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Winning against the odds – How an Egyptian community stopped BP in its tracks
(Video produced by Mosireen, supported by Platform & EIPR) We recently visited a small Egyptian town that fought off plans by giant BP to build a gas terminal on its land as part of an $11 billion project. After a year of delays, the oil company was forced to re-route its proposed pipeline and processing…
25 Jun 2013 admin -
“Gaz de schiste – c’est fasciste!” – Don’t Frack Algeria
On Monday Algerian activists in London protested against fracking plans, as Minister of Energy and Mines Youcef Yousfi was presenting to the Algeria British Business Council. The chants of “Gaz de schiste! C’est fasciste!” and “No Fracking Way!” could be heard clearly inside the hall, provoking giggling. As the Minister paused, the refrain of “Youcef…
17 Apr 2013 admin -
Egypt bails Jordan out with gas worth $2bn – despite own energy & financial crisis
Middle East Monitor reported that The Egyptian Ambassador to Jordan, Khaled Tharwat, has denied media reports which claim that Egypt intends to reduce the amount of natural gas exported to Jordan prior to cutting off the supply completely by June. In a press statement published by official Jordanian media outlets, Ambassador Tharwat said, “There is…
1 Apr 2013 admin -
Photo story of Fares road blockades and resistance to Dana Gas
Residents of the village of Fares near Aswan have suffered from collapsing homes, a flooded school and ruined orchards, after mysterious waters started rising out of the ground. The puddles and ponds started to appear after oil company Dana Gas began conducting seismic testing in the mango groves next to Fares. For several years, the…
11 Mar 2013 admin -
The Flooding of Fares – are oil companies destroying an Egyptian village?
In the village of Fares in southern Egypt, seventy homes have collapsed. School corridors are underwater, the cemetery has become a swamp and acres of mango orchards ruined. Their river didn’t flood and there was no torrential downpour. Instead, the water rose out of the ground. Starting as a trickle, it worked its way into…
13 Feb 2013 admin -
EU enabling violent repression in Egypt – NGOs call for moratorium on lending
As the new Egyptian regime run by the Muslim Brotherhood is attempting an aggressive power grab and launching street violence on revolutionaries and opposition groups across the country, a coalition of Egyptian and European organisations are questioning European public banks’ political and financial backing of a constitutional coup and crackdown. In an open letter to…
20 Dec 2012 admin -
RBS finances Tullow’s drilling in Ghana
Tullow Oil Plc has secured a finance deal with a number of banks including the publicly owned Royal Bank of Scotland. The company says the $3.5m debt refinancing will in part be used for its operations in Ghana. Platform has watched the developments in Ghana closely. Amongst other concerns, Tullow has continued to flare…
15 Nov 2012 admin -
Contradictory docs for Cairo refinery reveal disdain for transparency by European Bank officials in first major IFI-financed project since revolution started
A $3.7 billion PPP oil refinery expansion in Cairo is accompanied by contradictory project documents, making a mockery of claims by the public banks involved to be committed to “good governance” or democracy. Despite being presented as merely translations of one document, the Arabic and English “versions” are entirely different – with the Arabic markedly…
9 Nov 2012 admin -
Shell frack Egypt, threatening scarce water resources; Egyptians demand moratorium
Shell is bringing fracking to Egypt, threatening the North African country’s already limited water resources. The company is using hydraulic fracturing technology to drill three wells in Egypt’s Western Desert, in the Alam El Shawish West concession. Concerned that scarce water resources will be poisoned, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) has condemned the…
19 Sep 2012 admin
