Shell game

Just when I think I'm on the verge of burnout with the news, something quite astounding happens. No, nothing to do with the political gutter of Washington, or the fatuous White House, but something far more telling about how the world has decided that they have had quite enough of Bush, Cheney, and their faction of war mongrels like Bill Kristol.

Shell has signed an important deal to help Iran develop a major gas field, ignoring growing pressure from George Bush to isolate the country for being part of what he alleges is an "axis of evil".

Though Shell says they are still a year away from a "final decision," that decision looks as though it will be based entirely on business considerations and not on anything the White House might want. Of course, it all will depend on whether the lunatics actually launch an attack on Iran, in which case it is easy to imagine that all bets will be off.

Interestingly, it was the recently forced acquisition by Russia's Gazprom of Shell's business at the Sakhalin island that may have had a hand in the company looking for business ventures in Iran, something noted here back in December.

The Anglo-Dutch group, which is struggling to bring more momentum to its business after being forced to hand over vital Russian reserves at Sakhalin island to the Kremlin, confirmed it had finally reached agreement on various aspects of its "Persian LNG" - liquefied natural gas - project centred on the South Pars gas field.

But it doesn't end there. Shell is also selling off assets in the United States, as it just agreed to dump its refinery in Los Angeles, no doubt expecting ensuing repercussions from a White House gone mad.

Like I said, fascinating.