Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, has warned China that the EU could penalise cheap imports from high carbon-emitting countries in order to defend European companies that are obliged to meet strict environmental standards. In a speech to students at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, Mr Sarkozy urged China to shoulder its environmental responsibilities as a global economic … Read More
Month: November 2007
Chavez: Oil Is Cheap Compared to Wine….
If you sit down and enjoy a glass of wine tonight with your evening meal, you can be thankful that your car does not run on the stuff. Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s president said yesterday that that record crude prices are actually cheap — compared with wine. Chavez, a price hawk in OPEC who governs over … Read More
Oz: New Prime Minister Will Ratify Kyoto
Australia’s prime minister-elect, Kevin Rudd, has moved swiftly on his election to make climate change a priority by holding meetings with government officials about signing Kyoto. His predecessor, John Howard, refused to sign it. Rudd has also confirmed he will attend the forthcoming UN climate summit in Bali and said he had already discussed Kyoto … Read More
Statoil Begins Arctic Drilling
Statoil, the Norwegian national oil company, has begun a two-year drilling programme in Arctic waters to determine the potential of Norway’s share of one of the world’s few remaining unexplored oil prospects. It also hopes to co-operate with Russian companies such as Gazprom to find oil and gas further into the Arctic, including areas disputed … Read More
90 Airlifted After Fire on North Sea Platform
Last week we blogged how over half the rigs in the North Sea failed safety checks. As if to highlight the problem, a major evacuation operation was launched yesterday after a fire broke out on a remote North Sea oil platform. Ninety of the 159 people on board the Thistle Alpha platform, 120 miles north-west … Read More
Western Oil Companies Doomed to be “Niche Players”
All the signs have been there for a while, but now the head economist of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol has succinctly articulated the growing crisis for the oil majors. They are doomed to become “niche players” in the oil sector, he predicts. “Western oil companies are going through an identity crisis,” argues Birol. … Read More
Climate Change will Cause Agrarian Crisis
An agrarian crisis is brewing because of climate change that could jeopardise global food supplies and increase the risk of hunger for a billion poorest of the poor, scientists are warning. South Asia and Africa would be hardest hit by the crisis, which would shift the world’s priorities away from boosting food output year after … Read More
China Seeks Arbitration in Ecuador Oil Row
Ecuador is the latest oil-producing country to try and renegotiate the terms and conditions over contracts, this time trying to impose a windfall tax on Chinese companies in the country. However the Chinese state oil firms are seeking international arbitration to try to overturn the move, arguing it threatens millions of dollars of investment in … Read More
UK Government Proposes Third Runway at Heathrow
The British Government will present plans to build a third runway at Heathrow which will effectively double the number of flights from the airport. The Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly will publish proposals today for building a new runway dedicated to short-haul flights by 2020. In the interim, she intends to allow up to 60,000 more … Read More
15,000 Birds Dead, 20,000 Poisoned in Russian Slick
The major oil spill off the southern coast of Russia killed over 15,000 birds and poisoned over 20,000, the state agricultural and natural resources monitoring agency has confirmed. “It is impossible to determine the exact number of perished birds due to the fact that the dead birds were swept to the beach and covered by … Read More