All the signs have been there for a while, but now the head economist of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol has succinctly articulated the growing crisis for the oil majors. They are doomed to become “niche players” in the...
Business Week has picked up on a growing conundrum for the oil industry. Even as oil prices soar, earnings at Exxon, BP, and ConocoPhillips are coming back down to earth. Are lower profits here to stay? Yesterday, ExxonMobil, the world's...
The CEO of Hunt Oil, Ray Hunt has defended his ties to the Bush family and the Republican Party saying they didn't help his company get a deal last month to explore for oil in Iraq’s Kurdish region. The agreement,...
Anyone who thinks the US is not interested in Iraq oil should read this Washington Post article that the US Commerce Department is seeking an international legal adviser. Their job will be to help the government over passing of Iraq’s...
The shop around the corner raised the price of sandwiches by a quarter this week. Although the housing meltdown is raising concerns that it may take the whole American economy down with it, prices are going up and the reason...
Ethiopia's Ogaden rebels warned oil companies interested in the volatile but energy-rich region not to be lulled into a "false sense of security" by the government, saying their forces were well armed. The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) carried out...
Yesterday it was reported that the Chinese had struck a deal to explore for oil in Somalia. Today, Somalia's interim prime minister has said he is not aware of any deal being struck. Ali Mohamed Gedi's comments are being interpreted...
China's oil giants are currently vying for a leading position in the development of bio-fuels. China’s National Offshore Oil Corporation - the country's third largest oil company, will strengthen its alternative energy development activities by establishing a bio-diesel refining facility...
At the time of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster I remember that someone said “lawyers not yet born will work on this one”. Some seventeen years later the litigation continues. Exxon’s legal options look more constrained though after a federal...
President Hugo Chavez has set a May 1 deadline for an ambitious plan to wrestle control of several major oil projects from American and European companies. So a showdown seems inevitable, with officials warning that they might sell American refineries...
