January 16th, 2008:

By Sheila McNulty
Published: January 16 2008 19:22 | Last updated: January 16 2008 19:22

Susan Longacre retired from Chevron in 2002, yet five years later she still puts in up to eight weeks a year on the job. The second-biggest oil company in the US could not afford to let the 66-year-old geologist simply take her 35 years’ experience and disappear.

Chevron has only 15 to 20 people with the experience Ms Longacre has gained reading samples drawn from deep underground to determine potential volumes of hydrocarbon resources. read more

Published: Jan. 16, 2008 at 12:03 PM

TEHRAN, Jan. 16 (UPI) — Energy companies throughout Europe continue to defy U.S.-negotiated sanctions against Iran by putting several new deals on the table.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy in September warned the French company Total against investing in Iran but the oil giant continued to negotiate a $15 billion liquefied natural gas deal to explore Iran’s South Pars gas field, the FARS news agency said Wednesday.

Italy’s APS Engineering also confirmed a $585 million deal in the South Pars field as part of a consortium with Germany’s Linde and Italy’s Eni subsidiary. read more

Reuters
Wednesday January 16 2008
By Eva Kuehnen

FRANKFURT, Jan 16 (Reuters) – European shares hit their lowest close in 16 months on Wednesday in choppy trade as fears the U.S. economy might slide into recession clouded investor sentiment, sending financials and oil majors lower.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index ended 0.9 percent lower at 1,383.16 points, having also hit its intra-day lowest level since September 2006 at 1,372.15 points earlier in the session.

“The stock market is very sensitive at the moment. Last year there was greed, now there’s fear and somewhere in between there is reason,” said Dennis Nacken, analyst at Allianz Global Investors. read more

January 16, 2008

A 90 year old war veteran, Alfred Donovan and his 60 year old son, John, operate a website – royaldutchshellplc.com – focused on Shell which has cost the oil giant billions of dollars. It regularly humiliates Shell senior management, including its CEO, Jeroen van der Veer. 

The Times newspaper recently published an article under the headline: – 

 “A word in your Shell-like — it’s all gibberish” (5 Jan 2008). 

http://royaldutchshellplc.com/2008/01/04/the-times-a-word-in-your-shell-like-%e2%80%94-it%e2%80%99s-all-gibberish/  read more

January 16, 2008: 08:40 AM EST

BUENOS AIRES -(Dow Jones)- The Argentine government will allow three of the nation’s four top fuel retailers to continue to export fuels after they rolled back pump prices to October levels, a government official told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.

The government’s price control agency, the Interior Commerce Secretariat, gave the local units of Repsol YPF SA (REP), Petroleo Brasiliero (PBR), and ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) the green light to export fuels Tuesday, the official said on the condition he not be named. read more

Reuters Wednesday January 16 2008
By Tanya Mosolova

MOSCOW, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Russian oil output growth will fall this year below 2 percent for the first time since 1999, due to a lack of greenfield developments, stagnation at mature Siberian fields and rising capital costs, a Reuters poll showed.

A survey of 15 analysts and officials found on average that production would rise by 1.8 percent to slightly over 10 million barrels per day for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. read more

Jan 16 12:42 AM US/Eastern

Bush Pushes For More Oil Production
 
Democratic White House hopeful Hillary Clinton on Tuesday accused President George W. Bush of “begging” for cuts in oil prices in “pathetic” encounters with Gulf leaders.

The former first lady hit out at the US president as he wrapped up a tour of the Middle East, during a 2008 Democratic presidential campaign debate here.

“President Bush is over in the Gulf now begging the Saudis and others to drop the price of oil,” Clinton said. “How pathetic.” read more

Published: Wednesday, 16 January, 2008, 01:55 AM Doha Time
 
LONDON: Britain’s top shares dropped 3% yesterday, with European and US stocks tumbling after Citigroup reported its first quarterly loss and weak US retail sales data inflamed fears of a US recession.

The FTSE 100, which has lost nearly 7% so far this year on fears of a US recession, ended yesterday’s trading down 3.1%, or 190.1 points, at 6,025.6.

In Paris the CAC 40 lost 2.83% to finish at 5,250.82 while in Frankfurt the Dax gave up 2.14% to close at 7,566.38. read more

By Yuji Okada

Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) — Japanese oil refiners led by Nippon Oil Corp. plan to shut 19 percent less capacity during the peak spring maintenance season, reducing the need for gasoline imports from Singapore and South Korea.

Asia’s second-largest oil processing industry will idle 10 crude distillation units, or 21.5 percent of capacity, in the second half of May and first half of June, down from a maximum of 26 percent last year, according to a table compiled by the Petroleum Association of Japan and obtained by Bloomberg News. Refiners typically do maintenance and safety checks annually. read more

By Samantha Zee

Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, said a leak in the vent line piping in a tank at its Deer Park, Texas, refinery led to gases being released into the atmosphere.

The refinery is working to limit the emissions associated with the event, according to a report with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Industrial chemical 1,3-Butadiene was released into the atmosphere following the leak, which is associated with tank V- BD-902, the report said. The incident occurred at 1 p.m. today and is ongoing. read more

By Shigeru Sato

Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) — Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K., the Japanese unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, dropped to the lowest in more than 2 1/2 years in Tokyo trading after Morgan Stanley cut the stock’s rating to “underweight” from “equal-weight.”

Showa Shell fell 72 yen, or 6.7 percent, to close at 1,002 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. That is the lowest since May 18, 2005, when the stock closed at 1,000 yen.

The surge in benchmark New York Oil prices to records has increased retail prices for auto and heating fuels in Japan, cutting local demand for petroleum products. Sluggish fuel sales have eroded earnings at Showa Shell and other refiners, prompting them to diversify to compensate for weakness in their main business. read more

By Chris Flood
Published: January 15 2008 11:56 | Last updated: January 15 2008 18:46

Energy and base metal prices weakened on Tuesday as disappointing retail sales data stoked fears over the possibility of a US recession, but gold consolidated its position above the $900 level.

Hopes for an Opec supply increase also contributed to downward pressure on oil prices. During a visit to Saudi Arabia, President George W. Bush said Opec must understand that providing more oil supplies would be “helpful” and that high energy prices could cause the US economy to slow. read more