September 18th, 2006:

By Nawaf Obaid in Riyadh

17 September 2006
* Iran and Venezuela ready to withhold oil * Iraq and Nigeria hampered by saboteurs
 
As Iran seems likely to flout any United Nation Security Council resolution regarding its uranium enrichment program, sanctions against Tehran could soon become a reality. And even if they aren’t initially applied to the country’s oil exports, they will have a major effect on energy markets, because Iran has threatened to cut oil supplies in retaliation.

To confront this challenge – as well as that from potential disruptions elsewhere – Saudi Arabia has embarked on a strategic energy initiative with the explicit objective of maintaining enough spare oil capacity to compensate for the loss of oil from two of Opec’s major oil exporting countries. read more

Australian Energy Player
Is Learning Tough Lesson
In Bid for Global Presence
By PATRICK BARTA
September 18, 2006; Page C3

PERTH, Australia — For years, Woodside Petroleum Ltd. was a relatively small regional energy company with good natural-gas assets off the coast of western Australia — and little else.

Then, Woodside went on a world-wide investment spree to diversify. It scooped up assets in the U.S., Libya and Mauritania, and dabbled in places like Kenya and Algeria. Late last month, Woodside offered $883 million for Energy Partners Ltd., a New Orleans company active in the Gulf of Mexico. read more

CANBERRA, Sept 18 Asia Pulse – The federal government has awarded 12 new permits for offshore oil exploration in Australia.

Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane said today the permits would boost investment in offshore exploration by more than $A270 million ($US202.7 million).

“These latest permits cover areas off Western and South Australia, as well as the Northern Territory, bringing the number of permits in Australian offshore waters to a record total of 190,” Mr Macfarlane said in a statement. read more

EXTRACTS: Tens of billions of dollars in equity are at stake, mostly of non-US companies and including two listed Chinese energy giants involved in Sudan’s rapidly growing oil industry which fuels the military with arms and other supplies.

Companies affected by the divestment campaign include PetroChina, Sinopec, ABB, Alstom, Siemens, Schlumberger, Tatneft of Russia, Italy’s Finmeccanica, Weir Group of the UK, and Shell.

THE ARTICLE

By Guy Dinmore in Washington
Published: September 18 2006 03:00 | Last updated: September 18 2006 03:00 read more

By Neil Buckley in Moscow
Published: September 18 2006 03:00 | Last updated: September 18 2006 03:00

Russian officials vowed to step up efforts to remove a key environmental permit for a $20bn natural gas project led by Royal Dutch Shell in the Russian fareast after the country’s prosecutor-general said the permit did not comply with the law.

The prosecutor’s statement, released on its website on Saturday, could significantly strengthen the hand of Russia’s environmental watchdog as it attempts to halt work on the massive Sakhalin-2 project, alleging abuses of environmental laws. read more

By Carola Hoyos and Ed Crooks in London
Published: September 17 2006 22:02 | Last updated: September 17 2006 22:02

BP, Europe’s second-biggest listed energy group, is set to launch a root and branch review of its global operations in response to last year’s Texas City refinery blast, in which 15 people died.

The revamp, to be led by John Mogford, vice-president of safety and operations, is likely to take 5-10 years and is on a scale similar to the overhaul Exxon began after its huge oil tanker spill at Alaska’s port of Valdez in 1989. read more

Sep 14th 2006

From The Economist print edition

Shell Malaysia chairman Saw Choo Boon) 

By Alfean Hardy

Shell Malaysia chairman Saw Choo Boon sees the main challenge in promoting growth of the company as coming from the development and motivation of its local workforce, and preventing complacency from setting in.

He said among the challenges he faced in ensuring growth was in people and talent development, particularly for Malaysians.

“How fast we can train Malaysians is a concern; we want to do it as fast as possible. I would love to see this whole business run by Malaysians,” he told FinancialDaily. read more