Posts on ‘May 20th, 2008’

The women of Akii Kwe are supporting a grassroots campaign to have the Canadian government subject Shell Canada to the highest level of environmental assessment under Canadian law for the review of its proposed tar sands crude oil refinery on the St. Clair River.

Upstream Magazine reported and made Society aware on 14th March technical problems with lifeboats on Brent Bravo and Tern. Although the HSE now confirm that lifeboats had now been repaired it was neglect of maintenance and failure to invest in replacement lifeboats which led to the problems arising. All this in a Company earning net profits of circa $3 million per hour and which in the last day or two announced record quarterly profits. This is a Company that constantly replays in response to any criticism that Safety is its Number 1 priority and it would never compromise safety.

MOSCOW -BP, Europe’s second-largest oil company, said Russian security agents raided its Moscow offices in search of unspecified documents Tuesday.

May 20 (Bloomberg) — Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., the second- largest U.S. tiremaker, and 25 other companies sued Unipetrol AS, units of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Bayer AG, and as many as 20 others over an alleged rubber cartel in Europe. Unipetrol and units of Shell, Dow Chemical Co., Eni SpA and Trade-Stomil Sp were fined a total of 519 million euros ($813 million) in a 2006 European Union antitrust case over material used to make tires and shoes. The companies are appealing

ABUJA (AFP) ? Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua Tuesday ordered the state-run oil firm NNPC to recover payment arrears of 1.91 billion dollars (1.22 billion euros) from Shell and ExxonMobil, a statement said.

Nigeria is seeking $1.91 billion (965 million pounds) it says it is owed by Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil under the terms of oil production sharing contracts governing two offshore fields, the presidency said on Tuesday.

FOUR Nigerian villagers and an environmental group are asking oil company, Shell to take responsibility for damage from oil leaks caused by its Nigerian subsidiary, lawyers said have said.

An appeal by three Mayo men, who were convicted of assault at a protest near the Shell terminal, has been adjourned.

Malcolm Brinded, head of Shell’s core exploration and production (E&P) unit, is tipped by many as a likely successor at the world’s second-largest non-government-controlled oil and gas company by market value.

Oil rose to a new record above $129 a barrel on Tuesday, spurred by strength in refined oil products markets, led by diesel, and a weak dollar.

It is sad that Shell will not listen to the Erris community. The suggested compromise by Vincent McGrath and others that the refinery could be acceptable if relocated to a remote part of the coast was perfectly reasonable and is something that Shell themselves should have come up with when they first arrived in the region.

Gas to be produced from an Iranian field which Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L: Quote,Profile, Research) planned to develop before pulling out under U.S. pressure will likely be retained for domestic use, the oil major said on Tuesday. “It makes gas available which probably Iran may use for domestic use,” Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer told the Shell annual general meeting on Tuesday.

British oil giant Shell threatens to trigger greater conflict in Iraq with plans to control the development, production and depletion of Iraq’s oil reserves, campaigners warn today. This warning, from the coalition Hands Off Iraqi Oil, comes as Shell holds its annual meeting amid growing resistance to the company?s bid to assume control over oil reserves.

The security situation in the Niger Delta, where civil violence has shut in hundreds of thousands of barrels per day of production, is improving, oil major Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile,Research) said on Tuesday. “The situation is getting better on the security front,” exploration and production boss Malcolm Brinded told Shell’s annual general meeting in the Hague, which was relayed to London via video link.

Heavy oil projects are being pursued in places such as Madagascar, Albania, Romania and Tatarstan in Russia, where Royal Dutch Shell won a contract last year. By far the two biggest known resources, however, are in Canada and Venezuela, and in both countries the development of heavy oil has run into problems.