November 19th, 2006:

By John Donovan

The Russian environmental watchdog: Rosprirodnadzor

Oleg Mitvol, the Deputy Head of Rosprirodnadzor (and driving force behind the Russian pressure being applied on Shell in respect of the Sakhalin II project), has confirmed in an interview that the evidence supporting threatened prosecution against Shell was supplied by me. He has also once again threatened that environmental approval for the project will be revoked.

argus-eyes.com: Mitvol turns up the heat: I received these letters from John Donovan, owner of the anti-Shell website www.royaldutchshellplc.com. read more

EXTRACT: Despite protests at the highest level, President Vladimir Putin seems determined to seize control of the investments of Shell and BP, which he sees as ‘strategic assets’. If Putin succeeds, British businesses love affair with the country could turn as cold as a Russian winter.

THE ARTICLE

Gorbachev was feted as a man to do business with. But can the same be said of his booming country under Putin as capitalism runs riot?

By Tom McGhie

Margaret Thatcher famously described Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as a man she could do business with. Twenty years later, British companies have been following her lead. read more

(Oleg Mitvol, the deputy head of Rosprirodnadzor, Russia’s environmental watchdog, shows photos of pipe-laying work on Far Eastern Sakhalin island during a Oct. 16 press conference in Moscow. Mitvol suggested Nov. 14 that the Russian government could seek $15 billion from a Shell-led consortium for environmental damages. AP PHOTO/ Mikhail Metzel)

By Mike Eckel
Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW – A top environmental regulator suggested Nov. 14 that Russia could seek up to $15 billion for environmental damages and other losses it blames on a Shell-led consortium involved in a liquefied natural gas project in the Far East. read more

There will be no such thing as a free lunch for the worker ants in Shell’s Waterloo offices any more. After years of gratis grub, the office restaurant will soon charge for its chop. But this isn’t another tale of corporate Scroogery. A mouthwatering £7,000 compensation payment is on the menu for hundreds of staff. We calculate that will be worth £152 a week to Shell staff over the next year – just over £30 a day – which is the exact cost of the weekday three-course set menu over the river at the Savoy Grill. read more

By Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter and James Glover
Last Updated: 1:01am GMT 19/11/2006

Scotland Yard has launched an investigation into an audacious attempt to murder – using a deadly poison – a leading Russian defector at a restaurant in London.

Alexander Litvinenko, a former colonel in the Russian secret service and a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin, was seriously ill under armed guard at a London hospital last night.

Mr Litvinenko, 50, who used to work for the Federal Security Bureau (FSB, the former KGB), fell ill after meeting a contact at Itsu, a sushi restaurant in Piccadilly. The woman journalist claimed to have information on the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, 48, the outspoken journalist who was killed at her Moscow apartment last month. read more

November 19, 2006 
 
WELL DONE to all peaceful Shell to Sea supporters who took part in Friday’s protest and remained calm in the face of gardai wielding batons, boots and fists (Kenny hits out at Shell supporters, News, last week). Get well soon to those injured in that disgraceful attack on peaceful citizens exercising their right of free speech and the right to travel along a public highway.

I attended the day of peaceful protest to encourage protection of the beautiful and healthy environment of that region. The vast majority of people present were locals. Some gardai behaved like an ill-disciplined bunch of thugs — no protester raised so much as a finger against them. I saw a pensioner being forced to the ground by gardai and stomped upon. When he eventually got back on his feet, he raised his blood-covered hand to the gardai video camera saying, “Get this on film — this is your handiwork.” I and a visiting monk were pushed and elbowed by gardai when we quietly tried to stand our ground. None of us were in the way of anyone. 
 
People keep saying that the Rossport protest is wrong because we need the Corrib gas resource for the benefit of the nation. This is invalid. Shell to Sea is not against bringing in the gas. It is the method of doing it they are against. Why must we have a 9km high-pressure pipeline passing through residential and environmentally sensitive areas when a refinery could be sited at sea, or at least on the coastline? Since the Piper Alpha disaster it is unacceptable to say that such a high-pressure pipeline will be perfectly safe for people living within yards of it. read more

November 19, 2006
Aine Ryan
 
GARDAI are preparing for another confrontation with anti-Shell protesters in Mayo this Friday following the announcement by Shell to Sea that a “solidarity day” will be held at Bellanaboy, site of the proposed Corrib gas refinery.

Chief Superintendent Tony McNamara said gardai are concerned about the planned protest. “It is going to draw further on reserves of gardai from all around the country,” he said. 
 
“The 78 gardai available for duty on a daily basis were supplemented by another 50 from the Mayo division for the last day of action. And because of the level of disruption that day, there will be even more gardai there next Friday.” read more

Web posted at: 11/19/2006 8:46:20

doha • Qatar Gas Transport Company Ltd (Nakilat) has appointed Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (Shell) to manage its fleet of at least 27 new LNG carriers in a 25-year deal. Under this arrangement it is expected that Operational Management will be transferred to Nakilat within 12 years.

The agreement will involve Shell providing a range of shipping services to Nakilat including ship management as well as the transfer of know how and expertise to allow Nakilat to develop its own LNG Ship Management Company in Qatar, a news release said. read more