October | 2008 | The Price of Oil

Posts in October 2008

Despite Record Profits, Shell Halts Oil Sands Project
Andy Rowell
Oct31
Earlier this week, when BP announced record profits, it signaled it was going to invest more in oil sands. Yesterday, as Shell smashed analysts predictions and posted a 71% rise in profits to $10.9bn, it did exactly the opposite. Although Shell’s profits mean the company is awash with cash because of the high oil price…
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Now for the Oil Crunch
Steve Kretzmann
Oct30
The following article ran in the Guardian (UK) and was written by Jeremy Leggett. It is based on the publication of this report (large pdf). If eight companies across a broad spectrum of UK industry had warned, five years ago, that a ruinous credit crunch would hit the global economy this year, might the government…
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BP Looks to Oil Sands as Peak Oil Beckons
Andy Rowell
Oct29
A taskforce of eight leading British engineering, utility and transport companies is predicting the world will reach peak oil in three to five years. The taskforce looked at three possible scenarios: a collapse in production, a decline, or a plateauing of production once peak oil is reached. Taskforce chairman, ex-Greenpeace scientist and chair of SolarCentury,…
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As Arctic Ice “Plummets,” JFK Speaks on Climate…
Andy Rowell
Oct28
More bad news on the climate. A study by British researchers has found that the Arctic sea ice thickness “plummeted” last winter, thinning by as much as half a metre in some regions. The team from University College London argue that the results provided the first definitive proof that the overall volume of Arctic ice…
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Meanwhile Big Oil Makes $10 Million an Hour…
Andy Rowell
Oct27
So its free-fall on the stock-markets again. This morning the London market plunged by over 5 per cent as the chaos in the world’s financial markets continued. All the expectations are that Wall Street will dive this afternoon. What is spooking the markets is the thought of a painful and long-lasting depression. But in the…
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Climate Change Happening Faster, Stronger, Sooner
Andy Rowell
Oct20
Just as European leaders are faltering in their efforts to tackle climate change, a new survey of the science by WWF has found that the climate is changing much faster, stronger and sooner than even the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) forecast. According to WWF, research on climate change and its impacts published since…
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EU CO2 Targets in “Disarray”
Andy Rowell
Oct17
Far from the financial crisis acting as a spring board for a green revolution, several EU leaders produced a predictable political response yesterday by trying to undermine ambitious CO2 targets. President Sarkozy of France, who holds the EU presidency, led the way in appealing to all 27 countries to stick to their target to cut…
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Nigeria: Court Orders Shell to Hand Oil Terminal Back to Locals
Andy Rowell
Oct16
In what is a truly symbolic victory for the people of the Niger Delta, the oil giant Shell has been ordered to hand over the huge Bonny oil terminal to the local population. Although details are only now becoming public, a high court in Rivers State ruled in July that the site of the Bonny…
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Harper’s Victory is Bad News for the Environment
Andy Rowell
Oct15
The breaking news from Canada is that the Conservative Prime Minister, Stephen Harper has been re-elected with an increased majority, although he has fallen some 10 to 12 votes short of an overall majority, something he desperately craved. Despite this, Harper’s political gamble to call a snap election has paid off, although he will still…
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Welcome to 2030: Refugees in Antarctica, bio-warfare over water….
Andy Rowell
Oct14
If you think that the events of the last few weeks have been unprecedented, they are mild compared to the bumper roller-coaster ride you are in store for because of climate change. A set of possible future scenarios for 2030 envisages refugees in Antarctica, a virtual Olympics, and bio-warfare over water. Developed by the British…
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