Category Archives: Oil and gas companies

Louisiana Shell refinery left spewing chemicals after Hurricane Ida

Posted on by

Power outages from the storm have left air quality tracking systems out of commission, making public health concern hard to gauge

Behind a playground littered with downed tree branches, Shell’s refinery in Norco, Louisiana spewed black smoke from its stacks. The smell of rotten eggs, the signature scent of sulphur emissions, lingered in the air. In an effort to burn off toxic chemicals before and after Hurricane Ida, many industrial facilities sent the gases through smoke stacks topped with flares.

But the hurricane blew out some of those flares like candles, allowing harmful pollution into the air.

Continue reading...

North Sea oil was battered by Covid, but now faces much deadlier waves

Posted on by

Since the pandemic hit, the world’s altered attitude to fossil fuels is throwing doubt over the industry’s future

The UK’s North Sea oil industry may have survived one of the darkest market downturns in history during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the deepest gloom lies over the future of the fossil-fuel industry.

Companies are braced for this week’s annual economic report from industry body Oil and Gas UK (OGUK). It is expected to lay bare the full toll of the pandemic on the ageing oil and gas basin last year.

Continue reading...

Green groups’ fury at loophole in new North Sea oil test

Posted on by

Projects that could produce more than 1.7bn barrels will not have to go through the government’s ‘checkpoint’, data reveals

Prospective oil projects in the North Sea with the capacity to produce more than a billion barrels will avoid a new test designed to assess their impact on the climate crisis, the Observer has learned.

In a development that has angered environmental campaigners, it has emerged that proposed new developments representing some 1.7bn barrels of oil will not have to undergo the forthcoming “climate compatibility checkpoint”, designed to determine whether they are consistent with the government’s climate commitments.

Continue reading...

New oilfield in African wilderness threatens lives of 130,000 elephants

Posted on by

Exploratory project in Botswana and Namibia is threat to ecosystems, local communities and wildlife, conservationists say

Tens of thousands of African elephants are under threat from plans for a massive new oilfield in one of the continent’s last great wildernesses, experts have warned.

Campaigners and conservationists fear the proposed oilfield stretching across Namibia and Botswana would devastate regional ecosystems and wildlife as well as local communities.

Continue reading...

‘This isn’t ideological’: reluctant ‘green hero’ behind Exxon coup

Posted on by

Tiny hedge fund Engine No 1 says a strong climate strategy simply makes good business sense

The activist hedge fund behind ExxonMobil’s boardroom coup last week has claimed another seat from the oil giant’s board, to take the number of new directors who will push for climate action from within the company to three.

The result of last week’s shareholder vote has installed the hedge fund, named Engine No 1 after a San Francisco fire station, as a reluctant hero of the climate movement.

Continue reading...

‘Cataclysmic day’ for oil companies sparks climate hope

Posted on by

Court and investor defeats over carbon emissions a historic turning point, say campaigners and lawyers

A “cataclysmic day” for three major oil companies in which investors rebelled over climate fears and a court ordered fossil fuel emissions to be slashed has sparked hope among campaigners, investors, lawyers and academics who said the historic decisions marked a turning point in efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

A Dutch court on Wednesday ordered Shell to cut carbon emissions from its oil and gas by 45% by 2030. A tiny activist investor group simultaneously won two places on ExxonMobil’s board and Chevron’s management was defeated when investors voted in favour of forcing the group to cut its carbon emissions.

Continue reading...

Twenty firms produce 55% of world’s plastic waste, report reveals

Posted on by

Plastic Waste Makers index identifies those driving climate crisis with virgin polymer production

Twenty companies are responsible for producing more than half of all the single-use plastic waste in the world, fuelling the climate crisis and creating an environmental catastrophe, new research reveals.

Among the global businesses responsible for 55% of the world’s plastic packaging waste are both state-owned and multinational corporations, including oil and gas giants and chemical companies, according to a comprehensive new analysis.

Continue reading...

Eco investors turn up the heat on Shell over climate target

Posted on by

Voting at the oil giant’s annual meeting this week could see Follow This activists making trouble over emissions

Shell is braced for its largest climate rebellion this week as shareholders face the choice between backing the oil giant’s carbon-cutting plans or siding with an activist investor who is calling for tougher emissions targets.

With its annual meeting planned for Tuesday, the Anglo-Dutch company has called on its investors to vote against a shareholder resolution from campaign group Follow This in favour of its own plans to reduce its emissions to “net zero” by 2050.

Continue reading...

Michigan orders closure of pipeline in escalating dispute with Canada

Posted on by

While the governor says the line is a ‘ticking time bomb’, the company says Line 5 has never experienced a leak

The state of Michigan has told a Canadian energy company it must shut down a controversial oil and gas pipeline by Wednesday amid growing fears that a spill would be catastrophic to the region, in a feud which threatens to strain relations between Canada and the United States.

The company’s refusal to comply with the order, and swift support from top Canadian officials, highlights the politicized nature of pipelines, which campaigners have used as a target in the fight against climate change.

Continue reading...

Cyber-attack forces shutdown of one of the US’s largest pipelines

Posted on by

Colonial Pipeline said it shut down 5,500 miles of pipeline, which carries 45% of the east coast’s fuel supplies

One of the largest pipelines in the US has been shut down after an apparent cyber-attack, its operator has said.

Colonial Pipeline said it had shut down its 5,500 miles of pipeline, which carries 45% of the east coast’s fuel supplies and travels through 14 southern and eastern US states, after the breach of its computer networks.

Continue reading...

Mozambique insurgency: 20,000 still trapped near gas plant six weeks after attack

Posted on by

People fleeing militant violence near Total’s Afungi project in Cabo Delgado have been blocked by government forces

More than 20,000 Mozambicans have been trapped near a huge natural gas project in the country’s Cabo Delgado province, more than a month since it was abandoned after a militant attack.

People camped at the gates of French energy company Total’s Afungi site have had been unable to escape, despite fears of imminent violence, and have limited food because the Mozambican government has blocked humanitarian access.

Continue reading...

‘We cannot drink oil’: campaigners condemn east African pipeline

Posted on by

Activists say the ‘heart of Africa’ line shipping crude from Uganda to Tanzania is unnecessary and poses a huge environmental risk

Activists have accused French and Chinese oil firms of ignoring huge environmental risks after the signing of accords on the controversial construction of a £2.5bn oil pipeline.

Uganda, Tanzania and the oil companies Total and CNOOC signed three key agreements on Sunday that pave the way for construction to start on the planned east African crude oil pipeline (EACOP). But on Tuesday a letter signed by 38 civil society organisations across both east African countries said the parties had failed to address environmental concerns over the pipeline and had steamrollered over court and parliamentary processes.

Continue reading...

Cook Islands-flagged tankers scrubbed for alleged sanctions-busting

Posted on by

Two tankers flying the flag of the remote Pacific archipelago are alleged to have been involved in subterfuge shipping of Iranian oil

Two tankers flying the flag of the Cook Islands have been scrubbed from the islands’ shipping registry after allegations the vessels were sanctions-busting, transporting Iranian crude oil while concealing their movements.

US sanctions on Iran’s oil and gas sector have, somewhat improbably, caught up the tiny Cooks archipelago on the other side of the world.

Continue reading...

Nigerians can bring claims against Shell in UK, supreme court rules

Posted on by

Ogale and Bille villagers say Shell oil operations have caused severe pollution including to their drinking water

Two Nigerian communities can bring their legal claims for a cleanup and for compensation against the oil company Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary in an English court, supreme court judges have said.

In what lawyers said was a “watershed moment” for the accountability of multinational companies, on Friday the court overturned a decision by the court of appeal, and ruled that the cases against Shell could proceed.

Continue reading...

‘Finally some justice’: court rules Shell Nigeria must pay for oil damage

Posted on by

Nigerian farmers win claim for compensation in The Hague after 13-year battle

A Dutch court has ordered Shell Nigeria to compensate farmers for major oil spills they say caused widespread pollution.

On Friday an appeals court in The Hague rejected Shell’s argument that the spills were the result of sabotage, saying not enough evidence had been provided.

Continue reading...

Mining giant Glencore faces human rights complaint over toxic spill in Chad

Posted on by

Dozens of villagers, including children, claim they suffered severe burns and sickness after contact with contaminated water

The UK government has accepted a human rights complaint against mining and commodities giant Glencore regarding a toxic wastewater spill in Chad, where dozens of villagers – among them children – claim they suffered severe burns, skin lesions and sickness after contact with contaminated water.

The complaint, brought by three human rights groups on behalf of affected communities, alleges environmental abuses and social engagement failures by the FTSE-100 company in relation to two spillages, the wastewater spill and an alleged oil spill, both in 2018.

Continue reading...

Denmark to end new oil and gas exploration in North Sea

Posted on by

Decision as part of plan to phase out fossil fuel extraction by 2050 will put pressure on UK

Denmark has brought an immediate end to new oil and gas exploration in the Danish North Sea as part of a plan to phase out fossil fuel extraction by 2050.

On Thursday night the Danish government voted in favour of the plans to cancel the country’s next North Sea oil and gas licensing round, 80 years after it first began exploring its hydrocarbon reserves.

Continue reading...

Amy Coney Barrett faces recusal questions over links to Shell

Posted on by

Barrett previously recused herself from cases because her father worked for Shell but has failed to commit to doing so in future

Amy Coney Barrett is poised to make critical rulings on whether oil and gas companies will be held accountable for the effects of the climate crisis once she is confirmed to the supreme court, even though she has acknowledged in the past that she has a conflict of interest in cases involving Royal Dutch Shell.

Related: Trump and Barrett's threat to abortion and LGBTQ rights is simply un-American | Robert Reich

Continue reading...

Britain’s oil and gas rigs most polluting in North Sea, says report

Posted on by

Release of CO2 from UKCS rigs was much greater than Norwegian and Danish regions

Britain’s oil and gas rigs are the most polluting in the North Sea oil basin, according to industry data, with enough unwanted gas burned off every year to heat a million homes.

Oil rigs in the UK continental shelf (UKCS) released 13.1m tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere last year, according to data from Rystad Energy, significantly more than those from the Norwegian and Danish regions of the North Sea, which produced 10.4m tonnes and 1.4m tonnes of CO2 respectively in the same year.

Continue reading...

I lived the climate crisis every day of my childhood. This November, I’ll vote on it | Jessica Díaz Vázquez

Posted on by

Chemical headaches, plant sirens – these were the constant background to my home and school life. My community is on the climate frontline

My teacher first taught me about global warming in the third grade. She explained how an increase in greenhouse gases increased the amount of heat that could be trapped in our atmosphere. We discussed how climate change is melting the ice caps polar bears call home, leading to their extinction. We didn’t discuss how the climate crisis was already at our homes.

I grew up with the smell of freshly made salsa from chiles picked from our backyard garden, the bright colors of fruit gifted to us by neighbors, and the sound of off-key singing to Joan Sebastian and Selena Quintanilla. At school, my friends and I slipped between English and Spanish, moving between the topics of our English essay to la quinceañera de nuestra mejor amiga with ease. But looming over my vibrant community was, and is, the fossil fuel industry.

Continue reading...