Tue Dec 21, 2010 1:17pm GMT

* Essar makes bid, given deadline to make firm offer

* Shell will withdraw plant from sale if no deal

* Shell continues to withdraw from European refining

By Tom Bergin

LONDON, Dec 21 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc has told employees at its Stanlow refinery that India’s Essar group has made a “credible” bid for the plant, a union official said.

A Shell spokesman confirmed that the Anglo-Dutch oil giant was in talks with Essar and had given the group until the end of February to come up with a firm bid. read more

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

AUGUST 19, 2010

LONDON (Dow Jones)–India’s Essar Energy PLC (ESSR.LN) is still in talks with oil major Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) to buy refineries in Europe, Essar’s vice chairman Prashant Ruia said Thursday.

“Our discussions with Shell are still very much on,” Ruia told reporters on a conference call.

Shell entered talks with Essar over the sale of the three refineries–Stanlow in the U.K. and the Heide and Harburg refineries in Germany–late last year. read more

Cairn bought the exploration licenses in Rajasthan from Royal Dutch Shell, who believed the properties contained no oil, in 1997 for just $7 million.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By James Herron

Instead of settling into the respectable middle tier of global oil producers as its major oil discoveries in Rajasthan, India, gradually come onstream, the U.K.-listed Cairn Energy has decided to do the oil industry equivalent of selling the Volvo, buying a Harley and cruising off into the sunset.

Cairn Energy will sell the bulk of its stake in Cairn India, which owns and operates the Rajasthan fields, to metals and mining company Vedanta Resources. Cairn Chief Executive Sir Bill Gammell leaves behind dreary subjects like pipeline maintenance and enhanced oil recovery and will instead focus his company’s resources on the exciting business of exploring for new fields. read more

“…sold for a song by accident-prone Royal Dutch Shell yielded Cairn one of the country’s largest-ever finds and catapulted it into the FTSE 100.”

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Cairn shareholders set for £1bn windfall when Indian oil fields are sold to Vedanta

Shareholders in Cairn Energy are in line for a windfall of at least £1bn, with the oil explorer close to completing a £5bn deal to sell its giant Indian oil fields to Vedanta Resources.

By Rowena Mason
Published: 10:58PM BST 14 Aug 2010

The Greenland explorer may confirm the move to sell a 51pc stake to London-listed Vedanta as early as today, after last-minute talks throughout the day yesterday.

Sir Bill Gammell, the chief executive of Cairn, would receive a minimum of £2m from his 0.2pc stake in the explorer if the pay-out were as low as £1bn.

Most investors expect the amount of money given back to them to run into multiple billions, however. The final cash return has not yet been finalised. read more

Far from the Gulf of Mexico, campaigners are accusing energy companies of destroying land and livelihoods in the search for increasingly scarce resources

A woman hurries away from the heat of a gas flare near a flow station belonging to Shell in Warri, Nigeria. Photograph: George Osodi/AP

Richard Wachman and John Stibbs Sunday 20 June 2010

The eyes of the world are on BP after the disaster that left oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico at the rate of 50,000 gallons a day. But campaigners accuse Big Oil of an appalling track record elsewhere in the world, saying it leaves a trail of devastation in its wake.

From Nigeria to Kazakhstan in Central Asia, and Colombia and Ecuador in South America, the oil majors stand accused of a blatant disregard for local communities and the environments in which they operate. read more

By Anne-Sylvaine Chassany and Fred Pals

Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which is seeking to focus on exploration and production, may sell its liquefied petroleum gas distribution unit, four people with knowledge of the plan said.

Shell hired Credit Suisse Group AG to manage a sale of the division, which is valued at more than 800 million euros ($1.1 billion), said three of the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. The company sent information last week to potential bidders including private equity firms, they said. Rainer Winzenried, a spokesman for The Hague-based Shell, declined to comment. read more