This page lists any entry on the site marked with one of the selected categories in the left hand column, most recent first. Selecting other categories will further hone this list.

Hospicing the Pipeline – The Oil Machine in Hawick
Blog post -
Mar 7, 2023
Julie and I talked long. And we talked of death. We talked of the passing of fathers, and husbands, and friends. An idea grew between us through that conversation in her flat. Later we shared it with those sitting in The Cornucopia Room, gathered to watch a screening of The Oil Machine. In the exchange...

‘Oil is the poison: Action is the antidote’ – sixteen days in the movement to end fossil fuels
Blog post -
Apr 22, 2022
At 8.25 on Friday 15th April, as the rush hour traffic poured off the M4 at Chiswick, four activists stepped out in front of an Eddie Stobart oil tanker. Two held up a banner declaring ‘Just Stop Oil’ whilst two others disabled the braking system and clambered up onto the back of the tanker. Passing...

Hail to the dockworkers! A Tale of Three Tankers – The Economic War, part 2
Blog post -
Mar 10, 2022
You can track them still on MarineTraffic.com … the MV Seacod, the MV Boris Vilkitsky and the MV Pearl. Three ghost ships of the energy system, the spirits of the Economic War. All three of these vessels broke out of the fog that normally swathes the constant trade in oil and gas. All three neared...

Petrol Panic II – taking on the barriers to climate action
Blog post -
Oct 12, 2021
Week two of the Petrol Panic – Monday 4th October. It looks like the pumps are working as normal in the BP petrol station at 232 Priory Road in Anfield, Liverpool, fed by road tankers filled at the gantries of Stanlow Refinery, 12 miles to south on the banks of the Mersey. But the Petrol...

North Sea oil: The unmentionable climate emergency scandal… until now
Blog post -
May 15, 2019
We’re in a climate emergency – so why is the UK aiming to extract 20 more billions of barrels of oil?! Our research, out today, shows just how far out of touch with reality this plan is – and what the UK needs to do instead, not only to protect the climate, but also workers’...

Victory at Leith Hill! Divest Fracking! Resisting sites of speculation
Blog post -
Oct 12, 2018
This piece was written before the news of the draconian jail sentences passed on those opposing fracking in Preston, Lancashire … but that bitter ruling does not destroy the reality that shortly before that decision we celebrated a Victory! The News of an Amazing Victory! We wrote of it as follows … The permission to...

There is no magic money tree, except for handouts for BP
Blog post -
Jul 3, 2017
The UK government paid oil companies $312 million to drill in the North Sea during the fiscal year 2016-2017 according to a new report by the HMRC, The Times reports. Successive UK governments insist “there is no magic money tree” to fund public hospitals and schools, or to insulate cold homes. But apparently the magic...

Hackney Council as the climate vanguard – or is it just a laggard?
Blog post -
Jan 24, 2017
Hackney Council is voting tonight on its investment policy regarding fossil fuels and climate change. After years of campaigning by Divest Hackney and lots of media attention, this Tuesday is the big day for the Pensions Committee. But despite the hype and the repeated delays, the proposals are pretty disappointing. Hackney Council has £42 million in fossil...

Russian Roulette. The impact of sanctions against Russia on international oil companies
Publication -
Dec 1, 2014
This briefing by Platform, Greenpeace UK and ShareAction outlines the main European and US sanctions that impact IOCs operating in Russia. It details the impact of these sanctions on planned joint ventures involving Exxon, Statoil, Eni and Shell. It also examines the unique consequences for BP as a holder of a 19.75% stake in Rosneft...

“Why should I forgive you after all that I’ve seen?” Refineries and resistance in Texas
Blog post -
Nov 28, 2013
Over September and October, three Platform staff traveled across North America to promote The Oil Road as well as learn from colleagues and friends there. This is the most recent blog by James Marriott from that trip, but you can also read how James travelled across the ocean by container ship and studied the history...

Shale Gas Exploitation in Algeria: Interview with an Algerian Journalist and Anti-Fracking Campaigner
Blog post -
Oct 18, 2013
Global Frackdown 2 will be taking place on Saturday 19th October. It is an initiative that is aiming to bring together community actions from all over the world to challenge hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, so we thought it would be good to hear from someone in Algeria about the situation there. Algeria has made some amendments...

Russian Roulette: International Oil Company Risk in the Russian Arctic
Publication -
Apr 21, 2013
International Oil Companies (IOCs) face pressure from investors to achieve a positive reserves replacement ratio. With governments around the world increasingly asserting control over natural resources in their territory, as well as conventional oil reserves dwindling, the Arctic is one of the frontier areas targeted by IOCs. In Russia, IOCs have entered a number of...