By Angus McDowall of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES OCTOBER 26, 2010

LONDON (Dow Jones)–A joint venture between Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Saudi Aramco, and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) to drill for natural gas in the kingdom’s empty quarter has extended its exploration license by five years to 2015.

The South Rub al-Khali Co., or SRAK, was one of three ventures launched in 2003-04 that gave international oil companies upstream access to Saudi Arabian energy reserves for the first time since 1980.

“We…requested for a second exploration period, which means a new commitment from the company including drilling wells and collecting seismic data,” a spokesman for SRAK told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday. “The government officially approved our request of entering a second exploration period for five years.”

Saudi Arabia plans to greatly increase gas production in order to meet domestic energy demand and free up crude oil for export. However, the country hasn’t yet discovered non-associated natural gas in sufficient quantities to replace oil as the fuel for its planned electricity plants and guarantee cheap feed stock for new petrochemical factories.

Shell’s decision to continue its drilling program will allay some fears about the commercial viability of the exploration areas after the withdrawal of France’s Total SA (TOT) from the venture in 2008. SRAK is now a 50-50 venture between Aramco and Royal Dutch Shell.

SRAK said its new exploration phase would involve the drilling of three wells and the acquisition of 3,600 square kilometers of 3D seismic data and 3,000 square kilometers of 2D seismic data. It will also submit to the government an appraisal plan for Kidan area, a large sour gas field discovered in the 1960s.

-By Angus McDowall of Dow Jones Newswires; (+44) 20 7842 9386; angus.mcdowall@dowjones.com

SOURCE

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

At the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos in January there was standing room only at the session on the future of oil. Peter Voser, the chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, sat alongside the head of the Saudi oil giant Aramco, Khalid al Falih, and the chairman of Total, Thierry Desmarest. In the middle was Tony Hayward, the chief executive of BP. The session was so popular, Davos staff had to turn people away at the door.

By Kamal Ahmed
Published: 9:02PM BST 01 May 2010

Mr Hayward spoke about the pressures the industry was under as it struggled to keep up with ever rising demand from the emerging economies. Such was the “supply challenge” companies would have to explore more and more difficult environments from which to gain oil – the lifeblood of markets around the world. A 40pc increase in demand would create the need for 15m barrels per day (bpd) increased production over the next two decades.

Mr Hayward was excited about the future. Iraq was developing as a major oil producer and new methods of extracting oil from tar sands across North America revealed that the business was keeping pace with demand. There was a third element to Mr Hayward’s narrative – deep drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

That is the backdrop to the catastrophic rig collapse off the coast of Louisiana two weeks ago. Eleven people were killed and estimates of how many barrels are leaking into the sea vary from 5,000 to 25,000 a day. Such is the depth of the drilling site – 4,500ft – that no one really knows what is going on down there.

As BP, alongside Transocean, struggles to contain the spiralling costs of the clean-up operation following the explosion and destruction of the $500m (£327m) Deepwater Horizon rig, it is becoming clear that the whole of the oil industry is holding its breath.

Until now, the oil companies have been greatly advantaged by a relatively benign environment surrounding exploring in the oil-rich shelf off Louisiana and Florida. Local politicians and regulators welcomed the employment and wealth the industry bought. Even the shrimp fishers who are now launching multi-million dollar class actions against BP and Transocean often doubled as oil workers.

That is all now changing. Florida governor, Charlie Crist, said last week that he believed there should be clampdown on drilling in the Gulf. When President Barack Obama arrives in the area today he may well go further than the temporary suspension of new drilling already announced. Just as with the banks, the President is up for a fight with BP – “they must pick up all the costs” – ahead of the crucial mid-term elections.

Reading the long list of oil-spill incidents on the Minerals Management Service safety register it is clear that Deepwater Horizon had previous. All quite minor, but revealing, nevertheless, that working in deep water in an area prone to hurricanes engenders enormous risk.

In Febuary 2002, 103 barrels leaked; in June 2003, 994 barrels of oil leaked after a pipe disconnected in bad weather; in August the same year, 74 barrels leaked, three days later 138 barrels leaked after “equipment failure”; November 22 and 23 2005, 212 barrels leaked following “equipment failure and human error”. Interestingly, the last incident involved problems with a cement plug on the well, an issue that has been raised this time as a possible cause of the accident.

This is now not just a question limited to its impact on BP – one of Britain’s most successful companies, but to the whole of the sector.

An analyst note from Goldman Sachs on the possible impact sums it up:

“The tide of oil from the collapsed Horizon deepwater drilling platform threatens to disrupt shipping in the US Gulf of Mexico and inflict extensive environmental damage along the Gulf Coast,” it said.

“While the most substantial impact of the oil spill will likely be environmental and the impact it might have on future legislation around offshore drilling, the potential disruption of oil tanker traffic in the Gulf is already having an impact on oil prices.”

Mr Hayward appeared to enjoy Davos – and his message was positive. Now, as he contemplates the growing disaster of the spill in the Gulf of Mexico this weekend, he cannot be so sure.

SOURCE ARTICLE

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

APRIL 19, 2010

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–Royal Dutch Shell said Monday that a worker died at the Motiva Port Arthur refinery it operates in Texas.

The worker’s death “can be confirmed, and we are investigating what the cause was,” a Shell spokeswoman said. No further details were available, but the company said a statement will be issued soon.

The Motiva Port Arthur refinery, 50% joint venture between units of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA, RDSA.LN) and Saudi Aramco, has the capacity to process 275,000 barrels of crude oil a day.

-Naureen S. Malik, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-4210; naureen.malik@dowjones.com

WSJ ARTICLE

By John Donovan

The following is a self-explanatory email I sent earlier today to Robert (Bob) Pease, President & Chief Executive Officer of Motiva Enterprises LLC, which is jointly owned by a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco and Shell.

From the Motiva Website:

Formed in 1998, Motiva Enterprises LLC operates primarily in the eastern and southern United States. Its operations include nearly 7,700 Shell-branded gasoline stations, three refineries with a combined capacity of 740,000 barrels per day, and ownership interest in 41 refined product storage terminals with an aggregate storage capacity of approximately 19.8 million barrels.

MY EMAIL TO MR BOB PEASE

Dear Mr Pease

I am writing to you in your capacity as President and Chief Executive of Motiva Enterprises LLC.

You may be aware of the fact that the website royaldutchshellplc.com is serving as a public platform for stakeholders in Shell/Motiva refineries who have made allegations against Mr Tom Purves, your Vice President for Downstream Manufacturing on The Gulf Coast.

Allegations of rampant cronyism and much worse have been made against Mr Purves and his alleged “henchman”, including Mr Jeff Funkhouser and Mr Forrest Lauher.

I have sent emails to Mr Purves and Mr Funkhouser offering them the right of reply, promising to publish on an unedited basis, any comments they wish to make. Thus far, the invitations have not been taken up, thereby leaving serious allegations unanswered. The lack of any denial will likely give credibility to the allegations.

I would respectfully suggest that you read my emails to these gentleman and the “Shell Blog” comments accessible on this link. A quick glance through the postings over recent months might be enlightening.

There are many similarities with the Sakhalin 2 project before it came to grief with the forced takeover by Gazprom, the Russian energy giant controlled by the Putin regime.  The so called “Kremlin attack dog”, Oleg Mitvol, publicly acknowledged the pivotal role we played in those events. Mitvol turned out to be a genuine campaigner for his ideals.

Many stakeholders in the Sakhalin 2 project, including concerned contractors and employees, contacted us and posted allegations on our website about improper practices, SEIC management generally, and in particular, the Deputy Chairman of SEIC, a Shell MD, Mr David Greer. He subsequently resigned as a direct result of an internal email from him which was leaked to us.  The main difference is that Mr Greer had many supporters posting comments in his defense. I cannot recall any contributor trying to defend Mr Purves.

I note that in the USA market Shell is in bed with another unsavory regime, this time the Saudi Royal family, who have already drawn Royal Dutch Shell into what has been described as the *Scandal Of The Century”.  We have posted declassified UK government documents revealing Shell’s money laundering role in the Al Yamamah/ BAE Systems “oil for arms” deal. The power of the Saudi regime is such, that it ordered UK PM Tony Blair to stop an investigation by the UK Serious Fraud Office into the multibillion dollar corruption scandal on the grounds of national security. Blair did as he was told.

Returning to current events, it seems to me that if your company sticks by Mr Purves and his associates, then your company should provide legal support to protect their reputation and the reputation of Shell/Motiva.

In the interests of transparency, this email and any correspondence flowing from it, will be published in its entirety on our website.

Best Regards

John Donovan

shellmotiva.com

*Ironically a similar description was used in relation to the Royal Dutch Shell reserves securities fraud revealed in 2004.

cc.

Mr. Tom Purves, Shell/Motiva VP for Downstream Manufacturing on The Gulf Coast.

Mr. Michiel Brandjes, Company Secretary and General Counsel Corporate, Royal Dutch Shell Plc

Mr. Richard Wiseman, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer, Royal Dutch Shell Plc

Royal Dutch Shell and BP played pivotal roles in the “oil for arms” deal said to be the biggest scandal in history. We have published evidence including declassified documents revealing details of the top secret agreements involving the UK government, BAE Systems, Shell, BP, and members of the Saudi Royal family. The US Justice Department investigation is highly sensitive and the outcome potentially explosive for Shell in view of its close relationship with the state owned oil company Saudi Aramco, involving joint ventures in the USA under the Shell/Motiva umbrella.

(Reuters) – Japanese oil distributor Showa Shell Sekiyu KK and Saudi Aramco Oil Co plan to jointly set up small-scale solar power facilities in Saudi Arabia next year, the Nikkei business daily reported without citing sources.

June 24 (Reuters) – Japanese oil distributor Showa Shell Sekiyu KK (5002.T) said on Wednesday it and Saudi Aramco Oil Co had agreed to start a feasibility study on solar power business in Saudi Arabia. Showa Shell, Japan’s fifth-biggest oil refiner, is investing in thin-film solar cells in a search for new revenue streams. (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka)

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved

REUTERS ARTICLE

June 24 (Bloomberg) — Showa Shell Sekiyu KK, a Japanese refiner and solar-equipment maker, rose to the highest in nine months after saying it will build solar plants in Saudi Arabia to expand its alternative energy business.

Motiva, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Shell, in March announced the project’s completion would be delayed by two years to 2012, leading to speculation it would be canceled altogether as the recession continues to crush U.S. demand for motor fuels.

Dozens of smaller oil companies, starved of cash and facing stiff financial constraints from low oil prices, have in recent months slashed project spending, though most big privately run oil firms, such as Royal Dutch Shell PLC, have maintained their spending plans for 2009.