June 27 (Bloomberg) — Russia is prepared to cooperate with Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil producer, on oil and gas projects in the Russian Far East known as Sakhalin-3 and Sakhalin-4, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said.

MOSCOW, June 27 (Reuters) – Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has invited Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) to participate in Sakhalin-3 and Sakhalin-4 natural gas projects at a meeting with Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer on Saturday.

REUTERS

Fri Jun 26, 2009 8:03am ED

MOSCOW, June 26 (Reuters) – Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will meet Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDSa.L) CEO Jeroen van der Veer on Saturday to discuss possibilities for the company’s expansion in Russia, Putin’s spokesman said on Friday.

“They will talk through the perspectives of the company’s activity’s expansion in the Russian Federation,” Dmitry Peskov said. A Shell spokeswoman confirmed that the meeting would take place but declined to comment on its agenda.

(Reporting by Gleb Bryanski, editing by Simon Shuster)

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved

REUTERS ARTICLE

June 26 (Bloomberg) — The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, the main militant group in Nigeria’s southern oil region, said it attacked an oil facility run by Royal Dutch Shell, hours after an offer of an amnesty by President Umaru Yar’Adua.

The low-key Dutchman was seen as a safe pair of hands after the brash and aggressive Watts, whose penchant for deliberately hard-to-achieve stretch targets was partly blamed for the reserves scandal, and the next big scandal to rock the company — delays and cost overruns on big projects.

Irish Navy vessels, as many as 300 Garda officers and private security guards have been drafted into Glengad, in north Mayo, ahead of the arrival today of the Solitaire, the world’s largest pipe-laying ship. Photo: Julien Behal/PA

Irish Times: Shell ship arrives in Mayo

A massive security operation is under way today in Co Mayo as work on the final stages of Shell’s controversial Corrib gas offshore pipeline begins.

The arrival of Soliaire ahs sparked fears of a repeat of sea and land clashes which marred a similar attempt to complete the contentious works last year.

John Monaghan of the Pobal Chill Chomain community organisation, which is opposed to the pipeline being brought ashore, said local residents were bracing themselves for a stand-off.

“It may lead to extremely dangerous protests and God knows what is going to happen. We fear for the worst,” he said.

Two fishermen opposed to the laying of the Corrib gas offshore pipeline were arrested at sea, just hours before Solitaire arrived at the site..

The Garda confirmed one fisherman was arrested yesterday under the Public Order Act on suspicion of entering an exclusion zone thrown up by Shell around the works.

Campaigners, who dispute the exclusion zone has any legal basis, claim another fisherman Pat O’Donnell — whose boat was sunk just weeks ago in mysterious circumstances — was injured and hospitalised after an altercation.

A man in his 20s and an 18-year-old woman were arrested on Wednesday under the Public Order Act after swimming into the bay to protest.

Mr Monaghan questioned the scale of the security operation and the involvement of the State in a row between Shell and local campaigners. “It seems now like our parish is in lockdown,” he said. “I’m sure that’s going to lead to trouble later if they’re going to restrict people’s freedom of movement.”

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Royaldutchshellplc.com headline above by John Donovan

Gazprom’s action to secure a foothold in Nigeria, where western groups have led the development of the oil industry for half a century, has given rise to concerns in Europe that Moscow is seeking to gain control of Nigerian reserves to tighten its grip on the European Union’s gas supplies.

TENSION was high last night near the site of a controversial planned gas pipeline, as a mammoth pipe-laying ship prepared to return. The imminent re-arrival of the Solitaire off Broadhaven Bay in Co Mayo yesterday was accompanied by increased drama.

THE SUPREME Court has quashed Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.’s attempts to stop the Bureau of Customs (BoC) from collecting the corresponding amount for the P209 million worth of allegedly fraudulent tax credit certificates, or TCCs, it used in 1997 and 1998.

TWO FISHERMEN opposed to the laying of the Corrib gas offshore pipeline have been arrested at sea, just hours before the Shell contracted pipelaying ship Solitaire was due to arrive at the site.