October 1st, 2007:

Unprecedented warm temperatures in the High Arctic this past summer were so extreme that researchers with a Queen’s University-led climate change project have begun revising their forecasts.

“Everything has changed dramatically in the watershed we observed,” reports Geography professor Scott Lamoureux, the leader of an International Polar Year project announced yesterday in Nunavut by Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl. “It’s something we’d envisioned for the future – but to see it happening now is quite remarkable.” read more

President Vladimir Putin speaks at a congress of the United Russia party in Moscow, Monday Oct. 1, 2007. Putin said Monday he would lead the dominant United Russia party’s ticket in December parliamentary elections and suggested he could become prime minister, the strongest indication yet that he will seek to retain power after he steps down as president early next year. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All right reserved.

Oct 1, 3:57 PM (ET)
By STEVE GUTTERMAN
 
(AP) President Vladimir Putin looks on while attending a congress of the United Russia party in Moscow,… read more

Associated Press
By ADAM SCHRECK 10.01.07, 3:42 PM ET

NEW YORK: Even casual investors know there’s a link between rising crude prices and record oil company profits. Any driver fuming over gas at three bucks a gallon can tell you that.

Last month, oil futures topped the $80 mark for the first time and just kept on going. They continue to hover near record levels: light, sweet crude for November delivery closed Friday at $81.66.

That seems like it ought to be good news for Exxon Mobil Corp. and other integrated oil giants that wrapped up their third quarters over the weekend. But experts say a drop in refining margins could complicate things. read more

Terry Macalister
Monday October 1, 2007

The BP board has given Sir Peter Sutherland the green light to stay on as chairman until 2009 despite the wave of problems that have led to a management shake-up of the oil group and seriously undermined the performance of its share price.

A top headhunter has been appointed to search for a replacement for Sir Peter. But the company said last night there was no question of him stepping down early, despite some commentators arguing that an early exit would clear the air at BP. read more

October 01, 2007: 09:59 AM EST

RIO DE JANEIRO -(Dow Jones)- Brazilian state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR), or Petrobras, is considering forming a consortium to buy Exxon Mobil Corp.’s (XOM) South American assets, the Gazeta Mercantil newspaper said Monday.

According to reports in recent weeks, Exxon Mobil wants to sell its downstream assets in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile.

The Exxon assets are valued at about $800 million by Petrobras, but a deal wouldn’t likely close this year, the newspaper said. read more

By Maggie Urry and Norma Cohen in London
Published: October 1 2007 11:43 | Last updated: October 1 2007 11:43

Shell UK, part of the Royal Dutch Shell oil group, is taking the unusual step of halting its contributions to its pension scheme for at least a year.

This is to take advantage of a combination of increasing equity values and rising interest rates this year.

In an announcement to scheme members posted on the company’s website, Shell UK said its latest actuarial valuation, completed last March, showed the £12.1bn scheme to be heavily in surplus. read more

01/10/2007

Shell Nederland Chemie B.V. today announced that it would make a significant investment to strengthen the integration of the Pernis-Moerdijk refinery and chemicals complex in The Netherlands. The investment forms part of an ongoing programme to secure the long-term potential and competitiveness of Shell chemical assets in Western Europe and will concentrate on supplying hydrowax from the Pernis refinery, and other Shell chemical refineries in Europe, to Moerdijk to create an advantaged feedstock position. read more

This Day (Lagos)
1 October 2007
By Ahamefula Ogbu
Port Harcourt

Palpable tension has enveloped Ikata and Ochigba communities in Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State following the killing of a youth, Azhioluka Herbert Aloni (25), and the wounding of several others by the Joint Task Force (JTF) allegedly called in by Nestoil Nigeria Limited working on pipelines in the area.

However, Spokesman of the JTF, Major Musa, said the soldiers shot in self defence when they were surrounded and outnumbered by the youths of the two communities while on escort duty for the repairs of pipelines by Nestoil on behalf of Shell.
 
Trouble started on Friday when some youths of the area on the instruction of their paramount rulers, blocked the road leading to their area which they said is a community road they contributed to build. read more

Mon Oct 1, 2007 3:36pm BST
 
MADRID, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) was surprised by a report last week that Kuwait wanted to drop it as a partner in a project to build a $5 billion refinery in China, its Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer said on Monday.

Last week, Kuwaiti news agency KUNA said there were various reasons state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp. no longer wanted Shell involved on the Guangdong plant, including objections from China’s National Development and Reform Commission. read more

Posted on: October 01, 2007 | about stocks: PWE 
By Davy Bui  

I received an email from a reader asking my opinion on the proposed Alberta oil production royalty hike (as well as cuts to royalties from some mature assets). I’ve posted my response below:

My opinion is that, long-term, this is noise. I try to avoid investments where returns hinge on an 8 percent tax hike.

Specifically as it relates to Penn West (PWE); they commented on this yesterday when they announced their monthly distribution. It will have no material affect on their current operations and may even help them as some of their current production may benefit from the royalty cuts for mature fields. However, they acknowledged that it may have a negative impact on their Peace River Oil Sands project. But the timeline on that is too far away and the moving targets in terms of the SIFT tax and now royalty hikes make any assessment on impact on revenues, cash flow, etc premature at this time. Keep in mind, Penn West has booked only a small fraction of the possible resource for that project. read more

Photosynthetic process using algae to absorb CO2 could save billions of dollars a year

SHAWN MCCARTHY
GLOBAL ENERGY REPORTER
October 1, 2007 at 7:49 AM EDT

CALGARY — Backed by major energy companies, the Alberta Research Council is turning to algae to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in a process that could even turn pond scum into a profit centre.

In essence, the Alberta researchers are hoping to mimic the photosynthetic process that occurred early in the Earth’s life, when blue-green algae absorbed massive amounts of carbon dioxide from a CO{-2}-rich atmosphere and released oxygen. read more

08:50 – 01 October 2007

There have been plenty of headlines about the tranche of UK offshore assets put up for sale by Shell. That the company is also seeking to reduce its stakes a number of exploration prospects through farm-ins has largely been overlooked.

Shell is seeking a farm-in into its UK Atlantic Margin licence P799 to earn a stake in the concession in exchange for funding a well to be drilled next year on the South Uist prospect using Ocean Rig’s heavy-duty semi-submersible rig, Leiv Eiriksson. read more

Mon Oct 1, 2007 12:22 PM BST

LONDON, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) said on Monday it had temporarily suspended payments to its well-funded UK pension scheme.

“We can confirm that the Shell UK pension fund has agreed to a temporary reduction in company contributions to zero. The fund remains in a very strong position and is heavily in surplus,” a Shell spokeswoman said.

The company declined to say by how much its main pension fund is in the black, but Shell has one of the largest and most generously-funded schemes in the UK, into which it put 67 million pounds ($136.8 million) last year. read more

Bloomberg: Slow, Steady Liquidation of the World Oil Industry: David Pauly

By David Pauly

Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) — If Chevron Corp. keeps buying back its stock at the current rate, the company will have liquidated all its shares by about 2023.

Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company after Exxon Mobil Corp., last week announced a plan to repurchase as much as $15 billion of its stock over three years. At today’s prices, the buyback would retire about 7.5 percent of Chevron’s outstanding shares. You can do the arithmetic from there. read more

EXTRACT: Had Lord Browne only listened to a couple of people on safety matters, things might have gone differently at that refinery in Texas.

By Lucy Kellaway
Published: October 1 2007 03:00 | Last updated: October 1 2007 03:00

Tony Hayward, the attractively boyish-looking new head of BP, was quoted in the Financial Times last week as saying he has a “leadership style that really listens”.

There are three things wrong with these five words. First, if you have to resort to telling people what your leadership style is, you are failing to exhibit any particular style at all. Second, styles don’t listen. Third, and most fatally, if you think the biggest part of leading is listening you are either disingenuous or deluded. read more

By MARK COBLEY
October 1, 2007

Royal Dutch Shell has suspended payments to its £12 billion ($24.55 billion) U.K. pension fund for at least a year from the end of July. It is the first FTSE-100 company to take a so-called “pension holiday” since the Anglo-Dutch oil group took one in 2002, according to investment consultants.

Such suspensions were common in the 1980s and early 1990s when investment returns were good and surpluses large. These suspensions were a significant factor in the development of funding problems in U.K. pension plans when stock markets fell between the years 2000 and 2003. read more