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[verwijderd] 26 januari 2007 16:04

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Shell set to post record profits
Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:37 AM GMT

By Tom Bergin

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell is expected to post a 3 percent drop in its underlying fourth-quarter net profit on Thursday, due to easing oil prices and rising costs, but the oil major is still predicted to post a record-breaking $25 billion (13 billion pounds) full-year profit.

A Reuters poll of 10 analysts gave an average forecast of $5.216 billion for Shell's <RDSa.L> fourth quarter current cost of supply (CCS) net profit, which strips out changes in the value of inventories, excluding non-operating items.

This would push annual profits at the world's second-largest western oil company by market value to almost $25 billion -- a record for a UK-listed company, analysts said.

Investors consider the pre-exceptional CCS result as the best measure of Shell's underlying performance.

Shell's production is expected to have been roughly flat in the quarter compared with the same period in 2005, at 3.48 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).

This result would mean output for the year fell over 2 percent as new field start-ups failed to match natural declines and disruption in Nigeria due to ethnic violence.

Oil prices fell $10 a barrel compared with the previous quarter and were up only slightly on the final quarter of 2005.

The year-on-year crude price rise is not expected to be sufficient to offset falling refining margins, rising production costs and higher taxes, as resource-holding nations seek to retain more of the upside of high oil prices for themselves.

These negative themes are expected to continue and make 2007 a tougher year for Shell and its rivals.

CUTTING TARGETS

The Anglo-Dutch company will also provide investors with a strategy update on February 1, which analysts said would likely see Shell scale back growth targets.

Continuing ethnic strife in Nigeria is expected to keep facilities there shut for much of 2007. Deutsche Bank expects Nigeria to force Shell to lower its 2007 production guidance to around 3.4-3.6 million boepd from 3.5-3.8 million boepd.

Shell's agreement to sell half its share in the Sakhalin-2 project in Russia will make longer term targets harder to meet. UBS said it now expected output of 3.8 million boepd in 2009 against Shell's target of 3.8-4.0 million boepd.

The Sakhalin sale, which followed a campaign of pressure by the Russian government on the project, will also hit Shell's reserves by around 1 billion barrels, Citigroup said.

Nonetheless, 2006 is expected to be a good year for reserves additions at Shell, after poor results in 2005 and 2004, when it was forced to admit it had exaggerated reserves substantially.

Most analysts polled said they expect Shell to keep its dividend flat compared with the previous two quarters at 0.25 euros per share but the company is cash rich after disposals including Sakhalin-2 and could boost this or raise buybacks.

Goldman Sachs estimated that if oil prices averaged $65 per barrel in 2007 Shell would have the capacity to boost buybacks to $10 billion.

Shell's 1 percent share price rise in 2006 lagged a 4 percent rise in the DJ Stoxx European oil and gas sector index <.SXEP>. However, its performance compares with a drop in rival BP Plc's <BP.L> shares.

Shell stock is trading on a price-earnings ratio of 9.38 times, based on the Reuters consensus estimate for 2007 profits, below the 10 times analysts calculate for the sector.

WHAT SHELL INVESTORS WILL BE WATCHING FOR:

* Possible cut in reserves and production targets following reduction of stake in Sakhalin-2

* Exploration success - claimed "big cat" success of recent years should feed through to reserves bookings.

* Higher buybacks or dividends.

* More positive stance on acquisitions

* Some update on Nigeria

* Analysts expect any rise in Shell's $21 billion capital investment budget should be small after earlier increases.

[verwijderd] 26 januari 2007 18:35

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Shell's Van der Veer Says Nigeria Is a `Huge Security Problem'

By Francine Lacqua and Tom Cahill

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Nigeria remains a ``huge security problem'' that shows no signs of letting up for Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's largest oil company, Chief Executive Officer Jeroen van der Veer said.

``We have a huge security problem -- our staff can't work,'' Van der Veer, 59, said in an interview in Davos, Switzerland. ``When we can return to the Delt,a we will restart production and over time develop new projects, but we have to get the security situation much better than it is today.''

Shell's portion of lost production from the Nigerian delta is about 160,000 to 170,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, Van der Veer said. Shell's offshore projects for the most part haven't been affected, he said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Francine Lacqua in Davos at

Last Updated: January 26, 2007 12:06 EST

[verwijderd] 28 januari 2007 06:42

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BP and Shell in for hard time from investorsPublished: Sunday, 28 January, 2007, 08:29 AM Doha Time

By Tim Webb

LONDON: BP and Shell face a grilling from the City, after enduring a year to forget, when they make their annual strategy presentations in the next 10 days.

The companies could also be forced to lower their profit forecasts for 2007 because of the slump in oil prices - to $55 a barrel for Brent crude - and rising costs.

Analysts at stockbrokers Investec warned BP last week that a “‘business-as-usual approach’ will not be acceptable to a sceptical market” when the company reports its annual results on February 6.

They are calling on BP to raise $3.7bn by selling mature oil fields in the UK or continental Europe, using the proceeds to boost the dividend and help restore battered confidence in the company.

Stockbrokers at Charles Stanley, meanwhile, are forecasting that when Shell reports full-year results on Thursday, income for the fourth quarter to December last year will be $5.3bn – 2% down on the same period a year earlier.

Analysts will also quiz Shell about the precise terms of the controversial sale of half its stake in the $20bn Sakhalin 2 project in Russia to state-owned gas giant Gazprom.

After months of pressure from Kremlin-backed environmental regulators, Shell agreed to sell half its 55% stake for $7.45bn last month.

Shell had banked on the project, the largest-ever foreign direct investment in Russia , to help replenish its depleting reserves. UBS analysts estimate that after diluting its Sakhalin 2 holding, Shell will now have to trim up to 200,000 barrels of oil and gas equivalent from its total estimated production for 2009 of 3.8mn per day.

Shell has yet to complete the sale of its stake to Gazprom, but analysts will press for more details on how much of the project’s reserves it has booked and how much will need to be written off.

There is also concern over whether the Anglo-Dutch company will be able to reclaim all its costs from the project. There is speculation that under the agreement with the Russian government, Shell may have to pay between $3bn and $4bn out of its own pocket.

The debacle over Sakhalin 2 capped a bad 2006 for Shell, which underperformed the FTSE 100 by 13%, its worst showing since 1998.

But BP fared even worse, underperforming the blue-chip index by 17%. The company, where chief executive Lord Browne has brought forward his retirement to this summer, has been heavily criticised for its safety and environmental performance. Its Prudhoe Bay field in Alaska was shut for weeks last year after an oil spill, and it is still suffering the fallout from an explosion at its Texas refinery in 2005, which killed 15 workers. – The Independent

[verwijderd] 28 januari 2007 20:30

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Iran signs $10bn LNG deal with Repsol, Shell
Posted: Sunday, January 28, 2007

Tehran

Iran said it had signed an initial deal worth $10 billion with Spain's Repsol and Royal Dutch Shell to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the South Pars gas field.

Gholamhossein Nozari, head of state-owned National Iranian Oil Company(NIOC), was quoted by Iran's student news agency ISNA as saying the deal would be worth $10 billion and said a final investment decision was expected by the end of 2007.

An industry source close to the deal told Reuters the deal signed was an upstream service agreement.

"It is part of the work to assess the feasibility of the project," the source said. "The important thing is that the final decision to develop the LNG project is a year or so away."

A deal would be a blow to Washington, which in addition to barring US investment in Iran, has been stepping up pressure on non-US firms to refrain from investing in Iran amid Western accusations Iran is seeking to produce an atomic bomb.

Iran denies the charge but in December it was slapped with limited UN sanctions and it risks harsher ones if it does not heed a UN demand to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to make fuel for power plans or material for bombs.

The project with Repsol and Shell would involve developing phases 13 and 14 of the South Pars gas field in the Gulf.

A source said last Tuesday such a preliminary deal would be signed in days and put the value at $4.3 billion for an LNG plant and port terminal. Nozari said the $10 billion price tag was for both upstream work and the LNG facilities.

The source said the LNG plant would cost about $2.5 billion and the port terminal and other infrastructure would cost about $1.8 billion, the source said, adding that exports -- if the project went ahead -- could start in 2011 or 2012.

Under the deal, Shell and Repsol would each take a 25 percent stake in the project to produce 16 million tonnes a year of LNG, super-cooled natural gas that can be transported on tankers.

"This contract is the biggest project of its kind for investment and the amount of gas to be turned into LNG (in Iran)," Nozari was quoted as saying, adding that the deal, signed on Saturday, would be based on Iran's so-called "buy back" terms.

Under Iran's "buy back" contracts, investment in developing a field is rewarded with a share of production for a short period before the state repurchases the field.

Iran has said it is reviewing the terms of deals to make them more attractive, after criticism from foreign investors.

Iran has the world's second largest natural gas reserves -- about 940 trillion cubic feet -- but has been slow to develop them for exports.

The Islamic Republic is negotiating terms on other LNG deals but analysts say it could take at least 10 more years for Iran to become a major gas exporter.

France's Total agreed to build Iran's first LNG terminal in February 2004 with an initial start date of 2009. Three years later, Total and Iran are still negotiating terms and the start date has been pushed back to 2011.-Reuters

matin 29 januari 2007 16:12

Beursnieuws

Shell verkoopt raffinaderij in Los Angeles voor USD 1,63 mrd

Amsterdam (BETTEN BEURSMEDIA NEWS) - Royal Dutch Shell verkoopt een raffinaderij in Los Angeles, met de daarbij behorende activa, aan Tesoro. Shell ontvangt daarvoor USD 1,63 miljard, zo meldt een woordvoerder van het olieconcern aan Betten.

De verkoop betreft de raffinaderij Wilmington Products Terminal, alsmede 250 tankstations. De tankstions zullen onder de merknaam 'Shell' blijven opereren.

Onder de verkoop vallen tevens de leverantieovereenkomsten binnen en rondom Los Angeles en San Diego. Volgens Tesoro komt bovenop de genoemde verkoopprijs nog een bedrag van USD 180 miljoen tot USD 200 miljoen voor de aanwezige voorraden.

De raffinaderij in Los Angeles heeft een doorloopcapaciteit van ongeveer 97.500 vaten per dag. Sinds 2003 is Shell de volledige eigenaar van de Wilmington Products Terminal.

De verkoop van de raffinaderij is onderdeel van de strategie van Shell om de downstream-portefeuille, zoals de distributie en levering van olie en gas, verder te stroomlijnen. Overigens was Shell niet van plan om deze raffinaderij te verkopen. 'We kregen een aantrekkelijk aanbod', aldus woordvoerder Peter van Boesschoten.

(c) BETTEN BEURSMEDIA NEWS (tel: +31 20 710 1756; fax: +31 20 710 1875)

Dow Jones NL

voda 29 januari 2007 16:26

RTRS-Shell verkoopt activiteiten in Californië
LOS ANGELES (ANP) - Olieconcern Shell verkoopt zijn
olieraffinaderij, een terminal en 250 benzinestations in
Californië aan het Amerikaanse Tesoro Corporation. De
overnamesom ligt, inclusief olievoorraden, rond de 1,8 miljard
dollar (1,4 miljard euro). Dit hebben beide partijen maandag
gemeld.

De raffinaderij, gevestigd in San Francisco, heeft een
capaciteit van ongeveer 100.000 vaten per dag. Bij de vestiging
werken vijfhonderd mensen. Tesoro heeft aangeven de meeste
werknemers te willen houden. De transactie wordt naar
verwachting halverwege dit jaar afgerond.

Shell is al langere tijd bezig met een reorganisatie van de
raffinage- en verkoopactivieiten.

((ANP Redactie Economie, email economie(at)anp.nl, +31 20
504 5999))

voda 29 januari 2007 16:59

Shell-topman: ‘doelstelling Bush valt tegen'
President George Bush legt de lat om de CO2-uitstoot in de Verenigde Staten terug te dringen te laag. Dat vindt Shells bestuursvoorzitter Jorma Ollila.

Klimaatsverandering
De voormalige topman van Nokia zei dat zondag in een interview met de krant Helsingin Sanomat, meldt persbureau Reuters. Het internationale bedrijfsleven begrijpt volgens Ollila dat er iets moet gebeuren om klimaatsverandering te bestrijden.

Teleurstellend
“Vergeleken daarmee is Bush’ voorstel deze week om het verbruik van autobrandstof in de VS met een vijfde terug te dringen erg zwak en teleurstellend,” aldus Ollila. “Uitstoot door autoverkeer is duidelijk minder dan de helft van de totale uitstoot.”

Alternatieven
Vorige week dinsdag zei Bush tijdens de jaarlijkse State of the Union, vergelijkbaar met de Troonrede, dat de ontwikkeling van ethanol en andere alternatieve brandstoffen versneld moet worden. Binnen 10 jaar moet het verbruik van fossiele brandstoffen door auto’s met 20% zijn teruggebracht, zei Bush.
Bron: RTLZ

[verwijderd] 29 januari 2007 21:10

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Shell verkoopt raffinaderij Los Angeles voor USD 1,63 mrd--2
Toevoeging: wijziging en meer informatie in alinea 2. Aanvullende informatie in alinea 6.

AMSTERDAM (FD.nl/Betten) - Royal Dutch Shell verkoopt een raffinaderij in Los Angeles, met de daarbij behorende activa, aan Tesoro. Shell ontvangt daarvoor $ 1,63 mrd, zo meldt een woordvoerder van het olieconcern aan Betten.

De verkoop betreft de Los Angeles Raffinaderij, de Wilmington Products Terminal en 250 tankstations. De tankstions zullen onder de merknaam 'Shell' blijven opereren. In de Verenigde Staten beschikt Shell in het totaal over 13.500 tankstations.

Onder de verkoop vallen tevens de leverantieovereenkomsten binnen en rondom Los Angeles en San Diego. Volgens Tesoro komt bovenop de genoemde verkoopprijs nog een bedrag van $ 180 mln tot $ 200 mln voor de aanwezige voorraden.

De raffinaderij in Los Angeles heeft een doorloopcapaciteit van ongeveer 97.500 vaten per dag. Sinds 2003 is Shell de volledige eigenaar van de Wilmington Products Terminal.

De verkoop van de raffinaderij is onderdeel van de strategie van Shell om de downstream-portefeuille, zoals de distributie en levering van olie en gas, verder te stroomlijnen. Overigens was Shell niet van plan om deze raffinaderij te verkopen. 'We kregen een aantrekkelijk aanbod', aldus woordvoerder Peter van Boesschoten.

Tesoro bezit momenteel zes raffinaderijen in de Verenigde Staten, met een totale capaciteit van meer dan 560.000 vaten olie per dag. Verder heeft Tesoro 450 tankstations, waarvan er rond de 200 opereren onder de merknaam Tesoro of Mirastar.

(c) Het Financieele Dagblad in samenwerking met Betten Beursmedia News (contact: webred@fd.nl/ 020-5928456)

[verwijderd] 29 januari 2007 21:13

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Shell, Repsol deal with Iran could trigger US sanctions - official
Published on : Mon, 29 Jan 2007 20:39
By : Agencies
URL : www.abcmoney.co.uk/news/29200713703.htm

WASHINGTON (AFX) - A proposed multi-billion dollar agreement by oil giants Repsol YPF SA of Spain and Royal Dutch Shell to help commercialise Iranian gas deposits could trigger US sanctions, a senior US official said.

The Iranian news agency ISNA reported on Sunday that Iran signed a preliminary agreement with Repsol and Shell to produce liquefied natural gas from Iran's South Pars gas field in a deal worth some 10 bln usd.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the investment agreement, if confirmed, would likely trigger a US investigation and possible sanctions under US law.

The 1996 Iran-Libya Sanctions Act requires the US president to impose sanctions on companies which invest more than 20 mln usd in Iran's energy sector.

'The people who deal with those laws on a daily basis in their application I'm sure will take a look at this particular deal,' McCormack said of the reported agreement involving Repsol and Shell.

'If there's an investment greater than a certain amount, as specified in US law, then our folks, our lawyers, take a look at it and the policy-makers take a look at it, and see if there's any further steps that we, as a government, take,' he said.

McCormack refused to speculate on what possible sanctions Repsol and Shell, which has operations in the US, could face if they go through with the South Pars investment.

The Iran-Libya Sanctions Act lists six possible punitive measures, including the denial of US export licenses, credit guarantees and bank loans to entities found in contravention of the law.

The Iranian news agency quoted the head of the National Iranian Oil Company, Gholam Hossein Nozari, saying a final decision on the deal, which he described as the biggest project of its kind in Iran, would be made later this year.

newsdesk@afxnews.com

[verwijderd] 30 januari 2007 08:03

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Shell dichtbij Iraans aardgas
Shell en Repsol mogen de installaties bouwen bij het grootste gasveld ter wereld in Iran. Zij krijgen echter geen belang in het winningsproject. Iran streeft volledige controle over zijn eigen bodemschatten na. Onduidelijk is of Shell iets van de reserves in zijn boeken kan bijschrijven. Wel krijgen zowel Shell als Repsol een belang van 25% in een fabriek voor lng. (FD, p.1)

voda 30 januari 2007 22:31

Iets voor de echte RDS adepten:

Stel vraag aan Shell-topman Jeroen vd Veer!

Shell-topman Jeroen van der Veer is binnenkort te gast op onze redactie om vragen van onze lezers te beantwoorden.

Shell-topman Jeroen van der Veer. FOTO ANP
1/2VOLGENDE Maakt multinational Shell zich naast winstcijfers ook zorgen over de klimaatverandering? Wat investeert het concern in alternatieve energiebronnen? Hoeveel olie is er nog? Wat gaat de benzineprijs doen?

Heeft u een vraag voor Van der Veer?

Tot 10 februari aanstaande kunt u die stellen via: jeroenvanderveer@ad.nl

De acht scherpste en meest actuele vragen worden voorgelegd aan Van der Veer.

Het resultaat van het lezersinterview staat in het AD van zaterdag 3 maart.

Bron:
www.ad.nl

[verwijderd] 1 februari 2007 08:55

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Royal Dutch Shell keert vanaf 2007 dividend in dollars uit1 feb 2007, 08:34 uur
Amsterdam (BETTEN BEURSMEDIA NEWS) - Royal Dutch Shell keert vanaf 2007 het dividend in dollars uit in plaats van euro's. Dit heeft het olieconcern donderdag bekendgemaakt. Over het vierde kwartaal keert Shell een dividend uit van EUR 0,25 tegen EUR 0,23 een jaar eerder.

Over het eerste kwartaal van 2007 denkt het concern een dividend van USD 0,36 uit te kunnen keren, 14% meer dan het dividend in dollars van het eerste kwartaal van 2006. Op 3 mei 2007 zal het dividend over het eerste kwartaal bekend worden gemaakt.

Volgens Shell is met de wijziging het beleid om een dividend dat ten minste in lijn groeit met de inflatie uit te keren, niet gewijzigd. 'In de toekomst zal het inflatieniveau worden geabseerd op inflatieniveaus in wereldwijde, ontwikkelde, economieen in plaats van een mix van Europese inflaties', zo stelt het concern.

Ondanks het feit dat het dividend in dollars wordt aangekondigd, zullen houders van aandelen A het dividend uitbetaald krijgen in euro's, maar kunnen ze ervoor kiezen om het dividend in Britse ponden te krijgen. Houders van aandelen B krijgen het dividend in Britse ponden, maar kunnen ook kiezen voor euro's. Houders van in de Verenigde Staten genoteerde certificaten, ook wel ADR's genaamd, blijven het dividend in dollars ontvangen.

(c) BETTEN BEURSMEDIA NEWS (tel: +31 20 710 1756; fax: +31 20 710 1875)

[verwijderd] 1 februari 2007 19:57

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UPDATE 1-Shell says prepared to walk away from Shell Canada
Thu Feb 1, 2007 6:26 PM GMT

By Tom Bergin

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile , Research) said on Thursday it was prepared to walk away from its bid for the 22 percent of Shell Canada Ltd (SHC.TO: Quote, Profile , Research) it does not own if minority shareholders do not accept its C$8.7 billion ($7.4 billion) offer.

"The C$45 per share offer, we think, is full and fair value ... so it is now for the minority shareholder to make up their mind," Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer told reporters at a press conference.

"At a certain moment, if we don't get enough people who are prepared to take this full and fair-valued offer, then we move on ... We have plenty of investment opportunities."

One Shell Canada investor said he was disappointed as he had expected a higher bid.

Shell Canada's shares fell 35 cents to C$44.91 at 1824 GMT, underperforming an almost 1 percent rise in the Toronto Stock Exchange's oil group.

Shell increased a C$40 per share bid it made in October to C$45 per share last month, but some investors immediately rejected the offer and said they wanted C$50 per share.

(Additional reporting by Jeffrey Jones in Calgary)

[verwijderd] 1 februari 2007 21:00

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Het verbaasd mij dat Jeroen vd Veer niet sprak over een nieuwe ontwikkeling. Deze nieuwe ontwikkeling houd in dat er d.m.v co2 gas, olie uit de bodem gedwongen word. Hierdoor kunnen olie putten efficienter worden gebruikt. Bij de normale gang blijft 20% olie in de bron zonder dat deze toereikend is. Met de nieuwe techniek van co2, kan de bron geheel benut worden.

[verwijderd] 2 februari 2007 21:30

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Shell proposes 18 wells

Company’s MMS exploration plan targets 2 Camden Bay prospects, August drilling

Alan Bailey

Petroleum News

Shell Offshore Inc. has filed with the U.S. Minerals Management Service the company’s exploration plan for oil and gas leases in the eastern part of the U.S. Beaufort Sea outer continental shelf. The plan proposes the drilling of 18 exploration wells between 2007 and 2012 in the Camden Bay area, offshore the eastern end of the North Slope and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Of those wells, 13 would target the Sivulliq prospect while five would target the Olympia prospect.

The company also hopes to acquire some seismic data in the Beaufort Sea during the summer open water season, but it is unclear whether any seismic will be shot in the Chukchi Sea.

Sivulliq, formerly called Hammerhead, lies due north of Flaxman Island on the western side of Camden Bay. The prospect contains a known oil pool penetrated by two exploration wells drilled by Unocal in 1985 and 1986. According to information published by MMS the prospect is estimated to contain 100 million to 200 million barrels of technically recoverable oil in a Brookian sand reservoir. But the oil pool has not been fully delineated.

The Olympia prospect, on the eastern side of Camden Bay about 7 miles northwest of Barter Island near the village of Kaktovik, was known as the Erik prospect in the mid 1980s. In 1984 a lease sale bidding consortium consisting of Unocal, Shell and Amoco commissioned a site survey of the prospect, which they had presumably identified from earlier seismic surveying. And according to Shell’s exploration plan, a mudline cellar for a proposed Erik well was excavated, but the Erik well was never drilled.

“The dominant geologic structure within the (Olympia) prospect area is a northeast-trending anticline that extends along the general alignment of the five proposed Olympia wells,” the plan says.

Three wells in 2007

At an Alaska Support Industry Alliance meeting on Jan. 25, Rick Fox, Shell’s asset manager for Alaska, said that Shell plans to initially evaluate the Sivulliq prospect by drilling three wells in the summer of 2007. The Kulluk, a floating drilling platform Shell purchased in 2006, and the drillship Frontier Discoverer will drill the wells.
Shell is refurbishing the Kulluk in McKinley Bay, Canada. The Discoverer is coming from Singapore and is being equipped for arctic drilling, in addition to having its external hull strengthened for operating in sea ice. Both vessels will move to the Beaufort Sea in time for the drilling season, and will leave again at the end of the season.

“If everything works out we’ll plan to have them over here for about an Aug. 1 start,” Fox said.

Two ice-class support vessels — an icebreaker and an anchor handler — will accompany each drilling vessel. And Shell has built a new ice-class, 500-foot oil spill response vessel to support its Beaufort operations, Fox said.

ASRC RTS will manage and operate the on-site oil spill response equipment and has been preparing Shell’s comprehensive oil spill response plan. Fox emphasized, however, that modern drilling technology has significantly reduced the risk of an oil spill and that “our first line of defense is prevention.”

Beaufort seismic

Also in the summer 2007 Shell hopes to acquire some new seismic data for its Beaufort Sea leases, Fox said. The company had hoped to start acquiring this data in 2006 but difficult ice conditions in the summer prevented a planned open-water Beaufort seismic program. Shell is conducting a research program that is investigating the acquisition of seismic data from floating sea ice during the winter (see “Shell flags intent to test winter seismic in Beaufort” in the Jan. 21 edition of Petroleum News).
And according to the exploration plan “there is some question as to whether Shell Offshore Inc. or other operators will conduct seismic in the Chukchi in 2007.”

Shell’s program of Beaufort Sea site surveys, searching for drilling hazards and shallow gas, will continue in the 2007 open water season. A short project to collect cores from the seabed will also provide information about the soil strength and composition, Fox said.

Marine mammal monitoring

Shell is also working with the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, the North Slope Borough wildlife department, ConocoPhillips and others to continue the marine mammal monitoring program that the company operated during the 2006 open water season.
“This is a very important part of our business,” Fox said.

According to the exploration plan Shell will station marine mammal observers on all of the vessels involved in its exploration program. The company may also fly aerial surveys along north-south transects to monitor marine mammals in the area of its drilling operations.

Shell also proposes to try using unmanned aerial vehicles to augment the manned aerial surveys. Initially, part of the purpose would be to evaluate the application of drone technology in wildlife surveillance, following experiments already conducted into the use of the technology.

“It is not likely that a drone program (in 2007) would either replace or significantly reduce the anticipated manned aerial programs,” the exploration plan says.

In the Chukchi Sea, a drone program might offer opportunities for more wide-ranging data collection, in lieu of vessel-based programs, the plan says.

Arrays of acoustic recorders in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas will also help document the regional distribution of marine mammals. And Shell is conducting several studies into arctic marine wildlife.

Support from West Dock

Shell is negotiating the use of the Prudhoe Bay West Dock to support the fleet of vessels involved in the Beaufort Sea drilling program. A 400-foot diesel supply vessel will transition from south Alaska to the Beaufort Sea to support the operations. And service vessels will haul the various forms of waste from the drilling operations to Prudhoe Bay, although the exact onshore disposal arrangements for the waste have yet to be finalized.
The company is contracting the use of a support base facility at Deadhorse and construction of that facility should be complete by April 1. Flight operations will be based out of Deadhorse.

[verwijderd] 2 februari 2007 21:35

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Shell Oil President Says Energy Abounds

February 2, 2007

Bill Virgin -- Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The challenge in meeting increasing demand for energy isn't coming up with new sources of supply, Shell Oil President John Hofmeister believes.

"There's plenty of energy to be had," Hofmeister told a Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Washington Athletic Club Wednesday. That energy will come from current and emerging-technology options ranging from offshore oil and gas deposits to Canadian oil sands, Western U.S. oil shale, coal-derived synthetic gas, biofuels, hydrogen fuel cells, wind and solar, he said.

But Hofmeister warned, "The obstacles to getting it are man-made."

Hofmeister, who is on a 50- city speaking tour to discuss energy security, said the primary obstacles are the battles on everything from allowing oil and gas drilling on the outer continental shelf to siting terminals for importing liquid natural gas.

The information-age economy still depends on industrial infrastructure to deliver energy to make it run, he said. "Without energy there's no entertainment," he said. "Without energy, there's no servers running the Internet."

Hofmeister said the country needs a major educational effort so that people understand the crucial role energy plays in the economy and what's necessary to provide it.

"We have to come to grips in a democracy with the fact that energy is the sustaining enabler of our lifestyle and our economic prosperity," he said. Elected officials will decide whether those facilities get built, but people should understand if they don't want them, energy supplies such as liquid natural gas "will go elsewhere."

Hofmeister said another major obstacle is the infrastructure cost for delivering new fuels such as ethanol to consumers. "Today's infrastructure is a product of 100 years" of investment, he said. "How are we going to manage the infrastructure development" required for introducing more ethanol into the nation's motor-fuel system?

Although Shell has a particular interest in cellulosic ethanol (derived from wood chips, plant stalks and other biomass instead of corn), Hofmeister is wary of President Bush's call for a dramatic increase in the production of the fuel. Not only is the infrastructure not in place to handle the higher target, it's not clear yet how consumers will accept a fuel with less energy content than comparable volumes of gasoline and what they'll pay for it.

Shell also is doing development work on the technology of hydrogen fuel cells, which will require yet another system. "I'm not sure consumers will pay for three competing infrastructures," he said.

But Hofmeister said Shell sees itself as a broad-based energy and fuels company. "We're not particularly partial to any one," as long as the public wants to buy it, he added.

Shell operates a refinery near Anacortes. "It's a very well-run, well-managed and efficient operation," Hofmeister said. The refinery mainly processes Alaskan crude, and though that supply has been declining, Shell and Hofmeister are hoping for new supplies from the Beaufort Sea.

Hofmeister also said Shell is shifting its retail business model to one in which local companies develop outlets. Although it's up to those local wholesalers and distributors whether to add stations, Hofmeister said Washington "to us is a growing marketplace. We like to be present in growing marketplaces."

Source: (c) 1998-2006 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. All Rights Reserved.

[verwijderd] 3 februari 2007 18:27

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Shell taking its time on shale plan
By Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News
February 3, 2007

Energy behemoth Shell's interest in Colorado's vast stock of oil shale is not just a passing whim.

John Hofmeister, Shell Oil's president, met with Gov. Bill Ritter on Thursday to discuss the unconventional source of oil. That comes on the heels of hiring former U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton as a general counsel for Shell Exploration and Production, Unconventional Resources - Shell's local arm that is testing a proprietary oil shale technology.

Shell recently received federal approval to lease public land in Rio Blanco County to test its technology.

"We talked about four key concerns," Hofmeister said Friday at a luncheon organized by the Denver Forum.

Those concerns relate to the economic viability, technology, regulatory framework and social impact of oil shale in the state, Hofmeister said.

Norton, who was present at the luncheon, said it was her third week working at Shell's office in the Denver Tech Center. Her hiring has sparked speculation that Shell might pursue its oil shale technology on a commercial basis before the end of the decade.

"One of the things that impressed me was how carefully Shell is making decisions about oil shale," Norton said, admitting that she has been working on oil shale-related issues. "It is not jumping and moving ahead that creates a concern about an oil shale bust. . . . It is making sure stakeholders have an opportunity to learn about the process."

Norton said issues such as environment planning, taxes and royalty structures have to be resolved before the oil shale industry can take off.

Shell is meeting with local and county officials, doing environmental analysis and gathering public input to help shape its decision on oil shale development, said spokeswoman Jill Davis.

Shell said it will make a decision about commercially producing oil shale by 2010.

The United States holds more than 50 percent of the world's oil-shale resources, the equivalent of 2.6 trillion barrels of oil, of which 1.5 trillion barrels are recoverable. Most of the oil shale is in the Green River Basin in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.

Shell is testing a proprietary technique to extract the oil that aims to reduce surface damage.

"(Norton) knows Colorado geography well and knows Colorado people well," said Steve Smith, assistant regional director for the Wilderness Society. "I hope that means that she will be sure that oil shale does not move faster than it should."

chakrabartyg@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2976

Copyright 2007, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.

[verwijderd] 3 februari 2007 18:31

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Shell set to drill in Beaufort Sea

By Tim Bradner
Alaska Journal of Commerce

Shell is gearing up for an aggressive 2007 offshore exploration program in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea, with plans to operate two drilling vessels and drill three wells, company officials told an Alaska industry contractor group in a Jan. 25 briefing.

“We like Alaska. It's part of the United States. We have a lot of experience here, and it's good to be back,” Rick Fox, manager of Shell's Alaska operations, told the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, an oil contractor association.

Shell has a long history in Alaska and was active in the initial development of Cook Inlet oil and gas fields, as well as Beaufort and Chukchi sea exploration in the 1980s and 1990s. The company made nine exploration discoveries in Alaska, Fox told the Alliance.

Shell closed its Alaska operations in the mid-1990s, selling its producing leases in the Middle Ground Shoal field in Cook Inlet, but returned to the state in 2005 after acquiring 103 federal leases in the Alaska Beaufort Sea and 33 state leases on the Alaska Peninsula near where the company hopes to explore in an offshore federal sale near Bristol Bay.

The company hopes to begin drilling Aug. 1 and will be managing a small fleet of vessels, including the drillship Discover and the Kulluk, a specialized vessel built for Arctic offshore drilling. The flotilla will also include icebreakers, support vessels for anchor-handling and a new 300-foot oil-spill response barge being delivered to the Beaufort Sea this summer, Fox told the Alliance.

The response barge, which will carry spill containment and clean-up equipment, will be on standby nearby the drilling vessels while operations are underway, Fox said. The response equipment will be operated by a subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corp., an Alaska Native-owned corporation that is heavily engaged in oil service operations, Fox said.

Shell will also operate another vessel working on marine subsea hazards and geotechnical soils surveys in the area where the company is exploring. Shell will complete three-dimensional seismic surveys in the Beaufort Sea that were attempted last year but not done because of adverse ice conditions, Fox told the Alliance.

The Kulluk is currently undergoing renovations and upgrades at McKinley Bay, in the Canadian Beaufort Sea, while the Discover is in a Singapore shipyard being fitted with an external ice hull, Fox said.

Shell plans to drill three prospects in the eastern Beaufort Sea this summer, Fox said. An area of immediate interest is the Hammerhead oil discovery made in the 1980s by Unocal Corp. in early Beaufort Sea exploration. The well was flow-tested but was not developed because oil prices and the industry technology available at the time did not make it economic, Fox said. Shell acquired the Hammerhead federal OCS leases in March 2005, along with other leases across a wide area of the Alaskan Beaufort Sea.

Fox told the Alliance that Shell is recruiting to fill local company positions and expects contractors will hire about 270 to support its operations this year.

Construction has also started on a 60,000-square-foot hanger and support facility in Deadhorse, near Prudhoe Bay, to support Shell's planned 2007 and 2008 offshore exploration. Marsh Creek Services, a joint-venture of Fairweather Exploration and Production Services and Kaktovik Inupiat Corp., is developing the support center, which is due to be complete by August.

In another development, Shell will experiment this spring with marine seismic surveys done on floating ice several miles offshore Prudhoe Bay. If the tests are successful, Shell will have an alternative to conventional marine seismic surveys done with vessels during the summer. The summer surveys bring objections from local Inupiaq Eskimos because of possible interference with bowhead whales, which the Inpupiat hunt for subsistence. The tests will be done between March and May by Shell's contractor, Veritas.

Tim Bradner can be reached at tim.bradner@alaskajournal.com.

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[verwijderd] 4 februari 2007 09:18

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Shell to boost oilsands fivefold
Target of takeover bid: 'Expansions that ... will keep us busy many, many years'

Claudia Cattaneo, Calgary Bureau Chief
Financial Post

Thursday, January 25, 2007

CALGARY - Shell Canada Ltd., target of a minority buyout offer by its European parent, said yesterday it plans to expand its oilsands business with its partners fivefold to 770,000 barrels a day -- regardless of cost pressures and the recent drop in oil prices.

The Athabasca Oilsands Project near Fort McMurray "remains a very strong and attractive business to us," chief executive Clive Mather said in an interview, after the company posted significantly weaker fourth-quarter earnings due to lower natural-gas prices.

The results were the first in the Canadian oil-and-gas group.

"The fundamentals of [the oilsands] are very strong: huge resource base, very good customers," he said. "The sort of expansions that we are talking about here will keep us busy many, many years, and prices will fluctuate many times during that, but the incentive remains, and if prices do fall at times, we would expect there to be some mediating pressures on costs as well."

Oil prices have spiraled down in recent weeks to the US$50 range, a level seen as testing the profitability of some oilsands projects.

The more aggressive long-term oilsands growth target was reelased a day after the board of Calgary-based company day backed an increased bid by its parent, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, to buy out shareholders holding the 22% of shares in Shell Canada it doesn't own.

Under previous plans, the Athabasca mining project was seen as supporting production of 550,000 b/d. It currently produces about 155,000 b/d.

Several institutional investors are still unhappy with the $45 price, up from $40 offered in October, because they say it fails to recognize Shell Canada's growth potential.

Shell Canada said it announced the new plans to start engaging stakeholders and seek regulatory approval.

The company said its share of oilsands production was 125,700 b/d in the fourth quarter, up from 114,000 b/d a year earlier. It also produced 431 million cubic feet of natural gas, about the same as last year.

Earnings for the period fell to $223-million, from $611-million in the same period in 2005, on lower natural gas prices and a charge for its employee stock option plan.

Analyst Andrew Potter, with UBS Securities Canada Inc., said the results were weaker than expected.

---------

Shell

"The largest variance were downstream operating earnings of only $58-million, versus our estimate of $162-million, as a result of low product margins and a larger than expected impact from the Sarnia (refinery) turnaround," Mr. Potter said in a report.

Tom Ebbern, analyst at Tristone Capital Inc., said Canadian integrated oil companies and senior oil and gas explorers will report similarly weaker earnings, both relative to the third quarter and year-over-year.

"It won't be a stellar quarter," he said. "We have seen progressive quarters [in the past] bump up and up and up, and this is turning the corner from a commodity [price] perspective. The first quarter will be even worse, but it shouldn't surprise anybody given the volatility of oil and gas prices."

Shell Canada has a 60% interest in the Athabasca project, with the rest equally owned by Western Oilsands Inc. and Chevron Corp.

The Athabasca partners are also looking at boosting upgrading capacity to 700,000 b/d. Shell Canada plans to expand its Scotford upgrader near Edmonton and possibly its Sarnia, Ont., refinery.

Shell Canada has separate plans to boost production from its wholly owned in-situ projects to 150,000 barrels a day.

Under the new plans, production from mining and in-situ would eventually boost Shell Canada's volumes from the oilsands to more than 600,000 b/d.

Mr. Mather said it's too soon to talk about when Shell Canada will achieve the production goals or to estimate costs.

The expansion would involve multiple stages, continuous construction and replicate the technology used in the existing project. The plan doesn't contemplate using nuclear energy, an option being considered by other oilsnds developers and promoted by the federal government as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the basin.

However, "We are watching developments carefully and if there could be a commercial opportunity we would look hard at it," Mr. Mather said.

ccattaneo@nationalpost.com

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[verwijderd] 9 februari 2007 12:18

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Shell plans wells for Beaufort Sea
TESTING THE WATERS: The oil producer anticipates a summer start for exploration.

By ALAN BAILEY
Petroleum News

(Published: February 9, 2007)
Shell Offshore Inc. has filed plans the U.S. Minerals Management Service that call for drilling up to 11 exploration wells over the next two years in the Beaufort Sea.

The drilling would be concentrated in the Camden Bay area, offshore the eastern end of the North Slope and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The company also hopes to acquire some seismic data in the Beaufort Sea during the summer open-water season -- when the ice is gone -- but it is unclear whether any seismic will be shot in the Chukchi Sea to the west.

One Beaufort prospect is called Sivulliq; it once was known as Hammerhead. It lies due north of Flaxman Island on the western side of Camden Bay.

This prospect contains a known oil pool penetrated by two exploration wells Unocal drilled in 1985 and 1986. The federal mineral service estimates that the prospect contains 100 million to 200 million barrels of technically recoverable oil. But the oil pool has not been fully delineated.

Another prospect that could be targeted is called Olympia. It lies on the eastern side of Camden Bay about seven miles northwest of Barter Island near the village of Kaktovik. In the mid-1980s, it was known as the Erik prospect. It's never been drilled, according to Shell's exploration plan.

THREE WELLS IN 2007
At a recent Alaska Support Industry Alliance meeting, Rick Fox, Shell's asset manager for Alaska, said his company plans to initially evaluate the Sivulliq prospect by drilling three wells this summer. The Kulluk, a floating drilling platform Shell purchased last year, and the drill-ship Frontier Discoverer will drill the wells.

Shell is refurbishing the Kulluk in McKinley Bay, Canada. The Discoverer is coming from Singapore. It is being equipped for Arctic drilling and having its hull strengthened for operating in sea ice. Both vessels will move to the Beaufort Sea in time for the drilling season and will leave at the end of the season.

"If everything works out, we'll plan to have them over here for about an Aug. 1 start," Fox said.

Two ice-class support vessels -- an icebreaker and an anchor handler -- will accompany each drilling vessel. And Shell has built a new ice-class, 500-foot vessel for oil spill response to support its Beaufort operations, Fox said.

ASRC RTS will manage and operate the on-site oil-spill-response equipment and has been preparing Shell's comprehensive response plan. Fox emphasized, however, that modern drilling technology has significantly reduced the risk of an oil spill and that "our first line of defense is prevention."

BEAUFORT SEISMIC
Also this summer, Shell hopes to acquire some new seismic data for its Beaufort Sea leases, Fox said. Seismic testing involved shooting sound waves through the ocean floor to get a "look," using the echoes of those sound waves, at rock formations deep underground. Certain rock formation are more likely to hold oil than others.

The company had hoped to start acquiring the seismic data last summer, but difficult ice conditions prevented the work. Shell is researching how it might acquire seismic data during the winter, when ice is present.

As for the Chukchi, where Shell also would like more seismic data, "there is some question as to whether Shell Offshore Inc. or other operators will conduct seismic in the Chukchi in 2007," according to the exploration plan.

MARINE-MAMMAL MONITORING
Shell is also working with the National Marine Fisheries Service, the North Slope Borough wildlife department, Conoco Phillips and others to continue the marine-mammal monitoring program it operated during last summer's open- water season.

North Slope Natives in particular are concerned about how seismic tests and drilling might affect migrations of whales they hunt for subsistence food.

According to the exploration plan, Shell will station marine mammal observers on all of the vessels involved in its exploration program. The company may also conduct aerial surveys to monitor marine mammals in the area of its drilling.

Shell also proposes to try using unmanned aerial vehicles to augment the manned aerial surveys. Initially, part of the purpose would be to evaluate the application of drone technology in wildlife surveillance, following experiments already conducted into the use of the technology.

"It is not likely that a drone program (in 2007) would either replace or significantly reduce the anticipated manned aerial programs," the exploration plan says.

In the Chukchi Sea, a drone program might offer opportunities for more wide-ranging data collection in lieu of vessel-based programs, the plan says.

Arrays of acoustic recorders in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas will also help document the regional distribution of marine mammals. And Shell is conducting several studies into Arctic marine wildlife.

SUPPORT FROM WEST DOCK
Shell is negotiating the use of the West Dock on the Beaufort coast at the Prudhoe Bay oil field to support its drilling vessels. A 400-foot diesel supply vessel will support the operations. And service vessels will haul the various forms of waste from the drilling operations to Prudhoe Bay.

The company is contracting the use of a support base at Deadhorse, next to Prudhoe, and construction of it should be done by April 1. Flight operations will be based out of Deadhorse.

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