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January 22nd, 2008:

From 22 January 2004: Reuters: Shell boss drops out of Davos economic forum

Thu 22 January, 2004 10:29

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – Royal Dutch/Shell boss Phil Watts, facing shareholder wrath after the company’s downgrade of its oil and gas reserves, has cancelled an appearance at the World Economic Forum.

“He’s not coming,” said a Shell spokesman in the Swiss ski resort of Davos on Thursday. “You will understand that the schedules of chief executives are very busy and constantly changing.”

Watts, chairman of Shell’s Committee of Managing Directors, had been due to take part in a discussion on Thursday on “how business boosts development” at the annual gathering of political and business leaders. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

BBC News: BP freezes pension contributions

BBC News BP logo

BP is one of the few companies still offering a final salary scheme

Tuesday, 22 January 2008, 17:27 GMT 

Oil giant BP is the latest major company to announce it will make no contributions to its pension fund during 2008.

BP said the move followed its most recent annual valuation, which revealed that its pension fund was funded to 135% of its current liabilities.

Under the scheme’s rules, the company can stop making payments if the funding level is above 115%.

The move follows a similar announcement from Royal Dutch Shell. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

personneltoday.com: BP follows Shell with one-year pension holiday, despite stock market woes

22 January 2008 14:35

Pension holidays could be making a comeback, following reports that BP is to take a break from paying into its scheme.

The oil giant has followed in the steps of rival Shell and is taking a one-year contribution holiday from its £14.7bn pension scheme after a valuation last year revealed it was funded to 135% of its liabilities.

Pension holidays in the 1990s were once seen seen as a key factor that contributed to many pension scheme tumbling into the red with huge deficits.

Paul McGlone, principal and actuary at Aon Consulting, said: “Shell and now BP’s announcement may seem radical – however this is not the case. This is a strategy that a number of smaller companies are already pursuing. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Daily Post: Shares slump wipes £15bn off pension schemes

Jan 22 2008
By Nicky Burridge

A record £15 billion was wiped off the value of the UK’s biggest pension schemes on Monday as global stock markets dived, figures showed today.

The fall was the biggest loss recorded in a single day since the accounting standard FRS17 was first introduced in June 2001, according to Aon Consulting.

The group said a further £9 billion was knocked off the value of the UK’s biggest 200 defined benefit schemes this morning, leaving them collectively facing a £42 billion deficit. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters: Russia appoints new environmental watchdog head

Tue Jan 22, 2008 5:09pm GMT

MOSCOW, Jan 22 (Reuters) – Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov on Tuesday appointed a long-time ally to head the country’s top environmental watchdog, ignoring calls by Greenpeace to clarify his record. The government said Vladimir Kirillov had been appointed to head the agency, Rosprirodnadzor, which is part of the Natural Resources Ministry. He will replace Sergei Sai, who tendered his resignation earlier this month.

Rosprirodnadzor’s role has risen significantly in recent years due to its involvement in a number of disputes with big foreign companies. Analysts say the agency often uses environmental claims as a fig leaf to help state companies regain bigger stakes in large projects. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Sydney Morning Herald: When truth comes out in wash

Wednesday January 23, 2008

It is difficult to separate fact from green marketing fiction, writes Steve Dow.

It is not easy washing green, or drying for that matter. Consider the LG combined steam washer and dryer promoted with full-page advertisements in glossy magazines that promise water savings if you install and use this $2900 product.

Yet the manufacturer’s claims are a “blatant greenwash”, according to the 2007 shonky awards bestowed last month by Choice, the magazine of the Australian Consumers Association. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines greenwash as “disinformation disseminated by an organisation so as to present an environmentally responsible public image”. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Business New Europe:flash: Fed rate cut not working

January 22, 2008

One hour after the Fed announced an emergency 75bp rate cut and markets appear to be unconvinced that it is enough. Investors are still selling again in the US and after a brief recovery on the RTS, the Russian market also gave up all its gains and fell back to 1960, which appears to be the floor for the moment. This result will surely be taken as a bad sign by investors.

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

DrudgeReport: Fed cuts interest rates in emergency move… THE PANIC OF ’08

AP: Fed Cuts Interest Rate
Tuesday January 22, 8:47 am ET
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer 
Fed Cuts Interest Rate Amid Global Stock Sell-Off and Fears of Recession

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve, confronted with a global stock sell-off fanned by increased fears of a recession, cut a key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point on Tuesday, the biggest one-day move by the central bank in recent memory.
 
The Fed said it was cutting the federal funds rate, the interest that banks charge each other on overnight loans, to 3.5 percent, down by three-fourths of a percentage point from 4.25 percent. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Financial Times: BP to take pensions holiday

By Ed Crooks and Norma Cohen
Published: January 22 2008 02:00 | Last updated: January 22 2008 02:00

BP is to take a break from contributing to its UK pension funds for at least a year, in a move that will save it about £250m in 2008.

Its decision came as PwC, the advisory firm, calculated that market movements – falling interest rates and equities – had turned an aggregate £10bn surplus in FTSE-350 pension schemes into a £25bn deficit, following the share price falls on Monday.

BP’s move follows a similar decision by Royal Dutch Shell, which announced in October that it was taking a contributions holiday for the Shell UK pension fund, into which it paid £67m last year. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters: Shell plans Pernis work in April, September-source

Tue Jan 22, 2008 6:55am EST 

AMSTERDAM, Jan 22 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has planned turnarounds for its 412,000 barrels-per-day Dutch Pernis refinery around April-May and in September 2008, an industry source said on Tuesday.

The source said the refinery, Europe’s biggest, planned to shut one unit in the spring and one unit in September, with both turnarounds expected to last between four to six weeks. He said it was not yet clear which units would close.

“For next year there are some bigger operations going down than normally but, on the other hand, every year they have a large programme for turnarounds,” the source told Reuters. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Financial Times: Nigeria warns on oil contracts

By Matthew Green in Lagos
Published: January 22 2008 02:00 | Last updated: January 22 2008 02:00

Nigeria has warned energy companies it wants to complete its planned renegotiation of contracts covering offshore oilfields in the next three months, saying record prices mean western groups are having “a ball”.

It is the first time Nigeria has come up with a timeframe for renegotiating the complex agreements, which the government signalled it would review late last year in an effort to secure a greater share of profits from offshore production. The urgency will put the oil majors under greater pressure. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Houston Chronicle: Oil prices point to hefty profits

But refining margins to temper results, some say

By KRISTEN HAYS
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Oil at $100 a barrel came and went in a flash. But crude prices that hovered at or above $90 through most of the last three months of 2007 are expected to mean pumped-up quarterly profits as the largest oil companies report their earnings in coming weeks.

Profits for the full year, however, may not surpass 2006 levels for some companies, largely because U.S. refining margins tightened as prices for gasoline and other fuels made with crude lagged behind the hike in crude prices. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Guardian: Prince saves his energy in dramatic appearance at climate conference

· Charles appears via hologram in Abu Dhabi
· Emirate plans to lead way in funding research

John Vidal in Abu Dhabi The Guardian, Tuesday January 22 2008

In the many years in which the Prince of Wales has attended official functions he has never appeared quite like this. At the alternative energy conference in Abu Dhabi he was not exactly there in the flesh. There was no video link either.

Instead, delegates were treated to a full-size, walking, talking, fiddling hologram of his royal highness, who made a brief speech then vanished back into thin air. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Reuters: UPDATE 1-Total says “huge cost issues” on Iran LNG project

Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:40am GMT 
(Adds nuclear plans, background)
By Simon Webb

ABU DHABI, Jan 22 (Reuters) – France’s Total (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it was facing “huge cost issues” on a major liquefied natural gas project in Iran and was reviewing plans with the Iranian government.

“We are restudying the project. We are facing huge cost issues,” Philippe Boisseau, president of gas and power at Total, told reporters on the sidelines of a renewable energy conference in Abu Dhabi. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

MiddleEastOnline.com: Oil prices continue to fall on demand fears

Analysts fear that weakness in US economy could potentially drop energy demands.
 
SINGAPORE – World oil prices continued lower in Asia Tuesday on deepening worries about a potential drop in energy demand owing to weakness in the US economy, analysts said.

In afternoon trade, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, shed 2.51 dollars to 88.06 dollars per barrel.

The contract slid 1.76 dollars to 88.81 dollars per barrel in electronic deals Monday while floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange was closed for the Martin Luther King holiday. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Independent: BP follows Shell with pensions holiday

By James Daley
Published: 22 January 2008

The oil giant BP has become the latest major company to freeze contributions into its pension fund, following in the footsteps of its main rival, Royal Dutch Shell, which sparked controversy when it revealed it was taking a so-called “pensions holiday” in October last year.

David Nicholas, a spokesman for BP, confirmed yesterday that the company would not be making any contributions to its £27bn pension fund in 2008, after the scheme’s latest actuarial valuation, in October last year, revealed that it was funded to 135 per cent of its liabilities, on an IAS 19 basis. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
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