September 3rd, 2007:

Monday September 03, 2007 15:17 by Shell to Sea
Call for support for large scale peaceful protest

There is a protest at the entrance of the site of the proposed Shell refinery in Erris every morning. On the morning of Friday, September 14th, local people have asked for supporters to join them for a peaceful demonstration against the controversial government-backed scheme to install a high-pressure pipeline and gas refinery against the wishe s of the community.

The following is a statement from Shell to Sea on the subject of this demonstration. read more

Last Friday, 31 August 2007, The Guardian newspaper published an article focussed on Jeroen van der Veer, the Chief Executive of Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2159465,00.html

The portrait painted by Guardian journalist Terry Macalister was of an endearingly frugal and religious man who earned a paltry £2.9 million ($5.8 million) in 2006 (described as a “relatively modest salary”) and is somewhat less than an example of sartorial elegance, wearing a “barely ironed shirt with frayed cuffs and a well-worn tie” for the interview.  read more

(Former Royal Dutch Shell Executive, Paddy Briggs)

The Guardian: Oil boss sees no answers blowing in the wind

BY TERRY MACALISTER

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2159465,00.html

Shell’s spin doctors will be very pleased with this bland and unrevealing puff piece. Let’s first correct the inaccuracies. Jeroen van der Veer was not paid £2.9m in 2006 as the article states. In fact his total compensation according to the Shell annual report was £5.2m in that year and this report also reveals that special arrangements have been made by Shell to ensure that when he retires in 2008 Mr van der Veer will be entitled to an annual pension well into seven figures. Terry Macalister should have done his homework better. At the Shell AGM this year there were pointed questions from the floor about how much Jeroen and the other high priced help pay themselves. Elsewhere in Friday’s Guardian the subject of Directors’ p[ay was discussed – but not only did Macalister not press the Shell CEO on this issue he even suggested that his pay was below par – a “relatively modest salary”. What nonsense! read more

Kristen Hays, Houston Chronicle
Published: Sep 02, 2007

ABOARD THE DISCOVERER DEEP SEAS — Even with all the science involved in finding oil below the seabed, drilling in the ocean’s deep waters is a pricey gamble.

But it’s worth the risk for companies betting on big rewards.

“Everything we drill, we’re going at it because we think there’s something there,” said Kevin Koen, a drilling engineer for Chevron Corp. aboard Transocean’s Discoverer Deep Seas, a state-of-the-art drillship under contract to the San Ramon, Calif.-based oil major. read more

Published: Sep 03, 2007

Ukraine is considering selling a stake in the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline to a foreign investor, most likely the Netherlands’ Shell.

According to unofficial information, should the plan to privatise the pipeline be pursued, Poland will demand pre-emptive right of purchase for itself.

According to Monetary Policy Council (RPP) member Halina Wasilewska-Trenkner, if the processes responsible for increasing inflationary pressure are strengthened, the next twelve months could see two interest rate rises. This is less than analysts predict: in their opinion, by June 2008 the RPP may raise the rates three times. read more

Published: Sep 03, 2007

KOTA KINABALU: The New Straits Times and Berita Harian bagged six awards at the annual Kinabalu Shell Press awards.

NST lensman Edmund Samunting won two of the awards, while fellow photographer Datu Ruslan Sulai and journalist Julia Chan, as well as Hasan Omar and Mohd Azrone Sarabatin, from Berita Harian, won one each.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman presented the awards at a ceremony on Saturday night.

Photographs of a stranded whale near Pulau Gaya, off here, and a rowing team from China paddling to the finish line at the annual Sabah Dragon Boat race last year earned Samunting the best news photography and best sports photography awards respectively. Each award came with a plaque and cash RM2,500. read more

Edited by Jonathan Wheatley, Brazil Correspondent
Published: September 3 2007 02:43 | Last updated: September 3 2007 02:43
Jude Webber

The signs of serious trouble ahead in Argentina’s energy sector are becoming impossible to ignore – unless, apparently, you are in government.

The latest commotion concerns reports that ExxonMobil, the world’s biggest oil company, is seeking to sell its assets and exit the country. Esso Petrolera Argentina, an ExxonMobil unit, declined to comment on talk that JP MorganChase was offering its Campana refinery and 590 petrol stations for $200m – described by one energy M&A specialist as ”a lousy price”. Esso has 12 per cent of Argentine fuel sales. read more

Government Wants
Deal With Eni Group
Changed Due to Snags
By GREGORY L. WHITE
September 3, 2007

MOSCOW — The government of Kazakhstan expects compensation for what it sees as “tens of billions of dollars” of economic harm due to massive cost overruns and delays at the Kashagan oil project, led by Italy’s Eni SpA, a government official said Friday.

In a telephone interview, Deputy Finance Minister Daulet Ergozhin said Kazakh authorities are looking for more than financial compensation from Eni and its partners, however. Mr. Ergozhin said Kazakh officials want to see changes to the structure of the deal that would ensure smooth implementation. read more

Monday, September 3, 2007. Issue 3734. Page 9.
Reuters

ASTANA, Kazakhstan — Kazakh Environment Minister Nurlan Iskakov said Sunday that the government might prolong its suspension on operations at the Kashagan oil field if a consortium of Western oil majors developing it did not “improve its record.”

Kazakhstan suspended work at Kashagan on Aug. 27, stepping up pressure on its Western operators, led by Eni, over delays and cost overruns.

“According to legislation we will be looking into this issue for three months. They should improve their record in three months,” Iskakov said. “If they improve, we’ll look into it then.” Asked whether the suspension could then be prolonged if that did not happen, he said, “Yes.” read more

Price-fixing claims: The NRMA says Caltex, Shell, Mobil and BP are profiteering. (Getty Images: Ian Waldie)

Monday 3 September 2007

The New South Wales motoring body, the NRMA, says it has proof oil companies are inflating petrol prices.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is starting its public hearings into petrol prices in Sydney today.

The NRMA president, Alan Evans, says he will tell the inquiry he has evidence the major four fuel suppliers – Caltex, Shell, Mobil and BP – are profiteering. read more

By Emma Arubi
Posted to the Web: Monday, September 03, 2007

WARRI—SHELL Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) rural electrification project in Ojobo community in Delta State has sunk the community into deeper internal crisis as the project commissioned last week covered only a part of the community while the other part remained in darkness resulting protest.

Problem allegedly started when those in darkness insisted that the generator powering the community be switched off until all parts of the community is covered, a requested that was stoutly resisted that led to a free for all fight though no life was lost. read more

Taranaki | Monday, 3 September 2007

At either end of SH43 – Taranaki’s eastern highway link – there are signs warning motorists there is no fuel to be purchased for 150 kilometres, the Taranaki Daily News writes.

It’s not called the Forgotten World Highway for nothing, because not only is there little but scenery and a few villages along that route, but also there are no service stations to slake the thirsts of fuel-starved motor vehicles.

Up until now there has been general acceptance there are no fuel bowsers anywhere along SH43, because the commercial reality is that population levels and traffic numbers way out there in eastern Taranaki aren’t enough to warrant a service station. read more