November 1st, 2007:

Edited by David Litterick
Last Updated: 1:16am GMT 01/11/2007

Imperial Energy is one of several Western companies whose Russian operations felt the impact of the country’s sometimes erratic regulatory regime. The oil firm’s shares see-sawed amid threats that its operating licences would be revoked. But is the political discount weighing on Imperial’s shares about to ease?

As with BP, Shell and Peter Hambro Mining, Imperial has faced the wrath of Oleg Mitvol, the deputy head of Russia’s environmental regulator who has made a name for himself with his attacks on foreign resources companies. But two things would appear to be moving in Imperial’s favour – one political, the other operational. read more

November 1, 2007

Robert Lindsay Premier Oil’s 72p rise to £12.40 made it one of the top mid-cap performers on talk that Italy’s oil giant Eni, Australia’s Santos, or Shell were looking to bid. Fellow target Burren Energy, where Eni has declared an interest, gained 35p to £12.10, well above the £11 the company has said indicative offers have reached, and Cairn Energy– also rumoured to be sought for its Indian oil fields – gained 74p to £23.53. BP, one of the rumoured Cairn predators, was up 2½p at 625p. read more

Nov 1 12:44 AM US/Eastern
By GILLIAN WONG
Associated Press Writer       
 
SINGAPORE (AP) – The price of oil rose to a new record above $96 a barrel Thursday after a surprise drop in U.S. crude stockpiles raised concerns about supplies for coming winter demand. Other energy futures also gained.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s move to cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point also supported prices.

It was the second week in a row the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a sharp and unexpected drop in oil inventories. read more

By Ambereen Choudhury and Thom Rose
Bloomberg News
Thursday, November 1, 2007

LONDON: Macquarie Bank and the RREEF infrastructure fund of Deutsche Bank are among firms that could bid for a German gas storage and transport network owned partly by Exxon Mobil, according to five people involved with the proposals.

The network, BEB Transport & Speicher Service, a joint venture between Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, may sell for at least €1 billion, or $1.4 billion, said the people, who declined to be identified because the bidding is confidential. read more

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 1, 2007
Filed at 3:04 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) — Chicago drivers have a new way to pay for gasoline: with their fingertips.

Ten Shell gas stations in the Windy City are testing biometric systems that let consumers walk up to the pump, scan their fingertips on a device and fill up their vehicles. The systems, also installed at Shell convenience stores, are directly linked to customers’ checking or credit-card accounts for payment.

”When we talk to customers, they’re always looking for ways to make buying gasoline quicker and easier, and always looking for ways to make their transactions faster and more secure,” said Chris Susse, Shell’s manager of global refueling innovations. ”They don’t want to carry more cards, kits and keychains, and they want it to be free.” read more