The Kiwi's are still in the headlines with Greymouth outlining a waterflood plan that none of its partners agree with and also happened to go to the media before its partners. Imagine sharing a beer with those blokes, let alone an oilfield!

Crown Minerals also reinforced the stance that while selling their stake in the undeveloped Kupe field may be an option, it won't be anytime soon, and besides they don't trust Shell very much. Which is also facing a left field legal tilt in that country arising from an insider trading charge levelled at one of its previous acquisitions.

There were a few red faces at the Sembawang (Singapore) yards this week when the 6000 tonne module being loaded onto a barge proved a bit too heavy for the crane. Luckily it didn't take a dive, no one was hurt and it is now being cut up to make smaller, lighter loads.

Winner of this week's "Stating the Bleeding Obvious Award" has to go to former Shell chief and current board member Mark Moody-Stuart in saying the mighty mollusc had been arrogant in its dealings with local communities around the world over the years. He said that had now been beaten out of the company.

Accusations of arrogance have also been levelled at the as-yet-unnamed Australian contractor who is allegedly leaving over US$6.5 million in unpaid debt in Vietnam. More on that story next week.

Good news nearby however with the Korean State oil company, KNOC, making a big offshore gas discovery. Its Chinese counterpart, CNOOC, has unveiled EPC plans for its offshore Chunxiao field.

Amity are farming out a large Turkish drilling prospect while Molopo unloaded its Chinese CBM assets to focus on its Aussie portfolio.

And the last greengrocer on the block, the Metcash Group, has said it will wait until the dust has settled on the proposed Shell-Coles Myer petrol retailing deal before it would enter the market.

Mobil said it would shut its Port Stanvac refinery in South Australia with the loss of over 300 jobs.

Finally, will Shell Nigeria's MD front up to the House of Representatives' Committee on Petroleum for questioning on Monday? Three times previously he has bailed and a warrant for his arrest was issued at the start of the month.