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.
Photo story of Fares road blockades and resistance to Dana Gas
Blog post -
Mar 11, 2013
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...
The Flooding of Fares – are oil companies destroying an Egyptian village?
Blog post -
Feb 13, 2013
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...
EU enabling violent repression in Egypt – NGOs call for moratorium on lending
Blog post -
Dec 20, 2012
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...
RBS finances Tullow’s drilling in Ghana
Blog post -
Nov 15, 2012
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...
Contradictory docs for Cairo refinery reveal disdain for transparency by European Bank officials in first major IFI-financed project since revolution started
Blog post -
Nov 9, 2012
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...
Shell frack Egypt, threatening scarce water resources; Egyptians demand moratorium
Blog post -
Sep 19, 2012
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...
Controversial Cairo PPP refinery receives $3.7 billion from World Bank, EIB, EFG Hermes
Blog post -
Jun 18, 2012
A refinery expansion inside urban Cairo is receiving hundreds of dollars in "development" lending, despite a popular campaign against construction. The Mostorod Refinery Project – part-owned by private equity firm Citadel Capital – is situated in Northern Cairo, between Shobra El-Kheima and Mostorod. Opposition to the public-private partnership has focused on forced evictions, pollution and...
BP sponsors lobby group that welcomed executions in Egypt “to restore order” in post-election crackdown
Blog post -
Jun 6, 2012
BP is sponsoring a business lobby organisation that enthusiastically welcomed election promises to crack down on dissent in Egypt with executions and brutal force, aiming to crush the revolution after the imminent Presidential elections AmCham – the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt – hosted Mubarak-era Prime Minister and current Presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq for...
Egyptian perspectives on the EBRD
Multimedia -
May 28, 2012
As the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development gets set to invest in Egypt following the ousting of former President Mubarek, this video presents views from the streets of Cairo and Tahrir square about the EBRD’s investment priorities. The video, which was commissioned by Platform and CEE Bankwatch highlights the strong sentiments against the widespread...
Hay Festival – Should we leave the oil in the ground? – 2 June 2012
May 25, 2012
nef series 1: Should we leave the oil in the ground? Event 54 • Saturday 2 June 2012, 2.30pm • Venue: Hay on Earth Stage James Marriott, Rob Hopkins, Juliet Davenport, Andrew Simms Fossil fuel companies ride high in the stock markets, but is oil more of a liability than an asset? The latest science...
Exploring The Oil Road – Two Platform events in Bristol and London
Blog post -
May 18, 2012
There are two Platform events coming up which explore themes in our forthcoming book The Oil Road by Mika Minio and James Marriott, due out in September. The first event is a talk in the Bristol Festival of Ideas – What if we left the oil in the ground? Taking place at Arnolfini on Sunday 20th...
“Shell no” to Arctic Drilling
Blog post -
Apr 27, 2012
Guest post by Emilie Surrusco, Alaska Wilderness League Right now, Shell’s drill ships are on their way to the pristine Arctic Ocean off the coast of Alaska. And despite all the glossy advertising, promotional videos, and slick promises from Shell, the oil giant is proceeding with its plans to drill 10 exploratory wells – with...
