So we have been here before. A year ago Obama called for the ending of fossil fuel subsidies in his state of the Union address. Since then we have had two significant events: the Gulf oil spill, that you would have thought would have made it easier for politicians to stop subsidising oil companies. Then … Read More
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The “world’s worst oil-related disaster”
In many ways it has been a lengthy legal fight like no other. On the one side are tens of thousands of poor Ecuadorian Indians and on the other the raw might of American Big Oil, in the shape of Texaco and then Chevron. In the middle is a chronically polluted Amazon and the lega … Read More
The Oil Boom is Back
A new report by the energy consultancy, PFC Energy, is arguing that the center of the global energy industry is slowly shifting away from the oil majors. Publicly traded companies in Russia, China and Brazil are taking more of the top spots in its influential global ranking of the world’s energy giants. In part to … Read More
A €30 Million Joke
For a long time the concept of carbon trading has had its critics. The primary one is that trading carbon does not really get rid of the problem: the emissions of carbon dioxide. It merely changes pollution into a commodity that can be traded. As the NGO Carbontrade Watch argues: “Carbon offsets allow companies and … Read More
CO2 emissions to rise by 25% in 20 years, says Big Oil
We are on the path to climate chaos, Big Oil has admitted. Both BP and Exxon have conceded that progress on climate change is totally insufficient to stabilize CO2 emissions. Both oil companies have just published their Energy Outlooks, and the outlook looks grim. In a bleak prognosis for success on reducing carbon dioxide emissions, … Read More
Nat King Coal
There is a new climate villain on the bloc. No its not a big oil company. But a 39 year old aristocrat banker from Britain. Nathaniel Rothschild, commonly known as “Nat” comes from a dynasty that is built on banking and wine. But Nat, “who has sometimes struggled to live up to the dynastic name”, … Read More
Bolshoi Petroleum is “environmental villain number one”
Ever since BP’s complex deal with Russian giant Rosneft was announced late last Friday, the list of critics to the deal has been growing. Take today’s leader in the Financial Times that calls the deal “risky, ethically vexing” and a “difficult transaction to spin.” I am surprised that a tabloid newspaper hasn’t spun the deal … Read More
Reserves Replacement Ratio: past its sell-by date?
Is a key valuation metric used by analysts to assess oil companies pushing big oil towards riskier and riskier projects? Those of us outside the financial sector may not be too familiar with acronyms such as RoACE, NAV or RRR. But the last one in particular has been intriguing me lately because of its implications … Read More
EPA 1: Big Coal 0
So its game on. The EPA may be under attack from the Republicans, but its not rolling over and waiting to be stripped of its powers, without a fight. It is taking on Big Coal in the battle over mountain top removal. In what is being seen as an historic decision, the EPA has said … Read More
Free at Last?
For 300 long years Greenland has been part of Denmark. Denmark pumps $620 million into Greenland’s anaemic economy every year—more than $11,000 for each Greenlander. But this may be all about to change. In November 2008 its citizens voted overwhelmingly for increased independence from Denmark, which has officially ruled Greenland in some form since 1721. … Read More