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Shell will no longer invest in renewable technologies such as wind, solar and hydro power because they are not economic, the Anglo-Dutch oil company said today. It plans to invest more in biofuels which environmental groups blame for driving up food prices and deforestation. Executives at its annual strategy presentation said Shell, already the world's largest buyer and blender of crop-based biofuels, would also invest an unspecified amount in developing a new generat­ion of biofuels which do not use food-based crops and are less harmful to the environment. The company said it would concentrate on developing other cleaner ways of...

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil Major Royal Dutch Shell Plc doesn't plan to make any more large investments in wind and solar energy in the future and does not expect hydrogen to play an important role in energy supply for some time. "We do not expect material amounts of investment in those areas going forward," Linda Cook, head of Shell's gas and power unit told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday. "They continue to struggle to compete with the other investment opportunities we have in our portfolio," Cook said of solar and wind. Shell's future involvement in renewables will be...

Royal Dutch Shell provoked a furious backlash from campaigners yesterday when it announced plans to scale back its renewable energy business and focus purely on oil, gas and biofuels. Jeroen van der Veer, the chief executive, said that Shell, the world's second-largest non-state-controlled oil company, was planning to drop all new investment in wind, solar and hydrogen energy. “I don't expect them to grow much at Shell from here, due to portfolio fit and the returns outlook compared to other opportunities,” he said, speaking at the Anglo-Dutch group's annual strategy briefing. He said that instead Shell would focus its remaining...

Shell Oil has filed for the first major water right on the Yampa River in northwest Colorado for its oil shale development plans. Shell applied Dec. 30 in state Water Court to use about 8 percent of the Yampa's peak spring flow. Shell spokesman Tracy Boyd says the water would be shipped to a reservoir for later use in oil shale production.

Shell Oil Company has set a world water depth record in drilling and completing a subsea well 9,356 feet (1.77 miles) below the water's surface in the Silvertip Field at the Perdido Development project, approximately 200 miles from Houston in the Gulf of Mexico. Russ Ford, Shell's technology vice president for the Americas said, "Pressing into ever deeper waters shows that the ultra deep is a new frontier for the critical resources to meet the world’s future energy needs. This achievement represents a leap forward in applying sophisticated technologies in rugged sea floor terrain with a harsh environment of very...

The consequences for federal restrictions on oil and gas exploration go beyond just higher gas prices, interfering with the basic free-market principle of allowing enterprise to meet demand by providing a supply, according to former Shell Oil CEO John Hofmeister. Hofmeister, who is the founder and CEO of the recently-formed advocacy group Citizens for Affordable Energy, appeared on CNBC’s July 15 “Squawk Box.” He criticized government for 30 years of inaction. “I think if you look at it in real time – looking at it in this month, next month, the following month, the answer is no – it’s not...

With no sign of a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on a lawsuit over Shell’s U.S. Beaufort Sea exploration plans, the company has decided to call it quits on its planned Beaufort Sea drilling program during the 2008 open water season. The company had hoped to do some top-hole drilling at its Sivulliq prospect on the west side of Camden Bay, as well as conducting some geotechnical boring in the seafloor. “Shell believes this is the responsible decision given the continuing uncertainty and need for our workers and contractors to pursue other opportunities,” Shell...

Shell says it's giving up on plans to drill in the Beaufort Sea this year due to an unresolved court challenge. This marks the second straight year the Dutch oil giant has been forced to shelve its offshore-drilling plans over the court case. The decision comes only a day after Shell won a hard-fought air pollution permit for its drilling operations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The North Slope Borough, the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and environmental groups last year blocked Shell's drilling plans in a court challenge aimed not at the company directly but at the U.S. Minerals...

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil major Royal Dutch Shell has pulled out of a planned gas project in Iran, after coming under pressure not to participate from U.S. lawmakers who were concerned about Iran's nuclear programme. A spokeswoman said on Saturday that the world's second-largest non government-controlled oil company by market capitalisation was pulling out of Phase 13 of the giant South Pars gas field but may yet join later stages of the field's development. Shell, Spain's Repsol and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in January 2002 to develop Phase 13 in a project to...

John Hofmeister, the Houston-based president of Shell Oil's U.S. operations, expressed doubt about the validity of peak oil theory in an appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box show. "The peak oil theory has really swamped the world. God bless Matt Simmons," Hofmeister told CNBC anchor Carl Quintanilla, according to a transcript provided to WND by CNBC. "His assumptions are correct based on his hypotheses, but his hypotheses are too narrow." Matt Simmons, a Houston-based investment banker who specializes in the energy industry, is widely known for his 2005 book, "Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World...

Shell’s Canadian oil sands business is suffering a profitability squeeze because of the soaring cost of energy needed to extract bitumen from sand. The oil company’s annual report, published yesterday, reveals that operating expenses at the Athabasca Oil Sands Project in Alberta have soared by almost 50 per cent in the two years since 2005, while output at the bitumen mining project has either remained static or declined. Shell’s oil sands profits dipped sharply last year when a fire temporarily reduced the output of its upgrader, a refinery that converts bitumen into a synthetic crude oil. Earnings from oil sands...

Royal Dutch Shell has been forced onto the defensive after its announcement of record profits sparked calls for a windfall tax and complaints from motorists about soaring pump prices. While investors fretted about whether the $27.6bn (£13.9bn) profits based on the current cost of supply masked deep problems facing the world's second largest non-government oil company, Shell received a barrage of complaints that its earnings were "obscene". Understatement: Shell's chief executive,Jeroen van der Veer, said the figures were "satisfactory The annual profits, which were up 9pc, are a record for a European listed company and were driven by last year's...

...we welcome Shell’s multimillion-dollar donation to Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (KSG). Staggered over five years and renewable for five more, the $3.75 million gift will be administered by the KSG but will hopefully fund and bring together research on energy policy in disciplines across the university. We hope this donation will prompt Harvard to become the leader in energy research that it can and should be...... Few topics unite more disciplines than energy policy, and few are as critically important. Finding and managing sustainable and green energy sources is one of humanity’s most crucial challenges, and one that will...

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Aramco on Friday said they would go ahead with a $7 billion expansion of the Port Arthur, Tex. refinery that would create the largest U.S. refinery and one of the biggest worldwide. The plan is to expand the refinery's capabilities by 325,000 barrels a day, resulting in a refinery with a throughput capacity of 600,000 barrels a day, according to a statement from Motiva Enterprises, the jointly held unit of Shell and the state-owned Saudi Aramco.

Two decades ago, when Dutch oil giant Shell was poking holes in the ice-clogged Arctic Ocean, Rick Fox was a young buck managing the company's drilling rigs. Some of the holes hit oil, and Fox and the other oil men felt pretty good about what they found. But none of the discoveries was developed -- the price of oil was too low and the finds too remote -- and Shell abandoned Alaska's Arctic. Now Fox, 55, and Shell are mounting an aggressive return to the polar ocean, staking hundreds of millions of dollars to lease vast offshore acreage, staff an...

Shell Oil was pulling nonessential workers from the western U.S. Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday as the company prepared to shut in 5 million cubic feet of natural gas production off the south Texas coast, the company said. U.S. crude futures jumped $1.11 per barrel or 1.5% to $73.73 per barrel in the minutes after Shell announced the evacuations. ...

Kiwis faced dynamite, guns on rig By DAN EATON - The Press | Friday, 6 July 2007 KIDNAPPED: Bruce Klenner, from New Plymouth, and Brent Goddard, from Wellington, who were among five oil workers taken in a dawn raid on their oil rig in the Niger delta. Two New Zealand oil men kidnapped in Nigeria faced gun-toting men who placed dynamite on the drilling rig. Kidnap victims' partners remain hopeful ... Big pay, challenge the lure to danger zones ... Oil worker optimistic for hostages The kidnappers eluded security provided by the Kiwis' American employer. Lone Star Drilling, contracted to...

Shell Oil Co. has determined "Playboy" and "Penthouse" no longer are pornography, but instead are "adult sophisticates," according to a company statement. The issue arose when the Florida Family Association contacted Shell about the sale of such explicit magazines at convenience stores owned by Circle K in southeastern parts of the United States. David Caton, executive director of the pro-family organization, said his group asked Shell to require Shell-branded Circle K Stores to stop selling the pornography, as it has done in the past with other retailers. (Story continues below) The request, Caton told WND, has been made to more...

LITTLE ROCK -- If gasoline prices continue to drop, shareholders of Royal Dutch Shell PLC can take heart. Lower prices create more demand, which will drive the price back up and bolster the profits of the big oil companies. The president of the No. 3 oil company' U.S. division, John Hofmeister, made that point during a stop in Little Rock as part of a 50-city tour. Hofmeister said he has selected personal appearances over an advertising campaign as a way to explain Shell's take on the oil business to consumers. He acknowledged that higher gas prices, $3 or even $2...

Royal Dutch Shell, the world's top marketer of biofuels, considers using food crops to make biofuels "morally inappropriate" as long as there are people in the world who are starving, an executive said on Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT click here Eric G Holthusen, Fuels Technology Manager Asia/Pacific, said the company's research unit, Shell Global Solutions, has developed alternative fuels from renewable resources that use wood chips and plant waste rather than food crops that are typically used to make the fuels. Holthusen said his company's participation in marketing biofuels extracted from food was driven by economics or legislation. "If we have the...

The Talk Shows Sunday, June 18th, 2006 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): White House press secretary Tony Snow; New Democrat Network President Simon Rosenberg; former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.; Shell Oil Co. President John Hofmeister, ConocoPhillips Corp. Chairman James Mulva, Chevron Corp. Chairman David O'Reilly. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Snow; Sens. Joseph Biden, D-Del., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. THIS WEEK (ABC): L. Pre-empted for World Cup coverage.LATE EDITION (CNN) : Snow; Sens. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Iraqi...

Weekend Talk Show *Preview* for Saturday June 17th and Sunday June 18th, 2006 (not the live thread)The main message is the Sunday Shows.  Message 1 will be the Saturday Shows and message 2 will be the show guest links post.  Then I'll post the ping list.ABC This Week (George Stephanopoulos) 'This Week' will NOT air on Sunday, June 18, due to ABC's coverage of World Cup soccer. 'This Week' returns on Sunday, June 25ABC This Week comment web page CBS Face The Nation (Bob Schieffer) Meme: Big couple of weeks for Bush in Iraq, so what's wrong with this picture?Tony...

by Mark Finkelstein May 23, 2006 Sometimes you just want to throw up your hands. Interviewing another big oil exec this morning, Katie Couric's proposed solution to high gas prices was to repeal the laws of supply and demand . . . just a little bit. Whereas Matt Lauer took a while in his interview of another oil exec to get around to his price-cutting point, Katie wasted no time. Interviewing Shell Oil President John Hofmeister, Katie's opening salvo was "I am just wondering, you and many other oil companies are posting record high profits, of course. And while the...

The government said it had taken the step after the failing to agree a deal with the two firms which would give it a majority stake in new ventures. President Hugo Chavez has been working to strengthen state control over oil production in the country. So far, 16 oil firms have agreed to change their operations into joint ventures with state oil firm PDVSA. US based Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell and Spain's Repsol are among the companies that signed the agreement on Friday. In an interview on state television, Minister Rafael Ramirez said the government took over the fields operated...

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- Nigerian troops battled militia fighters in swamps around a Royal Dutch Shell PLC oil platform that militants attacked at dawn Sunday, the third assault on Shell oil facilities in less than a week in the troubled region. ADVERTISEMENT Shell confirmed the attack on the Benisede oil platform in the southern oil-rich Niger Delta and said some of its staff had been injured and taken to hospital. The company also said it had begun evacuating personnel from vulnerable facilities in the region due to worsening security. In a statement, Shell said "heavily armed persons" in speed boats...

Speedboat attack on Nigeria rig Last week gunmen attacked another platform kidnapping staff Gunmen using speedboats have clashed with Nigerian soldiers as they attacked an oil platform operated by Shell in the Niger Delta. A Shell spokesman said five workers were injured in the attack on the Benisede oil station in Bayelsa state. There are unconfirmed reports that some soldiers defending the platform and gunmen died in the attack. On Wednesday gunmen kidnapped four foreign workers from another Shell oil rig in the Niger delta region. The hostages, who are still being held, come from the UK, the US, Honduras...

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Thirty-two privately operated Venezuelan oilfields returned to state control Sunday with the start of the new year, the government said. At midnight Dec. 31, a deadline expired for all private companies with contracts to independently pump oil to agree to joint ventures that will give Venezuela's state oil company majority control. The 32 operating agreements were signed between 1990 and 1997, when Venezuela's petroleum industry was open to private and foreign capital. The objective at the time - when the price of crude was below $10 US a barrel - was to increase production at low-priority...

LAGOS, Dec. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Royal Dutch Shell has been forced to halt oil exports in Nigeria following a pipeline fire that is still blazing in the country's oil-producing Niger Delta region, a company spokesman said on Thursday. "We have declared a force majeure. That means we could not load crude oil from the Bonny Terminal until we restart operation again," a Shell spokesman told Xinhua by telephone. "Today, we will try to fight the fire and commence repairs of the pipeline to see what production we can restore," he said. Shell had closed two oilfields and a flow station...

Chairman of the Shell companies in Iran, Yves Merer, said here Sunday the Anglo-Dutch oil giant would make an investment worth billions of dollars in the Islamic Republic's industry. Merer, who talked to Fars News Agency, added the demand for energy, including oil, would soar in the future but oil prices would keep fluctuating. He reiterated, The Shell will inject billions of dollars into Iran's industry if the country pays more heed to investment. The Shell Companies Group has allotted some 15 billion dollars for development of complicated oilfields across the world. The task is faced with two main problems...

Dutch oil giant Shell is fishing for an ambitious new oil and gas development in Bristol Bay, a remote corner of Alaska that once booted out the oil companies. The plan would involve installing offshore production platforms in the bay's fish-rich waters -- which are now off-limits to drillers -- and piping natural gas across the rugged Alaska Peninsula to a new processing plant and tanker port on the Gulf of Alaska. ... Two to four platforms might go northwest of Nelson Lagoon, he said, producing gas that would be super chilled into liquefied natural gas, or LNG, for shipment...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shell Oil Co (RDSa.L) said on Sunday the 227,000 barrels per day Motiva refinery at Norco Louisiana could restart by the middle of next week. Norco was one of the eight refineries shut by deadly Hurricane Katrina. "Repair work continues at the Motiva Norco refinery," Shell said in a statement. Shell said the Motiva convent refinery in Louisiana restarted and would be brought to full capacity over the several days.

When oil prices last touched record highs - actually, after adjusting for inflation we're not there yet, but given the effects of Hurricane Katrina, we probably will be soon - politicians' response was more hype than hope. Oil shale in Colorado! Tar sands in Alberta! OPEC be damned! Remember the Carter-era Synfuels Corp. debacle? It was a response to the '70s energy shortages, closed down in 1985 after accomplishing essentially nothing at great expense, which is pretty much a description of what usually happens when the government tries to take over something that the private sector can do better. Private...

When oil prices last touched record highs - actually, after adjusting for inflation we're not there yet, but given the effects of Hurricane Katrina, we probably will be soon - politicians' response was more hype than hope. Oil shale in Colorado! Tar sands in Alberta! OPEC be damned! Remember the Carter-era Synfuels Corp. debacle? It was a response to the '70s energy shortages, closed down in 1985 after accomplishing essentially nothing at great expense, which is pretty much a description of what usually happens when the government tries to take over something that the private sector can do better. Private...

When oil prices last touched record highs - actually, after adjusting for inflation we're not there yet, but given the effects of Hurricane Katrina, we probably will be soon - politicians' response was more hype than hope. Oil shale in Colorado! Tar sands in Alberta! OPEC be damned! Remember the Carter-era Synfuels Corp. debacle? It was a response to the '70s energy shortages, closed down in 1985 after accomplishing essentially nothing at great expense, which is pretty much a description of what usually happens when the government tries to take over something that the private sector can do better. Private...

As a commercial diver for the past 15 years, Mark Atkinson said he has worked numerous times in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Atlantic Ocean. But his recent work about 100 miles out in the gulf off Caillou oil field along the Louisiana coast might well become his most memorable project since he helped to secure a 24-inch pipeline that pumps 175,000 barrels of oil daily. Contracted by Hilcorp Energy Service for Shell Oil Co. pipelines and facilities, Atkinson and three other divers from DiveCon LLC, of Harvey, La., began a pipeline installation project Aug. 21 as...

From: Reuters From correspondents in Mexico SHELL Oil said it began producing crude oil and natural gas from its Cougar and Enchilada units in the Gulf of Mexico. "Today we began producing from our Cougar and Enchilada assets in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Yellowhammer Gas Processing Plant, in Mobile Bay, Alabama, is now operating," the company said in a statement. Shell did not elaborate on production levels. The Enchilada unit, about 300 kilometres southwest of New Orleans, has a peak daily production from its two platforms of 32,800 barrels of crude and 52 million cubic metres of gas,...

After leaving the state in 1998, the company has returned and hopes to join BP, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil as a major player in Alaska. Shell this year made its intentions clear by spending more than $44 million for 84 offshore leases in the Beaufort Sea. Company officials say that is just the beginning. "Alaska is a great and vast land. It is for people who think big ... and that's what we're doing," said Chandler Wilhelm, the company's Alaska Exploration manager, at an open house Tuesday at Shell's new offices in midtown Anchorage. ... Annell Bay, Shell's regional vice president...

An American Traitor: Guilty As Charged By Henry Mark Holzer and Erika HolzerFrontPageMagazine.com | June 10, 2005For three decades Jane Fonda obfuscated, distorted and lied about virtually everything connected with her wartime trip to North Vietnam: her motive, her acts, her intent, and her contribution to the Communists’ war effort.  With the aid of clever handlers, she so successfully suppressed and spun her conduct in Hanoi that many Americans didn’t know what she had done there, and, more important, the legal significance. Three years ago, our book, “Aid and Comfort”: Jane Fonda in North Vietnam (McFarland & Co.), laid bare...

President tells Argentines to boycott Shell.... Lefist leader wants his nation to blame Shell Oil for higher gasoline prices. I guess he does not want to pay what China and India are willing to pay. Oh boo hoo! see article at: http://www.reuters.co.uk/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=687753

LOS ANGELES -- Shell Oil Co. has agreed to delay the planned closure of a Southern California oil refinery that produces 2 percent of the state's gasoline to allow more time to find a buyer and negotiate a sale, state officials said Friday. "I'm extremely pleased with Shell's decision," state Attorney General Bill Lockyer said in a statement. "It's a welcome show of cooperation with our effort to keep open this refinery, which is crucial to helping protect California drivers from even higher gas prices than they already pay." Lockyer's announcement came after a state-hired consultant questioned Shell's decision to...

By ALAN SAYRE, AP Business Writer NEW ORLEANS - Just before the heavy-driving Memorial Day weekend, more than 500 Shell and Texaco stations in the South have stopped selling gasoline because of high sulfur levels that can ruin vehicle fuel gauges and make an empty tank appear full. The damage done by the bad gasoline could cause some drivers to run out of gas unexpectedly. Also, car owners may have to replace their fuel gauges — a repair job that can easily cost $400 to $600. The tainted gasoline originated at the Motiva Enterprises refinery in Norco, La., according to...

NEW ORLEANS - Just before the heavy-driving Memorial Day weekend, Shell Oil has stopped the sale of gasoline at more than 500 of its stations in the South because of high levels of sulfur that can damage vehicle fuel gauges and make an empty tank appear full. The damage done by the bad gasoline could cause some drivers to run out of gas unexpectedly. Also, car owners may have to replace their fuel gauges — a repair job that can easily cost $400 to $600. The tainted gasoline originated at the Motiva Enterprises refinery in Norco, La., according to Shell....

NEW YORK - Roughly 600 Shell and Texaco gasoline stations in parts of Florida and Louisiana temporarily halted their sales after customers complained the gasoline damaged their fuel gauge sensors, Shell Oil said today. "We've asked our Shell and affiliated Texaco branded stations that were affected to stop selling gasoline due to elevated levels of sulfur in the fuel," said a Shell spokeswoman. Gasoline with excess sulfur can damage fuel gauges, leaving drivers vulnerable to running out of gas without warning, she said. This could prove inconvenient for motorists planning to get away for the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend --...

PEMEX (Petróleos Mexicanos) is the world's fifth-largest oil company. It is protected from competition in Mexico, where it enjoys a legal monopoly on the exploration, processing and sale of petroleum. And its privileged status in national mythology affords it a certain immunity from criticism. PEMEX is also in deep trouble. It's heavily-indebted and unable to provide the capital necessary to locate and exploit Mexico's oil deposits. Energy Minister Felipe Calderon recently announced that, without more investment, Mexico's known reserves could be depleted within 13 years. This wasn't the future envisioned by President Lazaro Cardenas, who expelled the foreign oil...

HOUSTON Oil multinational Royal Dutch-Shell said yesterday that it was cutting 2800 jobs in its information technology (IT) division over three years, but insisted that the cutbacks were not related to the scandal over its reserves. Jobs in Britain, the Netherlands and the US, where Shell employs about 9300 people in IT, would be affected, with some work being outsourced to India and Malaysia. Shell hopes to save about 850m. Shell spokeswoman Lisa Givert said the move was part of an overall revamping of the IT operations, now concentrated in the UK, the Netherlands and the US, which had been...

Demands that the Shell Bakersfield Refinery remain open intensified Friday, as Sen. Barbara Boxer joined a chorus of calls to the Federal Trade Commission and California Attorney General Bill Lockyer to prevent the closure. "The plant must remain open until a buyer is found and a sale is completed. Otherwise, consumers will pay the prices," Boxer wrote in a letter to FTC Chairman Timothy Muris. Boxer's letter caps a week that has seen a wide array of critics of the proposed closure emerge. Also this week, the FTC announced it is evaluating the situation, and the state Attorney General's office...

Evidence Shows Shell to Demolish Profitable Refinery, Drive Up Gas Prices; Consumer Group Seeks Intervention of Bush, Kerry, CA Attorney General 4/6/2004 9:30:00 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National and State Desks, Consumer Reporter Contact: Jamie Court, 310-392-0522, ext. 327 or Tim Hamilton, 360-495-4941, both for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 6 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights today released internal Shell documents showing the oil refiner is set to close and demolish its Bakersfield refinery despite the fact the site had the biggest refinery margins, or profits per gallon, of...

Suspect Recants Killing Shell Executive and Wife, Says Two Others Committed Crime RIO101 Apr 2, 2004 By Michael Astor/ Associated Press Writer/ RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - A day after a public confession, a handyman denied Friday he killed an American couple and blamed two other Brazilians for the crime. Jociel Conceicao dos Santos, 20, was placed into Brazil's witness protection program after recanting his confession delivered at a police news conference, said Rio state security secretary Anthony Garotinho. Dos Santos claimed that two others "were the real authors of this crime and he only collaborated with them," Garotinho...

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, April 1 (Reuters) - Brazilian police arrested a man on Thursday who confessed to murdering a U.S. oil executive and his wife in Rio de Janeiro four months ago in a crime that had until now mystified authorities. Jossiel Conceicao dos Santos, a caretaker at the luxury condominium in Rio where the Utah couple lived, told reporters he killed Todd Staheli and his wife Michelle with a crow bar because they had mocked him and used racist slurs. "Every time I was working in the neighbor's house they laughed and made fun of me. I became...

Brazil Handyman Confesses to Killing American Couple By Michael Astor Apr 1, 2004 Associated Press Writer RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - A 20-year-old handyman confessed Thursday to the bludgeoning deaths of an American Shell Oil executive and his wife in their high-security home last year, saying he was upset about an alleged racial insult. Jociel Conceicao dos Santos was arrested early Thursday and later admitted to the killings during a police news conference, the latest chapter in a case that has sparked international attention and intense local coverage. Todd and Michelle Staheli were beaten to death as they slept...