November 15th, 2006:

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
November 15, 2006 4:53 p.m.

Crude-oil futures rose, halting a three-day slide, after the Department of Energy reported much larger-than-expected weekly declines in U.S. petroleum-products stocks. The front-month December light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 48 cents to $58.76 a barrel. Year-to-date, crude oil is down 2.8%. Here is Wednesday’s roundup of oil and energy news:

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OPEC BOOSTS DEMAND ESTIMATES: The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has increased its forecasts for world oil demand this year and said that its recent production cut had succeeded in stabilizing prices. OPEC said in its monthly report that demand for oil in 2006 is expected to average 84.3 million barrels per day, an upward revision of 100,000 barrels per day from the previous forecast. read more

Bloomberg News
Published: November 15, 2006

MOSCOW: The Russian unit of BP agreed Wednesday to form a joint venture with Gazprom, the world’s biggest natural gas producer, as it sought better government relations amid a crackdown on foreign energy companies.

TNK-BP and the Gazprom petrochemical unit Sibur Holding signed an agreement to refine so-called associated gas, which is extracted along with crude oil.

The agreement may help TNK-BP, whose Russian shareholders include the billionaires Viktor Vekselberg and Mikhail Fridman, smooth relations with Gazprom, the Russian state-controlled company that opposes TNK-BP’s single- handed development of the $18 billion Kovykta gas field in eastern Siberia. read more

15 Nov 2006 16:42:52 GMT

THE HAGUE, Nov 15 (Reuters) – The Dutch government is confident that Russia will solve a dispute over the $20 billion oil and gas Sakhalin-2 project and abide by international law, Dutch Economy Minister Joop Wijn said on Wednesday.

The project, led by Anglo-Dutch oil major Shell has come under pressure from Russian authorities since Shell announced last year that costs there would double.

“The Russian government assured me, and at this moment I have no reasons to doubt it, that they will stick to international law … and contracts will be served,” Wijn told Reuters in an interview. read more

Wed Nov 15, 2006 1:20 PM GMT
 
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc said on Wednesday that Africa would play an important role in ensuring that the world had enough energy to meet its needs in the coming decades.

The resource-rich but impoverished continent has become a key battleground for oil giants scrambling to meet strong global demand for oil, gas and other types of energy. Royal Dutch Shell is among the firms with significant operations in Nigeria, Libya and other parts of Africa. read more

The Associated PressPublished: November 15, 2006

LAGOS, Nigeria: About a dozen armed men attacked a southern Nigeria oil facility owned by a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell PLC Wednesday, leaving two attackers dead, police said.

The 11 assailants were attempting to shut down the Oporoma station, but were pushed back by naval forces, said Hafiz Ringim, police commissioner for Bayelsa state. He said two of the attackers were killed in the fighting and one was captured.

No damage was reported to the flowstation, which connects oil pipelines. Shell officials were not immediately available for comment. read more

15 Nov 2006 12:57:50 GMT

MOSCOW, Nov 15 (Reuters) – Russian emergency services went on high alert and evacuated a small settlement after a major earthquake struck on Wednesday in the middle of the sparsely populated Kurile Islands off its Pacific Coast.

“We are on high alert,” said an official at the Emergencies Ministry on Sakhalin Island, to the west of the quake epicentre where oil multinationals are conducting oil and gas exploration projects. Russia has issued a tsunami alert, she said. read more

Published: Nov 15, 2006

Madam, – What the media appears to have overlooked in its reporting of Friday’s events in Bellanaboy, Co Mayo, is the fact that a police superintendent, apparently with the approval of the Minister for Justice, arbitrarily decided to ban a legitimate protest march organised by the Shell to Sea campaign.

On Friday morning those intending to participate in the protest gathered at the assembly point, near Bellanaboy Cross at 7am – where people gather every morning for the daily protest march to the Shell site. read more

EXTRACT: “It is very much about protecting corporate reputations and brands, protecting them from the tainting that has happened to, for instance, Shell and Nike,”

THE ARTICLE

Big brands are trying to convince consumers of their ethical credentials. But there are questions as to whether we should take them at face value

Duncan Campbell
Wednesday 15 November 2006

When a big international company talks of adding an “ethical sparkle” to its brand, just what does it mean? And when food companies claim to be greener and more organic than their competitors, should we believe them? read more

Wednesday November 15, 2006

Reuters pays $7m to put bloggers in the news

Reuters has invested $7m (£3.7m) in an internet startup, aiming to push the world of blogging further into the mainstream. Texas dotcom firm Pluck brings together almost 3,000 highly rated blogs and syndicates them to news media organisations for use on their websites.

The service covers subjects such as politics, sports, technology and travel, and has negotiated deals with news groups including the Washington Post and Guardian Unlimited. As part of the agreement, Reuters will syndicate third-party blog content alongside its news and information.
Bobbie Johnson read more

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 14, 2006
Filed at 6:20 a.m. ET

DENVER (AP) — Companies hoping to tap an estimated 100-year supply of shale oil locked in rock formations under Colorado, Utah, and southwest Wyoming have won federal approval for experimental extraction projects.

Not since the 1980s have companies been as interested as they are now in extracting oil from the rock, which has historically been a laborious and expensive process.

The Interior Department authorized 10-year leases for Shell Frontier Oil & Gas Co., Chevron USA and EGL Resources Inc. for 160-acre parcels for research and development projects in northwest Colorado. read more

Associated Press
Article Last Updated:11/14/2006 01:09:50 PM AKST

The Curyung Tribe in Dillingham has heard from Shell oil company about the benefits of opening up Bristol bay to offshore development. The deadline to comment on an oil and gas lease sale in the north Aleutians basin of Bristol Bay is fast approaching.
The company says offshore development could mean thousands of jobs at first and hundreds for the long term. It also means local power for some nearby communities, enhanced search and rescue, and millions of tax dollars for state and local governments.  read more

(John Hofmeister, President, Shell Oil Co)

A Shell Oil executive says the push for more ethanol doesn’t necessarily have to involve claiming more corn production for fuel.

Mike Meyers, Star Tribune: Last update: November 14, 2006 – 11:05 PM

Shell Oil Co. is betting on the success of ethanol, but not on corn as the chief resource for making it. Instead, Shell is investing in research on making the gasoline additive from wood chips, straw and municipal waste, John Hofmeister, the company’s president, said Tuesday on a visit to Minneapolis. read more

EXTRACT: Russian Oil Fund Head Killed in Moscow: The head of a Russian fund that says it promotes the development of small oil and gas producers was shot dead on Tuesday in southwest Moscow. Zelimkhan Magomedov, 50, general director of the National Oil Institute Fund, was shot twice in the head.

THE ARTICLE

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
November 14, 2006 5:41 p.m.

After opening higher, crude-oil futures fell for the third consecutive day, as traders waited for U.S. Energy Department data due Wednesday for indications of how mild winter temperatures are affecting stockpiles. The front-month December light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 30 cents to $58.28 a barrel, the lowest settle for crude since Nov. 2. Year-to-date, crude oil is down 4.5%. Here is Tuesday’s roundup of oil and energy news: read more