Planet Watch
Ice Age fears: don’t believe the hype
Russia Today trumpets specious claims of a new Little Ice Age—convenient propaganda for Putin to go on exploiting Arctic oil without worrying about global warming.
Tag: petro-oligarchy
Mexico
Mexico sells offshore oil blocs, but majors are shy
For the first time in nearly 80 years, Mexico opened its oil industry to foreign investors, offering 14 offshore exploration blocs—but only two sold, and not to industry majors.
Planet Watch
Obama’s new offshore plan: don’t believe the hype
Obama's five-year plan for offshore drilling opens up the Southeast coast and grandfathers Arctic leases—but the industry is still griping because it would keep ANWR off limits.
Planet Watch
Behind oil slump: shale boom or geopolitics?
Experts tell us the North American shale oil boom is responsible for low prices despite Middle East unrest. But the price slump serves Western aims of weakening Russia and Iran.
The Andes
Colombia’s Ecopetrol to process fracking licenses
The president of Colombia's Ecopetrol, Javier Genaro Gutiérrez, announced that the state oil company will start processing licenses for the use of fracking technology.
Iraq
Low oil price: calm before the storm?
The new Iraq crisis sparked a brief oil shock, but prices have since stabilized. We are told this is due to the North American energy boom—but are prices set to surge again?
The Andes
Peru leaks: oil company rewrote environmental law
Leaked e-mails reveal that Austrailia's Karoon Energy provided "technical support" in the proposed reform of Peru's hydrocarbon law that would loosen oversight of oil exploration.
Oceania
Rival trade pacts vie for Pacific hegemony
China is proposing a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) in a race with the US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) for hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region.
Mexico
Mexico: HP fined in latest Pemex scandal
Hewlett-Packard is being fined for bribing oil company officials in Mexico; meanwhile, the US is investigating possible corruption in Citigroup's Mexican operations.
Europe
Ukraine, austerity and gas
The IMF imposes austerity on Ukraine as Russia jacks up gas prices. Meanwhile, the global industry exploits the crisis to fast-track exports of fracked gas as a "lever against Russia."
Planet Watch
Gulf of Mexico: maybe you missed the bad news…
The gas rig fire off Louisiana is portrayed as a near-miss at worst—while researchers predict a record “dead zone” the size of New Jersey in the Gulf of Mexico this year.
Africa
Supreme Court rules against Nigerians in Shell case
The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum to reject a suit brought by Nigerian refugees against Shell Oil under the Alien Tort Statute of 1789.