Category Archives: Oil

Middle East conflict risks sharp rise in oil prices, says IMF

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In the UK, anxiety over the crisis after Iran’s missile strike on Israel drives down UK shares

An escalating Middle East conflict risks leading to higher oil prices, a reversal of the recent fall in inflation and a puncturing of the optimistic mood in financial markets, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

The Washington-based IMF said it was closely monitoring events in the region after Iran’s missile strike on Israel at the weekend and stressed the possibility that a war between the two countries could lead to higher interest rates.

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Shell says it ‘lobbies for energy transition’ during climate ruling appeal

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Company is fighting Dutch court ruling that says it must emit 45% less CO2 by 2030 than in 2019

Shell has argued that it “lobbies for, not against, the energy transition” on the final day of its appeal against an important climate ruling.

The fossil fuel company is fighting the decision of a Dutch court in 2021 that forces it to pump 45% less planet-heating CO2 into the atmosphere by 2030 than it did in 2019. In court on Friday, Shell argued the ruling is ineffective, onerous and does not fit into the existing legal system.

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Abu Dhabi state oil company reportedly looked at buying BP

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Adnoc decided move was not right fit but it is latest sign of foreign buyers circling UK firms

Abu Dhabi’s state-owned oil company reportedly recently explored a multibillion-pound bid for BP, in a sign that depressed share values in London are making even the biggest British businesses takeover targets.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) considered options including buying BP or acquiring a large stake before deciding it was not the right fit and abandoning preliminary discussions, according to Reuters.

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Libya to investigate claims oil smuggling is fuelling Sudan civil war

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Authorities to launch inquiry into allegations of mismanagement at country’s national oil corporation

Libyan authorities have said they will investigate allegations of wholesale mismanagement in the country’s National Oil Corporation, with officials telling the Guardian rampant smuggling is helping to fuel the civil war in Sudan.

Mohamed al-Menfi, the chair of the presidential council, will launch an inquiry this week, t he scope of which is likely to also cover the widespread practice of fuel smuggling and its key beneficiaries.

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Climate activists across Europe block access to North Sea oil infrastructure

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Blockades at facilities in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, with protests in Scotland and action expected in Denmark

Climate activists in four countries are blocking access to North Sea oil infrastructure as part of a coordinated pan-European civil disobedience protest.

Blockades have been taking place at oil and gas terminals, refineries and ports in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, in protest at the continued exploitation of North Sea fossil fuel deposits.

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Officials investigating 2.5-mile long oil sheen off southern California coast

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Unified command was formed to look in to the origin of the sheen, which did not seem to be expanding since it was first detected

Authorities in southern California are investigating a 2.5-mile (4km) long oil sheen that emerged off the coast of Huntington Beach on Thursday evening.

The sheen doesn’t appear to be a crude oil spill – it could be the result of natural seepage – and federal and state teams have deployed to the area to determine the source.

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Shell must clean up pollution before it leaves Niger delta, report says

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Firm told it must take responsibility for toxic legacy of pollution and safe decommissioning of abandoned oil infrastructure

The oil firm Shell cannot be allowed to withdraw from the Niger delta before it takes responsibility for its toxic legacy of pollution and the safe decommissioning of abandoned oil infrastructure, a report says.

Shell plc is preparing to divest from the delta but a report warns that it must remain until it has cleaned up its legacy of pollution.

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Tobago oil spill spreads to Grenada waters and could affect Venezuela

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Fuel continues to leak from overturned and abandoned barge as stain spreads into the Caribbean Sea

An oil spill that has stained Tobago’s coastline in the Caribbean is entering Grenada’s waters and could affect neighboring Venezuela, authorities have warned.

Eight days after Trinidad and Tobago’s coastguard first spotted the oil from an overturned and abandoned barge, the vessel continues to leak fuel, and portions of the stain have moved about 144km (89 miles) into the Caribbean Sea at a rate of 14km/h.

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Venezuela building up troops on Guyana border, satellite images show

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Aerial evidence follows months of President Nicolás Maduro ramping up claim to Essequibo region

Venezuela is expanding military bases near its border with Guyana and deploying forces to the jungle frontier as President Nicolás Maduro ramps up his threats to annex the country’s oil-rich neighbour, satellite images have revealed.

Maduro pledged at mediation talks in December not to take military action against his neighbour but images shared by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington today suggest a buildup of forces.

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Exxon plan for Guyana oil exploration risks raising tensions with Venezuela

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President of ExxonMobil Guyana confirms plan to drill two new wells off Atlantic coast as territorial dispute simmers

ExxonMobil has insisted it will explore for oil in a region bitterly contested by Guyana and Venezuela, despite the dangers that the move is likely to escalate tensions between the two South American neighbors.

Relations between the two countries have reached an all-time low in recent months following a series of announcements by the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, suggesting that he could take the Essequibo region by force.

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Saudi Arabia surprises oil markets by ditching plan to increase production

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Blow to Joe Biden, who had hoped to benefit from lower pump prices in an election year

Saudi Arabia has cast doubt on the future of the global oil market after abandoning plans to grow its crude production capacity by 1m barrels a day.

The world’s biggest exporter signalled a big change in policy by ordering the state oil company, Saudi Aramco, to drop plans to expand its maximum production capacity to 13m barrels a day by 2027.

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Alok Sharma condemns government’s oil and gas bill as vote passes first hurdle

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Former Cop26 president abstains from vote saying bill breaks UK’s promise to phase out fossil fuels

Alok Sharma has said the government’s oil and gas bill going through the Commons will not cut household energy costs or create jobs and instead will break the UK’s promise to phase out fossil fuels.

The government’s offshore petroleum licensing bill passed its second reading on Monday night with 293 votes to 211 against. No Conservative MPs voted against it, and Sharma – the former business secretary who served as president of the Cop26 climate talks – abstained. The legislation would place the North Sea Transition Authority under a duty to run annual applications for new offshore oil and gas licences.

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Women added to Cop29 climate summit committee after backlash

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Panel was originally composed of 28 men, a move condemned as ‘regressive’ and ‘shocking’

The president of Azerbaijan has added 12 women to the previously all-male organising committee for the Cop29 global climate summit, which the country will host in December.

The move follows a backlash after the Guardian reported the initial 28-man composition of the committee, which was called “regressive” by the She Changes Climate campaign group. “Climate change affects the whole world, not half of it,” the group said.

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Oil prices hit $80 a barrel as fears grow over Red Sea disruption to trade

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Experts warn of economic impact of sustained shipping attacks and Middle East tensions

Oil prices have hit $80 (£62.83) as fears grew about the economic impact of disruption to international trade through the Red Sea and escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Raising concerns about a possible inflation shock for the world economy, Brent crude prices jumped by about 4% to a high of $80.75 a barrel on Friday, while US West Texas Intermediate crude also increased after US and UK airstrikes against Houthi rebel sites in Yemen.

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Oil prices rise after Iran rejects calls to end support for Houthi Red Sea attacks

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Brent crude is up 2% to $78.77 a barrel as hopes of strong demand in China also push up prices

Oil prices have risen sharply after Iran rejected calls to end support for attacks by Houthi rebels on vessels in the Red Sea and sent a warship to the key trading route.

In the first trading session of the new year, Brent crude rose $1.73, or more than 2%, to $78.77 a barrel on Tuesday, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $73.36 a barrel, up $1.71, or 2.4%.

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Data reveals most expensive Australian capital to buy petrol – and the cheapest

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Drivers in Brisbane bear brunt of record petrol prices this year – ‘only now are we starting to see some relief’

Australian motorists are copping the cost of volatile world oil prices but relief could be in sight.

Drivers in Brisbane bore the brunt of record petrol prices this year, making the Queensland city the nation’s most expensive capital to put fuel in the tank. Regular unleaded cost on average 193.4 cents a litre, an NRMA analysis of 2023 petrol prices across the country revealed.

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Queensland to ban new oil and gas drilling in Lake Eyre basin rivers and floodplains

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Steven Miles has delivered on two of the environment movement’s most pressing concerns within a week of being sworn-in as premier

The Queensland government will ban new oil and gas developments in the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre basin’s rivers and floodplains – belatedly delivering on a nine-year-old election commitment to reinstate protections for the state’s pristine channel country.

The state’s premier, Steven Miles, will on Friday announce new environmental regulations for the basin, which is among the world’s last unaltered river systems.

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Ikea warns Red Sea attacks could disrupt supplies and deliveries

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Firm says it is weighing up options to secure product availability amid Yemeni rebel attacks on shipping

Ikea has warned that the disruption to global trade caused by Yemeni rebel attacks in the Red Sea could delay its deliveries and affect availability of some products.

The world’s largest furniture company said it was “evaluating other supply options to secure the availability of our products” after many big shipping companies stopped sending vessels through the Suez canal in response to the attacks by Houthi militants’ protests against the Israel-Gaza war.

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More than 100 container ships rerouted from Suez canal to avoid Houthi attacks

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Cape of Good Hope diversion adds 6,000 nautical miles and three or four weeks to delivery times and has driven up oil prices

More than 100 container ships have been rerouted around southern Africa to avoid the Suez canal, in a sign of the disruption to global trade caused by Houthi rebels attacking vessels on the western coast of Yemen.

The shipping company Kuehne and Nagel said it had identified 103 ships that had already changed course, with more expected to go around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.

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BP halts oil and gas shipments through Red Sea after rebel attacks

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Energy company follows decisions by five big shipping firms as Houthi militants step up attacks on vessels

BP has halted all shipments of oil and gas through the Red Sea after an increase in the number of attacks on cargo ships by Houthi militants in Yemen, including a strike on a Norwegian-owned vessel.

The British oil company said on Tuesday that it had paused shipping in the region indefinitely, citing a “deteriorating security situation” amid tensions in the Middle East.

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