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September 22nd, 2006:

Bloomberg: Rosneft to Win License Next to Exxon’s Sakhalin-1 (Update1)

By Garfield Reynolds and Lucian Kim

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) — OAO Rosneft, Russia’s state oil company, will win a license to explore for oil and gas at an offshore area bordering Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Sakhalin-1 project in the Pacific Ocean.

Rosneft was the only company to apply by the Sept. 14 deadline to take part in a planned auction of the license for the Lebedinsky field, said Nikolai Gudkov, a spokesman for the Natural Resources Ministry, today by phone. That means the auction will be canceled and the license awarded to Rosneft, he 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.

UpstreamOnline: Tepco waits on Sakhalin news

By Upstream staff

Asian utility Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) is not yet seeking alternative suppliers of liquefied natural gas as Shell’s Sakhalin 2 project faces the risk of delays.

The world’s single largest commercial LNG buyer is still gathering information about uncertainty regarding the $20 billion Sakhalin 2 project, the company’s president Tsunehisa Katsumata told a news conference.

It has committed to buy 1.5 million tonnes of the fuel from the Sakhalin 2 project every year, Reuters reported. 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.

BG News: Labeling terrorists should be left to government, not colleges

EXTRACT: As for Shell Oil, who you suggested should be included in a list of terrorist organizations with extremist groups like Hamas, I have trouble equating an unfortunate oil spill with a terrorist attack. Shell Oil did not set out to Nigeria with 56 million gallons of oil to intentionally spill it onto the farmland of the Ogonis. It was a very unfortunate incident indeed, but definitely not a terrorist attack. Furthermore, how do we expect Shell Oil to get into areas such as these for cleanup when the volatile Nigerian military government and the protesting Ogoni people are at each other’s throats? 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.

RIA Novosti: Russia has outgrown PSA (*Shell accused of inflating Sakhalin II costs?)

MOSCOW. (Igor Tomberg for RIA Novosti) – A Russian environment official has said recently that inspections of the large Sakhalin 2 energy project are to continue.

“We have not checked the stream flows and outside sea areas yet,” said Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of the Federal Service for the Oversight of Natural Resources. “Based on preliminary information, these checks can prove that the suspension of the project had been justified. We have the results of a study done by the Russian Academy of Sciences and reports of public organizations and environmentalists.” 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.

Mosnews: Russia’s Putin Heads to France for Talks

President Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin (above) arrives in Paris on Friday on a visit that will test Western responses to Moscow’s push to use its booming oil and gas revenues to gain a foothold in some of Europe’s key industries, Reuters reports.

Putin meets French President Jacques Chirac before the two leaders join German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a three-way meeting on Saturday where Moscow’s ambition to join the core of European aerospace group EADS will be a top issue. That will add an extra twist to the familiar themes of energy policy and Iran’s nuclear program that have dominated recent diplomacy between Russia and the West. 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 Wall Street Journal: COMMENTARY: The Power Broker

By PIERRE BRIANÇON
September 22, 2006

The picture has become much clearer over the last few days. The massive power play is now for all to see. Once again, Russia has not chosen subtlety to make its point.

Its acquisition of a 5% stake in Airbus parent company EADS has the stated goal of enlisting the pan-European aeronautics and defense company in the industrial modernization campaign President Vladimir Putin has launched. At stake are big markets for a troubled company. Moscow’s order for 22 of Airbus’s new A350 midsize airplanes has been left dangling in the wind for all to see. Give us a seat on the EADS board, the Russians are saying, or else. 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 Wall Street Journal: Russia Switches Focus to Exxon In Crackdown on Sakhalin Costs

A WALL STREET JOURNAL NEWS ROUNDUP
September 22, 2006; Page A6

Russia appeared to switch the focus of its attack on huge foreign-led projects to the Exxon Mobil Corp.-led Sakhalin I oil project, saying it would likely forbid a $4.2 billion cost overrun since that would cut Moscow’s profit from the venture.

Moscow has already taken aim at Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s massively overbudget Sakhalin II project, which it ordered partly halted for environmental infringements, prompting criticism from Japan and the European Union. 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 Times: Oil giants in legal row with Russia over joint projects

September 22, 2006
From Julian Evans in Moscow
 
RUSSIA and a group of oil multinationals have begun drawing the legal battle lines in a fight over the legitimacy of oil and gas production licences worth £40 billion.

Sergei Fyodorov, head of subsoil policy at the Russian Natural Resources Ministry, yesterday told the Reuters news agency that the Government was considering withdrawing the licence for ExxonMobil’s Sakhalin I offshore project because its costs are set to surge by 20 per cent to $17 billion (£8.9 billion). Higher costs mean delayed profits for the Russian State. 
 
Mr Fyodorov said that the Government’s lawyers had advised that this was grounds for the cancellation of Exxon’s licence. He also suggested that another so-called production-sharing agreement (PSA), with Total for the Kharyaga oilfield in northern Russia, could have its licence cancelled because the project was not being developed quickly enough.
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.

Daily Telegraph: Database: Energy: Friday 22 September 2006

• Premier Oil, a UK-based company operating in the North Sea, Asia and Africa, said first-half profit rose 64pc on higher oil and gas prices.

• John Wood, a UK oilfield services company, said it will provide additional services at UK oilfields to Total under an existing seven-year agreement.

• Sibir Energy will increase its stake in a venture that controls the Moscow Oil Refinery to 75pc this year, paying cash and assets, including a stake in a Siberian venture with Royal Dutch Shell Global Marine Energy. The stock rose. 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.

Lloyds List: Sakhalin II on course for 2008 start

Published: Sep 22, 2006

With the completion last month of the 800 m finger pier and LNG loading jetty at Prigorodnoye in Aniva Bay, at the southern tip of the Sakhalin Island, Russia’s Sakhalin II project is on course to begin exporting gas in the third quarter of 2008.

The Sakhalin II project not only represents the largest foreign direct investment scheme ever undertaken in Russia, it also marks the start of an ambitious programme to develop the country’s vast gas resources in the form of LNG. 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.

AFX Europe (Focus): Shell-led Sakhalin consortium warns Russia on environmental permit

Published: Sep 22, 2006

MOSCOW (XFN-ASIA) – A Shell-led consortium developing the Sakhalin-2 energy project warned that the Russian government’s move to retract an environment permit would cause “irreparable damage.”

The move “would lead to a significant delay in the project, extra costs and irreparable damage to the reputation of this venture, the Sakhalin region and the Russian Federation as a whole for failure to deliver gas to buyers,” Sakhalin Energy said in a statement. 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.

Lloyds List: Shell seeks help for Sakhalin ‘bullying’

By: Martyn Wingrove, Lloyds List
Published: Sep 22, 2006

SHELL-led consortium Sakhalin Energy has the backing of the Japanese and British governments and the European Union over its tangle with Russian authorities.

The Russian government is putting pressure on Shell and partners Mitsui and Mitsubishi over the developments on the Sakhalin II concession in what many see as a bullying tactic to gain more state control.

The natural resources ministry is threatening to cancel Sakhalin Energy’s project permits due to environmental damage from the building of oil and gas pipelines across the island. 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 Post (Canada): Oilsands projects could crumble

Oilsands projects could crumble, top investor warns: Costs worry Murray Edwards: ‘You start wondering at what point are projects still economic’

Published: Sep 22, 2006

BANFF, ALTA. – Canada’s top energy investor is bullish, long-term, on both oil and natural gas, but is also wary that Canada’s oilsands sector is so overheated projects could crumble without sustained high oil prices.

Murray Edwards, vice-chairman of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., said he doubts oilsands output will grow in Alberta as high as many are predicting. 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.

Irish Independent: Shell rules out offshore gas platform for Corrib Field

Published: Sep 22, 2006

A PLATFORM nearly as high as the Empire State Building would be required to process gas from the Corrib Field offshore, Shell has claimed.

Categorically ruling out the offshore alternative, Shell E&P Ireland (SEPIL) indicated that preliminary work on the onshore terminal at Bellanaboy would begin next week, despite the likelihood of protests and picketing.

Terry Nolan, deputy managing director, told a news briefing in Castlebar that offshore processing was not an option as the gas was 350m down in an area 83km out to sea where conditions are worse than in the North Sea. 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.

Irish Times: Shell rules out offshore platform in Atlantic

By: Lorna Siggins, in Castlebar, Co Mayo, Irish Times
Published: Sep 22, 2006

Shell E&P Ireland has firmly ruled out an offshore platform for the Corrib gas project, comparing any such structure to an “Empire State Building” in the Atlantic.

The company’s new deputy manager, Terry Nolan, said that no oil or gas company would ever contemplate such an option, located 83km offshore, and it was “never going to happen”.

However, Shell to Sea campaign spokesman Dr Mark Garavan said last night that it had always sought a shallow-water platform as the safer option. He said that the company was being “disingenuous” in suggesting that any such platform would be built as far out as the well-head. 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 Wall Street Journal: Oil News Roundup: September 21, 2006 5:01 p.m.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
September 21, 2006 5:01 p.m.

Crude-oil futures rebounded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, rising nearly $1 a barrel to settle at more than $61.50. Crude is still 20% below its all-time high close set in mid-July. Here is Thursday’s roundup of oil and energy news.

LOST ROYALTIES: The U.S. Interior Department said it was forgetting about $1.3 billion in royalties lost because of faulty drilling leases and is focusing its talks with oil companies on future production. Acting Assistant Secretary Johnnie Burton said “it would be very hard to recoup” revenue lost from oil already pumped under terms of the 1998-99 leases. The announcement came on the heels of a lawsuit alleging the Interior Department tried to keep auditors from collecting some $30 million in royalties major oil companies owed the government, according to a lawsuit filed by the auditors, the New York Times reports. 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.
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