Andy Rowell | The Price of Oil

Posts by Andy Rowell

$New-York-anti-fracking-protest$
Fracking Causes Blowouts too
Andy Rowell
Jan17
Another day and yet another reported problem with fracking. Canadian regulators are now investigating the possibility that fracking could have caused a blowout in a neighbouring well which was producing oil several hundred metres away. The country’s Energy Resource Conservation Board was alerted last Friday after a landowner saw black fluid spraying fifteen metres into…
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British LNG Imports at Risk in Gulf Crisis
Andy Rowell
Jan16
More on the growing Iranian crisis. Brent crude is rising this morning due to worries over serious disruptions to the supply of crude after Iran warned its Arab neighbours of “consequences” if they raised oil output to replace Iranian loses through international sanctions. As the US has increased diplomatic pressure on countries that import Iranian…
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“It would be the end of our history”
Andy Rowell
Jan11
Since the beginning of the year there has been a concerted campaign by the oil industry and Canadian government to convince people that the debate over the Northern Gateway project will be hijacked by environmental groups. Instead of trying to demonise legitimate international organisations, the Canadian government should start listening to the voices of its…
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British MPs to Examine Arctic Drilling Risks
Andy Rowell
Jan10
So the Arctic oil rush gathers apace. The Norwegian oil firm Statoil has made a second big oil discovery in the Barents Sea in less than a year. Statoil confirmed that the new oil find, called Havis, might contain some 200 to 300 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent. If you add these to the…
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Oh the Canadian hypocrisy..
Andy Rowell
Jan09
For over two years now the Canadian and Albertan governments have engaged in one of the most extensive public relations campaigns ever seen at the EU. They have been trying to undermine European efforts to tackle climate change through the Fuel Quality Directive. They even set up a secret task force to push their pro-tar…
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Appeal Court Upholds Chevron Guilty Verdict
Andy Rowell
Jan04
Chevron has been found guilty again. Yesterday, an Ecuadorian appeals court upheld a ruling that the oil giant should pay US$18 billion in damages for polluting the Amazon. It was last February that a local judge had ordered Chevron to pay US$8.6 billion in damages, but the amount was doubled to US$18 billion because Chevron…
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New Year: Old Dirty Tricks
Andy Rowell
Jan03
It might be a new year but it’s the same old dirty tricks from the folks at the very unethical EthicalOil.org They are running an advertising campaign accusing leading Canadian environmental groups of being “front groups” paid by “Foreign special interests”. At the same time they have launched a highly misleading website called www.ourDecision.ca, which…
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Sun Sets on BP’s Solar Business
Andy Rowell
Dec22
Just over a decade after BP rebranded itself “Beyond Petroleum” and introduced its famous sunburst Helios logo in honour of a Greek sun god, the oil giant has fatally undermined its “green” credentials by axing its solar power business. BP argues that it “can’t make any money” from selling panels at a time when it…
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Canada can try and sell tar sands to China, but a pig’s still a pig
Andy Rowell
Dec20
Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper threw down the gauntlet yesterday to anti-Keystone XL campaigners when he said Canada would sell its oil to China and other overseas markets if the controversial pipeline does not get approval. In his year-end TV interview, Harper said: “I am very serious about selling our oil off this continent, selling…
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UK Arts Institutions Renew BP Sponsorship
Andy Rowell
Dec19
There was widespread anger and dismay today from anti-oil campaigners after it was revealed that four of the Britain’s biggest cultural organisations – the British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Opera House and Tate – were going to renew their sponsorship deals with BP worth £10m over five years. All four institutions have…
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