Ministers keen to claim UK right to potential deposits before and after 1982 war with Argentina
British ministers were keen to exploit oil around the Falkland Islands before and after the 1982 conflict, declassified British government documents show.
In a previously unpublished letter, the former chancellor Norman Lamont said the revenues from Falklands oil should go to the British government, not the Falkland islanders.
Continue reading...Britain’s goods exports to EU a record £16.4bn in April despite impact of Brexit
The UK has drastically increased the volume of natural gas being pumped to the EU amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, powering a record monthly rise in goods exports to the continent despite Brexit.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show EU goods exports rose for the third consecutive month to £16.4bn in April, the highest monthly level in current prices since comparable records began in 1997.
Continue reading...Gazprom raises stakes in sanctions war after EU move to embargo most Russian oil imports and companies miss deadline to pay in roubles
Russia has further cut off gas supplies to Europe, after state energy giant Gazprom turned off the taps to a top Dutch trader and halted flows to some companies in Denmark and Germany.
The intensification of the economic battle on Tuesday over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine follows the EU’s overnight decision to place an embargo on most Russian oil imports as part of its financial sanctions against the Kremlin.
Continue reading...Italy’s PM Mario Draghi suggests big consumers club together to limit how much is paid and raises idea of EU gas price cap
Energy prices are skyrocketing as the world confronts the economic ramifications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, supply chain bottlenecks and the lingering effects of Covid-19 lockdowns. But Italy’s prime minister, Mario Draghi, has a plan.
The celebrated former European Central Bank president recently broached the idea of creating a “cartel” of oil consumers at a meeting with Joe Biden. Just as the biggest oil-producing nations club together through Opec to agree annual oil production quotas, Draghi has suggested big energy consumers join forces to increase their bargaining power.
Continue reading...Caroline Dennett says she has been flooded with support after decision that has cost ‘around 60%-70% of my business’
Caroline Dennett’s eye was caught by a placard with two stark words: “insiders wanted”. The safety consultant was watching a video of Extinction Rebellion climate protesters who had glued themselves inside Shell’s headquarters in April and were encouraging employees to jump ship to aid its cause.
This week Dennett, who runs the independent agency Clout, released a bombshell video severing ties with Shell after an 11-year business relationship. She emailed 1,400 Shell employees and accused the £177bn behemoth of causing “extreme harms” to the environment and having a “disregard for climate change risks”.
Continue reading...Caroline Dennett tells staff in video she made decision because of ‘double-talk on climate’
A senior safety consultant has quit working with Shell after 11 years, accusing the fossil fuel producer in a bombshell public video of causing “extreme harms” to the environment.
Caroline Dennett claimed Shell had a “disregard for climate change risks” and urged others in the oil and gas industry to “walk away while there’s still time”.
Continue reading...The price is a record high for the state and follows a record high average price nationwide at nearly $4.59 a gallon
The average price of gas in California has surpassed $6 a gallon for the first time ever as fuel costs across the US reach record highs.
Drivers in the Golden state are paying more for a gallon of fuel than anywhere else in the country at an average of $6.06, an all-time high for California and the US, according to AAA. The national average is nearly $4.59 a gallon, also a record, increasing 10 cents since Monday. Meanwhile, in some rural regions of California prices are even higher – fuel costs more than $7 a gallon in Mono county in the state’s east.
Continue reading...European Commission says extra €210bn needed over next five years to pay for phasing out of Russian fossil fuels
The EU plans a “massive” increase in solar and wind power, and a short-term boost for coal, to end its reliance on Russian oil and gas as fast as possible.
In a plan outlined on Wednesday, the European Commission said the EU needed to find an extra €210bn (£178bn) over the next five years to pay for phasing out Russian fossil fuels and speeding up the switch to green energy.
Continue reading...Increasing supply is ‘absolutely part of the solution’ to decarbonising the economy, Appea chair tells conference
Fossil fuel representatives have joined the Morrison government in rejecting scientific warnings that no new oil and gas fields should be opened if the world is to deal with the climate crisis, with a national conference hearing Australia should be “smart enough” to back continued expansion.
Increased gas and oil supply was “absolutely part of the solution” to decarbonising the economy, the annual conference of gas industry group the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (Appea) was told.
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Continue reading...Investors to get $4bn in bonus shares after record earnings of $39.5bn on higher demand and crude prices
Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company, has disclosed an 82% rise in quarterly profits to a new record of $39.5bn (£32.2bn), boosted by an increase in demand and higher crude prices.
The company, which last week overtook technology group Apple to become the world’s most valuable company, said it would pay an $18.8bn (£15.3bn) dividend and hand $4bn (£3.2bn) in bonus shares to its investors after the better-than-expected performance.
Continue reading...Union says oil refinery’s ‘strategic importance’ means talks about possible threats are urgent
Trade union bosses are seeking an urgent meeting with Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon amid uncertainty surrounding the future of the Grangemouth oil refinery.
Grangemouth is one of just six oil refineries in Great Britain and supplies two-thirds of the petrol and diesel for forecourts in Scotland as well as large volumes for the north of England and Northern Ireland.
Continue reading...Chancellor says he is ‘pragmatic’ about introducing a levy on energy companies to ease cost of living crisis
Rishi Sunak has insisted he is “pragmatic” about the idea of a windfall tax on energy companies, claiming “no options are off the table” in the clearest sign yet that the government is planning measures to tackle the cost of living crisis.
Labour has been calling for a windfall tax on oil firms, which have benefited from rocketing global prices, with the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, suggesting the proceeds be used to cut domestic energy bills.
Continue reading...Soaring commodity prices swell oil giant’s profits as tech stock slide pegs back iPhone maker
Apple has lost its crown as the world’s most valuable company to the oil giant Saudi Aramco, as soaring commodity prices swell profits at energy companies and technology stocks continue to slide.
In a sign that the old economy is reasserting itself over the new this year, Aramco eclipsed Apple on Wednesday night amid the ongoing rout on Wall Street.
Continue reading...The prime minister claimed ‘these kinds of taxes’ deterred investment, contrary to BP boss saying it would not
Boris Johnson has refused to rule out the introduction of a windfall tax which would help to relieve pressure on the cost of living crisis.
Speaking to LBC’s Nick Ferrari, Johnson said that while he believed a disadvantage of windfall tax would be the impact it would have on investment, the prospect of such a taxwas still something to be looked at.
Continue reading...Decrepit tanker used for storage at risk of creating a disaster worse than Exxon Valdez in 1989
The UN is to stage a rare donor conference on Wednesday in a bid to raise the $80m (£65m) necessary to prevent an ageing oil tanker off the west coast of Yemen exploding and causing an environmental disaster potentially four times worse than the Exxon Valdez spill near Alaska in 1989.
The money is needed to offload more than 1.14m barrels of oil that have been sitting in the decrepit cargo ship, Safer, for more than six years because of an impasse between Houthi groups and the Saudi-backed government over ownership and responsibility.
Continue reading...European Commission chief says Russian supply of crude would be prohibited in EU within six months
Ursula von der Leyen has proposed a total ban on Russian oil imports to the EU, saying Vladimir Putin had to pay a “high price for his brutal aggression” in Ukraine.
Member states in Brussels are scrutinising a proposed sixth package of sanctions, but in a speech on Wednesday the European Commission president said Russian oil flows had to stop.
Continue reading...Pivot by Germany bolsters support for phased-in import ban as Charles Michel says goal is to ‘break Russian war machine’
The aim of EU sanctions is to “break the Russian war machine”, with measures on Kremlin oil now imminent, the president of the European Council has said, as Germany pivoted to back the move.
A proposal to phase in a prohibition on Russian oil imports will be discussed by member state ambassadors in Brussels on Wednesday, with the most dependent, such as Slovakia and Hungary, seeking exemptions.
Continue reading...Company beats forecasts thanks to high oil and gas prices but is hit by offloading its stake in Russia’s Rosneft
BP’s profits more than doubled to $6.2bn (£5bn) in the first three months of the year, boosted by soaring oil and gas prices.
It was well ahead of the $4.5bn of expected by analysts and is likely to revive calls for a windfall tax on oil and gas companies from Labour and the Liberal Democrats, who argue the money raised could be used to ease the burden for those hardest hit by the cost of living costs.
Continue reading...Russian state media reports fires at civilian and military depots in Bryansk, which are potentially an act of sabotage by Kyiv
Large fires broke out early on Monday at two oil depots in the Russian city of Bryansk near the border with Ukraine, in a potential act of sabotage by Kyiv.
Russian state media said the first fire occurred at a civilian facility in Bryansk holding 10,000 tons of fuel, followed by a second fire at a military fuel depot holding 5,000 tons.
Continue reading...Authorities say victims ‘burnt beyond recognition’ in explosion at bunkering site in Imo state
More than 100 people were killed overnight in an explosion at an illegal oil refining depot on the border of Nigeria’s Rivers and Imo states, a local government official and an environmental group said on Saturday.
“The fire outbreak occurred at an illegal bunkering site and it affected over 100 people who were burnt beyond recognition,” the state commissioner for petroleum resources, Goodluck Opiah, said.
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