September 14th, 2007:

Martyn Wingrove, Lloyds List
Published: Sep 14, 2007

NORWAY’s second largest offshore gas field, Ormen Lange, has started production from the Norwegian Sea, with gas set to flow along the world’s longest subsea pipeline to the UK, writes Martyn Wingrove.

Field operators Norsk Hydro and Shell are using gas and condensate volumes from the field to test pipelines and process plant at the Nyhamna terminal, near Molde, before gas is sent down the new 1,200 km long Langeled pipeline to the Easington terminal in eastern England. read more

Rizalman Hammim,
Published: Sep 14, 2007

SEREMBAN: The family of a murdered oil company executive, desperately wants answers.

Peter Paul Nonis, an executive with the Shell refinery in Port Dickson, was found unconscious and bleeding in a drain just metres outside the refinery about 7pm last Wednesday.

He had three deep slash wounds on his head and his left wrist was almost severed. The wrist had to be amputated later in hospital.

Nonis, 42, was placed on a life support machine but succumbed to his injuries on Saturday. Police have classified the case as murder and had ruled out robbery as the motive as his valuables were intact. “He was such a nice and helpful man and did not deserve to die this way. We really do not understand why anybody would want to do such a thing,” said James, the victim’s older brother. read more

By David Lee Smith September 14, 2007

You can’t blame ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) for reaching the end of its patience. With Venezuela’s Castro-wannabe President Hugo Chavez sending the company and five of its peers packing earlier this year, and with negotiations on compensation having become a dry hole for the company, Exxon will pursue arbitration in the dispute.

The company could be joined by ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), which, like Exxon, has refused to roll over and accept Venezuela’s settlement terms. The four companies who capitulated to Chavez include Chevron (NYSE: CVX), BP (NYSE: BP), France’s Total (NYSE: TOT), and Norway’s Statoil (NYSE: STO). read more

Published: Sep 14, 2007

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Platts Global Top 250: The World’s Top Performing Energy Companies

SINGAPORE, Sept 13 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ —

(Integrated Oil Companies Top Annual List Due To High Oil Prices; Asian Company Representation and Performance Steady to Rising)

Major oil and gas companies have consolidated their position as the world’s most effective energy businesses, dominating the rankings in the annual Platts Top 250 Global Energy Companies, announced Thursday night. read more

Anton McNulty,
Published: Sep 14, 2007

Five Shell to Sea environmental campaigners who blockaded the entrance of a Bord na Mona peat depository site in Co Mayo were sentenced to 100 hours’ community service in lieu of three months’ imprisonment at yesterday’s sitting of Ballycroy District Court.

The five defendants, Kate Kirkpatrick, Anna Rudd and Emma Jackson of Millfield Road, Clapham, London, Julie Ryder of Nine Ladies, Recs Cross Station, Lees, Matlock, and Eoin O Leidhon, Meelagulleen, Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry, were convicted of engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour. However, charges of wilful obstruction and failure to comply with the direction of gardaI were dismissed by Judge Mary Devins. read more

Lorna Siggins, Western Correspondent,
Published: Sep 14, 2007

Shell E&P Ireland and its Corrib gas partners have promised to establish a long-term investment fund for the Erris area of north Mayo on the recommendation of Government mediator Peter Cassells.

No figure has been put on the fund by the Corrib gas lead developer, which has acknowledged that it will be tax-deductible under its licensing terms.

The sum will be “significant”, Shell says, and it will be administered by an advisory panel involving key agencies. read more

Fri Sep 14, 2007 1:08am EDT
By Felicia Loo

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil slid towards $79 a barrel on Friday, as a hurricane subsided in the Gulf of Mexico, though prices held near the previous day’s record high on supply worries ahead of peak winter demand.

U.S. crude for October dropped 42 cents to $79.67 a barrel by 0450 GMT, having settled up 18 cents in New York on Thursday, when prices hit a record of $80.20 a barrel. London Brent crude for November lost 27 cents to $76.85.

U.S. gasoline futures eased 0.4 percent after leading gains on Thursday, as Hurricane Humberto was downgraded to a tropical storm after shutting oil shipping channels and three refineries when it slammed onshore in Texas. read more

Sept. 14, 2007, 12:33AM
ENERGY

With traders already jittery, supply worries lead to record

By BRETT CLANTON
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

The price of oil closed above $80 a barrel for the first time Thursday after Hurricane Humberto knocked out power to three Texas oil refineries and rattled traders who were already anxious about tight oil supplies.

Light, sweet crude finished at a $80.09, 18 cents above the record set the day before. Adjusted for inflation, however, the new high falls short of the $38 oil price in early 1980, equivalent to nearly $100 a barrel in today’s dollars, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. read more

By Angela Macdonald-Smith and Christian Schmollinger

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil fell from a record close in New York after Hurricane Humberto spared offshore production platforms and weakened into a tropical depression as it passed over Texas into Louisiana.

There were no reports of damage to production units at three refineries that had power supplies knocked out by the storm in Port Arthur, Texas, idling 4.8 percent of U.S. capacity. Total SA’s plant will be restored by Sept. 18, according the Department of Energy’s Web site. Valero Energy Corp.’s unit will restart Sept. 16, a Texas state government Web site said. Royal Dutch Shell Plc gave no timetable. read more