May 14th, 2007:

Tuesday May 15, 2007

The war in Iraq has brought enormous suffering to the Iraqi people, with an estimated 655,000 Iraqis killed and millions more displaced. Even so, some companies – such as Shell – are hoping to profit from this suffering. Indeed, since March 2003, Shell has been working closely with the occupying powers to create a framework that will allow multinational companies to take control of Iraq’s oil.

Thus, for example, British officials advised the International Tax and Investment Centre – a lobby group working on behalf of BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total and ENI – on their strategy for influencing the Iraqi government, formally sent ITIC’s document to the Iraqi finance minister, and helped arrange a meeting at which Shell managers met ministers and officials. read more

· Suitors say Merrill Lynch will underwrite £35bn
· ABN Amro chief pulls out from joining Shell board

Jill Treanor
Tuesday May 15, 2007

The chief executive of ABN Amro, the Dutch bank embroiled in the world’s biggest banking takeover, has rejected a seat on the board of oil company Shell to concentrate on the £49bn battle for the Netherlands’ second largest bank.

Rijkman Groenink’s name will be withdrawn from the agenda at the Anglo-Dutch oil group’s annual meeting today where protesters are expected to accuse the company of trying to influence Iraqi oil policy. read more

· Suitors say Merrill Lynch will underwrite £35bn
· ABN Amro chief pulls out from joining Shell board

Jill Treanor
Tuesday May 15, 2007

The chief executive of ABN Amro, the Dutch bank embroiled in the world’s biggest banking takeover, has rejected a seat on the board of oil company Shell to concentrate on the £49bn battle for the Netherlands’ second largest bank.

Rijkman Groenink’s name will be withdrawn from the agenda at the Anglo-Dutch oil group’s annual meeting today where protesters are expected to accuse the company of trying to influence Iraqi oil policy. read more

By Richard Blackden, Online City Editor

ABN Amro’s beleaguered chief executive Rikjman Groenink has withdrawn his nomination for a seat on the board of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell in order to devote his attention to the sale of the Dutch bank.

Shell said today that Mr Groenink wants to “fully dedicate his attention to ABN Amro, given the current corporate activities around the company.”

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Mr Groenink has infuriated many of ABN Amro’s shareholders by recommending a takeover by Barclays, which values the Dutch bank at a lower price than a rival bid from a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland. read more

EXTRACT: Rijkman Groenink, the ABN chief executive, bowed to shareholder pressure and pulled out of plans to join the board of Shell as a nonexecutive director. ABP, the Dutch pension fund, had threatened to vote against Mr Groenink at the Shell shareholders meeting today, arguing that he needed to devote 100 per cent of his time to ABN at present.

May 15, 2007
Patrick Hosking, Banking and Finance Editor

A row erupted yesterday after banks advising ABN Amro were accused of trying to play both sides of the takeover battle by offering to help to finance the Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium bid for the Dutch bank. read more

EXTRACT: It turns out that a 90 year old British army veteran Alfred Donovan acquired the domain name www.pipextelecommunicationsplc.com a year ago.

THE ATICLE

At the worst possible time, with UK broadband and web hosting company Pipex up for sale, David Hasselhoff, the celebrity fronting its TV advertising campaign is on YouTube drunk, the ISP has been hit by a deluge of complaints by disgruntled clients and is embroiled in a dispute over its claimed intellectual property likely to create more uncertainty and negative publicity. read more

John Hofmeister, President of Shell Oil Company, talks with TODAY anchor Meredith Vieira about rising gas prices.

By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
Updated: 3:27 p.m. ET May 14, 2007

Unless Congress allows expanded drilling on the outer continental shelf of the United States, fuel prices are going to continue to increase, the head of the Shell Oil Company told TODAY.

“If we don’t bring more oil and gas into the system we’re going to have to pay more and more and more,” Shell President John Hofmeister told TODAY host Meredith Vieira. “I’d hate to see prices double and triple what they are today because we failed to explore for more gas and oil.” read more

By Tom Bergin

LONDON (Reuters) – NATO is talking to oil and gas producing companies and countries about how it could help combat security threats to energy infrastructure, a senior NATO official said on Monday.

Jamie Shea, Director of Policy Planning in the Private Office of the NATO Secretary General, said the likely measures would involve providing sea-borne rapid reaction forces to combat attacks on facilities, hostage taking and piracy in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

“In NATO, we are looking very actively at using our maritime resources … to see how we can link up with oil companies,” Shea told a conference in London. read more

By Mark Shenk

May 14 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil was little changed amid speculation that consumption will increase as refiners boost the production of gasoline and other fuels.

A government report will show that U.S. refineries raised operating rates for a third week, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Refiners upgrade units before the summer months when gasoline consumption peaks. Prices also rose after the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said it plans to attack pipelines this week in Nigeria’s oil-producing region. read more

14 May 2007

The embattled chief executive of ABN Amro, Rijkman Groenink, has bowed to shareholder pressure and scrapped plans to join the board of Royal Dutch Shell as a non-executive director.
 
In a terse statement today the oil giant said Groenink had ‘requested the withdrawal of his nomination at this time’ because he wants to ‘fully dedicate his attention to ABN Amro’.

The Dutch state pension fund ABP had threatened to vote against Groenink’s Shell appointment because of the way he has handled the rival takeover bids for ABN. read more

May 14, 2007
Miles Costello

Another slap in the face for Rijkman Groenink, currently hanging on by his fingernails at ABN Amro as major Dutch shareholders call for this head.

Being forced to dispense with a lucrative board seat at Shell, just 24 hours before some investors were due to vote against it, should please those who have been highly critical of his handling of the day job — the proposed takeover and break up of one the Netherlands’ two top banks.

The first slap came from the courts, which ordered the controversial sale of LaSalle to Bank of America be put to a shareholder vote. Losing on that issue next month could well be the third strike. And even by gentlemanly Dutch standards, means you’re out. read more

By Alfred Donovan

Monday 14 May 2007

The following Royal Dutch Shell Directors and officials were given advance sight of the article below and have chosen not to comment or seek injunctive legal proceedings: Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer, Malcolm Brinded (Executive Director of Shell EP), Keith Ruddock (General Counsel Shell EP), Richard Wiseman (General Counsel Shell International Ltd), Michiel Brandjes (RDS Plc Company Secretary) and last, but not least, Jorma Ollila, Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell plc. read more