Petroleum Intelligence Weekly articles from March 2007

Petroleum Intelligence Weekly archives from March 2007

Buzzard poses threat to BFO contract.(Brent-Forties-Oseberg)
March 5, 2007... International crude pricing mechanisms could be in for a shock following the introduction earlier this year of crude from the North Sea Buzzard field into the UK's Forties Pipeline System (FPS). Dated Brent, the international physical...

Pragmatism guides Caracas export agenda.
March 5, 2007... Under the leadership of President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela has made repeated threats to cut back oil sales to the US in favor of China and other political allies. But export data shows it has been much slower in shifting sales away from the US...

Independents replace reserves, but costs soar.(oil companies)
March 5, 2007... North American independents appear to have replaced their reserves more easily last year than their big brothers, the integrated oil majors. But reserves data for these companies also shows that it is not getting any cheaper for them to replace...

Iraq oil law seeks to balance political interest.
March 5, 2007... Iraq's new draft petroleum law is based on a set of political compromises aimed at satisfying different political powers, but falls well short of creating a unified petroleum regime for the whole country. For international oil companies (IOCs),...

Automakers gear up for greater diversity.
March 5, 2007... As US gasoline prices climbed above $3 per gallon late last year, Toyota saw sales of its popular Prius hybrid jump--at one point last October, the Japanese automaker had only a three-hour inventory of cars as wait-listed customers grabbed...

Gas shortage jeopardizes Oman's goals.
March 5, 2007... Oman is facing a gas shortage. A lack of supplies has already hit the country's LNG production, as the government has been forced to establish priorities for usage, but there is now a danger the shortfall could also hamper planned enhanced oil...

Active investors return, giving crude a lift.
March 5, 2007... With Brent and West Texas Intermediate futures briefly topping $62 per barrel last week, oil prices have seen a remarkable recovery from below $50/bbl in mid-January. Why the surge? Put it down to a mix of heavy investor buying after some...

Corporate.(GENERAL)
March 5, 2007... CORPORATE -- UK independent Cairn Energy plans to return some [pounds sterling] 481 million ($944 million) to shareholders from the proceeds of the partial flotation of its Indian upstream business late last year. Cairn raised a modest [pounds...

Industry restructuring.(GENERAL)
March 5, 2007... INDUSTRY RESTRUCTURING -- Dallas-based power giant TXU is going private in the US' largest-ever leveraged buyout, led by investment groups Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts, Texas Pacific Group and other Wall Street firms. The $45 billion deal includes...

The country's biggest refiner, Sinopec, and its partners Exxon Mobil and Saudi Aramco have signed contracts for their joint refinery expansion and petrochemical project at Quangang in Fujian province, as well as for a new products marketing joint venture.(COUNTRIES)
March 5, 2007... CHINA -- The country's biggest refiner, Sinopec, and its partners Exxon Mobil and Saudi Aramco have signed contracts for their joint refinery expansion and petrochemical project at Quangang in Fujian province, as well as for a new products...

Crude imports rose by 3.5% in January to 13.69 million tons (3.24 million b/d) compared with a year ago. Iran was the top supplier at 506,000 b/d, up 13% over 2006 levels, while Angola was second with volumes increasing by over 30% to 480,000 b/d.(COUNTRIES)
March 5, 2007... CHINA -- Crude imports rose by 3.5% in January to 13.69 million tons (3.24 million b/d) compared with a year ago. Iran was the top supplier at 506,000 b/d, up 13% over 2006 levels, while Angola was second with volumes increasing by over 30% to...

India.(COUNTRIES)
March 5, 2007... INDIA -- With Gail's monopoly over domestic gas transmission and distribution being challenged by privately owned Reliance Industries, the state gas utility is planning to spend almost $3 billion to add 4,000 km (2,500 miles) to its 6,000 km...

The energy ministry has written to Russian oil companies suggesting they take a 20% stake in the Total-operated Kharyaga project in the Timan-Pechora oil province in the Arctic.(COUNTRIES)
March 5, 2007... RUSSIA -- The energy ministry has written to Russian oil companies suggesting they take a 20% stake in the Total-operated Kharyaga project in the Timan-Pechora oil province in the Arctic. The move is seen as signaling Moscow's impatience with...

Gazprom's plan to consolidate oil subsidiary Gazprom Neft's crude exports, along with all other hydrocarbons exports--under the umbrella of gas trading subsidiary Gazprom Export--may signal the beginning of the end of Gazprom Neft as a publicly traded company and the rise of Swiss-based trading company Gunvor as the handler of its exports.(COUNTRIES)
March 5, 2007... RUSSIA -- Gazprom's plan to consolidate oil subsidiary Gazprom Neft's crude exports, along with all other hydrocarbons exports--under the umbrella of gas trading subsidiary Gazprom Export--may signal the beginning of the end of Gazprom Neft as...

Spain.(COUNTRIES)
March 5, 2007... SPAIN -- Italian power group Enel has bought just under 10% of utility Endesa and says it might buy up to 24.99%, potentially threatening German utility E.On's agreed [euro]41 billion ($54 billion) takeover bid for the country's largest power...

United States.(COUNTRIES)
March 5, 2007... UNITED STATES -- The Alaska Department of Revenue has handed a major oil producer in the state, thought to be BP, a bill for millions of dollars in unpaid corporate income tax. The assistant state attorney general working on the case declined...

Foreign players circle Yukos auction.(What's New Around the World)
March 5, 2007... While there is little doubt that the last morsels of bankrupt Yukos will be gobbled up by Rosneft and Gazprom, the sale of the assets later this month will be closely watched to see who emerges as the chosen partners of the two Russian...

New year hangover.(Marketview)
March 5, 2007... SINGAPORE -- Asian crude oil markets have seen in the lunar New Year with a whimper rather than a bang, with weakening refining margins and the approaching refining maintenance season in May and June serving to limit buying interest, despite...

Japan advances diversity with PDV deal.
March 5, 2007... Japanese trading houses Mitsui and Marubeni have signed a 15-year deal with Petroleos de Venezuela (PDV) to buy Venezuelan crude and products, marking the first time that Japanese buyers have purchased term barrels from the Latin American...

Oil shrugs off equity losses, but concerns loom.
March 12, 2007... Global equities may have sneezed, but the chill hasn't spread to oil markets. What happens to oil prices, though, if equities continue into a tailspin? Equity markets, on their own, do not impact oil markets. For the most part, oil prices are...

Prices tell Opec market is in balance.
March 12, 2007... It's a sign of Opec's restored confidence that it resisted calls for urgent action in January and allowed three months to elapse between ministerial meetings. The producer group's output cuts are now proving effective and the market is moving...

Gasoline takes center stage in energy futures.
March 12, 2007... US gasoline has established itself as the lynchpin of the energy futures market over the past few weeks. Since mid-February, gasoline futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) have rallied by about 40%, frequently lending support to...

Reservoir doubts help to fell Exxon's Palm.
March 12, 2007... Soaring construction costs may not be the only reason Exxon Mobil and state Qatar Petroleum (QP) elected to shelve their Palm gas-to-liquids (GTL) project, PIW has learned. Instead, Qatar's own rapidly rising internal gas demand and concerns...

Caracas tells Orinoco firms to talk or walk.(acquisitions)
March 12, 2007... Foreign operators of the four heavy-oil upgrading projects in Venezuela's Orinoco River basin have been presented with a stark choice by the country's government--either cede a minimum 60% operating stake in the projects to state-owned...

Mittal brings touch of steel to oil ambitions.(Lakshmi Mittal)
March 12, 2007... Building on his business relationships in West Africa, Central Asia and his native India, steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal is carving out an oil and gas empire both on his own and in partnership with India's state Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC)....

Foreign firms sit out Yukos auction.
March 12, 2007... Against a backdrop of growing international litigation, the external receiver for bankrupt Russian oil company Yukos expects to sell at least $13 billion worth of the former major's assets in the coming weeks. Foreign companies now look...

Environment.(GENERAL )(contracts of Statoil ASA and Petroleos Mexicanos)(Brief article)
March 12, 2007... ENVIRONMENT -- Norway's Statoil and Mexico's state Pemex have signed a deal involving carbon credits from the Tres Hermanos field in eastern Mexico. Pemex will pay all costs to curb gas flaring, funded by its own sales of extra gas and NGLs...

Formula prices.(GENERAL)(crude prices)(Brief article)
March 12, 2007... FORMULA PRICES -- Saudi Arabia has eased differentials for its April heavy and medium-heavy crude exports, while differentials for its lighter grades are mixed. The differential for Arab Light crude was eased by 10 cents for Asian lifters and...

Industry restructuring.(GENERAL)(acquisitions)(Brief article)
March 12, 2007... INDUSTRY RESTRUCTURING -- South Korea's Hanjin Group has agreed to buy a 28.4% stake in the country's third-largest refiner S-Oil for $2.5 billion. Kazakhstan's Kazmunaigas Exploration & Production is paying its parent company, state-owned...

Natural gas.(GENERAL)
March 12, 2007... NATURAL GAS -- European Union gas consumption fell by 1.1% to 486 Bcm (47 Bcf/d) in 2006, due to milder weather, fuel-switching to coal in many power plants, but also demand destruction in the industrial sector of key markets like the UK and...

Reserves.(GENERAL)
March 12, 2007... RESERVES -- BP's reserve replacement in 2006 was almost entirely dependent on a 25-year license extension for the giant 6 billion bbl Samotlor oil field operated by its Russian TNK-BP joint venture, according to reserves data in the company's...

Angola.(COUNTRIES)
March 12, 2007... ANGOLA -- Plans to add value to rising crude output have suffered twin setbacks, with Exxon Mobil pulling out of the proposed Angola LNG project and China's Sinopec withdrawing from the planned 200,000 b/d Lobito refinery. The official...

Bulgaria.(COUNTRIES)
March 12, 2007... BULGARIA -- Chevron has told Sofia that it is interested in taking a stake in the proposed Bourgas-Alexandroupolis crude pipeline that will link the Bulgarian Black Sea to ports in Greece, bypassing Turkey's congested Bosporus and Dardanelles...

China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) has inked a broad memorandum of understanding of strategic cooperation with Norway's Statoil, with cooperation likely to focus on LNG and upstream ventures in China and elsewhere.(COUNTRIES)
March 12, 2007... CHINA -- China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) has inked a broad memorandum of understanding of strategic cooperation with Norway's Statoil, with cooperation likely to focus on LNG and upstream ventures in China and elsewhere. Though no...

Beijing has started scouting for sites to host a second phase of the country's strategic crude oil reserve. Possible sites are Guangdong province and Hainan Island in southern China, Gansu province in the northwest and Hebei province in the north.(COUNTRIES)
March 12, 2007... CHINA -- Beijing has started scouting for sites to host a second phase of the country's strategic crude oil reserve. Possible sites are Guangdong province and Hainan Island in southern China, Gansu province in the northwest and Hebei province...

Indonesia.(COUNTRIES)
March 12, 2007... INDONESIA -- The government awarded nine exploration blocks to foreign oil companies in its latest licensing round, including Exxon Mobil, Total and Norway's Statoil, although 11 concessions failed to attract sufficient interest. Exxon, Statoil...

Iraq.(COUNTRIES)
March 12, 2007... IRAQ -- The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has ratified an exploration and production sharing agreement (Epsa) with Canada's Western Oil Sands covering prospects in the region's Zagros Fold Belt. The final Epsa, which covers 2,120 sq km,...

Nigeria.(COUNTRIES)(production of Royal Dutch-Shell Group of Cos. reduced)(Brief article)
March 12, 2007... NIGERIA -- A pipeline leak dented Royal Dutch Shell's Niger Delta production by another 187,000 b/d last week, reducing the country's exports to about 1.85 million b/d. The beleaguered supermajor has not ruled out sabotage as the cause of the...

Gazprom has issued two new bonds worth almost $2 billion, and is planning another $4 billion of issues before the end of March to help finance its acquisition of a majority stake in the Sakhalin-2 project.(COUNTRIES)
March 12, 2007... RUSSIA -- Gazprom has issued two new bonds worth almost $2 billion, and is planning another $4 billion of issues before the end of March to help finance its acquisition of a majority stake in the Sakhalin-2 project (PIW Jan.1,p1). Gazprom has...

Helped by the return of the Druzhba pipeline to full capacity, crude exports rose slightly in February.(COUNTRIES)
March 12, 2007... RUSSIA -- Helped by the return of the Druzhba pipeline to full capacity, crude exports rose slightly in February, with shipments to countries outside the CIS reaching 3.948 million b/d (25.081 million metric tons), 38,000 b/d ahead of January....

Non-Opec offsets Opec cuts.
March 12, 2007... After some downward revisions to January estimates, February oil supply continued on an upward trend to 85.64 million b/d for a 400,000 b/d gain on the previous month. Further Opec cuts came into effect Feb. 1 but were countered by a rebound in...

Helping hand.(Marketview)(petroleum)
March 12, 2007... LONDON -- Crude oil futures took a $3/bbl hammering during the turmoil in the global financial markets but the downturn barely lasted two days before oil markets shrugged off general anxieties about a wider economic downturn and the likely...

PIW market indicators.(Statistical table)
March 12, 2007... PIW Market Indicators Last 2 Weeks 4 Weeks Spot Crude Week Ago Ago Opec Basket $57.47 $57.50 $53.45 UK Brent (Dated) $60.28 $60.69 $55.69 UK...

Russia adds Bosporus bypass to pipe portfolio.
March 19, 2007... Russia, which has overtaken Saudi Arabia as the world's largest crude oil producer, seems to live by the rule that you can't have too many pipelines. President Vladimir Putin last week signed up for Russia's third major current oil export...

Upstream cost inflation starts to slow down.
March 19, 2007... It's probably premature to say that upstream cost inflation has been conquered, but industry executives are pointing to signs that the pace of cost increases is starting to slow down. It's no secret that historically high commodity prices have...

Little stirring in Mexico's deep waters.
March 19, 2007... Mexico's much touted deepwater and ultra-deepwater reserves are back in the news again, with US President George W. Bush suggesting the government bring in foreign investment to accelerate their development. That's not a path the country wants...

Hands-off approach suits confident Opec.
March 19, 2007... In past, uncertain times, Opec's tendency would have been to micromanage, meeting every other month or so to fine-tune output policy and give guidance to the global oil market. Not any more--last week, a confident producer group switched to a...

Middle East access improving, Exxon argues.
March 19, 2007... Is resource nationalism really hurting international oil companies (IOCs) in their efforts to access the Middle East's huge oil and gas resources? With the world's biggest oil reserves in Saudi Arabia off limits, Kuwait's upstream opening...

Does equities wobble spell trouble for AIM?(alternative investment market)
March 19, 2007... In the competition for global oil and gas capital, London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) has been one of the success stories of the past four or five years, thanks to its policy of light regulation in stark contrast to a US market which...

Chinese refining still tough nut for foreigners.
March 19, 2007... Royal Dutch Shell's withdrawal from the China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) Huizhou refinery project has illustrated the difficulties facing foreign firms looking to carve a role for themselves in China's refining sector. Despite the...

Corporate.(GENERAL)(relocation of Halliburton Co.)(Brief article)
March 19, 2007... CORPORATE -- Oilfield services giant Halliburton is to relocate its corporate headquarters from Texas to Dubai in a move that has attracted the ire of some senior members of the US Congress. The company's Chief Executive David Lesar will move...

Formula Prices.(GENERAL)
March 19, 2007... FORMULA PRICES -- Mexico narrowed its discount for April deliveries of heavy, sour Maya crude to the US Gulf Coast and West Coast while the price differential for European deliveries remained unchanged. For Asia-Pacific customers, Maya was...

IEA.(GENERAL)(International Energy Agency)(oil stocks)(Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)
March 19, 2007... IEA -- Oil inventories could see their largest first-quarter draw in 10 years, indicating that Opec should be thinking about raising rather than lowering production, the International Energy Agency has warned (p3). The recurrent and not...

Industry Restructuring.(GENERAL)
March 19, 2007... INDUSTRY RESTRUCTURING -- Anadarko Petroleum has sold part of its share in the K2 deepwater field in the Gulf of Mexico to two unnamed buyers for $1.2 billion to help pay down debt incurred from last year's acquisitions of Kerr-McGee and...

Australia.(COUNTRIES)
March 19, 2007... AUSTRALIA -- Powerful Tropical Cyclones George and Jacob knocked out over 180,000 b/d of liquids output in the Carnavon Basin last week, but production is now ramping back up to prestorm levels. Maximum strength, Category 5, Tropical Cyclone...

Bahrain.(COUNTRIES)
March 19, 2007... BAHRAIN -- The tiny Gulf producer is offering four offshore blocks in its first international bidding round, and is also inviting companies to bid on an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project for its sole producing field onshore. To encourage...

Ecuador.(COUNTRIES)(membership in Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)(Brief article)
March 19, 2007... ECUADOR -- President Rafael Correa has reiterated his country's intention to rejoin Opec, a move widely criticized by analysts who argue that stagnating production would make it difficult to meet the organization's production quota...

Iran.(COUNTRIES)
March 19, 2007... IRAN -- A new sanctions bill introduced in the US House of Representatives not only has several draconian provisions against non-US oil and gas companies investing in the country, but also attempts to thwart the Bush administration from using...

Jamaica.(COUNTRIES)(Venezuelan trade contracts)(Brief article)
March 19, 2007... JAMAICA -- Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for some 2.15 million tons/yr of LNG imports starting in 2009. This is almost double the 1.2 million tons/yr it...

Japan.(COUNTRIES)(contracts of Nippon Oil Corp. and Chinaoil)(Brief article)
March 19, 2007... JAPAN -- Refiner Nippon Oil and Chinaoil, the overseas trading arm of China's PetroChina, have signed a wide-ranging cooperation deal involving a crude processing agreement and a petrochemical and lequefied petroleum gas (LPG) swap deal....

Kuwait.(COUNTRIES)
March 19, 2007... KUWAIT -- The government is planning to conclude initial agreements with BP and Chevron next month that will expand the companies' involvement in developing some of the emirate's producing oil fields under enhanced technical service agreements...

Nigeria.(COUNTRIES)(leak on Royal Dutch-Shell Group of Cos.'s Nembe Creek pipeline)(Brief article)
March 19, 2007... NIGERIA -- Royal Dutch Shell has confirmed that it has not been able to gain full access to a leak on the company's Nembe Creek pipeline, which delivers crude to the Bonny Island export terminal in the southern Delta. Shell has shut in 187,000...

Russia.(COUNTRIES)(investigating licensing violations)(Brief article)
March 19, 2007... RUSSIA -- Officials have launched two separate probes into possible licensing violations at the Total-operated Kharyaga project in the northern Timan-Pechora oil province, piling more pressure on the smallest of Russia's three projects now...

Russia.(COUNTRIES)
March 19, 2007... RUSSIA -- Lukoil will have to reduce crude processing at its Volgograd refinery by nearly half due to a fire at the plant. The Mar. 10 blaze burned down an 80,000 b/d primary crude processing unit, one of two at the plant, a Lukoil official...

Venezuela.(COUNTRIES)
March 19, 2007... VENEZUELA -- Chevron and ConocoPhillips have agreed to transfer operational control of their multibillion-dollar heavy oil projects in the Orinoco River Basin to state Petroleos de Venezuela (PDV) by May 1, as requested by government decree....

Nabucco under pressure from Russia, US.
March 19, 2007... Their motivations may be different, but both the US and Russia look to be applying pressure on Turkey and Hungary to either kill the strongly European Union-backed Nabucco pipeline project or ensure that its future role excludes transporting...

Lost momentum.(Marketview)(petroleum industry)
March 19, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Traders pushed US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) below $60/bbl last week because of ongoing economic uncertainties, easing demand and a neutral petroleum report from the US government. More-over, Opec looks content for...

UBS joins banks' move into physical oil assets.
March 19, 2007... Swiss investment bank UBS has entered into a crude oil storage lease agreement with Canadian pipeline and storage operator Enbridge. Under the agreement, Enbridge will build a new 2 million bbl crude storage facility in Alberta, which it will...

PIW market indicators.(Petroleum Intelligence Weekly)(Statistical table)
March 19, 2007... PIW Market Indicators Last 2 Weeks 4 Weeks Spot Crude Week Ago Ago Opec Basket $57.57 $57.85 $54.47 UK Brent (Dtd.) $61.38 $60.54 $58.07 UK...

China holds key to Iran's stalled development.
March 21, 2007... A combination of economic sanctions, political infighting and rising engineering costs have thrown Iran's plans to develop new onshore oil fields, increase refining capacity and develop grassroots LNG facilities into disarray. Under pressure...

Investors reap benefit of robust US refining.
March 21, 2007... There have been few--if any--sectors that have performed as well in 2007 as the US' independent refiners. Tesoro, the third-largest independent, has seen its shares soar a sector-best 80% this year, while the biggest independent, Valero, isn't...

South Korea eyes role as Asia's new oil hub.
March 21, 2007... With its role as an oil pricing center already being challenged by Dubai, Singapore could soon face a threat to its position as Asia's principal physical oil trading and storage hub, this time from South Korea. A plan put forward by state Korea...

Eni buys barrels to fill the output gap.
March 21, 2007... It's not been a stellar year so far for merger and acquisition activity in the oil and gas industry, but if there is one exception to that general trend, it's been Eni. The Italian major has been involved in five upstream deals already in 2007,...

Ratings agencies take shine to Petrobras.
March 21, 2007... It's become increasingly common to find state oil firms in the world's emerging market economies holding stronger credit ratings than their home governments--a reflection of high oil and gas prices and, in some cases, improved management...

Reversal of fortune hits Europe's top two.
March 21, 2007... Only three years ago, there seemed a clear balance of power between Europe's two supermajors--BP held the world at its feet, while Royal Dutch Shell was floundering in the aftermath of its reserves debooking debacle. Now, BP finds itself...

Latest global balances puzzle market watchers.
March 21, 2007... The latest global balances indicate that crude supply will be higher than product demand in the second quarter, but the numbers are deceptive and subject to widely different interpretations by producers and consumers. The bottom line is that...

IEA.(GENERAL)(International Energy Agency)(Brief article)
March 21, 2007... IEA -- The International Energy Agency's latest monthly Oil Market Report suggests Opec should be thinking about raising production, not cutting back, as the agency's balances show a potential supply shortfall of between 250,000 b/d and 1.45...

Australia.(COUNTRIES)(Brief article)
March 21, 2007... AUSTRALIA -- First-quarter oil and condensate production rose 24% year-on-year to 439,000 b/d, according to the latest government statistics. First-quarter output was up considerably on the 354,000 b/d produced during the same period of 2006,...

Bolivia.(COUNTRIES)(Gualberto Villarroel and Guillermo Elder Bell)(Brief article)
March 21, 2007... BOLIVIA -- The government has finally agreed on a price for the sale of two refineries owned by Brazil's Petrobras, ending months of arduous negotiations that had added to already-thorny relations between the two sides. La Paz has agreed to pay...

China.(COUNTRIES)(imports of crude)(Brief article)
March 21, 2007... CHINA -- Pressing ahead with Beijing's strategic stockpiling initiative, the country is set to receive its first crude delivery at its second strategic reserve site at Aoshan in Zhejiang province later this month when a 2 million bbl cargo of...

Egypt.(COUNTRIES)(Egyptian General Petroleum Corp.)(Brief article)
March 21, 2007... EGYPT -- State Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. (EGPC) is selecting some 10 to 15 blocks for a licensing round to be held in August or September this year, according to the company's vice chairman for agreements and exploration, Hany Nassar....

India.(COUNTRIES)
March 21, 2007... INDIA -- The government is likely to extend the deadline for oil companies to drill on offshore blocks awarded under the country's third and fourth licensing rounds because of a rig shortage. The country's Directorate General of Hydrocarbons...

Japan.(COUNTRIES)(INPEX Corp.)(Financial report)(Brief article)
March 21, 2007... JAPAN -- Top explorer Inpex made profits of $1.4 billion for the financial year ended Mar. 31, 2007, with earnings boosted by rising global output. The $279 million it received from Total last September for a 24% stake in Australian block WA...

Youths have shut down a major oil pipeline hub feeding the Bonny Island export terminal in the country's Niger Delta, forcing Royal Dutch Shell to cut its output by a further 167,000 b/d.(COUNTRIES)
March 21, 2007... NIGERIA -- Youths have shut down a major oil pipeline hub feeding the Bonny Island export terminal in the country's Niger Delta, forcing Royal Dutch Shell to cut its output by a further 167,000 b/d. Protesters from the K-Dere community in...