Shell to make history with $18bn profit (The Observer )

[Up2Late]

Oliver Morgan and Richard Wachman
Sunday January 30, 2005
The Observer

Oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell will this week unveil the largest profit in UK corporate history. Income after tax will climb to around $17.5 billion, and is likely to exceed the takings of its arch-rival BP, which reports the following week.

Despite last year being the Anglo-Dutch group's 'annus horribilis', thanks to the reserve downgrades scandal, it is expected to report its best-ever results. These will exceed previous corporate highwater marks reached by banking group HSBC, which made £7.7bn last year.

The pre-tax profit figure will be even larger - up to $32bn - but analysts do not focus on this because oil companies treat taxes paid in the countries in which they operate differently, so comparison is difficult.

But some forecasters believe Shell's after-tax number could exceed $18bn, and that the company will promise to hand back cash to shareholders via a share buyback or special dividend worth between $2bn and $5bn.

(more at link)
[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,6903,1401586,00.html?gusrc=rss0

[Bozita]

1. I'm shocked ... shocked, I tell you

[Up2Late]

2. I'd like to know, how this happened...

...with all the trouble they had this year, and should these numbers be trusted?:shrug:

And, does this mean "FREE GAS February!?!":silly:

[Bozita]

4. The only free gas that we'll get comes out of the tailpipe of a running ..

... Hummer.

[Up2Late]

5. Kick n/t

:kick:

[fshrink]

3. Where in the world did they get cheap oil? Let's see...

Oh, but no, this must be the result of excellent managing. Why, of course.

[struggle4progress]

12. U.S. firms seek Iraqi oil prize

January 30, 2005
By DAVID R. BAKER San Francisco Chronicle

SAN FRANCISCO - The Iraqi government that emerges from today's election may open its oil business to foreign investment, and international petroleum companies are jockeying to curry favor with the war-torn country. <snip>

"There is a strong belief, which should not be underestimated, that the whole purpose of the war was to gain U.S. control over Iraqi oil," said Walid Khadduri, editor of the Middle East Economic Survey, in a recent speech. "It is going to take a good deal of persuasion and a great deal of transparency to convince a majority of public opinion that the gradual privatization of the oil industry is for the good of the people and neither a war prize nor a way for carpetbaggers to get rich quickly." <snip>

Royal Dutch/Shell Group signed an agreement with the ministry Jan. 14 to study the vast Kirkuk field, which has been producing for decades and is currently estimated to hold 8.7 billion barrels of reserves. Shell also will help draft a master plan for tapping Iraq's natural gas. <snip>

http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050130/NEWS/50129008/1006/BUSINESS


Oil ministry awards southern oil fields study (28/01/05)

<snip> Earlier in January, the oil ministry awarded two oil field study contracts to international oil firms. BP PLC won a contract to carry out an integrated field study in Iraq's huge southern Rumeila oil fields. The Royal Dutch/Shell Group and the UK's Exploration Consultants Ltd. also won another contract to analyze the northern oil fields of Kirkuk. <snip>

http://www.iraqprocurement.com/docs/new658.htm

[Sabriel]

6. Something about this strikes me as messed up

But I can't figure out what it is. Oh, well, I am a Bush voter, after all....

[w4rma]

7. Price gouging. Is it any wonder who is running things in the world, now?

with these numbers?

[cthrumatrix]

19. funny how these "oil deals" in Iraq never make news here in America !

[DiverDave]

8. Oh, what a surprise

and the bush junta just smiles and claps.
We will do nothing to harm business, NOTHING!
Rat bastards, I wonder what they would do to NOT get nationalized?

We need to Nationalze the oil, insurance and pharma industries in the U.S.
But you know the saying, something about a snowball and hell.

[waywest]

9. If you gotta burn gasoline....

Shell is THE ONLY oil company that donates more to Dems than Rrpugs.
I hope that profit reflects a lot of savvy Dems purchases.

[Al-CIAda]

13. yes, the bought and paid for Dems... -eom

[Up2Late]

16. I heard that too

Maybe they'll start paying the SHELL Gas Station owners, the Credit Card Money they owe them. That was a BIG problem for a while.

But one thing I just noticed, Isn't odd, how the U.K.'s Observer Newspaper refer to BP as only BP, and NOT BP/AMOCO, like it's known in this country.:shrug:

:wtf:What's up with that?

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. 'BP plc' is the name of the parent company

'BP/Amoco' must just be the way it's refered to so that Americans are reminded that Amoco is a significant part of it.

[Rex]

10. Money well invested!

What is the BFEE's dividend I wonder?

[mediaman007]

11. When do some of the others report?

Maybe Shell won't be the highest.

BTW were does Shell sell in the United States. I don't see a lot of them in Minnesota. Do they own BP too?

[Up2Late]

17. I think they are mostly in the Southeastern U.S.

And No, BP and AMOCO are now the same Company:hippie:

[Yavin4]

14. In Another Story, Halliburton Has Just Asked for an Emergency $19B

in additional money for Iraq.

[Up2Late]

22. You ARE Kidding, Right?

:wtf:How could a Corporation need an "Emergency $19 Billion?"

Hey, I need Emergency $1 Million, I think I could make it on that.

[spanone]

15. Blood Money

and people wonder why we invaded Iraq.

[indepat]

18. Glad someone is doing so well as millions can't pay their heating bills

[Matilda]

20. This of course is how they do it .....

"Nigeria: Are Human Rights in the Pipeline?

(snip)

The Nigerian government's failure to protect human rights during oil
exploration and production is fuelling human rights abuses in the
Niger Delta, Amnesty International (AI) said today in a new report,
Nigeria: Are Human Rights in the Pipeline?

(snip)

It presents three case studies illustrating how (transnational
corporations) made decisions for various projects without consulting
members of the community - who then faced dire environmental
consequences, the seizure of their land without adequate
compensation, or violence or intimidation as a means of assuring
their silence."

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=11661

It seems that we haven't really progressed very far from the 19th
century with all the horrors of the Industrial Revolution. The
bottom line and shareholder dividends are all important, and too
often when people do know what is going on, they really don't care,
as long as they're getting a good return on their investment.

And as governments throughout the world have failed to curb their
excesses until now the biggest companies are worth more than the
GDP of many small and even medium-sized national economies - who
is going to take them on?

I don't think we in the west can call ourselves civilized when our
economies thrive on the exploitation of smaller and weaker countries,
and there is such a huge divide in the way we live.