The UK Government’s commitment to tackling climate change is once again under scrutiny after it has emerged that the long-awaited climate change Bill has been downgraded. The measure will be published next month as a draft Bill for consultation rather than as a fully fledged piece of legislation. Critics claim that it means that David … Read More
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South Korean Jailed in UN Oil-for-Food Scandal
The South Korean businessman Tongsun Park, has been sentenced to five years in prison for accepting at least $2 million to work on Iraq’s behalf to influence the UN oil-for-food program. Park was sentenced by US District Judge Denny Chin for his conviction seven months ago on conspiracy charges. A jury had rejected his claims … Read More
BP Employee Deleted Files From Computer Over Fire
A BP employee has admitted destroying documents after plaintiffs’ lawyers subpoenaed her laptop on an anonymous tip that she had information useful in the lawsuits against the UK oil company arising from its fatal refinery explosion, reports the Financial Times. Court records show that on November 3 2006, plaintiffs’ lawyers subpoenaed Susan Moore, BP regulatory … Read More
Outrage As Shell Gets Green Light to Drill in Beaufort Sea
The U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) has approved Shell’s plan to drill as many as a dozen exploration wells over the next two years in the Beaufort Sea. The agency, which supervises Alaska’s oil and gas leasing released an environmental assessment that said that the project would not cause “undue or serious harm or damage … Read More
An Ugly Oily Truth in Iraq
Good article in the New York Daily News about Iraq’s new oil law. “Throughout nearly four years of the daily mayhem and carnage in Iraq, President Bush and his aides in the White House have scoffed at even the slightest suggestion that the U.S. military occupation has anything to do with oil” says the paper. … Read More
Yukos Goes To Auction
The bankrupt Russian oil company Yukos, whose former owner Mikhail Khordorkovsky languishes in a Siberian prison, is to be sold off next month in the first in a series of “bargain basement” auctions. Russian bankruptcy officials have confirmed that the first batch of Yukos assets will be sold at the end of March, with further … Read More
Chávez Provides Cheap Fuel for London Buses
President Chávez’s “21st century socialism” reached London yesterday when Venezuela signed an agreement to subsidise the fuel bill for the capital’s buses by up to $32m a year to fund cheap travel for the poor. Ken Livingstone, London’s mayor, said the 20 per cent discount would fund half-price rates on buses or trams for 250,000 … Read More
EU Agrees Binding Carbon Cuts
European countries have agreed to a fresh cut in CO2 emissions covering the period after the Kyoto agreement finishes in 2012. The agreement calls for a cut of 20 per cent on 1990 levels but that figure will rise to 30 per cent if it can be agreed internationally. The agreement has been hailed as … Read More
Exxon Tries to Stop Browne’s Court Appearance
ExxonMobil has thrown its weight behind rival BP in an attempt to block a precedent-setting court order requiring Lord Browne, the UK oil group’s beleaguered chief executive, to testify tomorrow in a civil lawsuit. Exxon, along with and a string of Texas business groups, are petitioning the Texas Supreme Court to overrule a decision by … Read More
Angola: Anti-Corruption Oil Campaigner Arrested
Anti-corruption group Global Witness is demanding the immediate and unconditional release of their African oil campaigner Dr Sarah Wykes, who has been arrested by armed Angolan police in Cabinda, whilst visiting the oil rich enclave to meet with local civil society representatives. According to Global Witness, she was arrested and taken from her hotel to … Read More