The Man Who Sold the Planet

June 1, 2006By Andy RowellBlog Post

The headline says it all: “The Man Who Sold the Planet”. Today’s Independent newspaper launches a major offensive at Exxon and Lee Raymond, the “Darth Vader of global warming” for their “denial that carbon emissions cause climate change”. Reporting on yesterday’s Exxon AGM, the paper says: “Lee Raymond, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, has … Read More

Big Oil: Big Profits But in Big Trouble

June 1, 2006By Andy RowellBlog Post

Hot on the heels of Business Week laying into the oil majors, now the Financial Times is doing it too. Although they are making “unprecedented profits” and have returned well over $120bn to shareholders, the FT says these are “uncertain times for the international oil companies”. Once again the issue of gaining access to reserves … Read More

Big Oil Goes on the Offensive With Advertising and Lobbying

May 25, 2006By Andy RowellBlog Post

As Big Oil comes under attack for high gas prices, “price gouging”, record profits and huge pay-outs to executives, it is spending millions on advertising to win over a skeptical public. They have also increased their lobbying efforts in Washington to reassure an increasingly hostile Congress.

Big Oil Can’t Find Enough Oil

May 9, 2006By Andy RowellBlog Post

Really interesting article in Business Week entitled “Why You Should Worry About Big Oil”. Big Oil, says the article, has big problems. One of the main problems is finding enough oil. With soaring worldwide demand, we are consuming oil at twice the rate of discovery of new supply. “Overall production at the oil majors is … Read More

Exxon Posts Record 1-Qtr Profits, Bye-Bye Climate

April 28, 2006By Andy RowellBlog Post

Exxon Mobil posted record first quarter-profits of over $8 billion but that wasn’t enough to meet Wall Street’s eager expectations.  Exxon’s net income of $8.4 billion, or $1.37 a share, was up 7% from $7.9 billion, or $1.22 a share, in the year-earlier period.

BP: Fear and Speculators Driving Up Oil Price

April 26, 2006By Andy RowellBlog Post 1 Comment

BP’s CEO, John Browne, has warned that fear was driving the price of crude to artificially high levels, with “untold consequences” for the global economy. He argued that turbulence in Iran, Iraq and Nigeria was leading to continual speculation about oil shortages and there were “all sorts of things that suggest it is getting worse”.