A coalition of civil society groups has joined growing international calls for the immediate cancellation of a massive oil and gas auction in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Frontier oil exploration
NGOs demand end to Congo oil auction after leak of secret trade-off deal
A coalition of civil society groups have called for the immediate cancellation of a massive oil and gas auction in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following news of a secret deal between Oil Minister Didier Budimbu, Nigerian gambling tycoon Chukwuma Ayodeji Ojuroye, and US consultancy GeoSigmoid.
UK windfall tax incentivizes oil drilling: a climate “wrecking ball”
The UK Government’s windfall tax on oil companies, announced yesterday, will actually incentivise oil and gas drilling and “wreck” the UK’s climate targets.
British MPs to Examine Arctic Drilling Risks
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 … Read More
Shell to Increase North American Output by 40 Percent
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 … Read More
Russia Leads Arctic Oil Race
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 … Read More
It’s as if Deepwater Never Happened..
When the Deepwater disaster occurred in the Gulf of Mexico four months ago, many commentators argued that this was a “game changer” that would change the energy debate forever. Politicians and the public would realise that the ecological and social cost of offshore drilling was becoming unacceptable, the thinking went. If you morph the lessons … Read More
IEA Says BP Spill is a “Game Changer”
The last 24 hours of news reporting of BP’s oil spill in the UK has shifted from the devastation being wrought on the Gulf of Mexico into one where politicians and businessmen are lambasting President Obama for his “anti-British” rhetoric. A British backlash has begun. True this morning the BBC leads with the news that … Read More
US Military Warns Of “Severe Energy Crunch”
The United States Joint Forces Command goes by the slogan “Ready for today. Preparing for tomorrow”. But the military planners are certainly getting worried about tomorrow. They argue that “Fossil fuels will very likely remain the predominant energy source going forward,” but then warn that “a severe energy crunch is inevitable without a massive expansion … Read More
Is that what you call romance?
The oil industry is built on a series of myths. It has always prided itself on an image that against the odds it has always prevailed – its teams of geologists and explorers have crossed the globe looking for deposits of oil. Whether it be in the jungles of South America, the harsh deserts of … Read More