oil

Greenpeace Study Finds Oil Companies May Be Doomed

A long-term decline in the demand for oil could undermine the huge investments in Canadian tar sands, which have been heavily opposed by environmentalists, according to a report published today.

The report, by Greenpeace, will make uncomfortable reading for the companies that are investing tens of billions of pounds to exploit the hard-to-extract oil in the belief that demand and the price would climb inexorably as countries such as China and India industrialise.

Posted in Energy, oil

Blood and Oil in Central Asia

In the past month, two seemingly unrelated events have turned Central Asia into a potential flashpoint: an aggressively expanding North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and a nascent strategic alliance between Russia and China.

At stake is nothing less than who holds the future high ground in the competition for the world's energy resources.

Posted in oil, resource wars, central asia

Will Iraq Be a Global Gas Pump?

Has it all come to this? The wars and invasions, the death and destruction, the exile and torture, the resistance and collapse? In a world of shrinking energy reserves, is Iraq finally fated to become what it was going to be anyway, even before the chaos and catastrophe set in: a giant gas pump for an energy-starved planet? Will it all end not with a bang, but with a gusher? The latest oil news out of that country offers at least a hint of Iraq's fate.

For modern Iraq, oil has always been at the heart of everything.

Posted in oil, War/Empire, Iraq

Niger Delta Standoff

Behind fighter-planes and gunboats, Nigerian forces launched a full-scale offensive in the Niger Delta on May 13, displacing 30,000 people and sparking a humanitarian crisis. Thousands of civilians fleeing destroyed villages are now trapped between armed resistance groups and the Nigerian military. These civilians are hiding in the bush without food, water, or medical supplies, let alone Internet access to alert the world of their plight, as Iranians are doing via Twitter.

Posted in Human Rights, oil, nigeria

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2009
11:41 AM

CONTACT: Food & Water Watch
Julie Anderson (202) 683-2500

BP Records Show One of World’s Largest Oil and Gas Platforms Lacks Documents Needed for Safe Operation and Maintenance

Food & Water Watch Urges Federal Agencies to Launch Investigation into British Petroleum’s Atlantis Before Accident Leads to Environmental Devastation

WASHINGTON - July 8 - Today Food & Water Watch, a national consumer advocacy organization, urged the U.S. Department of the Interior and Minerals Management Service (MMS) to immediately suspend production on the largest moored floating dual oil- and gas-production facility in the world pending further investigation of documents critical to the project's safe operation and maintenance.

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Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.

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Posted in Environment, oceans, oil, pollution, water

Nigerian Militants Say Chevron Facility Destroyed

LAGOS - Nigerian militants said Monday they destroyed a Chevron oil pipeline junction in the latest attack on Nigeria's key money earner since the government offered an amnesty.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it attacked the Okan manifold late Sunday.

According to the rebels, the manifold controls about 80 percent of the crude that Chevron Nigeria Limited sends to its BOP Crude Loading Platform.

A Chevron spokesman said an investigation had started and no comment would be made.

Posted in oil, nigeria

Today's Perpetrators of Gas Pump Thievery

Like a Fourth of July crescendo of fireworks, our gasoline prices are rising higher and higher. While this is tough on consumers, we're assured by a covey of tongue-clucking industry analysts that nothing can be done about it, for it's simply the law of supply and demand in action - so suck it up, and pay up.

But hold your BPExxonMobilShellChevron horses right there. Supply and demand? The supply of crude oil has risen this year to its highest level in nearly two decades, even while the demand for gasoline has dropped dramatically, having fallen this month to a 10-year low.

Posted in oil, oil speculation, wall street

Peru Indians Hail 'Historic' Day

Indigenous groups in Peru have called off protests after two land laws which led to deadly fighting were revoked.

Hailing victory, Amazonian Indian groups said it was an "historic day".

At least 34 people died during weeks of strikes against the legislation, which allowed foreign companies to exploit resources in the Amazon forest.

The violence provoked tension with Peru's neighbour, Bolivia, where Preisdent Evo Morales backed the Peruvian Indians' tribal rights.

Posted in Equality/Justice, Indigenous peoples, mining, oil, Peru

Nigerian Rebels Threaten FIFA Junior World Cup, Continue Attacks on Chevron Facilities

LAGOS - Rebels in Nigeria's restive Niger Delta on Monday claimed more attacks against facilities run by US oil giant Chevron and warned FIFA against letting Nigeria host the under-17 World Cup tournament.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) also threatened to extend its operations to other states in the oil-rich region.

The MEND statement said they had started a massive fire that destroyed the Abiteye flow station and blew up two other Chevron facilities there early Monday.

Posted in oil, nigeria

It's Official: The Era of Cheap Oil Is Over

Every summer, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the U.S. Department of Energy issues its International Energy Outlook (IEO) -- a jam-packed compendium of data and analysis on the evolving world energy equation.

Posted in oil, peak oil