Just over two years after the Wiwa versus Shell case was settled in a New York Court room, the US Supreme Court has given approval for another ground-breaking legal case against Shell to be heard. The lawsuit will consider whether corporations can be sued in U.S. courts for allegedly aiding human-rights abuses overseas. Amazingly, the … Read More
violence
Nigeria: Shell’s New Human Rights Abuses
Often the story of Shell’s atrocities in Nigeria has focused on its complicity in the death of the Ogoni Ken Saro-Wiwa, or the human rights abuses that were committed in the mid-nineties. But now a great new report from the oil industry watch-dog Platform, and published in coalition with a number of NGOs, has looked … Read More
Lockerbie: It was Freedom for Oil
One of the greatest shocks for many over the last few days has been just how cosy the relationship was between the secret security services, CIA and M16 and the Gaddafi regime. Just days before the Americans and British backed the rebels in bombing Gaddafi, his senior officials were saying their intervention would not happen … Read More
The Norwegian Murderer, Climate Denial and Watermelons
Sixteen years ago I wrote a book called Green Backlash, that looked at the growing backlash against the environmental movement worldwide. One chapter, called “Culture Wars and Conspiracy tales”, looked at the warped view of many of the conspiracies of the right wing and far right. The book examined the many ways in which environmentalists … Read More
Shell’s Pipeline At War With the People
On and off for twenty years I have written about the oil industry. I have worked with communities from Alaska to Africa who have been threatened by Big Oil. So often the stories are the same: an industry that is indifferent to local concerns and needs. It is an industry that bullies and effectively bribes … Read More
“The risk of it being a mess is high”
Question: Can you build a $15 billion natural gas plant in a remote, rural, deeply impoverished and corrupt country and not expect any social or environmental problems. The answer is don’t be silly. So the news last December that Exxon Mobil and several other energy companies were planning the largest ever foreign-investment project in Papua … Read More
Chevron in the Dock Again
Big Oil company Chevron may have hoped that its legal troubles as far as Nigeria were over. However, in a great victory for human rights campaigners, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has fixed June 14, 2010 to open appeal hearings in the case.
US supports new military offensive in Somalia … just don’t mention oil…
Continuing our African focus over the last couple of days, let’s turn to Somalia. I spent some six months in the country over twenty years ago and even then the American oil company Amoco was busy exploring for oil in the North of the country and in the Gulf of Aden. The reasoning being simple … Read More
Soyinka Defends Nigeria’s Militants as Attacks Continue
They are two moments in history, intricately linked, although poles apart. Today Peter Voser, the chief executive of Shell, outlines the company’s financial and production strategy for the coming year. Once again Nigeria was mentioned as a key country where the company had added strategic reserves. “These are exciting times for Shell”, said Voser. “We … Read More
Oil “Dominating” Iraqi Election Campaign
So seven years later it will come down to this weekend. Whether President Obama can withdraw all American combat troops from Iraq by August will be decided by the Iraqi elections this weekend. If the election passes off peacefully, American soldiers will probably go home on schedule. But if there is a repeat of the … Read More