02/29/2008, 10:46 am

The final settlement hearing for the class action lawsuit over Shell Oil’s 1988 gasoline spill in Limestone Township was held Thursday in Kankakee County Circuit Court, but details of the settlement order have yet to be worked out.

The settlement will total at least $26 million and involves 1,384 claims for property damages and costs associated with the spill, said the plaintiffs’ attorney, Joseph Yurgine of Kankakee.

Separate suits involving health issues relating to the contaminants have been filed, he said.

Circuit Judge Gordon Lustfeldt of Watseka has indicated his preliminary approval of the settlement order, but lawyers for both sides have to work out details, Yurgine said. “We hope to work that out in 14 days,” he said.

Once Lustfeldt signs the order, “the clock starts ticking for 30 days for appeals,” Yurgine said.

If none are filed, the $26 million “will be deposited in a local national bank” and the court-appointed administrator, retired Will County Circuit Judge Thomas Ewert, will begin examining claims, Yurgine said.

For that process to begin, claimants from the core settlement area need to send Yurgine copies of their most recent real estate tax assessments to establish the value of their homes, plus receipts of any expenditures related to the issue, such as investment in a new well, he said.

~ Robert Themer

http://www.daily-journal.com/archives/dj/display.php?id=415291

Reuters
Friday February 29 2008
(Recasts, adds detail)

LONDON, Feb 29 (Reuters) - How long a key British gas supply pipeline will remain closed after an import terminal fire was unclear on Friday as checks on the extent of the damage lasted into the weekend, with freezing weather forecast for next week.

One of two pipelines affected by the Thursday’s fire at Royal Dutch Shell’s terminal in Bacton resumed flows into the UK of the fuel used to heat most British homes at midday Friday.

But the Bacton Shell pipeline was still not flowing any gas early on Friday evening, data from National Grid showed, while official weather forecaster the Met Office warned of sub-zero overnight temperatures in many parts of the country, including London, on Monday.

The drop in temperatures on Monday and Tuesday promises to push demand for gas to well above seasonal norms with no indication of when the Bacton Shell supply line may reopen.

“It is still shut down,” the spokeswoman said late on Friday afternoon. “The investigation is ongoing.”

She declined to give any estimate of when the terminal in eastern England might reopen fully after a fire broke out in a waste water treatment area on Thursday evening.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze quickly but Shell had to shut the terminal for safety reasons, cutting off over a tenth of the country’s gas supply.

UK gas market players responded by taking gas out of storage to help heat homes and supply enough fuel for Britain’s many gas-fired power stations.

Imports from continental Europe through a pipeline to an unaffected part of the Bacton complex were also stepped up, leaving the network comfortably supplied in mild weather.
Of the five supply lines that enter Britain’s gas network through the vast Bacton complex, only the two running into Shell’s terminal were affected.

Flow data on the network operator’s website showed gas flowing through the SEAL pipeline into the network at a rate of around 7.40 million cubic metres per day from 1200-1700 GMT on Friday after Total restarted its Elgin-Franklin fields in the North Sea in the early hours of Friday.

(Reporting by Daniel Fineren, editing by Anthony Barker)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7347957

By Chris Flood
Published: February 29 2008 02:00 | Last updated: February 29 2008 02:00

Gold and oil both achieved record levels for a second consecutive session yesterday while wheat markets saw further volatility after news of a commodities trader at MF Global who substantially exceeded his authorised trading limits.

The dollar’s weakness has been widely cited as a key driver of the present rally. But analysts at Barclays Capital disagree. “Commodity prices are going up in all currencies. Supply losses, strong demand and low inventory levels are the key drivers, not exchange rates,” said Barclays.

Gold hit a record $967.30 a troy ounce, supported by dollar weakness, concerns about inflation and the deteriorating outlook for the US economy. Bullion rose 0.8 per cent to $965.60 by the end of European trading.

In the oil market, Nymex April West Texas Intermediate surged $2.95 to $102.59 a barrel, surpassing the $102.08 peak reached in the previous session. ICE April Brent also pushed past the $100 level, jumping $2.63 to $100.90 a barrel.

Speculative buying and news of a small pipeline leak in Nigeria provided support. However, the main focus for traders’ attention remains next week’s Opec meeting in Vienna amid mounting confidence that the cartel is unlikely to cut supplies with oil prices trading at about $100 a barrel.

Harry Tchilinguirian, senior oil market analyst at BNP Paribas, said there was “no credibility” in Opec arguing for a cut in supplies on expectation that demand will soften in the second quarter.

Mr Tchilinguirian said: “Crude demand will be rising in the second quarter as Atlantic Basin refiners emerge from maintenance and increase production ahead of peak summer demand.”

Saudi Arabia could even push for a supply increase of 0.5m barrels a day, according to Mr Tchilinguirian, who said this would be a public gesture to address consumers concern without sparking a significant price correction.

In base metals, copper added 0.9 per cent at $8,510 a tonne, supported by a fall of 1,750 tonnes in LME stocks and talk of strong demand from China. Market speculation that copper will exceed its $8,800 peak is gathering steam, while aluminium, up 1.6 per cent to $3,140 a tonne, is also thought likely to breach its previous record of $3,300 if production problems in China persist.

Nickel jumped 5.8 per cent to $30,899.8 a tonne as hedge funds closed out short positions on concerns over a strike at BHP Billiton’s Cerro Matoso ferronickel mine in Colombia, which accounts for about 4 per cent of global nickel supply.

Tin hit a record $18,900 a tonne before easing back to $18,700, up 4.2 per cent on the day, on concerns over supplies from Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Zinc rose 3.5 per cent to $2,780 a tonne, extending its gains after a jump of 7.6 per cent on Wednesday, helped by short-covering and buying by short-term momentum players.

Wheat prices remained volatile after seeing wild gyrations in Wednesday’s session due to the unwinding of the MF Global trader’s positions. CBOT March wheat fell 98½ cents to $11.80½ a bushel.

Exporters will be able to resume shipments from Kazakhstan, one of the world’s largest grain suppliers, after depositing quantities of wheat into government warehouses. Reports suggested Kazakhstan would follow Russia in imposing export restrictions.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

By Ben Farey and Alexander Kwiatkowski

Feb. 29 (Bloomberg) — U.K. natural gas prices retreated from near two-year highs after Royal Dutch Shell Plc said supplies were adequate after a fire yesterday at its Bacton gas terminal in England cut flows from the North Sea.

Natural gas for delivery a week ahead reached its highest price in almost two years today, following the blaze in a water- treatment plant at the terminal, which supplies 10 percent of the U.K.’s gas. Prices retreated from intra-day highs as shippers drew on storage and Shell said there was no adverse effect on U.K. supplies.

“There’s plenty of gas coming in from all the terminals around the country,” Stewart Larque, a spokesman for National Grid Plc, the U.K. gas-transportation network manager, said today by phone. “There’s plenty of gas in storage” as well, he said, providing a buffer of spare supplies.

Week-ahead gas climbed as much as 17 percent to 62 pence a therm, or the equivalent of $12.33 per million British thermal units, according to prices from brokerage ICAP Plc. The fuel was trading 6.7 percent higher at 56.50 pence a therm as of 10:06 a.m. in London.

“Traders taking gas in through Bacton will have to replace those flows,” Patrick Heather, an industry consultant and former head of gas trading at BG Group Plc, said by phone yesterday. “The southeast is where the demand is. Bacton is our physical link to the continent.”

Within-day gas climbed as much as 19 percent to 62 pence a therm at in intraday trade. It traded for 55.25 pence a therm, up 6.1 percent, at 9:47 a.m. in London.

Investigation Underway

Shell said an investigation is underway into the fire at the terminal in Norfolk, England, and it was too early to comment on the cause. The facility sustained “structural damage” from the blast, according to a recorded message from the local fire service yesterday.

“We have no date for the re-start of the terminal,” Shell said in an e-mailed statement today. “Gas supply to the U.K. is unaffected.” Shell has been in contact with the National Grid who confirmed there is “more than enough supply coming into the country from all the various sources,” according to the statement.

“National Grid are confident there will be no detrimental effect on security of supply,” Shell said. “Only the Shell terminal at the Bacton site is affected.”

Shell’s second terminal at the site, Bacton Seal, was also shut following the fire as a precaution, but was not damaged, Shell spokesman Jack Page said in a telephone interview.

Supply Draw

Gas shippers started to draw supplies of the fuel from liquefied natural gas stocks at the Glenmavis facility in Scotland today, the first time it’s been used since Feb. 20. Traders use gas in store to boost deliveries when demand and prices rise.

Rough, the U.K.’s biggest gas-storage facility, was 34 percent full as of Feb. 28, with more than 26 days of supply at maximum withdrawal rate in stock, according to National Grid data. Smaller storage sites are 60 percent full with 10.8 day’s supply, while LNG stocks are 67 percent full, the grid data show.

“Rough storage has picked up the flows a bit to make up for the shortfall,” Gary Papworth, an anlayst at Inenco Group Ltd. in Lancashire, England. Gas flows were already below maximum capacity at the terminal, he said, ands there’s capacity available through other pipes to compensate for the reduced flows. The only difficulty would be “if we have an extended winter,” he said.

Gas Prices

News of the blaze yesterday came after normal trading hours for most gas brokers, though it affected prices on the APX exchange, which is used by National Grid Plc, operator of the U.K.’s gas pipeline network, to buy and sell the fuel to balance daily demand. A therm is 100,000 British thermal units.

Dutch gas for delivery March 3 at the Title Transfer Facility rose 2.8 percent to 23.75 euros ($36.12) a megawatt-hour, according to Spectron Group Plc. That equals $10.59 a million British thermal units. Next-month gas gained 4.4 percent to a month-high of 23.65 euros. Dutch prices tend to follow British contracts because a pipeline links to two grids.

Several gas terminals are located at Bacton, including Bacton Shell, Bacton Seal, the Balgzand-Bacton Line that links the Netherlands and the U.K., and another link to Europe known as Interconnector (U.K.) Ltd.

No gas was flowing through either the Bacton Shell or Bacton Seal terminals, data from National Grid showed today. The Interconnector and BBL pipelines, which pump gas to other terminals at Bacton, were unaffected.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ben Farey in London at bfarey@bloomberg.net Alexander Kwiatkowski in London at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 29, 2008 06:19 EST

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=auMZTwk6KipY

29 February 2008

The Bacton explosion was at the “water” end says the plant Manager!!  All the safety systems worked and there were no injuries!! 

Waste water treatment facilities and equipment are classified as hydrocarbon as if something goes wrong a lot of volatile hydrocarbons arrive on the scene very quickly, but the equipment is designed to handle them safely.

If men were working, for this to happen there must be more than two safety barriers breached, but what about the plant integrity.

What failed?
Why did it fail?
What was the ignition source? 
When were the safety shut down systems last tested?
Were the permitted leakage rates exceed?
What is the maintenance backlog? 
Has the Safety case been complied with?

But I forgot: safety is of the highest importance, so says the long line of Shell Managers. 

Everyone in Shell should take this as yet another wakeup call, get your act together as the next time may be another fatality and if it is after 6th April 2008 it will be covered under the new corporate manslaughter legislation.

Rafael Maradiaga arrived in Las Americas yesterday.

February 2008, 8:24 AM

SANTO DOMINGO. - Dominican Republic took the first step to buy 50 percent of the shares in the Petroleum Refinery (Refidomsa) from the multinational Shell, whose representative in the country, Rafael Maradiaga, arrived in the Las Americas International Airport yesterday afternoon, though declined to comment to Dominican Today.

Hacienda minister Vicente Bengoa said seven companies had been pre-selected, one of which would determine the value of those assets. He said five of those companies are foreign and two are registered in the country.

The official didn’t say when the winner would be selected.

Shell had begun to receive proposals, with the group Propagás offering US$183 million by its assets in Refidomsa.

Shortly after president Leonel Fernandez announced that the State would go ahead and purchase the shares.

http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/economy/2008/2/29/27185/Shells-representative-arrives-Dominican-Refinery-deal-heats-up

February 29, 2008: 05:53 AM EST

LONDON, Feb. 29, 2008 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) — Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE:RDS A) said gas supply in Britain is unaffected by the shutdown of the Bacton gas terminal on the Norfolk coast following a fire at the site on Thursday.

No one was injured during the incident which occurred at the Shell-operated terminal’s waste water system. The facility remains shut for safety reasons.

‘The gas supply to the UK is unaffected. Shell has been in contact with the National Grid, which monitors the amount of gas coming into the UK, and they have confirmed there is more than enough supply coming into the country from all the various sources. National Grid is confident there will be no detrimental effect on security of supply,’ Shell said in a statement.

The Bacton terminal, which processes gas from the North Sea, provides around 10 pct of the country’s gas supply.

Shell said an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire. It declined to say when the terminal’s operation could be restored.

Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-23389169.htm

Posted on: Friday, February 29, 2008

The U.S. House took a bold step this week to change America’s oil-dependent course toward the more sensible path of renewable energy.

Lawmakers voted to eliminate lucrative tax breaks for big oil companies and use that savings for extending smart tax credits and incentives to encourage energy production from renewable sources.

The tax credits for new wind farms and other facilities generating power from renewable sources would be extended through 2011. It would also extend the 30 percent tax credit that companies can claim for investments in solar products and fuel cells that convert fuel into electrical energy without combustion, minimizing pollutants.

To pay for it, the bill would eliminate tax breaks for the five biggest oil companies — Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell and BP — and would generate $13 billion. The current 6 percent deduction for smaller oil and gas companies would be frozen.

The bill faces an uphill battle in the Senate; already, President Bush is promising a veto, saying the bill unfairly targets the oil industry. Opponents argue that the bill would push gas prices even higher.

Please. “Last year, Exxon Mobil earned $40.6 billion in profits, the largest corporate profit in American history,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told The New York Times.

And the existing tax breaks haven’t kept prices at the pump from more than doubling since 2000.

Consumers are now opting to take public transportation and turning to energy-efficient hybrid vehicles. That’s a start.

Now it’s up to the Senate to join House lawmakers in passing smart incentives that at last sets the right course for our energy future.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008802290323

29 Feb 2008 10:52 GMT

LAGOS (AFP) - Anglo-Dutch group Shell said oil was pumping again Friday at its Bonny Island terminal in southern Nigeria after repairs following a sabotage attack.
 
“We have resumed oil lifting at Bonny following a successful repair of the burst pipeline accounting for a daily production of some 130,000 barrels of crude,” a company spokesman told AFP.

This is estimated to be about a quarter of the Bonny terminal’s capacity.

The spokesman said force majeure measures — which allow companies to suspend contractual obligations due to unforeseen events without incurring penalties — declared for February and March were still in force.

Shell has also declared a force majeure on exports from the Forcados terminal in southern Nigeria until the end of February because of pipeline sabotage.

Shell is Nigeria’s largest oil operator, accounting for around half of the country’s daily output of 2.6 million barrels at peak production, but unrest in the Niger Delta have slashed production by a quarter since January 2006.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080229/wl_africa_afp/nigeriaoilunrestshell

Paul Kellog
29 February 2008

“Never again will they rob us — the ExxonMobil bandits. They are imperial, American bandits, white-collared thieves. They turn governments corrupt, they oust governments. They supported the invasion of Iraq.”

This was the response from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to the successful lawsuit by the world’s biggest corporation (ExxonMobil), freezing US$12 billion in assets of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA — a serious escalation in Big Oil’s long running dispute with Chavez and the movement he represents.

ExxonMobil isn’t suing PDVSA because it needs the money. The world’s largest publicly traded corporation recorded profits of $40.6 billion in 2007, up 3% from 2006’s record. A February 2 Globe and Mail article reports that “its 2007 profit [exceeds] output of two-thirds of the world’s nations”.

ExxonMobil claims it is suing PDVSA because of a June 2007 deadline given by Chavez to Big Oil corporations operating in Venezuela, demanding they cede majority control in their heavy-crude upgrading projects.

ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips filed arbitration requests with the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, and ExxonMobil simultaneously took legal action in US and British courts, which on February 7 agreed with its claim, and ordered the asset freeze.

But there is much more at stake than a simple legal disagreement. First, many other Big Oil companies have agreed to Chavez’s terms, including Chevron Corp., Statoil ASA, BP PLC and Total SA.

Second, Venezuela is not the only country to confront Big Oil and demand that old contracts be renegotiated. In Canada, Newfoundland’s Danny Williams demanded and won an ownership share in the multi-billion-dollar Hebron offshore oil deal.
Even the Tories in Alberta are forcing Big Oil to pay higher royalties.

And in Russia, “both BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC have ceded control in big, lucrative Siberian projects to Russian gas monopoly OAO Gazprom”, according to a June 27 Globe and Mail article by Russel Gold last year.

ExxonMobil’s ultimatum has more to do with politics than economics. Russia’s ruler Vladimir Putin holds office because of his ties to the secret service, crackdown on public debate, and commitment to the world of Big Power politics. That world of corruption and repression is comforting and familiar to the owners of ExxonMobil.

Chavez, by contrast, holds office because millions have repeatedly been willing to put their bodies on the line against multinational corporations and their local allies. That revolutionary movement is terrifying to ExxonMobil.

So — working with courts in the two biggest Western imperialist powers — ExxonMobil is testing the water, seeing just how strong the revolutionary movement in Venezuela is. This is especially critical given the setback faced by Chavez in the December constitutional referendum.

And we shouldn’t doubt the capacity of multinational corporations to use a legal fig leaf to pursue their “right” to pull exorbitant profits out of the Global South. “BP won an arbitration case against Libya in the 1970s”, Gold reported, “and chased tankers of Libyan crude around the world to seize them as payment”.

In 2006 and 2007, “Western companies that purchased debt for unpaid construction work in the Congo have tried to seize tankers of Congolese oil to satisfy arbitration awards”.

The ExxonMobil attacks have been met with defiance in Venezuela, with Venezuelan energy minister Rafael Ramirez insisting that “PDVSA is operating at 100%”, according to a February 9 Chinaview.cn article.

Chavez has said that if ExxonMobil does succeed in freezing PDVSA assets, he would halt oil exports to the United States — a threat the US has to take seriously.

As well as being the fourth largest exporter of oil to the US, if Venezuela succeeds in certifying an additional 200 billion barrels of oil reserves to the 100 billion already certified, it will officially have the most proved reserves of oil in the world.

With so much at stake, US imperialism and its corporate allies are not in a position to launch a sequel to the failed coup of 2002. Venezuela’s revolutionary movement is too big, and Venezuela’s oil is too important for that to happen — for now. But we know from history that this is not the last confrontation between corporate and popular power in Venezuela.

[Abridged from < http://www.poleconanalysis.org>. To sign an online statement in protest at ExxonMobil’s actions, visit < http://venezuelasolidarity.org>.]

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/742/38376