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RBS goes Arctic
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 11. In mid-March 2009, after the most recent bailout, RBS financed exploration work in previously untouched regions of Greenland’s Arctic. Acting as joint bookrunner with Merrill Lynch on March 11, RBS placed shares worth £116 million for Cairn Energy, a Scottish oil company. Although…
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The Living Memorial: an update from Remember Saro-Wiwa
Sept/Oct 2008 – SABLE literary magazine – Ben Amunwa – The Living Memorial: an update from Remember Saro-Wiwa – feature article on Remember Saro-Wiwa Text & pdf to follow.
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Life in the Landscape of Hydrocarbons – Exit Strategy III
By James Marriott – This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 10. How was it that the marshes of Hoo St Werburgh – so good for grazing cattle and sheep, so rich in birdlife – were turned into a site for Kingsnorth Power Station – with its chimneys and access roads,…
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Oil & Violence in Turkey
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 10. At 11pm on 5 August, a major explosion ruptured the BTC pipeline near Yurtbashi village in Turkey’s eastern Erzincan province. The blast sent flames shooting up to 160 feet in the air. Nearby residents told PLATFORM that they heard explosions, before a plume…
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Preventing an industrial tipping point
This article was first published in Platform’s Carbon Web newsletter, issue 10. BP, Shell & the Canadian tar sands Under the pristine boreal forest in Northern Alberta lie the Canadian tar sands, a vast carbon time bomb that if ignited will dramatically increase the chance of passing a climate change tipping point. While a rational…
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Iraq oil on the block
The real significance of the Oil Ministry’s bid round July 2008 Published on niqash.org Also available in Arabic Last week saw the biggest step so far towards transferring Iraqi oil into the hands of foreign multinational companies, sparking renewed accusations that the US-UK war on Iraq was really motivated by an oil grab. The Oil Ministry announced on 30…
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Oil sell-off by stealth
Iraq’s oil service contracts are more than they seem 26 June 2008 By Greg Muttitt, Co-Director of PLATFORM Published on niqash.org Also available in Arabic and Kurdish Next Monday, the Iraqi federal government is set to sign oil development contracts with BP, Shell, ExxonMobil and Total – their first since their 1925 concession was cancelled in the early 1970s.…
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Shell blasted on Iraq oil – ‘Plans risk more conflict’
Protest at annual shareholder meeting British oil giant Shell threatens to trigger greater conflict in Iraq with plans to control the development, production and depletion of Iraq’s oil reserves, campaigners warn today. This warning, from the coalition Hands Off Iraqi Oil, comes as Shell holds its annual meeting amid growing resistance to the company’s bid…
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No Oil Law in Sight – Opposition Intensifies
Eighteen months since its first deadline and a year since cabinet approval, Iraq’s controversial oil law is still not on the statute book. The last four months have seen a consolidation of protests worldwide over the Bush administration’s top benchmark. Opponents of the oil law and the economic occupation it represents, including oil unions and…
