October 31st, 2006:

Tuesday October 31, 2006

Scientists

“This should be a turning point in a debate which has pitted short term economic interests against long-term costs to the environment, society and the economy”.
Martin Rees, president, Royal Society

“The review closes a chasm that has existed for 15 years between the precautionary concerns of scientists and the cost-benefit views of many economists. It finds most economists’ methods have been inadequate for a problem of this scale”
Michael Grubb, Imperial College read more

British oil major opts for positive spin as production delayed by subsea systems faults, writes Martyn Wingrove, Lloyds List: Published: Oct 31, 2006

BP WANTS to use the lessons it learns at the troubled Thunder Horse project in the Gulf of Mexico to help develop its next generation of projects, including the large Kaskida discovery.

But the British oil major will need contractors to develop subsea equipment that can be deployed in ultra-deepwater environments and cope with harsher reservoir conditions. read more

Published: Oct 31, 2006

SHELL will be breaking several water depth records with its Perdido development project in the US Gulf of Mexico including taking subsea completions to new depths, writes Martyn Wingrove.

The Anglo-Dutch oil major will be working with California-based Chevron and British oil group BP to develop three fields in ultra deepwaters in the Alaminos Canyon area.

Shell will be operator of the Perdido regional development and will instal the world’s deepest production spar over the Great White oil field and then will tie back Tobago and Silvertip oil fields as satellites. read more

U.S. Cites Cost Cuts’ Role In BP Refinery Blast Safety Board Lays Blame With Top-Level Decisions, Raising Firm’s Legal Risks
By CHIP CUMMINS
October 31, 2006; Page A3

Cost-cutting efforts by senior management at BP PLC contributed to a deadly explosion at a refinery in Texas last year, federal investigators said, a finding that ratchets up the legal stakes for the London-based oil giant.

In a summary of its preliminary findings yesterday, the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board didn’t name specific senior managers or members of BP’s executive suite in London. But the federal agency alleged for the first time that high-level decisions to defer overhauls, cut staff and rein in costs at the Texas City, Texas, plant helped cause the accident, which killed 15 people and injured 180. read more

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
October 30, 2006 5:32 p.m.

Crude-oil futures tumbled nearly 4% to close at less than $59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as traders again expressed skepticism about OPEC’s ability to keep a floor under prices in a world flush — for the moment, at least — with oil. Here’s Monday’s roundup of oil and energy news:

* * *
REPORT: BP CUTS CONTRIBUTED TO ACCIDENT: The good news for BP: The Prudhoe Bay oil field is back up to pre-shutdown speed. The bad news: Federal investigators said the oil giant’s cost cutting compromised safety at a Texas refinery and helped cause a deadly explosion at the plant in March 2005. The findings are the first allegations by outside investigators of a direct link between the company’s cost cutting and the accident and significantly raise the legal and financial stakes for BP. Read the text of the report and the transcript of last night’s 60 Minutes report on the refinery blast. read more

10.31.2006, 12:10 AM

TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) – Mitsubishi Corp reported record net profit for the fiscal first half, thanks to higher commodity prices, prompting the company to upgrade its full-year forecasts.

Japan’s largest trading house said net profit for the six months to September increased 32 pct from a year earlier to 234.83 bln yen.

Operating income jumped 25 pct to an all-time high of 204.96 bln yen as revenue rose 9.1 pct to 9.83 trln, the second best on record.

‘Thanks to metal and energy prices rising beyond our initial expectations, we managed to report read more

October 31, 2006
 
Villagers occupying four oil pumping stations in Nigeria extended their protest to a third day on Friday in the hope of extracting contracts from Western oil companies.

The protesters had agreed on Wednesday to vacate the facilities on condition that they were given contracts to supply food and speed boats to the oil platforms located deep in the swamps of Rivers state in the eastern Niger Delta.

But villagers said Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron had yet to agree to the new contracts, holding up a final resolution of the crisis. read more

Monday, Oct. 30, 2006 at 9:32 PM

Detailed description of the issues surrounding the pipeline Shell wish to build through Rossport, a small village in the north west of Mayo.

Shell’s pipeline through Rossport is extraordinarily dangerous:

As acknowledged by Minister Dempsey in a written Dail reply to Deputy Michael Ring, it is unparalleled not only within Ireland but within Europe or elsewhere.

It will have a rated pressure of 345 Bar (5,000 lb/sq/in) and a normal working pressure of 150 Bar in contrast to Bord Gais Eireann maximum norms of 70 Bar (1,000 lb/sq/in). read more