Oil Change International

Our sites: The Price of Oil | Dirty Energy Money | Shift the Subsidies

Donate Now Take Action

Posts in January 2008

• The New Scramble for Africa…

  Andy Rowell

  Jan28

  The Financial Times has slowly woken up to the race for Africa’s oil resources.“In the past decade, Africa has seen an unprecedented boom in oil and gas investment,” writes the paper. “With big companies shut out, or deterred from investing in the Middle East, Africa has by contrast offered multinationals relatively lenient terms and extensive…
  Continue reading ‘The New Scramble for Africa…’.

• BP’s Browne Could Escape Court Grilling

  Andy Rowell

  Jan28

  The former chief executive of British oil giant BP, Lord Browne, can avoid extensive face-to-face grilling from plaintiffs’ lawyers about the deadly March 2005 explosion at the company’s Texas City refinery, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled. While the ruling directed a judge to enforce an agreement allowing for John Browne to give a one-hour…
  Continue reading ‘BP’s Browne Could Escape Court Grilling’.

• Gore: Climate Change Worse Than Feared

  Andy Rowell

  Jan25

  Climate change is occurring far more rapidly than even the worst predictions of the UN’s Nobel Prize-winning scientific panel on climate change, Al Gore warned yesterday. Recent evidence shows “the climate crisis is significantly worse and unfolding more rapidly than those on the pessimistic side of the IPCC projections had warned us,” said Gore. There…
  Continue reading ‘Gore: Climate Change Worse Than Feared’.

• Oil Sands in the Lower 48

  Andy Rowell

  Jan25

  For those worried about oil sands development in Alberta in Canada and what they will do to the climate and environment, they might also have to start worrying about events closer to home. Analysts say the lower 48 U.S. states contain enough heavy crude oil deposits to power the economy for several years.

• Climate ‘Clearly Out of Balance’

  Andy Rowell

  Jan25

  Two more warnings about climate change- this one and another one from Al Gore (see above). The world’s climate is “clearly out of balance and is warming”, the world’s largest society of Earth and space scientists has said in a statement. The American Geophysical Union (AGU) has warned that changes to the Earth’s climate system…
  Continue reading ‘Climate ‘Clearly Out of Balance’’.

• Financial Turmoil May Effect Climate Fight

  Andy Rowell

  Jan24

  The current economic downturn and turmoil may put efforts to curb climate change at risk, two UN officials leading the fight on the issue have warned. Speaking on the first day of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said he was concerned that…
  Continue reading ‘Financial Turmoil May Effect Climate Fight’.

• The Oil Majors Still Outpace the Chinese in Africa

  Andy Rowell

  Jan24

  Interesting article from today’s Financial Times about China’s search for oil in Africa. It states: “Conventional wisdom suggests that China’s energy companies are marching across Africa, shoving aside established majors and grabbing huge oil reserves with the help of bottomless funding from Beijing.” “A closer look reveals a more nuanced picture: China’s giants have won…
  Continue reading ‘The Oil Majors Still Outpace the Chinese in Africa’.

• $700 an Hour to Work on Climate

  Andy Rowell

  Jan24

  Its tough at the top. Twenty of the 100 highest-grossing U.S. law firms have started practices advising companies on climate change, according to Bloomberg. The attorneys help clients finance clean-energy projects and lobby Congress, typically billing $500 to $700 an hour. The move into climate-change law is gaining traction as Congress considers a mandatory carbon…
  Continue reading ‘$700 an Hour to Work on Climate’.

• US Pleads for More Oil

  Andy Rowell

  Jan23

  U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman has pleaded with Saudi Arabia for more oil, undeterred by OPEC’s cautious response to Washington’s request so far. Bodman told reporters in Abu Dhabi there were short-term concerns about the performance of the U.S. economy and he was hopeful Riyadh would steer a decision to increase oil supplies at OPEC’s…
  Continue reading ‘US Pleads for More Oil’.

• Iraq Extends Oil Registration

  Andy Rowell

  Jan23

  Iraq has extended a deadline for international companies to register to bid for a role in developing some of the nation’s prized oil fields, until February 18, the Oil Ministry has confirmed. Early this month, the Ministry had asked companies to submit by all necessary registration documents to allow them to bid for the oil…
  Continue reading ‘Iraq Extends Oil Registration’.