August 10th, 2007:

Yemi Ajayi, with Agency Report – 10.08.2007

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the United States government have begun a probe to fish out who in Nigeria allegedly collected $6 million (about N800 million) in bribes from a top executive of a United States oil company, Willbros Group, Mr. Jason Steph.

Those to come under the EFCC’s searchlight are officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Federal Government, the Peoples Democratic Party and a Nigerian arm of Royal Dutch Shell. read more

Aug 10 2007 1:40PM

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK. Aug 10 (Interfax) – Sakhalin Energy plans to prepare a plan of action to maintain biodiversity on Sakhalin by the end of this year and plans to start implementing this plan in 2008, Dmitry Petelin, a senior environmental protection specialist with the company, told Interfax.

The plan will include setting up an electronic database for biodiversity, ecological monitoring and other measures.

He said that this week Sakhalin Energy presented a concept for the plan to members of the Sakhalin region Ecology Council, which includes representatives from the regional authorities, federal regulators, scientists, ecologists and representatives from non-profit organizations. read more

Олег Митволь

8 Августа 2007, 22:54

Tvoi den

Компания Shell предложила замглавы Росприроднадзора деньги, чтобы замять проверку проекта «Сахалин-2»

Скандал между Россией и Британией медленно, но верно переходит в экономическую плоскость.

Отечественные компании уже рассматривают возможность вывода акций с Лондонской биржи на Франкфуртскую, а их английские коллеги, как оказывается, пытаются закрепиться в России даже ценой подкупа российских чиновников. read more

By Tom Cahill

Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc said a contract worker was killed yesterday while working at a refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, operated by Motiva Enterprises LLC, a Shell and Saudi Aramco venture.

“At around 9 a.m. on Aug. 9, an employee of Standard Contractors Inc. was involved in a fatal accident,” said Sarah Smallhorn, a spokeswoman for Shell in London.

The employee, identified as Emery Bowie, 25, in a Houston Chronicle story, was working on the Alligator Bayou Project, Smallhorn said. read more

Олегу Митволю свойственны то ли забывчивость, то ли умение говорить неправду

9 Августа 2007, 22:20

Мы доказали, что можем подтвердить каждое написанное нами слово
Вчера замглавы Росприроднадзора Олег Митволь «сдал назад». Начал отрицать свои слова о попытке дачи ему, должностному лицу, взятки в 50 миллионов долларов британской компанией Shell. read more

EXTRACT: Royal Dutch/Shell Group has only been able to acquire reserves of between 44 percent and 57 percent of oil and gas it has sold over the last five years. Shell’s 2004 production was actually 3 percent less than its 2003 production. At the same time that oil and gas are getting harder and more costly to find, increasing demand from the fastgrowing Chinese and indian economies keeps price pressure up for what oil is currently available. Taken altogether, the current boom is likely to last from now until the oil finally runs out. read more

EXTRACT: Five years of record profit have helped the Beijing- based producer overtake BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and OAO Gazprom to rank second only to Exxon among oil companies.

By Ying Lou

Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) — PetroChina Co. shareholders approved a $5.6 billion Shanghai stock sale, agreeing to a plan that will enable China’s largest oil producer to close in on Exxon Mobil Corp. as the world’s biggest company by market value.

The proposal to sell as many as 4 billion yuan-denominated A shares was agreed at a meeting in Beijing today. The stock sale will be priced “so that everyone can afford it,” company Chairman Jiang Jiemin said. read more

Fri 10 Aug 2007, 7:31 GMT
 
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil major Shell is moving 35,000 tonnes of low-sulphur gas oil to South Africa this weekend, to meet healthy demand and cover for fuel shortages caused by a strike, traders and shipping brokers said on Friday.

The 0.05 percent grade will be loaded in Taiwan on August 10-12, with vessel Wabash carrying the product to Durban in South Africa. Shell declined comments.

“Already demand is strong because of the robust mining sector, but the strike has made supply even tighter,” said an Asian trader. read more

10 August 2007
 
A British oil worker has been kidnapped by gunmen in Nigeria, the Foreign Office has confirmed.

The man was snatched from his car in the southern city of Port Harcourt on Friday morning.

About 200 foreigners – some 20 of them British – have been seized in the oil-rich Niger Delta already this year.

Another British oil worker and a Bulgarian colleague were released on Wednesday, almost a month after they were kidnapped.

They were abducted as three-year-old Margaret Hill, the daughter of British national Mike Hill, was released after being held by gunmen in Nigeria for three days. read more

By Grant Smith

Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) — Daily shipments of North Sea Brent crude, part of the price benchmark for almost two-thirds of the world’s oil, will increase by 14 percent next month.

Tankers are set to load 240,000 barrels a day of Brent crude in September, from 209,613 scheduled for August, according to the loading program of field operator Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company.

Brent is one of the four North Sea oil varieties used to price crudes from the Middle East, Africa and Russia. The other grades are Forties produced by BP Plc, Norsk Hydro ASA’s Oseberg blend and ConocoPhillips’ Ekofisk. read more

20 August 2007

PetroChina (PTR ) has picked Chevron (CVX ) to help it develop a natural gas field in central China, a sign the country is turning to outside expertise to help it sate its bottomless energy appetites. The U.S. oil major beat out offers from Norway’s Statoil (STO ), France’s Total (TOT ), and Anglo-Dutch outfit Royal Dutch Shell (RDS ), The Wall Street Journal reported on Aug 7. Meanwhile, oil prices dipped from record highs the previous week, settling around $72 a barrel on fears the U.S. economy was cooling. read more

6 August 2007

I disagree with your conclusion regarding possible job cuts in pursuit of enhancing BP’s efficiency (“Refilling BP’s Tank,” Global Business, July 23). Benchmarking BP’s stats on revenue, production, and proved reserves per person against those for its rivals (ExxonMobil (XOM ) and Shell (RDS )), I found that BP performs in line with or better than the average, surpassing Shell on every metric except for revenue per person.

During a term project at business school, I found that the primary problem was rooted in the firm’s impaired execution skills. BP’s ability to execute the projects and deliver hydrocarbons to the market still lacks perfection. Examples of failed execution include delays in starting Thunder Horse platform, and an explosion at a Houston refinery facility. This addresses BP’s lower valuation vs. ExxonMobil. With less than sure access to new reserves as well as inflated costs, it is going to be more difficult for BP to maintain margins on its upstream business. read more

August 9, 2007, 7:59PM EST

Peter Spencer

 At 46, he’s a senior tool pusher for Seadrill, a contractor for Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) in the South China Sea off Brunei. He lives in Whitby, North Yorkshire, Britain, with his wife and two daughters, and works a four-weeks-on, four-weeks-off schedule.

I started working in 1984 in the North Sea. I was [in] the lowest position, like a general laborer, mostly painting and cleaning. I’ve done every position in the drilling trade. I have been senior tool pusher [working in Brunei] since 2004. We don’t have a safety officer on my rig, so I deal with all safety issues as well. That is the No. 1 priority these days. I get up at 5 in the morning. If it has been a good day, I get to my room at 8 or 9. I am on call for any problems at night. read more

By The Canadian Press – For Business Edge
Published: 08/10/2007 – Vol. 7, No. 16

U.S. refiner Marathon Oil Corp. has entered into a $6.6-billion friendly takeover of Western Oil Sands (TSX: WTO), the latest American interest looking to secure a long-term supply of crude from Alberta’s oilsands.

Western, which owns 20 per cent of the massive Athabasca Oil Sands Project in northern Alberta, said in November it was open to a merger with a downstream partner or a complete takeover.

“Marathon provides an exceptional downstream integration opportunity for Western’s growing upstream oilsands production profile, allowing our shareholders to participate across the total value chain including strong refinery margins,” Western CEO Jim Houck told a conference call after the two companies jointly announced the proposed deal. read more

10 August 2007

Estelle Shirbon
Reuters

ABUJA — Nigeria’s anticorruption police are working to uncover the recipients of an alleged $6m in bribes from a US oil services executive, who had been indicted in the US, the head of the force said yesterday.

US prosecutors have accused Jason Steph, a former manager at Willbros Group , and others of bribing Nigerian officials between 2003 and 2005 to help the Houston-based firm secure a $387m contract to build a gas pipeline.

Nuhu Ribadu, chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, said it was co-operating with US law enforcement agencies on the case. read more

Daily Champion (Lagos)
10 August 2007
Lagos

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Akwa Ibom State government may be heading for a collision over the former’s alleged poor handling of environmental problems in the state.

Daily Champion recalls that Ikot Ada Udo community, in Ikot Abasi local government area was recently hit by oil spillage which affected the socio-economic activities of the area.
 
During the house’s deliberations, the lawmakers recalled that, SPDC for over 40 years had recklessly abandoned several corked oil wells in various communities of the state to spill without servicing or decommissioning them for the benefit of the host communities. read more