Unity on new penalties will be tough. Major economies such as China rely on Irans crude oil, and many non-US energy companies including Royal Dutch Shell are invested in Iran, which has the worlds second-biggest natural-gas and oil reserves. The first target is Royal Dutch Shell, the British-Dutch energy company headquartered in The Hague...
January 15th, 2010:
Sanctions against Iran: The first target is Royal Dutch Shell
Ready to save the world but not yet
By Ed Crooks, Financial Times
Published: January 15 2010 16:06
For the clean energy industry, Copenhagen was a disappointment. It was not, however, a significant setback. At least, not yet.
Peter Voser, the chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, the oil and gas group, was typical of executives who had wanted to see a clear signal sent. In spite of its dependence on fossil fuels for its revenues, Shell wants an international framework for controlling carbon dioxide emissions that will give it certainty to plan its investments. It sees long-term opportunities in selling natural gas a lower-carbon option than coal for power generation; in advanced biofuels where it is backing one of the worlds largest research and development programmes; and in technology for capturing carbon dioxide emissions from factories and power plants and storing them underground.Mr Voser said after Copenhagen: We … recognise that the accord reflects a true political willingness to combat climate change. However, it remains unclear how this political willingness will translate into concrete steps.
Shell threatens to shut down oil refinery
BusinessWorldONLINE
Saturday, January 16, 2010 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. threatened Friday to shut down its oil refinery in Batangas and cause a fuel supply shortage if the Bureau of Customs (BoC) seizes P43 billion worth of the oil companys imports to pay for supposed backtaxes.
Customs wants to seize Pilipinas Shells shipments worth $923 million arriving on February to May 2010 to cover tax deficiencies from 2004 to 2009 involving shipments of Catalytic Cracked Gasoline (CCG) and Light Catalytic Cracked Gasoline (LCCG).
Nigerian kidnappers demand ransom hostages
(AFP) 15 January 2010
LAGOS Nigerian gunmen have demanded a ransom of 300 million naira (1.98 million dollars, 1.38 million euros) for the release of three Britons and a Colombian abducted this week, the police said Friday.
“The kidnappers have asked for payment of 300 million naira before the men can be released,” Rivers State police spokeswoman Rita Abbey told AFP. She gave no further details.
The four — contract workers for the Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell — were abducted on Tuesday between oil city of Port Harcourt and nearby Aba in Abia State.
Refining Squeezes Oil Profits
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
January 14, 2010 6:01 P.M. ET
Depressed Demand for Fuel Causes Headaches Even as Crude Prices Firm
By GUY CHAZAN
The global refining industry is turning into a major headache for big Western oil companies, putting a drag on earnings even as rising oil prices improve the prospects for other parts of the oil business.
Refining has been hit as the global recession depressed demand for industrial and transportation fuels, especially in Europe, just as additional capacity is coming onstream in China, India and the Middle East.
Meanwhile, prices for oil products like gasoline and diesel have failed to keep pace with the rising price of crude, putting intense pressure on profit margins for refiningthe difference in value between the products a refinery makes and the crude oil used to produce them.