Posts on ‘April 9th, 2008’

Financial Times: Canada oil sands rules get UK backing

By Jean Eaglesham, Chief Political Correspondent
Published: April 9 2008 02:53 | Last updated: April 9 2008 02:53

Tough environmental regulations that will increase significantly the costs faced by two British companies, BP and Royal Dutch Shell, in exploiting Canada’s huge oil sands reserves were on Wednesday backed by Malcolm Wicks, the energy minister.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Wicks also sought to justify the government’s lobbying in Brussels to allow carbon capture and storage projects to count towards the UK’s target for renewable energy.

Speaking during a visit to Canada, the minister lauded the “very far-sighted” move by Canada’s federal government to force new oil sands projects to capture and store their carbon dioxide emissions after 2012. “Canada’s oils sands could provide up to 5 per cent of global supply … [but] I understand the concerns about the environmental impact,” he said.

Canada’s stringent carbon capture requirements will add to the costs of the projects planned by BP and Shell in the sands, an environmentally sensitive reserve that is the largest outside Saudi Arabia.

Mr Wicks admitted the regulations had commercial consequences, saying: “if you look at it very narrowly, it will impact on the costs of the companies.” But he stressed the “prohibitive” long-term cost of failing to address climate change, including a failure to find sustainable ways of exploiting fossil fuels.

Market mechanisms, such as the European emissions trading scheme, would play a main role in making low carbon technology more affordable, Mr Wicks said. “The smart money will be on the development of a North American carbon market, including the US and Canada,” he said.

Mr Wicks set out plans to use this week’s bilateral talks in Canada to explore how the UK could work with Canada on developing global agreements to mandate “clean” coal-fired power plants, in China as well as the west. The UK is “seeking to build consensus around a strong package” of carbon capture measures at June’s G8 meeting of energy ministers, “en route to a meaningful global emissions deal” next year, the minister writes in an article in Wednesday’s Toronto Star.

Green groups argue that Britain’s moral authority to lead such talks is undermined by its stance in Europe. Ministers are lobbying the European Commission to allow carbon capture projects to count towards the UK’s target of increasing its energy from renewable sources from 3 per cent to 15 per cent by 2020.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

The Guardian: Watchdogs with bite: the biggest fines

Tuesday April 8 2008

April 2008: Ofwat fines Severn Trent £35.8m for deliberately providing false information and offering customers a poor service.

December 2007: The Office of Fair Trading imposed a £116m fine on a number of supermarket groups and dairy companies, including Asda, Sainsbury and Dairy Crest. Sainsbury’s fine was £40m but that was reduced to £26m because of the company’s co-operation with investigators.

September 2007: Southern Water was hit with a £20.3m penalty for misreporting and poor service over several years. The Serious Fraud Office dropped an investigation into Southern Water in April after finding insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges.

September 2007: Thames Water was fined £12.5m for supplying inaccurate information and providing a poor service to customers. It claimed that the penalty would have a detrimental effect on its customers, as money that could have been spent improving service would instead go to the Treasury.

August 2007: BA fined £121.5m by the OFT for involvement in the fixing of long-haul fuel surcharges

July 2007: Cadbury Schweppes fined £1m over salmonella outbreak that gave 42 people food poisoning and put three of them in hospital.

April 2007: United Utilities was fined £8.5m by Ofwat for paying inflated prices to its sister companies. By increasing its costs in this manner, the company was able to argue that customer bills should be higher.

2005: Shell fined £17m by the Financial Services Authority after overstating its oil reserves by 25%. The episode was described by the regulator as “unprecedented misconduct”.

2003: Seven companies, including Manchester United, JJB Sports, Umbro and the Football Association, were fined more than £16m by the OFT for price fixing.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2008

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/apr/08/severntrent.utilities1/print

Headline by John Donovan of www.royaldutchshellplc.com

Daily Telegraph: Here’s an odd one.

Edited by Simon Goodley

Last Updated: 12:50am BST 09/04/2008

Here’s an odd one. A barmaid in a Hoxton boozer tells me she was offered £40 to turn up at the Shell AGM and applaud. It’s a strange tale to invent, but can it be true? “We’ll get back to you,” promises Shell. Please, mind you do.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/04/09/ccdiary109.xml

ktuu.com: Shell intends to become major player in Alaska’s oil industry

Associated Press – April 8, 2008 6:54 PM ET

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – As two longtime players in Alaska’s oil industry announced landmark plans for a gas pipeline out of the North Slope fields, the president of Shell Oil seemed a bit sheepish about calling a teleconference to discuss his first-ever visit to the region.

John Hoffmeister acknowledged that it was hard to compete against the big news from BP PLC and ConocoPhillips.

But after roughly a decade of absence from the Alaskan oil patch, the Dutch oil giant has been making headlines of its own.

Most production is focused in the Arctic coastal tundra of the North Slope.

Shell is trying to revive its presence by taking oil and gas exploration offshore, into the Beaufort, Chukchi and Bering seas.

Hoffmeister said he met in February with officials from four North Slope communities to reassure them that this is “a long-term play by Shell.”

The company faces strong opposition from environmental groups and many Alaska Natives and fishermen.

They worry that undersea drilling or a major spill will cause irreparable harm to polar bears, seals, whales and other marine species.

Although he did not discuss specifics, Hoffmeister said his job was to reassure people that the company is open to balancing social, cultural and environmental issues with oil production.

The trip took him to the Inupiat Eskimo communities of Wainwright, Nuiqsit, Point Lay and Barrow.

Barrow Mayor Michael Stotts says he compliments Hoffmeister on taking the time to visit the tiny communities, which are worried about the effects of drilling on their subsistence food base.

Hoffmeister said Shell does not have plans to participate in construction of the gas pipeline, but says the company would be interested in using it to get its products to market.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=8137896