April 23rd, 2007:

23/04/2007 11:32
 
London – Brent oil climbed above $67 on Monday after Nigeria’s elections drew condemnation from monitors and investors waited for fresh word on oil supplies from the world’s eighth biggest exporter.

Militant attacks have shut about a fifth of Nigeria’s oil production. Energy Minister Edmund Daukoru said last week he expected the country’s biggest foreign operator, Royal Dutch Shell, to restart its Forcados fields in May.

Olivier Jakob of oil consultancy Petromatrix said it was too early to judge the impact of Saturday’s poll on the oil industry. read more

*Text of speech delivered by KorneBari Nwike – President, National Union of Ogoni Students (NUOS INTL,USA), to students of Environmental Concern, University of Illinois, Urbana, Champagne, April 16, 2007

All protocols observed:

The theme of this year’s Earth Week,  “Social and Environmental Injustice” not only poses a monumental challenge to those of us in this hall but it resonates with all of human kind. It imposes on us a great responsibility to reassess, re-evaluate our individual and collective commitment to society and the environment. “The environment is man’s first right” were the words of Nigeria’s slain author and renowned environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, when he received the Goldman Environmental Award in Scotland in 1994.This statement cannot be truer since a denial of equal access to land is the genesis of social injustice. This position will become clearer in the course of our discussion this evening. read more

Monday, April 23, 2007. Issue 3642. Page 8.

Gazprom raised $2 billion in syndicated loans to help pay for a controlling stake in Shell’s Sakhalin-2 project, Interfax reported Friday, citing an unidentified banker.

Two loans of $1 billion each were organized by Societe Generale and ABN Amro Holding, Interfax reported. Gazprom needs the money to pay $7.45 billion for a controlling 50 percent plus one share stake in the Sakhalin-2 project, Interfax said. (Bloomberg)

TNK-BP’s Caspian Checks

TNK-BP may be in violation of environmental legislation at two prospects on the Caspian Sea, the Natural Resources Ministry said Friday. read more

REUTERS: MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2007 
 
SYDNEY: Oil prices were steady on Monday, after weekend elections in OPEC member Nigeria were condemned by monitors but did not appear to have worsened the disruption to the country’s oil exports.

London’s Brent crude rose a marginal 1 cent to $66.50 a barrel by 0126 GMT, pausing from Friday’s 55 cents gain, which came as investors covered short positions ahead of an election they feared could spur more violence against the oil industry.

US crude for June delivery fell 18 cents to $63.93 a barrel after rising a sharper 79 cents on Friday. read more

By Alan Mota   
Published 2007-04-23 11:15 (KST)    
 
Bolivia, the most impoverished country in South America, is a very dependent country. Dependent on foreign investments, on its tiny elite of millionaires, but also dependent on Evo Morales — the current president — and the nation of peasants of native descent he represents. But above all things, Bolivia is heavily dependent on its natural gas reserves, the only reason why the country wasn’t forsaken by Western capitalism after a pro-Hugo Chavez president was elected. read more

Published: April 23 2007 03:00 | Last updated: April 23 2007 03:00

There is something very disturbing about the last-minute mass pull-out of Russian business leaders from London’s Russian Economic Forum, which starts today.

Some called the organisers, complaining of late diary changes. Others did not bother with excuses – it was obvious that behind the boycott lay the dread hand of the Kremlin.

Officials have long been unhappy with London hosting the premier annual Russian economic conference and have steadily cut ministerial representation. But business people were free to come until last week when the top names suddenly cancelled. read more

Sector-by-sector analysis, with full tables
By Andrew Baxter

Published: April 23 2007 02:52 | Last updated: April 23 2007 02:52

The increasing importance of brands in a competitive global economy, and their growing contribution to the value of the companies that own them, is illustrated in the detailed sector rankings produced by Millward Brown Optimor for today’s special report.

As Joanna Seddon, the company’s New York-based executive vice-president, points out, a new product or invention may end up copied by competitors very soon after its introduction, but what remains is the value added to the brand. read more

Published: April 23 2007 03:00 | Last updated: April 23 2007 03:00

Individuals

Aug ’06, Philippe Jabre: £750,000 (market abuse)
Dec ’04, Robert Bonnier: £290,000 (market abuse); Indigo Capital: £65,000 (market abuse)

Firms

Aug ’04, Shell: £17m (market abuse) Jun ’05, Citigroup: £13.9m (principles breaches)Apr ’06, Deutsche Bank: £6.35m (principles breaches)Dec ’02, CSFI: £4m (misleading Japanese tax authorities)Dec ’03 Abbey National: £2.32m (money laundering)Nov ’03 Lloyds TSB: £1.9m (unsuitable high income product sales)Aug ’02 RSA: £1.35m (pension review failings) read more

EXTRACT: In 2004, Mr Knight successfully urged Royal Dutch Shell to abandon its dual British-Dutch corporate structure – in spite of owning a stake of just 0.03 per cent. One senior UK-based investor recalls: “Eric was unknown at the time but Shell put him on the map.”

THE ARTICLE

By Sundeep Tucker
Published: April 23 2007 03:00 | Last updated: April 23 2007 03:00

The Eric Knights who wrote Lassie, Come Home and invented low-cost rocket travel are better known – at least according to Google. read more

EXTRACT: Branford has led the opposition against a proposal by Broadwater Energy, a partnership of Shell Oil and TransCanada, to build a floating liquefied natural gas terminal about 10 miles south of Branford in New York State waters.
 
By JAN ELLEN SPIEGEL

JENNIFER ZAMBRANO explains the psyche of her town this way: “What’s right is right, and what’s wrong, Branford will fight.”

The list of wrongs is long these days in this shoreline town of 29,000 about six miles east of New Haven. Issues range from the kind of development pains that many towns feel to two precedent-setting energy projects — Islander East and Broadwater — that Branford has led the charge against. read more

Farmer rallied town and nation to halt Shell’s gas pipeline
Veronique Mistiaen, Chronicle Foreign Service

(04-22) 04:00 PDT Rossport, Ireland — Willie Corduff is a quiet man who hates arguments. But when Shell E&P Ireland said it would build a $1.1 billion pipeline and refinery near his front yard in this small Irish village in County Mayo, the father of six fought back.

The 52-year-old farmer rallied his neighbors, spent three months in jail for denying the oil company access to his land and eventually halted the largest energy project in Irish history while raising the question on a national scale about economic development versus community consent and environmental concerns. read more

Martin Ayankola, Lagos – 23.04.2007

There are strong indications that Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria would reopen its Forcados oil fields shut in the wake of violent attacks by miltants in the Niger Delta by June.

Traders suggested in the international oil market that they have received news that the fields with a production capacity of about 380,000 barrels per day would come on stream by the end of May or June.

Shell had been the worst hit by the violent activities of the Niger Delta militants with losses of over 500,000 barrels of daily production to the crisis, which had heightened since February last year. read more

Monday, April 23, 2007. Issue 3642. Page 7.
Reuters

Small gas firm Volga Gas on Friday raised $125 million in its initial public offering in London, pricing its shares at $6, at the bottom of the range.

The offering on London’s AIM alternative market valued the company at $310 million after the issue and at $195 million before it.

Market sources said Volga Gas, which placed 20.83 million shares to have around 40 percent of its stock freely traded, was seeking a valuation of $180 million to $240 million prior to the new share issue. read more