Terry Macalister reports on how fossil fuels are losing out in the race for investment cash.
Oil giant Shell could help shape post-Kyoto agenda, writes Terry Macalister
The few words that matter at Saturday’s energy summit in Jeddah will come from a former shepherd boy, Ali al-Naimi.
Excitement about the potential of Brazil as a massive new source of oil and gas intensified on Tuesday after a senior Energy Ministry official declared that the newly found Carioca field could have 33-billion barrels in place — leading to expressions of surprise and scepticism from industry experts.
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/ 3 December 2007
As the tiny ball of burning crimson drops behind the sand dunes it leaves a dark, almost silent landscape worthy of its name: Rub’ al-Khali, the Empty Quarter. No sooner has the sun gone down than a long necklace of golden lights flickers on in the valley below and the improbable sound of an Islamic preacher can be heard calling the faithful to prayer.
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/ 11 September 2007
Jeroen van der Veer (60), the head of Shell, earned £2,9million last year, the average for FTSE-100 firms and almost a quarter of what was paid to his former business rival, Lord Browne at BP. The relatively modest salary suits the slightly downbeat Dutchman, who is a mile away in style from the garrulous and glitzy Browne.
Motorists can be expected to pay more for fuel soon as crude prices soared again to nearly $77 a barrel. Turmoil in the international oil markets — due to strong demand, geopolitical instability and a shortage of refining capacity — will put further upward pressure on forecourt prices.
Fears that hundreds of thousands of high-quality British jobs have been outsourced to low-cost emerging economies such as India are largely unfounded, but developing nations are being plundered for skilled staff to keep Britain growing, according to reports out recently.
Relations between London and Moscow threatened to plummet to a post-Cold War low on Thursday amid renewed Russian demands for action against Boris Berezovsky over the tycoon’s claim that he is plotting to overthrow Vladimir Putin. he Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom warned that bilateral relations would inevitably suffer if prompt action was not taken against the Britain-based multi-millionaire.
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/ 27 October 2006
Shell was at the centre of buyout moves and speculation on Monday after it unveiled plans to spend C$7,7-billion (£3,7-billion) simplifying its North American business. This was seen by some as a step towards a £230-billion mega-merger with BP. The Anglo-Dutch oil group has also had its name linked with Premier Oil.