. Shenhua Group is the parent of Hong Kong-listed China Shenhua Energy.
 
Sasol and Shenhua Ningxia last month signed an initial agreement for an 80,000 barrel-a-day coal-to-fuels plant in Ningxia. 
 
International Herald Tribune read more

From TheStreet.com

By Kristina Shevory, Staff Reporter
7/14/2006 3:57 PM EDT    

Updated from 12:09 p.m. EDT

EXTRACT: “Africa’s largest crude producer has lost as much as a quarter of its oil production, or 631,000 barrels per day, due to the attacks, with Royal Dutch Shell  feeling the brunt of them.”

THE ARTICLE

Oil rose again Friday, touching a record high for a third straight day, as Iran warned Israel against escalating a military offensive that has claimed more than 50 lives. The gains were pared when OPEC reassured the market it remained committed to order and stability. read more

From The Associated Press
 
EXTRACT: “…Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer discussed opportunities for further joint projects during a meeting Friday. Shell has expressed interest in investing in Venezuela’s oil-rich Orinoco River basin.”

THE ARTICLE

CARACAS (AP)–Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) became the first major oil company to finalize a joint venture agreement with the Venezuelan government that brings oil pumping operations under state control.

The Anglo-Dutch company signed a new contract replacing its previous agreement to independently pump oil at the Urdaneta West field, the state-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, said in a statement late Friday. read more

FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
Oil News Roundup
July 14, 2006 8:51 p.m.

EXTRACT: “Robert Malone, the newly appointed chief executive of BP PLC’s American businesses, has a tough job ahead of him after a series of recent safety, environmental and compliance stumbles by the company have triggered regulatory and criminal investigations.”

THE ARTICLE

Crude-oil futures rose again on the New York Mercantile Exchange as Mideast violence intensified. After crossing $78 a barrel in overnight trading, the front-month oil contract settled at more than $77, a fresh record. Here’s Friday’s roundup of oil and energy news. read more

From The Irish Times
Published: Jul 15, 2006

EXTRACT: “…once the row over Shell Exploration and Production’s pipeline plan is resolved. It is estimated to hold seven trillion cubic feet of gas – enough to supply 60 per cent of the Irish market for 10 years.”

THE ARTICLE

Ireland is the ninth most oil-dependent economy in the world – how well prepared will we be when the world’s supply of oil and gas runs out, asks Frank McDonald , Environment Editor

One thousand barrels per second – that’s the staggering level of current oil consumption worldwide. President George Bush, an oilman to his core, admitted last February that the US is “addicted to oil”. But so too is the rest of the world – including Ireland; we are even more dependent on imported oil than the gas-guzzling US. read more

By: POST REPORTERS, Bangkok Post – Thailand
Published: Jul 15, 2006

“…Tiraphot Vacharaphai, the chairman of Shell Co of Thailand, said PTT should increase its prices to match those of its rivals and eliminate any market distortions.”

Tensions in the Middle East could push the prices for refined petroleum products in Singapore as high as $100 per barrel by the end of the year, according to Anusorn Sangnimnuan, the president of Bangchak Petroleum Plc.

Local pump prices will reach a new high today after oil companies, with the exception of PTT Plc, announced a 40- satang increase in their pump prices in line with higher world crude prices. read more

From The Financial Times
By Joanna Chung and Nikki Tait in London and Arkady Ostrovsky in Moscow

Published: July 14 2006 19:55 | Last updated: July 14 2006 19:55

“BP and Malaysia’s Petronas took stakes worth about $1bn each.”

Rosneft, the state-controlled oil company, on Friday raised $10.4bn in Russia’s biggest initial public offering as the country seeks to demonstrate its weight and power in the global financial markets.

The IPO, which comes on the eve of Russia hosting the summit of the G8 meeting of leading industrialised nations, is also the world’s sixth biggest. The flotation attracted strong demand from investors, particularly from oil companies and Russian investors. read more

From Petroleum News

“Imperial, lead partner in the Mackenzie Gas Project, with Shell Canada, ConocoPhillips Canada and ExxonMobil Canada as its partners, flatly rejected that idea…”

The Article

Faced with increasingly bleak natural gas exploration prospects, Canada’s Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Sea has seen its troubles compounded by a National Energy Board ruling that could give independent E&Ps second thoughts about embarking on new wells.

Canada’s energy regulator sided with Imperial Oil in its disagreement with six explorers who wanted the proposed gas gathering pipelines and main line down the Mackenzie Valley declared a “single pipeline” falling under NEB jurisdiction. read more