Chevron oil rig explodes off coast of Nigeria; 2 killed
Jan 18, 2012
On Monday 16 January at 4.30 to 5am, Chevron's KS Endeavour drilling rig burst into flames, approximately 6 miles off the coast of Nigeria. Two workers are reported missing. The gas rig is still said to be burning for the second day running and is reported to have partially collapsed into the ocean. The cause is...
How John Browne, BP and the Old Boys Network keep the arts well-oiled
Jan 13, 2012
It’s 10.30am on a spectacularly sunny winter’s day and I’m in the Members’ Room at Tate Modern. The room overlooks the Square Mile – London’s financial district – and the view symbolises the growing pressures on artists and arts organisations to seek funding from the private sector, specifically from business. Looking once again at the panel...
Direct news question mega fail: is Ethical Oil funded by Enbridge Pipeline?
Jan 13, 2012
Yesterday on Canadian national news channel CBC a spokesperson for EthicalOil.org floundered as she unconvincingly avoided the interviewer’s repeated question “Does Ethical Oil take money from Enbridge Pipeline?” The repetition of the question makes the whole interview very watchable – especially around 4:40 into the video. If EthicalOil.org do take financial support from Enbridge, it...
Conviction of two of Stephen Lawrence’s murderers: a new chapter
Jan 7, 2012
To see what Platform’s youth, arts and activism project Shake! has to say at this significant moment, and also going back over the months to when we started the project at the Stephen Lawrence Centre in Deptford in August 2010, start here. Shake’s young people make change happen through poetry, music, comment, actions, discussion, and performances, supported...
The Corporate Occupation of the Arts – Sat 14th of Jan
Jan 4, 2012
The Corporate Occupation of the Arts. -OccupyLSX / The Bank of Ideas Earl St. EC2A 2AL – Sat 14th Jan 2012. 2- 6pm We're taking part in this afternoon of presentations and discussions at the Bank of Ideas, an abandoned office block purchased several years ago by the bank UBS and squatted by Occupy LSX....
Shell’s Bonga oil spill hits Nigerian communities
Jan 4, 2012
Shell’s major oil spill at the offshore Bonga facility in Nigeria is threatening the livelihoods of at least 13 different coastal communities, reports Reuters. As thick crude oil continues washing up on Nigeria’s shoreline, Shell is denying responsibility and claims that “non-Bonga oil” from a third party spill is to blame. A local resident from...
UK government backs risky offshore drilling
Dec 31, 2011
Despite serious environmental concerns, the heightened risk of major accidents and inadequate regulatory oversight, the UK’s Department for Energy and Climate Change has awarded 46 new licences for oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, including in the ecologically sensitive West of Shetlands area. Speaking to BBC News, Adam Ma’anit of Platform condemned the move: “There...
Shell spill worst in a decade, says Nigerian regulator
Dec 22, 2011
Nigeria’s oil spill agency, NOSDRA, says that Shell’s Bonga oil spill “is likely the worst [offshore spill] in a decade.” Peter Idabor of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency told The Associated Press on Thursday that oil from the spill in Shell’s Bonga field has spread to roughly 100 nautical miles. Idabor said...
Satellite images of Shell’s massive spill in Nigeria
Dec 22, 2011
The Bonga oil field, one of Shell’s largest offshore oil facilities was shut down on Tuesday 20 December after a massive oil spill. The cause? It appears to be a combination of human error and / or equipment failure. What the BBC describes as “leak during a transfer of oil to a tanker” led to...
Russian prosecutors: Kolskaya rig was drilling illegally
Dec 21, 2011
The oil rig Kolskaya, which capsized and sunk during a storm near Sakhalin on 18 December, had been drilling on the Kamchatka continental shelf illegally, according to the Russian paper Gazeta.ru. The Kamchatka regional environmental prosecutor had lodged a lawsuit against Gazflot (company commissioning the drilling, subsidiary of the Russian gas major Gazprom) for commencing...
Tate has lost integrity over BP
Dec 20, 2011
It’s like family members bringing big news to the winter break dinner table and not knowing who’s in on the secret already. Yesterday morning BP announced it was ‘pledging’ (like a self-sacrificial marathon sponsor) £10m over five years to four of London’s biggest cultural institutions. Platform and Liberate Tate handed over 8000 signatures direct to...
Support oil workers and their communities in Kazakhstan – Protest at police killings
Dec 20, 2011
A message below from an activist call out in solidarity with Kazakh oil workers and communities: Demonstration: Wednesday, 21st December 2011, 12 noon Kazakh-British Chamber of Commerce 62 South Audley Street Mayfair London W1K 2QR
