If the oil industry is about one thing and one thing only it is not really about oil, it is about risk. How a company manages the geological, technical, safety and financial risk of its daily decisions determines whether the company stays ahead of its cut-throat competitors. Oil just happens to be the commodity that … Read More
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Spillcam Enters the Psyche
In another signal of the legacy of BP’s spill, it has emerged that “Spillcam” was one of the top words of 2010, reflecting the impact the spill had around the globe. Along with words such as “vuvuzela”and Sarah Palin’s “Refudiate” — a morph of refute and repudiate – Spillcam made the annual Global Language Monitor … Read More
The Madness of US and EU Biofuels Policy
Sometime you just cannot make sense of the madness. In its desire to rid itself of the ravages of foreign oil addiction, the US is subsidizing domestic ethanol production. The success of this programme means that nearly four out of ten bushels of this year’s corn crop will be made into fuel for your car. … Read More
“Unacceptable Consequences” of Arctic Oil Drilling
Following on from an earlier blog this week, we know now from Tony Hayward that BP was woefully unprepared for the Deepwater oil spill. So if BP was not prepared in the warm accessable waters of the Gulf of Mexico, what about the cold remote and inhosbitable waters of the Arctic where oil could take … Read More
Deepwater Disaster has “Long-Term Benefits”
I have explored enough on this blog how the perception that the Deepwater disaster would somehow be a game changer for the oil industry now looks wildly over optimistic and premature. There were always going to be winners and losers from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. But probably not many would have predicted that oil service … Read More
Shell’s Nigerian PR Strategy Exposed
To mark the 15th Anniversary of the execution of Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, we are exposing the public relations tactics that Shell employed to counter criticism of its operations in the country. The evidence is contained in documents collected for the landmark trial last year of Wiwa versus Shell, but they were never made public … Read More
Hayward: “We Created Deepwater Mess”
So finally we get a bit of humility and contrition from Tony Hayward, ex-CEO of BP. Speaking for the first time since he resigned, Hayward has admitted that the Deepwater Horizon accident was BP’s fault, that he made mistakes and that BP was woefully unprepared for a disaster on this scale. So compare what Tony … Read More
G20: “There’s just no action behind the words”
As G20 leaders prepare to meet later this week in South Korea, they face a daunting in-tray. But amongst the issues they need to address are fossil fuel subsidies. In part they have created a rod for their own back. It was a just over a year ago in September 2009 at the G20 meeting … Read More
The Game Remains the Same
In the days after the BP oil spill, many environmentalists argued that the spill would be a “game-changer”, that it would facilitate the transition to a clean energy future. But any new legislation that might have been introduced after the spill that placed stricter regulations on offshore drilling is not likely to come into force, … Read More
Compromise Can Be Dirty
As people still digest the new political landscape in Washington, there is no doubt that the oil and gas industry lobbyists will be salivating at the prospect of dealing with some of their old friends, who will soon be in important positions. To give you just one example: The prospect of Joe Barton becoming the … Read More