The Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq has announced four new oil exploration deals with international energy companies. The news is likely to upset the central government in Baghdad and the US. Both have been pressing the Kurds to hold...
It may be the automaker that has given us the Prius, but Toyoto is coming under attack from green groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, who are challenging Toyota's opposition to strict fuel economy standards pending in Congress....
The backlash against increasing royalties in Alberta’s oil and gas sector continues. Canadian Natural Resources is warning that oil sands projects worth more than $20-billion could be shelved if proposals to increase royalties are fully adopted. It joins a chorus...
The Democrats have moved toward investigating Hunt Oil's oil exploration contract in Iraq, saying the company's ties to President Bush raised questions about whether it had insider information that helped it reach the deal. U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of...
A group of California gasoline station owners have filed suit in a US federal district court in San Francisco accusing Big Oil of fixing gasoline prices across the United States from 1998 to 2001. The suit claims that Texaco, state-owned...
Oil giant Exxon Mobil is seeking arbitration over a stand-off with Venezuela about the takeover of its oil assets. The US oil firm made its case to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, a group with close ties...
Stupid Idea number two. Good article by Dan Woynillowicz from World Watch on the growing importance of Canada’s tar sands, especially to the US. If you thought coal to oil (see blog below) was stupid, tar sands is much worse....
Marathon Oil made news earlier this week when it was announced that it was buying Calgary-based Western Oil Sands, to move into Canadian oil sands. The company is again in the news, this time for paying a $1 million fine...
At last some good news from Baghdad. The Iraqi parliament has gone into summer recess without passing Iraq’s controversial and flawed oil law. Bush must be irritated, since passage of the law was billed as a "benchmark" in its battle...
Lukoil and other Russian companies will compete 'on equal terms' for Iraqi government contracts to develop the nation's vast oil fields, Iraqi oil minister Hussain al-Shahristani has said. "There will be no privileges for any country or any company", Shahristani...
