November 14th, 2006:

11.14.2006
 
(Adds reaction from Sakhalin Energy)

MOSCOW/LONDON (AFX) – Russia is considering legal action against Royal Dutch Shell PLC-led Sakhalin Energy Ltd over environmental breaches at the 20 bln usd Sakhalin-2 gas project.

Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of Russia’s environmental monitoring agency RosPrirodNadzor, said the government could seek damages of about 15 bln usd.

‘We are examining our position with US lawyers and I think that in two weeks we will have a document from New York that we will send to the Russian government,’ Mitvol told reporters in Moscow. read more

By Joe Carroll

Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) — Global oil production will increase for at least the next 25 years as new drilling and refining techniques make it possible to tap heretofore untouchable reserves, according to Cambridge Energy Research Associates, the consulting firm run by Daniel Yergin.

The world probably has 3.7 trillion barrels of oil left, more than twice the estimates of geologists and analysts such as Matthew Simmons, of the investment bank Simmons & Co., who argue global output is close to a peak, said Peter Jackson, director of oil-industry research for the Cambridge, Massachusetts, firm. read more

Created: 14.11.2006 16:54 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 16:54 MSK

The Russian government is preparing a complaint with American lawyers to take Sakhalin Energy, the operator of Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project led by Royal Dutch/Shell, to the international arbitration court in Stockholm.

“We are setting out our position with American lawyers, and I think that in two weeks we will have a document from New York which we will send to the Russian government”, said Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of the Russian environmental watchdog, Rosprirodnadzor. read more

21:15 | 14/ 11/ 2006 

MOSCOW, November 14 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian environmental watchdog suggested Tuesday revoking water use licenses from the international consortium operating the Sakhalin II oil and gas project, off Russia’s Pacific coast.

The watchdog said the Sakhalin Energy consortium, led by Royal Dutch Shell, is in breach of Russia’s environmental regulations, and asked the agency overseeing the use of water resources to consider stripping it of 19 licenses.

Russia’s Natural Resources Ministry said Monday it is dissatisfied with the environmental measures taken so far by the operator of the Sakhalin II project in Russia’s Far East. read more

The Associated Press
Published: November 14, 2006
 
MOSCOW: Russian shareholders in BP PLC’s joint venture in Russia denied Tuesday that they were in talks to sell their stake or that they were under government pressure to do so.

TNK-BP, one of Russia’s top three oil producers, has faced mounting official probes and the threat of license annulments that culminated with the opening of a criminal inquiry against a senior executive last week.

Analysts say the Kremlin is pressuring the Russian billionaires who control nearly half of TNK-BP to sell their stake to either state-controlled gas monopoly OAO Gazprom or state-controlled oil company OAO Rosneft. read more

MOSCOW, Nov 14 (Prime-Tass) — Russia’s Federal Service for Natural Resources Oversight plans to file a lawsuit in an international court against Sakhalin Energy for “concealing substantial information,” Oleg Mitvol, deputy director of the watchdog, said at a news conference Tuesday, ITAR-TASS reported.

The Federal Service for Natural Resources Oversight is currently in talks on the issue with a U.S. legal firm, he added.

Sakhalin Energy, which is the operator of the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project near Sakhalin Island, concealed information about an audit confirming the possibility of mudslides in the project area, Mitvol said. read more

Tue 14 Nov 2006 13:01:37 GMT
By Gleb Bryanski

MOSCOW, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell’s $22 billion Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project has failed to spur Russia’s economy because supply orders went to foreign not domestic firms, the Kremlin’s top economist Arkady Dvorkovich told Reuters.

Russia is at loggerheads with the Shell-led group running the giant Sakhalin project in Russia’s Far East, where costs have more than doubled and inspectors have found a string of technical and environmental violations. read more

Tuesday 14 November 2006

WASHINGTON — Big Oil is set to be a top priority for the upcoming Congressional session, according to a Reuters report. Democratic lawmakers taking over the House of Representatives have promised to roll back billions allowed through energy legislation providing tax breaks and incentives to energy corporations last year, Reuters reported.

The energy bill that was passed last year contained $2.8 billion in tax breaks and financial incentives for the oil industry. The legislation allowed the industry to quickly write off exploration and drilling costs, and immediately deduct half the cost of refinery expansions. read more

EXTRACT: Royal Dutch Shell said earlier it planned to add more than 200 stations in East China’s Jiangsu Province through its joint venture with Sinopec over the next six months. Shell has an agreement with Sinopec to build 500 sites in Jiangsu. Of those, 200 have been established.

www.chinaview.cn 2006-11-14 09:42:25  

BEIJING– China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the nation’s largest oil company, will set up a joint venture with Russian oil giant Rosneft to open up to 300 service stations in China. read more

Last Updated: 12:58am GMT 14/11/2006

• Royal Dutch Shell’s Sakhalin-2 “consciously ignored” environmental damage at the oil and gas project, the Russian Natural Resources Ministry said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/11/14/cxbloom14.xml

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
November 13, 2006 5:10 p.m.

Crude-oil futures fell to their lowest point in a week amid warm U.S. fall temperatures, continuing to trade below the $60 a barrel. The front-month December light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $1.01, or 1.7%, to $58.58 a barrel, after trading as low as $58.45, its lowest settling price since Nov. 2 and off 4% this year. Here is Monday’s roundup of oil and energy news:

* * *
ENERGY IN PERSPECTIVE: Energy prices have tapered off, writes the Wall Street Journal’s Peter McKay, “but there is a good chance that steadily rising world demand and lingering risks to supply could push prices for crude oil and related commodities back up…. ” And now that energy prices have fallen from summer highs, “money is shifting” from commodities to speculative energy stocks, writes the Journal’s Greg Zuckerman. Plus, see how the U.S. stock market measured up in 1998, when oil was trading at $11.16 per barrel, and where those sectors stand today. read more

November 14, 2006

A Russian environmental official said that proposals by a Shell-led energy consortium to resolve violations at its giant Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas project in the far east of the country were insufficient, in the latest official criticism of the development.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9072-902468.html

This Day (Lagos)
Posted to the web November 14, 2006
Omon-Julius Onabu, Warri

Hopes have brightened for an early return by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to its oil exploration and exploitation particularly in parts of Ijaw areas of the Niger-Delta.

This followed the proposed meeting between the leaders of the Owners of Oil Producing Communities and SPDC West Operational Area (OOPCSWOA) and the Federated Niger-Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC), which is at the instance of the former intended to review the stringent conditions given for SPDC’s return. read more

By Jon Harding,
Published: Monday, November 13, 2006

Calgary-based Centurion Energy International Inc. is up 84¢ to $11.92 mid-afternoon after receiving a $12-per-share from United Arab Emirates-based Dana Gas PJSC.

At least one brokerage doubts Royal Dutch Shell PLC will make a competing bid for Calgary-based Centurion. In a research note to clients, Canaccord Adams analyst Terry Peters said Dana’s offer is both fair and full, and the brokerage raised its target for Centurion from $10 to $12, lowering its rating on the stock from “buy” to “hold.” read more