August 1st, 2007:

August 1, 2007
BY ANN ALEXANDER

Like a pious preacher caught with the secretary in a cheap motel, the oil company that spent years promising to take us “beyond petroleum” has suddenly found itself at the center of a growing storm brought on by a severe case of hypocrisy.

Instead of a public atonement, BP is digging in its heels. Odds are that this is a losing game, one that will leave both corporate and political reputations battered and broken.

BP has spent millions promoting itself as the greenest oil giant. But soon, the company plans to start dumping 1,600 pounds of ammonia and nearly 2½ tons of contaminated sludge each and every day into Lake Michigan from its refinery in Whiting, Ind., a mile from where 11 cities get their drinking water. read more

1 August 2007

Demand from US refineries has increased for six successive weeks

Oil prices have climbed to a record high of $78.71 a barrel amid worries about whether oil supplies can meet global demand.

The price of a barrel of US light, sweet crude passed the previous high of $78.40 a barrel, reached in July 2006.

Prices have risen steadily in the past few weeks following disruption to output in Nigeria and the North Sea and set a new closing high on Tuesday.

The latest rise was triggered by data showing a fall in US crude stockpiles. read more

Map of disputed Arctic region

Daily Telegraph: Russia claims North Pole with Arctic flag stunt

By Matthew Moore
Last Updated: 2:08pm BST 01/08/2007

An audacious Russian mission to claim the North Pole for Moscow is due to reach its climax in the next 24 hours, after a week-long journey through thick ice-sheets.
  
Two Russian vessels – including an atomic icebreaker – are expected to reach the Pole this afternoon.

There they will release two mini-submarines which will drop a metal tube containing a Russian flag onto the seabed. The release is likely to take place tonight or tomorrow morning, according to organisers. read more

Wednesday, August 01, 2007
ROY L. WILLIAMSNews staff writer

Shell Oil Co. President John Hofmeister admits the nation’s second-largest oil producer has gotten its share of hate mail from consumers fed up with high gasoline prices.

Hofmeister said in an interview Tuesday that federal energy policy preventing oil and natural-gas companies from more drilling offshore – not oil companies boosting prices to cash in on demand – deserves the blame for the run-up that has sent crude oil to near record levels, subsequently making it more expensive to fill up at the pump. read more

August 01, 2007: 08:29 AM EST

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the world’s biggest oil company by production and reserves, Wednesday said former Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) chairman Mark Moody-Stuart and James W. Kinnear, former president and chief executive of Texaco, are joining the company’s board.

The state-run company, known as Saudi Aramco, said in a statement that Salim Al-Aydh, an Aramco senior vice president, and Peter Woicke, a managing director at the World Bank, are also taking up positions on Aramco’s 12-member board. The new board, which is chaired by Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi, begins serving its new term Sept. 27. read more

Ashok Dutta, Calgary Herald
Published: Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The Royal Dutch/Shell Group is gearing up to tackle one of the biggest and costliest projects in oilpatch and Canadian construction history.

The company announced Monday that it has filed a regulatory application to build a new upgrader east of Edmonton to serve its oilsands expansion projects in northern Alberta and that the cost could run as high as $27 billion.

The Scotford Upgrader 2 will have a total capacity of up to 400,000 barrels per day and will be built in four phases, taking as long as two decades to complete. It will be located adjacent to Shell’s existing upgrader near Fort Saskatchewan. read more

Date Published: August 01, 2007

Producing a new generation of biofuels from waste products is an exciting next step for green energy, but considerable technical obstacles remain before it becomes a reality. Stuart Nathan reports

From the earliest days of the coal-powered railways through the rise of the internal combustion engine and into the jet age, mechanised transport has always depended on fossil fuels.

But concerns over climate change, increasing scarcity of fossil fuel resources and worries over energy security are leading to new ideas across industry, and vehicle fuel is no exception. read more

The Guardian: Do corporate sponsorships compromise theatres?: The National’s new production is brought to you by Shell: an ethical minefield or much ado about nothing?

There are three Shell plays at the National in the pipeline. Photograph: Rengku Bahar/AFP/Getty Images

One of the highlights of the autumn season at the National Theatre looks set to be Nicholas Hytner’s new production of Much Ado About Nothing. Boasting the not inconsiderable pairing of Zoe Wanamaker and Simon Russell Beale as Beatrice and Benedick, it opens in December and will be the first of three annual productions of classic drama sponsored by Shell. read more

Associated Press – August 1, 2007 6:45 AM ET

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – Dominion Resources and Shell WindEnergy say they’ll proceed with building 50 more wind turbines next year at West Virginia’s Mount Storm wind farm.

That’s despite a legal challenge.

Dominion Resources spokesman Dan Genest says Mount Storm is a good project and a good location.

Construction of the project’s first phase is nearing completion. The companies say the first 82 turbines will be hooked up to the region’s power grid by the fourth quarter of this year. The turbines are expected to generate 164 megawatts of electricity — enough for 41,000 homes. read more

By ASHLEY COX

A small light appears on the dashboard of your car. You look down. The gas tank is on empty and it’s time to fill up. Again.

With gas prices reaching record highs this summer, many people will scour their neighborhoods for the lowest prices.

Some opt for discount gas, while others stay true to brand names.

“Generally it’s price over brand,” Clermont resident James Armstrong said of his choice of gasoline as he filled up Tuesday afternoon at the Kroger station on Thompson Bridge Road. read more

Aug 1st 2007

The Kazakh government has warned Western investors in the giant Kashagan oil project that delays and massive cost overruns amount to a breach of contract, which demands renegotiation of the deal. Currently, this seems likely to be limited to financial penalties rather than redistribution of equity in favour of the national oil company. However, it underlines the growing assertiveness of the Kazakh authorities in dealing with foreign investors that were welcomed with open arms in the 1990s. read more

August 01, 2007: 07:28 AM EST

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s (RDSB.LN) 65,000 barrel of oil equivalent-a-day Shearwater gas field in the U.K. North Sea will shut for scheduled maintenance work Thursday, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The field undergoes maintenance every two years and the work has typically taken 30 days, she said.

A large number of North Sea oil and gas fields will be closed for maintenance in the week ahead. Total SA’s (TOT) Elgin and Franklin gas fields are shut for three weeks, starting last weekend. ConocoPhillips’ (COP) Britannia gas field will be closed Aug. 4-6. Centrica PLC’s (CNA.LN) Morecambe South gas field is expected to shut down for an unknown duration next week. read more

By Upstream staff

Gazprom will almost halve gas supplies to Belarus from Friday after failing to reach a deal with Minsk over a $456 million gas debt, the Russian gas giant said today.

“We will cut supplies by 45% but fully maintain our transit supplies to Europe via Belarus,” a Gazprom spokesman told Reuters.

“Belarus has so far offered nothing to resolve the debt issue, which we consider a violation of our previous agreements. They have the money to pay back the debt and we do not understand why they don’t want to do it,” he added. read more

By Upstream staff

US energy company Dominion and Shell Windenergy plan to add a second phase to a West Virginia windfarm, boosting its output to 264 megawatts, the companies said today.

Shell Windenergy is a unit of Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell.

The companies formed a third company, NedPower Mount Storm to own the Grant County, West Virginia windfarm.

The plans call for 50 turbines producing 100 megawatts to be located next to the first phase of 82 turbines producing 164 megawatts near Dominion’s Mount Storm Power Station, in Grant County. read more

Inflated Gear Prices
Almost Guarantee
New Crude Records
By BHUSHAN BAHREE
August 1, 2007; Page A3

•  Pumping Prices: Oil companies are encountering cost run-ups and delays as they compete for scarcer, pricier field equipment and services.

•  Demand Disconnect: The trend complicates oil-industry efforts to tap new projects to capture higher prices.

•  Off Balance: Projects driven by higher prices have helped quell oil’s rise in the past.During past surges, higher oil prices pinched consumers and the economy but also made a greater amount of untapped oil economical to pump. read more