October 6th, 2006:

Latin American-based Oil Companies Invest Hundreds of Millions to Deliver Clean Performances
Last Update: 3:00 PM ET Oct 6, 2006

MIAMI and MADRID, Oct 06, 2006 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Among the big Latin American oil/gas companies, Shell and Petrobras are the most effective at sustainability, social, ethical and governance programs, according to a study by Management & Excellence and LatinFinance.

    The Biggest and Best Six in Latin America

    1) Shell: 90.26%
    2) Petrobras: 79.94%
    3) Repsol: 79.08%
    4) Chevron: 77.08%
    5) Pemex: 53.58%
    6) Enap: 44.99% read more

19:40 | 06/ 10/ 2006 

MOSCOW, October 6 (RIA Novosti) – Russia can receive no more than 15% of hydrocarbon output in the Sakhalin I energy project given the way the project has been implemented since 1997, Russia’s financial watchdog said Friday.

U.S. oil major Exxon Neftegas Limited operates the project under a production-sharing agreement (PSA). Apart from the American giant, the Sakhalin-I international consortium comprises Russia’s state-controlled Rosneft (20%), India’s ONGC (20%), and Japan’s Sodeco (30%). read more

Fri 6 Oct 2006 15:28:37 BST
(Updates with quotes)

By Tom Ashby

ABUJA, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Gun battles between Nigerian militants and troops in the Niger Delta forced Royal Dutch Shell to shut a 9,000 barrels-a-day oil platform and pull out some staff, company sources said on Friday.

The closure of the Ekulama I flow station in the eastern delta was the first impact on oil output from a surge in violence this week, and adds to almost 500,000 barrels a day shut since February in the western delta. read more

(Rossport Five member, Willie Corduff (centre – right – of front row) with other “Shell to Sea” campaigners) 

In the wake of Tuesday’s dramatic events outside the gates of Shell’s proposed refinery site at Bellanaboy, campaigners were out in force Wednesday and Thursday undeterred by the heavy police presence and inclement weather. For the last two days over 200 local residents and Shell to Sea activists gathered in the semi darkness of the early mornings to voice their opposition to the Corrib gas project and to underline the fact that although work has temporarily recommenced on site, Shell to Sea resistance to this project will continue. In the face of deliberate attempts by Gardaí to opportunistically provoke and inflame the tempers of the protestors at this sensitive time, the nature of the last few days’ protests has been consciously peaceful, as usual, in an effort to diffuse the tension imported by An Garda Síochána. read more

By Tim Bradner  
 
SAKHALIN, Russia – Veco Corp. has landed another major contract in Sakhalin, in Russia’s Far East. Sakhalin Energy Investment Co., the consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell that is building the $20 billion Sakhalin 2 project, has awarded Veco and a Russian partner contracts for operations maintenance and support for three new offshore platforms. read more

Fri Oct 6, 2006 9:53am ET

MOSCOW, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Russia’s audit chamber, a state agency which supervises the use of government finances, said on Friday the Exxon Mobil-led (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Sakhalin-1 energy project has broken many terms of its production sharing deal with Russia.

The agency said in a statement the group had started oil production two years later than expected and still had no clear gas export plans.

The agency has no enforcement powers but can send its conclusions for further investigation by prosecutors. It said it had sent a letter to President Vladimir Putin. read more

Fri Oct 6, 2006 9:33am ET

NEW YORK, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Shell Oil Co. said on Friday it expects a final decision on whether to go ahead with a plan to double the size of its joint venture oil refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, by sometime next year.

Motiva Enterprises LLC, a joint venture between Shell and Saudi Aramco, has said it plans to boost its 285,000 barrel per day Port Arthur plant to around 600,000 bpd by 2010, and has already hired engineers and ordered some equipment for the project.

“We have not yet made a final investment decision on the project, but we’re moving ahead,” said David Sexton, president of Shell Oil Products. “The final decision to formally agree to the project will probably come next year.” read more

Friday, October 6, 2006. Issue 3513. Page 5.
By Dmitry Zhdannikov
Reuters

The Natural Resources Ministry’s environmental regulator said Thursday that it would probe a company controlled by Italian energy group Eni working as a contractor on the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project led by Royal Dutch Shell.

It made the announcement a day after Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni said rising pressure on Western energy companies in Russia had delayed an asset swap deal between Eni and Gazprom.

On Thursday, Scaroni backtracked. read more

By Lucian Kim

Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) — Exxon Mobil Corp. said it has begun loading its first oil from Russia’s Sakhalin Island, even as the government threatens to delay the export schedule at a neighboring project run by Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

The newly-inaugurated De Kastri oil terminal on Russia’s Pacific Coast began loading the Viktor Titov, a tanker owned by Primorsk Shipping Corp., on Oct. 1, said Michael Allen, a spokesman for the Exxon-led Sakhalin-1 project.

“This is a testing and commissioning process,” Allen said by phone from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, seven time-zones east of Moscow. The terminal’s capacity of 250,000 barrels a day will be reached early next year, he said. read more

By Ian Talley and Benoit Faucon
WASHINGTON Oct 5, 2006 (Dow Jones Newswires)

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) is one of several oil companies preparing a case to convince the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to allow it to book reserves from Canadian oil sands.

Although a significant portion of Canada’s oil sands are bookable under SEC guidelines, much are not. If granted, SEC approval could open the door to radical reserve revisions for many companies.

Shell Oil Company President John Hofmeister said his company wasn’t in active discussions with the SEC over booking of oil sands. But he said “We are preparing our stance” to present later to the SEC. “We are not aware of any moves by us (Shell) or the SEC to change that,” said a Shell spokesman in London, declining to comment further. read more

Friday, October 06, 2006 

1022 GMT [Dow Jones] A Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) bid for Premier Oil (PMO.LN) is “highly unlikely” says analyst. Follows speculation from traders that RDSA is looking at Premier. Analyst notes this is an old rumour and is skeptical. “I don’t think Premier would add much to Shell’s existing operations,” he says. RDSA not immediately available to comment. Premier oil shares +3.7% at 1081p, Shell -0.2% at 1723p. (KHO)
 
Contact us in London.
 +44-20-7842-9464
[email protected] read more

Communities in the Niger delta are finally getting a share of the oil money, but serious problems remain, says Mark Tran

Friday October 6, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
 
Nigeria is the eighth richest oil country in the world and the wealthiest in Africa, with oil revenues accounting for nearly 80% of the national budget. Over the decades, Nigeria has earned billions of dollars from its oil sector, and usually generates about 2.6m barrels of oil a day.

But oil has proved a blessing and a curse for Nigeria, and has been especially damaging for the people of the Niger delta. International oil companies have operated there since 1956, when oil was first discovered in Oloibiri, in what is now Bayelsa State. Communities in the Niger delta see little benefit from Nigeria’s oil revenues. It used to be that the federal government took the lion’s share. Lagos still gets most of the revenues but the state governments in the Niger delta do now get a substantial share of the oil money. But this has led to an increase in violence between different groups competing for a share of the cash.  read more

By John Donovan

The following posting, allegedly by the Ministry of Natural Resources of The Russian Federation, appeared on the www.royaldutchshellplc.com “Live Chat” facility today, Friday 6 October 2006.

EXTRACTS: Mr Donovan Sir. The Ministry of Natural Resources of The Russian Federation is grateful for the direct and indirect information supplied from this website. If any persons have further information our telephone, fax and email address is provided. Почтовый адрес: 123995 Москва, Большая Грузинская ул., 4/6 Телефон: (495) 254-48-00 Факс: 254-43-10, 254-66-10 E-mail: [email protected]: gov.ru. Our posting and invitation is of course in relation to Sakhalin II project. Confidentiality will be respected. Thank you. read more

By Karl Maier

(Bloomberg) — Nigerian militants are stepping up attacks to cripple Africa’s biggest oil industry through a series of clashes with the military and raids on contractors and boats working for companies such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, or MEND, said its fighters killed at least 17 government soldiers yesterday. Eni SpA, Italy’s largest oil and gas company, said a convoy of its supply boats was fired on the same day and one contract worker died. read more

6 October 2006
 
It hasn’t been easy for Sibir operating in Russia over the years, but at least these numbers look healthy. In fact, Sibir’s management sees these results as: “A portrait of a company in transformation from an enterprise of promise into an enterprise of profit.” And despite the flowery language, there is some truth in the sentiment as, for the first time, all three of Sibir’s core businesses delivered profits at the operating level.

Production from the company’s Magma oilfields division contributed £9.4m, the refining business in Moscow contributed a further £16.3m, and the joint venture with Shell, SPD, turned profitable for the first time, too. However, there remains the ongoing argument with Sibneft to contend with, after Sibir found itself unexpectedly diluted out of a key asset last year. Sibir remains confident of a favourable outcome, but Sibneft has since been acquired by Gazprom, so it’s very much a case of David versus Goliath. read more

October 06, 2006 
 
SHELL has, I read, brought in Foster & Partners to redevelop its famous HQ on the South Bank next to Waterloo. As it happens, this is the second attempt by the oil company to improve the site, in an area of London that is increasingly popular for commercial development.

The last attempt, a couple of years ago, was blocked by the local council, Lambeth. The intention was to put in some shops, and councillors took the view that these might threaten local retailers, although frankly, the ones around the station are pretty crummy. read more