January 23rd, 2007:

Wednesday, January 24, 2007. Issue 3581. Page 5.
Reuters

Gas monopoly Gazprom said reports that it was seeking a $10 billion loan to buy half the Sakhalin-2 project and assets of bankrupt firm Yukos were “wrong.”

Interfax news agency on Tuesday quoted a banking source as saying Gazprom was holding talks with bank organizers and could give a mandate within one month.

“This report is wrong,” a Gazprom spokesman said.

Gazprom agreed last month to buy into the Sakhalin-2 project by paying $7.45 billion to existing shareholders Royal Dutch Shell, Mitsui and Mitsubishi. read more

Crude-oil futures rallied more than $2 a barrel and briefly topped $55 after the U.S. announced plans to double the size of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and start purchasing crude oil toward that goal.

Here is Tuesday’s roundup of oil and energy news:

* * *
RENEWABLE FUELS TO STAR IN ADDRESS: As part of his State of the Union proposal on energy, President Bush is expected to call for an increase in U.S. renewable-fuels usage to 17 billion gallons by 2015. He also will propose a new system of regulating passenger-car fuel efficiency that includes new ability for car makers to trade credits from production of more-efficient vehicles to offset sales of less-efficient ones. read more

By BROOKE DONOVAN
January 23, 2007 4:14 a.m.

LONDON — Royal Dutch Shell PLC Tuesday announced plans to raise its offer for the shares in Shell Canada it doesn’t already own by 12.5% to C$8.7 billion (US$7.36 billion), or C$45 a share, after coming under pressure from investors.

The U.K. oil major announced plans in October to buy the outstanding 22% stake in the unit, but investors and analysts said the original offer price of C$40 wasn’t high enough. Shell said Tuesday it has the full backing of Shell Canada’s board of directors in raising its offer to C$45 a share. Shell Canada’s shares closed Monday at C$44.91. read more

Terry Macalister
Tuesday January 23, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

Shell has been forced to raise its offer and spend £3.7bn buying out the 22% stake that it does not own in its Canadian business in a move to bolster production in the aftermath of the US reserves scandal and the forced sale of assets at Sakhalin in Russia.

The Anglo-Dutch oil group offered C$40 (£17) a share for the remaining stake in its Shell Canada operation last October but found local directors unwilling to back the bid. Shell headquarters in the Hague said that it had won local support for an improved C$45 a share proposal allowing it to obtain further control over 230,000 barrels a day. read more

by Lord Browne of Madingley
Group Chief Executive
BP p.l.c.

World Energy, v10n1

Ten years ago, most people still derided thepossibility that human activity was having an impact on the climate. When we in BP firstspoke out on the issue in 1997, we were attacked for having left the church – for having dared to questionthe conventional wisdom of the old oil industry.

Now, the reality has been accepted by almost everyone. The debate has moved on, and the question now is not whether global warming is a real risk, but what we can do to mitigate that risk before it is too late. read more

Jan 23, 2007, 17:35 GMT

Moscow – Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom is looking to borrow 10 billion dollars to finance construction at Sakhalin-2, the country’s largest energy development and from which it recently obtained a 50-per cent stake from Royal Dutch Shell, Interfax reported.

The loan would go towards buying assets from ruined oil major Yukos, according to the news agency’s source, whom it identified as ‘a source in the banking world.’

‘The company is already in talks with banks, and the mandates are to be given out in a month,’ the source added. read more

by Lord Browne of Madingley
Group Chief Executive
BP p.l.c.

World Energy, v10n1

Ten years ago, most people still derided thepossibility that human activity was having an impact on the climate. When we in BP firstspoke out on the issue in 1997, we were attacked for having left the church – for having dared to questionthe conventional wisdom of the old oil industry.

Now, the reality has been accepted by almost everyone. The debate has moved on, and the question now is not whether global warming is a real risk, but what we can do to mitigate that risk before it is too late. read more

Irish Times article followed by letter on the same subject…

THE ARTICLE: Irish Times: Shell hires advisers for revised gas route

Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent, Irish Times
Published: Jan 23, 2007

Shell E&P Ireland has hired consultants RPS to assist it in finding a modified route for the controversial Corrib gas onshore pipeline.

The company’s brief includes “consultation around the criteria for finding a modified route, surveying and mapping, engineering design, environmental assessment, procurement support and construction supervision”, Shell said yesterday in a statement. read more

http://www.anphoblacht.com/news/detail/17466
 
VINCENT McGRATH of the Rossport Five talks to ELLA O’DWYER about current developments in the Shell to Sea campaign

More than 100 Shell to Sea campaigners picketed the head office of Údarás na Gaeltachta in Furbo, outside Spiddal, in County Galway, last week to protest against the authority’s decision to give premises in North Mayo to Shell and gardaí deployed to protect the oil multinational against civil disobedience.

The premises is a 500-square metre factory in Belmullet for use by Shell (Exploration & Production) Ireland. Shell to Sea campaigners are accusing the Údarás of dismissing the health and safety implications for people living in the area worried by the Corrib gas project. read more

Nigel Green in Newcastle, Lloyds List
Published: Jan 23, 2007

A PIONEERING windfarm off the coast of northeast England may have to be dismantled after being plagued by technical problems.

The news comes after revelations that the two turbines installed around half a mile off the Port of Blyth in Northumberland have not been working since March last year.

The failure has been blamed on power cables bolted to the seabed being severed.

The 100 m tall turbines, which cost GBP4m ($8m) when they were installed in 2000, were part of the first offshore windfarm in Britain. read more

Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent, Irish Times
Published: Jan 23, 2007

Shell E&P Ireland has hired consultants RPS to assist it in finding a modified route for the controversial Corrib gas onshore pipeline.

The company’s brief includes “consultation around the criteria for finding a modified route, surveying and mapping, engineering design, environmental assessment, procurement support and construction supervision”, Shell said yesterday in a statement.

Public meetings are promised as part of the lengthy procedure which the company has been pursuing since a modified route was proposed by Government mediator Peter Cassells six months ago. read more

January 23, 2007
Steve Hawkes
 
Royal Dutch Shell has taken a big step towards winning full control of its business in Canada by tabling a new £3.7 billion bid for the minority shares.
 
The Anglo-Dutch oil group said that the revised offer – up to C$45 a share from C$40 – had won the “unanimous” backing of Shell Canada’s directors.

It now needs the support of half the minority shareholders for the deal to go through.

The group owns a 78 per cent stake in Shell Canada but is desperate to buy out the rest to bolster its reserves. read more

Yemie Adeoye, Vanguard (Nigeria)
Published: Jan 23, 2007

THE Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria Limited has finally put out the wellhead fires on Bomu – 41 and 50, however, the gas leaks continue because the communities have refused to allow the company secure the wells.

A statement from the company pointed out that the development implies oil and gas continue to leak into the environment, adding that SPDC is very concerned this could ignite another fire which will be difficult to control and which could destroy the environment and harm people living in the area. read more

By Vladimir Socor
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

On January 21 in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin assured a skeptical Angela Merkel — visiting in a triple capacity as German Chancellor, holder of the European Union presidency, and incoming G-8 chair — about Russia’s purported reliability as an energy partner to the West.

The relevant actions, however, unfolded not in Sochi, but rather in Siberia and in Algiers, continuing Moscow’s three-pronged offensive against Western energy interests. The three tracks are: forced takeovers of Western investment projects in Russia, aggressive inroads into the West’s traditional supply sources in third countries, and acquisition of infrastructure within the West itself. read more

January 23, 2007
by Nicola Nasser  

While the Iraqis were busy counting their death toll of more than 650,000 since March 2003, the United Nations busy counting their dead of more than 34,000 in 2006 only, the Pentagon counting more than 3,070 American deaths and the U.S. treasury counting more than $600 billion of taxpayer money spent so far in Iraq , stealthily and suddenly the U.S. occupation’s oil prize rang louder than the war drums to alert the regional oil producers as well as the major world consumers to guard against the looming threat coming out of Iraq. read more

By Tom Bergin and Jonathan Cable

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc has raised its bid for the 22 percent of Shell Canada Ltd. it does not already own to C$8.7 billion (3.7 billion pounds), though at least one big shareholder said the higher offer was still disappointing.            

The second-largest Western oil company by market capitalisation said in a statement on Tuesday that it had increased its offer to C$45 a share in cash from the C$40 it proposed last October.

The bid was accepted by Shell Canada’s board and a special committee set up to appraise the offer. read more