Mounting state pressure on the firm, including the arrest of an employee on an industrial espionage charge, a raid on its Moscow offices and a court injunction to stop it using BP specialists, are signs the time to sell is approaching, analysts say.
May, 2008:
TNK-BP board member quits over shareholders’ row
Geese covered in oil; Four birds shunned by other fowl
Until you get close enough to notice these Canada geese are covered with a black, oil-like discolouration. "It's a sad sight," said Shell Sarnia refinery spokesperson Kristina Zimmer.
“I Was Shot by Soldiers Bought and Paid for by Chevron”
Editor's note: this is a statement given to Chevron's annual shareholders' meeting by Larry Bowoto, a lead plaintiff in Bowoto v. Chevron, which will come to trial in federal court in San Francisco in September. See here for background.
Shell to Take 33% Stake in Turkish Oil Pipeline, MEES Reports
Shell would use the link to transport crude from the Kashagan field in Kazakhstan, the Cyprus-based weekly newsletter said, without saying where it got the information. Shell and Eni are major shareholders in the Kashagan development, due to come on stream in 2012 or 2013, according to MEE
U.S. Probes Crude Oil Trading for Price Manipulation (Update3)
May 30 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S.Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the watchdog for commodity transactions, is investigating U.S. crude oil trading to determine whether the surge to record prices is the result of manipulation or fraud.
Nigeria to Regulate its Oil Industry, President Yar’Adua Says
``The law states that that money belongs to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation,'' Yar'Adua said, adding that he had found out that the oil firms had reached agreements with previous governments that exempted them from paying tax in breach of the law.
Five kestrel chicks at top of chimney stack delaying work on £350m Shell gas terminal
Shell is undertaking a major refit at the site and work on the column is being delayed until the chicks leave. It could be another three months before they fly the nest.
Buenos Aires Citizens Seek Cleanup of Shell Refinery
The complaint calls for immediate action by the company to redress the social and environmental harms caused to the community and to the local environment by the refinery at the Polo Petroquímico Dock Sud during decades of abuse and irresponsible corporate behavior.
Regulators Step Up Probes Of Trading in Oil Markets
The move Thursday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, including its unusual announcement of an investigation in progress, comes after crude-oil prices topped $130 a barrel last week and tested all-time highs.
Oil Majors Say U.S. Restrictions Delay Iran Projects
Despite an urgent need to replenish reserves, Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Spanish-Argentine Repsol YPF said they wouldn't sign a $10 billion contract to enter South Pars, the Iranian side of a giant natural-gas field shared with Qatar. Instead, the two oil giants are considering entering later phases of the project.
Intrigue in Russia Ensnares BP Venture
In 2006, Shell sold control of a major project in Russia to Gazprom after Russian environmental regulators threatened to shut it down. The regulatory problems, which were widely seen as a pressure tactic by the Kremlin, cleared up within weeks after Gazprom took over.
TNK-BP Russian shareholders scupper meeting
Crucial talks between BP and its Russian partners in TNK-BP, the Russian oil venture, broke down as the Russian billionaire shareholders failed to attend a scheduled board meeting in Cyprus amid a stand-off for control of the company, two people familiar with the situation said.
Petronas backs Santos LNG project
Groups that had expressed an interest in the Gladstone project included Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips of the US, Eni of Italy, Repsol of Spain, andSempra, owner of the largest US natural gas utility.
U.S. oil probe focusing on price manipulation: report
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. regulatory probe into potential oil-market trading abuses is focusing on possible short-term manipulation of benchmark crude prices and the use of information related to important oil storage tanks to influence prices, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Energy boss with the wind in his sails
Shell has pulled out of the world's biggest offshore wind farm, the London Array, off the Kent and Essex coasts, amid soaring costs;
He does accept that Shell's decision to concentrate on the US, where the biggest and most attractive opportunities in the wind business exist, is part of a wider trend.
Burning food: why oil is the real villain in the food crisis
The rising cost of foods is widely being blamed on the use of grains for biofuels, and the case for the prosecution is simply made.