August 24th, 2006:

Last Update: 3:06 PM ET Aug 24, 2006

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (MarketWatch) — Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, a unit of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN), and the United Nations Development Program will spend $18 million on a development program in the Niger Delta, the unit’s chief executive said Thursday.

Shell will contribute $14 million out of the total, Basil Omiyi said at the start of a two-day conference on development in the region.

The conference is a follow-up to the launch last month of a report on development in the Niger Delta, which found that the quality of development there lagged behind that in similar regions with oil and gas resources. read more

Shell executives believe they can now produce oil from shale at a profit
Updated: 11:38 a.m. ET Aug. 23, 2006

We have an energy problem. There’s no argument about it. Of course, the argument lies in how to fix it, whether it’s fixable at all, and when it can be fixed. On Colorado’s western slope, under the big sky, near a town called Meeker, quietly and often secretly, for decades scientists have been probing hundreds of feet into the Earth.

They’re trying to extract what is believed to be the largest oil reserve in the world. More oil than in Saudi Arabia or Iraq. But, there’s just one problem: It’s trapped in rock called shale. read more

Last Update: 11:01 AM ET Aug 24, 2006
Warnings with “*” added by ShellNews.net

HOUSTON, Aug 24, 2006 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Shell has awarded a $1 million research project to the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department of Ohio State University for research in CO2-Hydrogen membrane separation.

This investment is part of a broader Shell strategy to invest and develop technologies that would benefit the commercialization of hydrogen.

This research examines a novel approach to membrane separation technology used in production of hydrogen from fossil fuels. The benefits of this particular technology are that unlike conventional methods, this process allows separation of pure CO2 at a lower cost. This is essential for economical carbon capture and sequestration, which allows zero-emission production of hydrogen. In addition, this technology may lower the cost of producing hydrogen, bringing it closer to commercialization. read more

LONDON (AFX) – Shell Petroleum Development Co has denied accusations by Nigeria’s House of Representatives that the oil group ‘underpaid’ the government around 3.2 bln usd.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC owns 30 pct of SPDC, while state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp controls 55 pct. France’s Total SA and Italy’s Agip hold the remaining 10 pct and 5 pct, respectively.

The lower house is currently looking into allegations that SPDC ‘underpaid’ Nigeria 3.2 bln usd in respect to the crude oil it extracted there in 2000. read more

By Russ Baker, AlterNet. Posted August 24, 2006.

EXTRACT: Other B-M clients have included… Royal Dutch Shell (charged with a massive financial fraud in a U.S. class action lawsuit brought by the UNITE National Retirement Fund and the Plumbers and Pipefitters National Pension Fund);

THE ARTICLE

They claim to be ‘centrists,’ but these D.C. Dems — whose corporate agendas aren’t too different from Bush administration policies — are living proof that the system needs fixing. read more

By KNUT EVENSEN in Stavanger

Shell is aiming to make about 15 “big cat” find this year, the same number it targeted in 2005.  The supermajor defines a “big cat” as a discovery in which its equity interest is more than 100 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Speaking at the ONS conference in Stavanger, Shell vice president for exploration David Lawrence would not give details about results so far this year, but said: “We will drill roughly 15 big cats. We’re doing fine.”

Last year the supermajor also targeted 15 big cats in Australia, West Africa – particularly Nigeria – the Middle East and Gulf of Mexico. It made seven discoveries. read more

By Upstream staff

Militants in the Niger Delta oil patch threatened today to avenge the killing of at least 10 of their fighters and restated their aim to halt all the country’s crude exports.

The militants were killed during an attempt to free a hostage on Sunday night when their boat ran into a heavily armed military convoy on Brass Creek in the southern state of Bayelsa.

The hostage, a Nigerian Shell employee, was also killed in the fighting.

“Our response to Sunday’s killings will come at our time, but for certain it will not go unpunished,” the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said in an email to Reuters. read more

EXTRACT FROM POSTED COMMENT: It is therefore no surprise if, as appears to be the case, some senior Shell executives, such as Greg Hill, are troubled by their consciences. In my experience, Mr Brinded is not a man who will allow scruples or conscience to stand in the way of his ambition. The same ruthless attitude seems to apply to the lives of offshore workers.

THE ARTICLE

IAN FORSYTH
08:50 – 24 August 2006
 
One of the top bosses in Aberdeen with oil group Shell is being promoted to a post in Asia-Pacific, he confirmed at the ONS oil show in Stavanger yesterday. read more

IAN FORSYTH: 08:50 – 24 August 2006
 
Scotland Office Minister David Cairns defended the performance of the Health and Safety Executive in UK waters.

Mr Cairns, who was attending an ONS press conference yesterday, was asked if the HSE was up to carrying out its role, in light of recent criticism.

He replied: “I have no reason at all to doubt the competency of the HSE.”

In July, a union leader called for a thorough inquiry into the role of the HSE on North Sea oil and gas platforms. read more

By Estelle Shirbon

Abuja – Nigeria’s oil workers’ unions may pull their members from the Niger Delta over safety fears following a spate of abductions by militants and a military crackdown, the head of one of the unions said on Wednesday.

The two oil unions have called an emergency meeting after a bloody shoot-out on Sunday between troops and militants during a botched attempt to free a Nigerian hostage in the delta. The hostage, an employee of Royal Dutch Shell, was killed in the gunfight. read more

EXTRACT: The nation’s biggest coal company, China Shenhua Group, has teamed up with global technology leaders Royal Dutch Shell and South Africa-based Sasol on a joint study of coal-to-liquids projects in China, which aims to convert coal into 30 million tons of oil by 2020.

THE ARTICLE
 
China, the world’s second-biggest energy consumer, plans to spend 800 million yuan (US$100 million) over the next 10 years to study next-generation fuel, called natural gas hydrates, that could possibly ease the nation’s increasing reliance on oil imports in the long run. read more

Full Headline: Offshore Rigs in an Insurance Quandary Still Hampered By Hurricane Damage, Drillers Say Protection is Getting Scarce
 
Bloomberg
By Jim Kennett

The Deepwater Nautilus rig owned by Transocean should have spent the past two months drilling for oil and natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico, earning $220,000 a day. Instead, the vessel sat idle in a Texas shipyard.

Workers last week finished the latest round of repairs on the Nautilus: Hurricane Katrina tore the 50,277-ton rig from its moorings and Hurricane Rita grounded it almost a year ago. The 2005 storms have cost Transocean, the largest offshore driller, about $135 million in repairs, downtime and equipment upgrades. read more

EXTRACTS: At least 508,000 bpd, or about a sixth of Nigeria’s output capacity, have been shut in due to militant attacks and pipeline leaks this year, with its largest producer Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) most affected.

Six foreign workers kidnapped in Nigeria were released on Wednesday, though the head of one of the country’s oil workers unions said the unions may pull their members from the oil-producing Niger Delta on safety fears following a spate of abductions.

THE ARTICLE
 
By REUTERS
Published: August 24, 2006
Filed at 3:44 a.m. ET read more

By David Robertson
August 24, 2006
 
BHP BILLITON, the world’s largest mining company, launched itself into competition with the oil and gas giants ExxonMobil, BP and Shell yesterday as it pledged to commit billions of dollars to the petroleum sector.

BHP, which announced record profits up 63 per cent to $10.5 billion (£5.6 billion), is planning to more than double its petroleum production within three years. Analysts regard this as a huge increase in an industry where the costs of raising production are measured in billions of dollars. 
 
By 2009 the Anglo-Australian miner will have oil production equivalent to almost one fifth of BP’s current daily output. Its gas production will be equivalent to almost a quarter of the output of BP. read more

Published: Aug 24, 2006

THE world’s top oil companies are manoeuvring intently to win a stake in their oilfield of choice when Iraq finally opens to multibillion dollar investment.

From a safe distance, multinationals are poring over data from Iraq’s most promising oilfields and some of its older workhorses to gain the edge when the bidding begins.

Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani has signalled the race for oilfield deals worth $20 billion could start this autumn. But oil men, noting a lack of security and investment law, are under no illusion that drilling is imminent. read more

EXTRACTS: …a licence was awarded to Statoil and its partner Shell, despite the opposition to Shell’s Corrib gas onshore pipeline in Mayo.

“We call for a full investigation into these licences and the tax deals that have been given to oil companies over the years.”

THE ARTICLE

By: Gabrielle Monaghan, Irish Times
Published: Aug 24, 2006

The Government is seeking expert independent advice as it undertakes a review of the way in which exploration licences are currently issued.

The move follows last week’s granting of four licences to companies, including Statoil, to explore for oil and gas off the Donegal coast. That announcement led to calls for a parliamentary investigation into how the State allocates licences and the benefits that accrue to large oil companies. read more