dimblr.com Welcome Guest | Login or Register

Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer commented:
"Good operating performance, combined with increased oil and gas prices, offset the impact of downstream conditions in the first quarter 2008. We have delivered another competitive set of earnings for Shell’s shareholders. Shell has the largest capital spending programme in our industry today, to grow the company and play our part in ensuring that energy markets remain well supplied. Our strategy is on track."
Summary unaudited results$ million Quarters Q1 2008 Q4 2007 Q1 2007 %(1) Income attributable to shareholders 9,083 8,467 7,281 +25Less: Estimated CCS adjustmentfor Oil Products and Chemicals(see note 2) 1,307 1,783349CCS earnings 7,776 6,684 6,932 +12 Basic earnings per share ($) 1.47 1.36 1.16 +27Less: Estimated CCS adjustmentper share ($) 0.21 0.29 0.06Basic CCS earnings per share ($)1.26 1.07 1.10 +15 Dividend per ordinary share ($) 0.40 0.36 0.36 +11(1) Q1 on Q1 change Key Features of the First Quarter 2008 - First quarter 2008 CCS earnings were $7,776 million or 12% higher thanin the same quarter a year ago. - First quarter 2008 reported income was $9,083 million or 25% higherthan in the same quarter a year ago. - Basic CCS earnings per share increased by 15% versus the same quartera year ago. - Total cash returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and sharerepurchases in the first quarter 2008 was $3.4 billion. - Cash flow from operating activities was $16.9 billion compared to $11.2billion in the first quarter 2007. Excluding net working capitalmovements, cash flow from operating activities was $14.1 billion comparedto $11.6 billion a year ago. - Capital investment for the first quarter 2008 was $8.1 billion. Netcapital investment (capital investment, less divestment proceeds) for thefirst quarter 2008 was $7.6 billion. - Return on average capital employed (ROACE), on a reported income basis(see note 3), was 24.5%. - Gearing (see note 5) was 12.7% at the end of the first quarter 2008versus 14.6% at the end of the first quarter 2007. - Oil and gas production, including oil sands production, for the firstquarter 2008 was 3,522 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day(boe/d), compared to 3,509 thousand boe/d in the same quarter last year.Excluding the impact of divestments, Canadian royalty changes andproduction sharing contracts (PSC) pricing effects, first quarter 2008production increased by 1% compared to the same quarter last year. - Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) equity sales volumes of 3.51 million tonneswere a record and 6% higher than in the same quarter a year ago. - Oil Products refinery availability increased to 92% compared to 85% inthe first quarter of 2007. Chemicals manufacturing plant availability was95% compared to 91% in the first quarter 2007. Oil Sands upgraderavailability was 94%, compared to 93% in the same quarter last year. - Oil Products sales volumes in the first quarter 2008 increased by 7%compared to the same quarter last year. Chemical product sales volumesdecreased by 2% compared to the first quarter 2007.Summary unaudited results$ million Quarters Q1 2008Q4 2007Q1 2007%(1) Exploration & Production(2) 5,143 4,867 3,393Gas & Power 948 631 803Oil Sands(2)249 82 115Oil Products (CCS basis) 1,194 876 1,488Chemicals (CCS basis)201 348 480Corporate146 (4)801Minority interest(105) (116) (148) CCS earnings 7,776 6,684 6,932+12(1) Q1 on Q1 change (2) As from the fourth quarter 2007, the earnings ofthe Oil Sands operations, which were previouslyreported as part of the Exploration & Productionsegment, are disclosed as a separate businesssegment. For comparison purposes, the Exploration &Production earnings up to the third quarter 2007have been reclassified by the amounts reportedunder the Oil Sands segment. Summary of Identified Items

earthtimes.org

Pittsburgh, PA — Speaking to a group of Pennsylvania Democrats on the home turf of the Pittsburgh Steelers Thursday night, Sen. Hillary Clinton got into the mood and broke out some of her best metaphors from the gridiron.
“I want to tell you that I will be the best quarterback I can be for our country to take us to the future,” she said to a group of Allegheny Country Democrats at their annual Jefferson Jackson dinner held at Heinz Field. “We’re gonna start calling some new plays. And we’re gonna go on offense as well as have a good defense. We’re going to have a new approach to bringing jobs back to Western Pennsylvania, to creating an economy that works for everybody to move us toward the goal line of Universal health care. We are gonna get across that.”
But after Clinton played with language (though one might add that she is actually making a defensive goal line stand of her own in the Keystone state), she took aim at an Obama ad in which the IL Democrat declares himself free of oil company money.
“I know that my opponent has been running an ad recently across Pennsylvania very forcefully saying that he doesn’t take money from oil companies,” she said. “Nobody takes money from oil companies. It’s illegal to take money from oil companies…but more than that–we both had a chance in 2005 to stand up and be counted–not just what we say when we are on the campaign trail but how we act when it matters. And we had a chance to vote yes or no on Dick Cheney’s energy bill which gave billions more in tax breaks to the oil companies. I voted no, he voted yes and we’re going to take that message across Pennsylvania. If you want somebody who is strong enough to take on the special interests and mean what I say and deliver results than I’m your candidate.”

embeds.blogs.foxnews.com

SPRINGFIELD — House Democrats failed Thursday in an attempt to double the state income tax on Illinois’ wealthiest as Republicans decried the move as an election-year charade.
Led by Speaker Michael Madigan, the Democrats proposed a constitutional amendment to raise the Illinois income tax from 3 percent to 6 percent on people making more than $250,000 a year. They estimated the change would have generated as much as $3 billion for school funding, tax relief and a construction program if voters approved it in November.
In a pointed closing argument, Madigan maintained that more than 90 percent of Illinoisans would get a form of tax relief. He chastised Republicans who worried their own initiatives may not be funded with Democrats in charge.
“What are we supposed to do about that?” the Chicago Democrat and party leader said. “We’re not going to fall down on Election Day.”
The proposal needed 71 votes to pass the House but received 52. A proposed constitutional amendment requires a three-fifths vote instead of a simple majority of 60.
Leading the opposition, House Republican Leader Tom Cross of Oswego accused Madigan of engaging in a high-profile, partisan stunt aimed at distancing Democrats before fall elections from a disastrous administration led by one of their own: Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Cross called it “foolish” to hand billions of dollars to Democrats without specifics.
Madigan argued Republicans supported three of the five budgets under Blagojevich, suggesting they share the responsibility for the state’s fiscal condition.
The debate erupted as sponsoring Rep. Mike Smith (D-Canton) urged his colleagues to make history by addressing critical state needs, saying he was frustrated by the “lack of progress.”
Rep. Bill Black (R- Danville) called the proposal “class warfare” that “further divides us from the job we have to do.”
Republicans said the plan would hurt small businesses, including owners who file individual tax returns, and prompt the wealthiest businesspeople to flee Illinois.

chicagotribune.com