November 5th, 2007:

www.chinaview.cn  2007-11-06 07:19:46     
 
BRUSSELS, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) — Dutch oil giant Shell wants to participate in the exploitation of a large gas field on the Russian peninsula Jamal in northern Siberia, Dutch paper Financiele Dagblad reported Monday.

The Bovanenko field, owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom, could produce 250 billion cubic meters of gas a year, the report said. This is three times the gas production in the Netherlands.

Shell had a big row with Gazprom over the Sachalin 2 gas project in the past years, but relations between the two have improved remarkably. Thanks to a joint venture with Rosneft, Shell has the prospect of new oil and gas projects in Russia and hopes to be able to augment its reserves in this way. read more

November 5, 2007
Frances Gibb, Legal Editor

Jack Straw has ditched controversial reforms that would have allowed judges, including former Lord Chancellors, to return to work as lawyers after a stint on the bench.

The plans, put forward by Mr Straw’s predecessor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, were aimed at making the job of a judge more attractive – particularly to women.

But they ran into strong opposition from judges, with the Lord Chief Justice earlier this year condemning the plans as unworkable, possibly unlawful, counterproductive and damaging to judicial independence. read more

Author: Claire Ruckin
Published: 05/11/2007 12:46

The convention banning judges from returning to private practice will remain in place after the Government today (5 November) issued its long-awaited response to a consultation paper on the controversial subject.

The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw, said lifting the prohibition would not increase diversity in the judiciary and that the ban would therefore remain in place.

Whitehall launched a consultation paper on the subject last year and had been expected to issue its response in March 2007, with subsequent delays coming as the Government examined safeguards to prevent abuse of any relaxation in the rules. read more

November 05, 2007   

One of the biggest rallies in oil and energy prices might be nearing the end soon. Oil prices have nearly quadrupled since the beginning of this century due to various well known factors: 9/11, war with Iraq and Afghanistan, tensions with Iran this and North Korea last year, political turmoil with the former French prime-minister, and now with Russia’s Putin, uncertainties and decisions of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, hurricane damages from couple of years ago and Israel-Lebanon conflict from last year – all coupled with the incredible growth of emerging and developing nations. read more

Nov 05, 2007 04:30 AM
David Olive
 
We advised caution last week in betting on the current oil-price “superspike,” given the price slumps that have typically followed such outbreaks of exuberance ever since the first oil shocks of the 1970s.

This time we’ll let an oil giant make our case. It’s unusual for a company to essentially “talk down” the price of its products, but Royal Dutch/Shell PLC wasn’t shy when releasing its third-quarter earnings last week to warn that current record crude prices are being driven not by fundamentals of supply and demand, but speculation and political tension. read more

MORE AT STAKE: With industry profits huge but production on the decline, how much can state take?

By STEVE QUINN
The Associated Press

Published: November 5, 2007
Last Modified: November 5, 2007 at 01:33 AM

JUNEAU — If oil companies want to continue taking Alaska’s oil, state officials say they need to raise the ante.

In fact, Gov. Sarah Palin wants 25 percent off the top of all profits the companies make in Alaska, up from 22.5 percent and the second increase in as many years. In a special legislative session, oil giants are warning lawmakers that another increase will make the Alaska business climate look unstable. read more

5.11.2007 at 10:47

Matti Vanhanen (centre), the Finnish prime minister, is the people’s favourite for Centre party presidential candidate, Centre party internet news portal Apila quoted a Taylor Nelson Sofres poll as suggesting on Sunday.

Almost 60 per cent of Centre party supporters said they considered Mr Vanhanen the most suitable choice. Esko Aho, a former prime minister, and Jorma Ollila, the chairman of Nokia and Royal Dutch Shell, trailed with eight per cent each.

TNS interviewed about 1,300 people on 12-17 October. read more

By MarketWatch
Last Update: 5:26 AM ET Nov 5, 2007

Spanish oil company Repsol YPF SA and its partner Royal Dutch Shell have decided to postpone by six months, until June 2008, their final investment decision on Persian LNG, a planned multibillion dollar joint venture to develop liquefied natural gas projects in Iran, reports El Mundo in its Monday Internet edition, citing Repsol sources.

Citing geopolitical tensions and the U.S. government’s new sanctions against Iran, Repsol and Shell would even be willing to abandon their project in Iran for good if tensions keep escalating, the paper says. read more

The Real Record High for Oil
By GREGORY MEYER
November 5, 2007; Page C6

After the price of oil edged further into record territory, the $100-a-barrel bears and bulls are poised for a showdown.

If the uptrend continues, market watchers say this could be the week that oil manages to punch through the symbolic level and eclipse the inflation-adjusted record of $101.70 reached in April 1980.

But some observers are dubious as to how long crude prices might stay there.

Benchmark crude futures have jumped 27% in the past three months on concerns of global-supply shortfalls, strong demand and a flood of investment from financial firms and speculative investors. The front-month December crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled at $95.93 a barrel Friday, an all-time nominal high.
 
“The market doesn’t seem to have done anything on the downside to threaten the uptrend,” said Tom Bentz, senior analyst at brokerage firm BNP Paribas Commodity Futures in New York. “As long it continues to hang in there like this, traders will continue to target higher levels.” read more

The old strategy was simple: Avoid sin stocks. These days, it’s a lot more sophisticated — and attracting the attention of mainstream firms.

By CAROLYN CUI
November 5, 2007; Page R1

Changes in investing are bringing the methods of so-called socially responsible investors and those of more mainstream investors closer together. It’s a trend driven by increasing sophistication among the former group, and concerns about global warming and other social issues among the latter.

Traditionally, socially responsible investing boiled down to avoiding “sin” stocks — purveyors of tobacco and alcohol, and weapons makers. But in the past few years, that philosophy has changed significantly. read more

BP oil refinery complex. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Sally Uren 
Monday November 5 2007

Six of the 10 largest companies on the globe come from one of the oldest and historically most carbon-intensive sectors in business: oil and gas. Between them, the oil majors shown in our table account for 91% of the total emissions of CO2. That says a lot about the scale of the challenge we face in moving to a low-carbon world.

ExxonMobil takes the dubious prize for the highest emissions, responsible for 146m tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum, equivalent to the annual emissions of the United Arab Emirates. ExxonMobil is also the worst offender when it comes to total emissions relative to sales, a staggering 436 tonnes per $1m. By contrast, BP is nearly twice as efficient in its operations, emitting 261 tonnes of carbon dioxide per $1m in sales. read more

Monday November 5 2007

· Green List reveals mixed reaction to climate change
· Voluntary action too little, says Friends of the Earth

Murray Armstrong and David Adam

Only 48 of the top 100 companies trading on the UK stock exchange have published a plan to address and reduce their carbon emissions and a significant minority refuse even to reveal their carbon footprint, a Guardian survey shows.

The Guardian Green List is published a year after the landmark Stern Review, which warned that the economic impact of global warming could rival that of the two world wars and the Great Depression, and warned that all sectors of the economy would need to cut emissions. read more

Mon Nov 5, 2007 7:12am GMT 

AMSTERDAM, Nov 5 (Reuters) – Avantium, a spin-off of Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research), will sell shares on Amsterdam’s stock exchange in an initial public offering of up to 30 million euros ($43.4 million), the company said on Monday.

Avantium, which offers research and development technologies to the energy, chemicals and pharmaceutical sectors, said it plans to raise between 20 million euros and 30 million euros through the issuance of news shares, it said in a statement. read more

By Ying Lou

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) — PetroChina Co. surged past Exxon Mobil Corp. to become the world’s first $1 trillion company as investors in China started trading the stock.

PetroChina’s Class-A shares almost tripled on their Shanghai debut today, valuing the Beijing-based state-owned oil company at as much as $1.1 trillion, more than Exxon and General Electric Co. combined.

The rally makes PetroChina shares four times more expensive relative to earnings than those of Exxon, whose sales are almost four times higher. China’s entire stock market was valued at less than $1.1 trillion before tripling this year and giving the communist nation five of the world’s 10 biggest companies. read more

5 November 2007

Kota Kinabalu: Chief Minister Datuk Musa Haji Aman described Shell Malaysia as a valued partner in the development and progress of Sabah, other than indulging in direct investment in the upper stream retail sectors.

He pointed out that Shell Malaysia had invested socially through their various sustainable development and community outreach projects throughout the State, thus reflecting the highest level of commitment social corporate responsibility..

Musa said this while launching the 3rd Golf With Friends tournament played over 8 holes, organised by Shell Malaysia, at the Sutera Harbour Golf and Country Club here, in an address delivered by Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Nasrun Datu Mansur. read more