November 5th, 2006:

Some cry ‘conspiracy’ as cost per gallon drops before election

Sunday, November 05, 2006
Steve Raabe
THE DENVER POST
 
A few days until elections, and gasoline prices are down 83 cents a gallon from their record high in August.

Coincidence or conspiracy?

Economists and financial analysts scoff at the notion that anybody has the power to manipulate the complex petroleum industry.

Falling gas prices, they say, are a consequence of market factors: lower crude oil costs; a seasonal decline in demand; and speculators bailing out of petroleum investments. read more

Sunday, November 5, 2006

In his 2006 book, “American Theocracy,” conservative political writer Kevin Phillips makes the case the Bush administration invaded Iraq for oil. The administration — the first where the president, vice president and secretary of state are from big oil (Rice: director, Chevron Oil) — planned a 2001 invasion prior to 9/11.

The Global Policy Forum and others estimate “untapped” Iraqi oil costs $1 per barrel to produce, yielding profits estimated between $4 trillion and $5 trillion. Fifty years of production could yield $80 billion to $90 billion or more per year, far exceeding annual profits of Exxon/Mobil, ChevronTexaco, BP and Royal Dutch/Shell combined. read more

(As part of the annual health survey process, a random sampling a random sampling of Bioko Islandchildren under 15 years of age are tested for signs and symptoms of malaria. All children under the age of 15 and pregnant women are treated with combination therapy medications that are provided free to the patient as part of the case management component of the Bioko Island Malaria Control Project. Marathon Oil)

Nov. 5, 2006, 2:12AM

Life-saving social project a win-win for one nation and Marathon, Noble read more

By Liam Halligan, Economics Editor Last Updated: 11:28pm GMT 04/11/2006

With the clocks now back and the cold weather drawing in, our leaders’ minds are turning to the possibility of an energy shortage this winter.

Last week, while all eyes were on Sir Nicholas Stern’s climate change report, the Commons debated whether we were in for a repeat of January’s energy scare, when gas supplies ran dangerously low, causing consumer prices to spike.
  
The Government’s reassurances were somewhat half-hearted. “We are hopeful that electricity supplies this winter will be more than sufficient,” said Alistair Darling, the Trade & Industry Secretary. Only “hopeful”? read more

Last Updated: 11:28pm GMT 04/11/2006

Robert Watts assesses which big companies would face the highest taxes over CO2 emissions

The message from the Government could not be clearer. Last week’s seismic report on the economics of climate change by Sir Nicholas Stern has paved the way for a range of new taxes on the businesses that pour millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

No longer will the amount of CO2 big companies produce come at a cost just to the environment. It is becoming increasingly clear that there will be a heavy cost to profits and share prices. The burning question is which companies will be hit the hardest.
  
Investors want answers. So The Sunday Telegraph this week commissioned Trucost, the market leading environmental research house, to find out which of Britain’s biggest publicly quoted companies would have the greatest exposure to new taxes on carbon. read more

EXTRACT: When it was launched last year, carbon trading was trumpeted as a way to curb the damage big business does to the environment. But the oil company Shell has made £49.9 million selling its unused allocation and BP has made £43.1million, while public bodies are struggling to break even.

THE ARTICLE

By Melissa Kite Deputy Political Editor, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 12:13am GMT 05/11/2006

Hospitals have lost nearly £6 million since a controversial Government scheme to cut carbon emissions was introduced. read more

EXTRACT: The No campaign is, unsurprisingly, led by oil companies such as Shell, Chevron and Exxon/Mobil.

THE ARTICLE

November 05, 2006

A referendum over weaning Americans off their dependence on oil has divided the state, reports William Kay from Pasadena 
 
BILL CLINTON adopts his most sincere expression as he prepares to deliver the punchline of an advertisement showing on American television. “If Brazil can do it,” he says, “so can California.”

The former president isn’t talking about California winning the World Cup or growing coffee. In a patronising tone, he is pointing out that even Brazil has ended its dependence on foreign oil by switching to ethanol made from its own crops. 
 
It is part of a fight that is threatening to overshadow Tuesday’s mid-term congressional election.
Electors are voting on a plan to tax all oil in California and use the revenue to fund research into alternative energy. read more

November 05, 2006
 
A DISTURBING feature of the Corrib gas dispute has been gross misrepresentation of the Shell to Sea campaign by the Irish press.

I participated recently in one of the daily protests in Rossport, and can say that the “Shell to Sea thugs” and the technophobic troglodytes of Rossport are, in fact, ordinary citizens who believe that the conveyance of untreated, highly toxic gas under enormous pressures in pipes close to their homes presents a health hazard.

It is this that impels them to brave the intimidating garda presence in a display of exemplary civic responsibility. Noel Dempsey has attacked the campaigners on their unwillingness to dialogue with Shell. Is the minister unaware of the utter futility of such “dialogue” as long as Shell refuses to consider the only option that would ensure the maintenance of Erris as a healthy environment for human habitation: the offshore processing of the Corrib Basin reserves? Shell has not advanced a single convincing reason against it.  read more

Big names may find monday tempting, but they enter a corporate minefield in a system where the Kremlin calls the shots

Conal Walsh
Sunday November 5, 2006

Another week, another attack by the Kremlin on Shell and TNK, the Russian oil business half-owned by BP. The British companies are accused with increasing regularity of mishandling their lucrative oil and gas holdings in Russia. Some of the criticism might even be justified, but most observers believe that Moscow’s real agenda is simply to remind the foreigners who is boss. read more

Kidnappings escalate as Niger Delta militants say violence is their last resort

Matthew McAllester in Port Harcourt
Sunday November 5, 2006

Oil wells poke out of the greasy, caramel-coloured waters of the Niger Delta only yards from where Owbellem Joseph Harry and his men train.

Like most of the 20 million people in the Niger Delta, where 35 billion barrels of oil sit in lakes beneath their feet, he gets none of the wealth flowing from the wells to the government and foreign oil companies. So he has taken up arms. read more