August 2nd, 2007:

By Guy Faulconbridge
Thu Aug 2, 9:16 AM ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian explorers dived deep below the North Pole in a submersible on Thursday and planted a national flag on the seabed to stake a symbolic claim to the energy riches of the Arctic.

A mechanical arm dropped a specially made rust-proof titanium flag onto the Arctic seabed at a depth of 4,261 meters (13,980 ft), Itar-Tass news agency quoted expedition officials as saying.

Russia wants to extend right up to the North Pole the territory it controls in the Arctic, believed to hold vast reserves of untapped oil and natural gas. read more

By Russell Hotten, Industry Editor
Last Updated: 12:17am BST 02/08/2007

Russia threatened to halve gas supplies to Belarus from Friday, prompting concern that the dispute could yet again lead to cuts across the Continent.

The European Union called yesterday for a swift resolution to the row, sparked because Russia’s state-controlled gas company Gazprom says Belarus has unpaid bills of around $456m (£225m).

Western Europe receives almost 20pc of its gas via pipelines running through Belarus. Gazprom said it would continue to pump gas to the West, but could not guarantee that Belarus would not siphon off some for its own use. However, Gazprom has notified customers in western Europe that it may have to use alternative routes. read more

02 Aug 2007 

As part of an ongoing strategy of portfolio management, Société des Pétroles Shell (Shell) has received an offer for the sale of its Berre-l’Etang refinery site complex and associated infrastructure and businesses to Basell. A purchase price of $700 million has been agreed.

The sale is subject to staff consultation and regulatory approval. Shell will be working closely with the appropriate trade unions and staff representatives as it has been doing since the announcement to review the ownership of the assets was made in January 2007. It is anticipated that any deal would be concluded in early 2008. read more

Extracts

BP Ranked 84 out of 100 global brands:

Oil spills in Alaska and a disastrous 2005 refinery explosion in Texas have undermined the promise of “Beyond Petroleum.”

Shell ranked 93 out of 100 global brands:

Shell was damaged by a scandal over overstated reserves, but it is back on track in a strong oil market.

For the entire list and information on basis on which rankings were compiled go to…

http://www.businessweek.com/pdfs/2007/0732_globalbrands.pdf

Thu Aug 2, 2007 2:57 PM BST
By Alex Lawler

LONDON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell sold three French oil refineries and gas field stakes in Norway for $2.5 billion (1.23 billion pounds) on Thursday, pressing ahead with its strategy to divest lower-returning assets.

Swiss-based oil refiner Petroplus will buy oil refineries at Petit Couronne and Reichstett Vendenheim for $875 million, while Basell has agreed to buy the Berre-l’Etang plant for $700 million.

The deals reflect Shell’s strategy to focus on faster-growing regions and analysts said the sales may signal the company is betting that a period of rising profit from oil refining in Europe may not last. read more

Thursday 02 August 2007

Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell is selling three refineries in France and stakes in two Norwegian oil and gas fields for a total $2.5bn, the company announced on Thursday. The sales still have to be approved by the relevant competition authorities.

Shell has been reorganising its refining activities for several years, reducing interests in less profitable countries and boosting investment in growth markets such as Asia.

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2007/08/shell_sells_assets_totalling_2.php read more

02 Aug 2007 

A/S Norske Shell (‘Shell’) today announced that the company has entered into an agreement with E.ON Ruhrgas Norge AS to sell its 28% equity interests in the undeveloped Skarv and Idun fields for US$ 893 million. The agreement covers the licenses PL-159, PL-212, PL-212B and PL-262 in the Norwegian Sea.  

David Loughman, Managing Director A/S Norske Shell, said: “We remain fully committed to Norway and continue to consider this to be a key area of growth within our European business. We are currently making major investments on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The Ormen Lange development, where Shell assumes operatorship in November 2007, is very important in our growth strategy. We are currently investing in increased output from the Shell operated Draugen asset, the development of Gjøa and further development of the Statfjord, Troll, Kvitebjørn and Valhall assets. In addition we continue a very active exploration drilling program in the deep-water areas of the Norwegian Sea.” read more

EXTRACT: Rep. Frelinghuysen has more than $100,000 invested in Conoco Phillips, and more than $250,000 in Royal Dutch/Shell, which has had interests in Iran, according to the SEC.

By Fred Lucas
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
August 02, 2007

(CNSNews.com) – More than 30 members of Congress, or their spouses, invest in companies that do business in countries that the U.S. government says sponsor terrorists, a Cybercast News Service investigation has established.

Financial disclosure forms show that Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) — one of the leading national security experts in Congress — has hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in nine corporations listed by the Securities and Exchange Commission as doing or having done business with a terror-sponsoring state. read more

02 Aug 2007 

As part of an ongoing strategy of portfolio management, Shell International Petroleum Company Limited (Shell) has signed a Letter of Intent with Petroplus Holdings AG relating to the possible sale of two of its French refineries. Shell and Petroplus will discuss detailed terms, including developing a processing arrangement for the production of speciality products such as lubricants, with a view to agreeing and concluding a potential sale during 2008.  

The sale, which would be part of an ongoing strategic review of a number of Shell’s refining and petrochemicals assets, would include the Petit Couronne and Reichstett Vendenheim refineries and associated infrastructure and businesses. read more

Singapore (Platts)–2Aug2007

Royal Dutch Shell has signed a letter of intent for the possible sale of two of its French refineries with a combined capacity of 220,000 b/d to Switzerland-based independent refiner Petroplus for $875 million, the oil major said Thursday.

The sale, which is part of Shell’s ongoing strategic review of a number of its refining and petrochemicals assets, includes the Petit Couronne and the Reichstett Vendenheim refineries, and associated infrastructure and businesses.   read more

By Kristian Rix and Fred Pals

Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) — Petroplus Holdings AG, a Swiss oil refiner, agreed to buy two French refineries from Royal Dutch Shell Plc for $475 million to profit from higher demand for fuels. The shares jumped the most in six months.

The refineries, Petit Couronne and Reichstett Vendenheim, have a combined capacity of 239,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, Zug, Switzerland-based Petroplus said in a statement distributed by Business Wire today. The company expects the purchase to be completed in the second quarter of next year. read more

By Fred Pals

Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) — E.ON AG, Germany’s biggest utility, agreed to buy a 28 percent stake in two Norwegian gas fields from Royal Dutch Shell Plc to increase its natural-gas production.

E.ON will pay Shell $893 million for stakes in the Skarv and Idun fields, the Dusseldorf-based company said in a statement today on its Web site.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Pals in Amsterdam at [email protected]

Last Updated: August 2, 2007 05:32 EDT

By Joe Carroll

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) — Exxon Mobil Corp. sent engineers to advise Eni SpA on how to develop Kazakhstan’s Kashagan field, the biggest oil discovery in 30 years, after costs more than doubled to $136 billion.

Exxon Mobil’s technical advisers will use experience gained from working on other ice-plagued, offshore oil projects to assist Eni, operator of the project, said Margaret Ross, a Exxon spokeswoman. Italy’s Eni will also draw on the expertise of some of its other partners in the field, she said. read more

By Christian Schmollinger

Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) — OAO Gazprom’s Sakhalin Energy liquefied natural gas plant on the island is unaffected by earthquakes, a spokesman said.

“Nothing is wrong,” Alexey Okhotnikov said by telephone from the island of Sakhalin, off Russia’s Pacific coast. “Got a feeling of a lot of moving and shaking. This is just normal.”

State-run Gazprom bought a majority shareholding in the Sakhalin Energy joint venture in April from Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. read more

The Associated Press
Published: August 2, 2007

PARIS: Oil company Total SA said Thurdsay that second-quarter net profit was little changed as improved refinery margins failed to offset the weaker dollar.

Net income declined 1 percent to €3.41 billion (US$4.66 billion) from €3.44 billion (US$4.7 billion) in the same period a year ago, said Total, the world’s fourth-largest publicly traded oil company.

“Oil prices rebounded to high levels approaching those that we saw in 2006,” Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie said in a statement accompanying the quarterly results. read more

Story Highlights

NEW: 3 quakes kill 2 people on Russian island of Sakhalin, says ministry

Quake caused small tsunami on west coast of Japan’s Hokkaido; no damage

No reports of injuries or damage in Japan from the quakes or tsunami waves
    
YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, Russia (Reuters) — A series of three earthquakes killed two people on Russia’s Pacific island of Sakhalin on Thursday, the Russian emergencies ministry said.

1 of 2  Japan’s Meteorological Agency registered the first earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 off Sakhalin. It was felt in nearby Japan but there were no immediate reports of damage or injury there. read more