Iraq

Iraq: oil boom amid sectarian war

Iraq unveiled an ambitious energy strategy to ramp up oil production to 4.5 million barrels per day by the end of next year—as sectarian violence escalates.

The Amazon

Bolivia to open protected areas to oil industry?

Indigenous protests were held in Bolivia against Vice President Ălvaro GarcĂ­a Linera’s announced plans to open the country’s protected areas to oil and mineral interests.

The Andes

Ecuador: protests mount over mining, oil

Protesters crashed the opening of the Expominas trade fair at the Quito Exhibition Center, where Ecuador's government sought to win new investors for the mineral and oil sectors.

Southeast Asia

Burma: pipeline plans behind Rohingya cleansing?

The Burmese port of Sittwe, epicenter of violence against the Muslim Rohingya people, is to be the starting point for the new Shwe pipeline linking Burma’s west coast with China.

Planet Watch

Peak oil apocalyptoids: eating crow yet?

The US Geological Survey estimates there is seven to eight times more oil in the ground than the human race has yet consumed—and this constitutes the real threat to the planet.

Iran

Iran-China pipeline route via restive regions

A new pipeline that would link Iran to China via Pakistan, bypassing the strategic Strait of Hormuz, would pass through the insurgent regions of Baluchistan, Kashmir and Xinjiang.

The Andes

Contradictory legacy of Hugo ChĂĄvez

Whether the gains of Hugo Chávez's Bolivarian Revolution will survive his passing depends on how genuinely it is based on popular power, not just that of a charismatic leader.