October 16th, 2006:

Mon Oct 16, 2006 7:00 AM ET
By Douglas Busvine

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia threatened Royal Dutch Shell on Monday with the full armoury of sanctions at its disposal if it fails to address environmental violations at its Sakhalin-2 project, which has run far over budget.

But, Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev said, Shell had no reason to fear for the future of the vast oil and gas project if it tackles a catalog of environmental concerns raised by Russian officials.

“If the company presents an exhaustive plan to remove environmental damage … then it is completely obvious that there will be no point in stopping the project,” Trutnev told reporters on the fringes of a meeting with foreign investors. read more

Today, Royal Dutch/Shell Plc (RDSB.LN) is still reeling from allegations, that it denies, of complicity in human rights violations in Nigeria’s Ogoniland in the 1990s. On Sept. 29, a New York court rejected a motion by the company to have counts of “crimes against humanity” dismissed in a case accusing it of facilitating repression at the time. Shell declined to comment on the ruling.  Shell may now lose its license in Ogoniland due to a decade of inactivity, following the unrest and subsequent negative publicity. read more

Mon Oct 16, 2006 3:35am ET

MOSCOW, Oct 16 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has fully addressed all ecological issues at its Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project and is seeking dialogue with the Russian authorities, the company’s chief executive said on Monday.

Sakhalin-2 has come under pressure from the Kremlin over a number of ecological and technical issues, which analysts say is part of a broader Kremlin campaign to limit foreign involvement in the strategic energy sector. read more

October 16, 2006

Stop press 
 
Russia is not considering freezing the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project, which is led by Shell, Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of Russia’s ecological monitoring agency, said. “Russia will respect and fulfil its international obligations, in particular with respect to foreign companies,” he said. Last month Russia moved to revoke authorisation for the $20 billion (£10.8 billion) project.

Posted Monday 16 October 2006

SIR – You rightfully acknowledge the legitimacy of environmental concerns about Shell’s project on Sakhalin Island, yet you question the motivation of the Russian government for enforcing its environmental regulations (“Yukos revisited?”, September 23rd). Why is there no criticism of Shell for damaging the environment so badly that such intervention is needed?

Independent Russian and international organisations monitoring Shell’s project have documented a consistent pattern of environmental violations for years. These are not limited to a failure to control contractors, but include fundamental assessment and design flaws that began at the project’s conception and will cause damage to the environment throughout its lifespan. read more

Monday, October 16, 2006   

MUSCAT — As part of the continuing series of social investment initiatives being held since 2002, Shell has signed an agreement with the Arabian Training Centre LLC and Oman Society for Petroleum Services (OPAL) to provide training for 20 young Omanis to become professional administration assistants.

The nine-month programme has been specifically designed to attract secondary school graduates from Batinah region.

The training covers the following topics. Induction and health, safety, environment (HSE) for office environment, general English language, computer studies and familarising with keyboard, business communication and office procedures, effective communication, customer service and telephone skills, presentation skills, discipline and building an effective team skills, basic mathematics and statistics, working with human resources and time management. It also includes on-the-job-experience. read more