Posts on 'May 23rd, 2006'
ShellNews.net: Latest News on the High Court Battle: EIGHT Royal Dutch Shell companies vs. Dr John Huong : 23 May 2006
By Alfred Donovan
My sworn affidavit relating to the draconian defamation action brought by EIGHT Royal Dutch Shell companies against former Shell geologist, Dr John Huong was filed with the High Court of Malaya on 22 May 2006. As a consequence, the affidavit is now in the public domain.
The same applies to the exhibit supplied with the affidavit – the unsuccessful submission by Shell International Petroleum Company Limited to the World Intellectual Property Organisation in May 2005 relating to certain Shell related domain names, including royaldutchshellplc.com. The relevant domain names are still owned by me. There will be news worthy developments in relation to one of them very shortly. read more
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Oil-News Roundup 23 May 2006
Oil News Roundup
The WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE May 23, 2006Crude-oil futures fluctuated dramatically on the New York Mercantile Exchange, first falling sharply and then ending the day nearly $1 higher at more than $69 a barrel after Venezuela said it would push OPEC next week to cut oil production. Here is today's roundup of news about oil and energy.
GOUGERS, BUT NOT LAWBREAKERS: The Federal Trade Commission said it had found 15 cases of gasoline-price gouging in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year. But it also said that none of those episodes were illegal. Rather, they merely matched the FTC's definition of gouging, as ordered by Congress: any instance in which the average gas price in a state or national disaster area — or in any other area where consumers had filed gouging complaints — was higher in September 2005 than the average price in that same area in August 2005. The FTC found that 15 firms — seven refiners, two wholesalers and six retailers — fit that description. But the agency said it had found no illegal market manipulation. read more
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Ethanol car wins fuel-efficiency challenge
Ethanol car wins fuel-efficiency challenge
Candace Lombardi, for News.com Published: May 22, 2006 How far can you go on a tank of ethanol? Some students in France this weekend showed that the answer could be in the thousands of miles.That is, of course, if you don't mind driving a car not much bigger than you are.
An ethanol-powered vehicle engineered by students from the Lycee La Joliverie took top honors at the Shell Eco-marathon, a contest to build a car that can drive as far as possible using the least amount of energy.
The vehicle averaged an astounding 2,885 kilometers per liter, or approximately 6,786 miles per gallon, according to an announcement released Sunday by race officials.
While the car did not break last year's record of 9,023 mpg, it was significant in that it was an ethanol-powered vehicle. Hydrogen-powered vehicles, which were predicted to win early on in the race, became runners-up. read more
Daily Telegraph: Database: Legal
• Linklaters, the top-ranked legal adviser on mergers and acquisitions in 2005, said its 160 Chinese lawyers are outperforming the firm in profitability and are having to turn away deals.
• The UK may seek to collect about £1bn in taxes from hedge-fund managers, who may be concealing income abroad, a partner at accounting firm KPMG said.
• Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's second-largest oil company, plans to appeal against a Nigerian court decision demanding it pay $1.5bn into an escrow account for damages to Nigerian communities. read more
JURIST (USA): Royal Dutch Shell misses court deadline to pay $1.5 billion for Nigeria pollution
Royal Dutch Shell misses court deadline to pay $1.5 billion for Nigeria pollution
Joe Shaulis at 2:40 PM ET
[JURIST] Royal Dutch Shell PLC [corporate website] will wait for a Nigerian appeals court ruling rather than pay a $1.5 billion judgment [JURIST report] to compensate ethnic communities in Nigeria for pollution from its operations. A company spokesman said paying the judgment, which was due at noon Monday, would be inappropriate because of its appeal [JURIST report; company press release]. read more
NewEurope.info: World oil not running out but difficult to exploit – Shell
World oil not running out but difficult to exploit – Shell
World oil and gas reserves will not run out in the near future, even though exploiting remaining reserves will become increasingly difficult, Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Jeroen van der Veer said last Tuesday.
Speaking at the company's annual general meeting, Van der Veer said the majority of easily exploited resources were already in production. But the company had for years been working on exploiting other reserves, such as Canadian tar sands, Deutsche-Presse-Agentur (dpa) quoted him as saying. read more
Forbes/AFX News Limited: Shell Australia lifts 2005 EBIT 70 pct to 1.23 bln aud
SYDNEY (XFN-ASIA) – Royal Dutch Shell unit Shell Australia said its profit before interest and tax jumped almost 70 pct in 2005 to 1.23 bln aud, on the back of record high oil prices and improved operations at its two refineries.
In a report released last night, Shell Australia said the profit rise was underpinned by its upstream oil and gas production operations off the coast of Western Australia that generated 968 mln aud in profit before tax and interest in 2005, up from 708 mln in 2004. read more