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Posts in September 2010

• “Deep-water drilling will continue because that’s where the oil is..”

  Andy Rowell

  Sep30

  The Washington Post this morning asks a fundamental question that has been played out in countless meetings of oil companies, government officials and environmental NGOs: “Will the oil spill make a drop of difference regarding our attitudes?” Some five months later, was the spill a game changer like many predicted? And the results seem to…
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• Shell to Increase North American Output by 40 Percent

  Andy Rowell

  Sep29

  BP might be America’s bette noir right now after the Deepwater Horizon spill, but its fierce rival Shell is planning a massive expansion in the region. Shell plans to expand its operations in tar sands and in deepwater in the Gulf of Mexico. So never mind the repeated calls by environmental groups, communities and investors…
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• Greenwashing Mordor

  Andy Rowell

  Sep28

  So Mordor is getting a makeover. Big-time. There is a concerted, multi-faceted public relations campaign going on to greenwash the tar sands. Dirty black is trying to become virgin white, or so that’s what they want. According to three Albertan cabinet ministers, the tar sands are a “Canadian jewel” that should be celebrated and exploited….
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• Why Bob Has to be Wary of the “Bunker”

  Andy Rowell

  Sep27

  When Bob Dudley takes over the reins at BP on Friday he will face a daunting task and a bulging in-tray. He will be aware that his new job is a personal poisoned chalice, having effectively destroyed the careers of three of his predecessors: Tony Hayward, John Browne and Bob Horton have all left in…
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• “Brazil is the future for the oil industry”..

  Andy Rowell

  Sep24

  Are investors put off by the risks of ultra deepwater drilling after the Deepwater Horizon disaster? If the frenzy down in Brazil is anything to go by – the answer is a staggering no. Brazil’s national oil company, Petrobras, has just raised a whopping $70bn in the biggest share issue in corporate history. And the…
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• Russia Leads Arctic Oil Race

  Andy Rowell

  Sep23

  Three years after Russian divers thrust a rust-proof flag into the seabed below the North Pole, the country’s Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, will attend the Arctic Forum in Moscow today. Putin wants to stake Russia’s claim in the increasingly frantic battle for control of the Arctic’s resources. Ironically the more the ice melts through climate…
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• Universal energy access stressed at UN

  Elizabeth Bast

  Sep22

  Yesterday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed the importance of making energy available to the poor as a foundation for combating poverty as world leaders gathered in New York this week at the Millennium Development Goal Summit. At a high-level event yesterday, the Secretary General said that it is lack of political will that is keeping…
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• Court rules companies can’t be sued under Alien Tort

  Andy Rowell

  Sep22

  This is bad news, which could have serious ramifications for holding companies legally accountable in the US for their operations abroad. And it has virtually received no press attention at all. Last Friday the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a suit brought by the Ogoni, who alleged that Shell was complicit in human…
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• BP Will Survive, But What About the Others?

  Andy Rowell

  Sep21

  It is not rocket science that fickle City investors responded to the news of BP’s final plugging of the Macondo well by sending the company’s share price rising. BP’s share price rose by just under 2 per cent  to $38.68, helping to recover a small portion of the billions wiped off BP’s market capitalisation during…
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• “Dead Well” is a Just a Bump in the Road

  Andy Rowell

  Sep20

  So finally the well is dead. After 153 days, 5 million barrels spilt and a $10 billion bill so far, BP’s well is officially sealed. Although no crude has leaked from the well since BP capped it on July 15, the only way to permanently seal it was a bottom kill from the relief well….
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