oil companies

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&#39;Defected&#39; Libya Official on Secret Gadhafi Mission
'Defected' Libya Official
on Secret Gadhafi Mission
SOURCES SAY

'Defected' Libya Official on Secret Gadhafi Mission

Shokri Ghanem reportedly trying to maintain ties with oil companies

(Newser) - Libyan oil honcho Shokri Ghanem reportedly defected earlier this month , but Reuters now reports that he may actually be on a secret mission for Moammar Gadhafi. A Libyan opposition source and a source at a large international oil company say Ghanem is attempting to maintain Libya’s ties with big...

Senate Squashes Bill to End Big Oil Tax Breaks

Bill failed to get a 60-vote supermajority thanks to GOP opposition

(Newser) - Democrats’ bid to strip five top oil companies of some of their more generous tax breaks fell eight votes short of the 60 needed to proceed yesterday, with 45 Republican and three Democratic senators voting against it, the New York Times reports. But Democrats say they won't give up,...

Chinese Hackers Hit Oil Giants
 Chinese Hackers Hit Oil Giants 

Chinese Hackers Hit Oil Giants

'Night Dragon' hackers stole vast amounts of sensitive info

(Newser) - Chinese hackers successfully broke into the systems of at least five Western energy multinationals in a "coordinated, covert and targeted" espionage campaign, according to a report by cybersecurity firm McAfee. The hackers had access to the oil firms' networks for years and made off with gigabytes of sensitive information...

BP Spill Plan Bore No Resemblance to Reality

Critics blast company's preparedness

(Newser) - As BP struggles to fix its oil containment dome, many in Washington and the oil industry say the company's botched handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill shows it failed to prepare for a major disaster—and comparing its spill plan to the reality of the current situation seems...

Palin: Don't Trust Foreign Oil Companies

Like that no-good BP, which used to employ Todd Palin

(Newser) - Sarah Palin is fired up about the Gulf Coast oil spill, and she's taking away a powerful lesson: Don't trust foreigners, like those tea-sippers over at British Petroleum. “Gulf: Learn from Alaska's lesson w/foreign oil co's: don't naively trust—VERIFY,” she wrote on Twitter . That sounds great and...

Tobacco, Oil, Bank Lobbyists Crowd Dem Senators' Retreat

Miami guest list doesn't quite jibe with anti-'fat cat' rhetoric

(Newser) - Lobbyists for some of the industries most often blasted by Democrats—oil, big tobacco, banks—made up a good chunk of the guest list at a Miami retreat featuring a dozen Senate Democrats. A $30,000 contribution to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is typical, reports Politico , which scored a...

Oil Giants Bend to Iraq's Terms
 Oil Giants 
 Bend to 
 Iraq's Terms 



HARD TIMES IN BIG OIL

Oil Giants Bend to Iraq's Terms

War for oil hasn't been too lucrative for American companies

(Newser) - If the Iraq war was fought for oil, it’s done little to enrich American oil companies, which are just now striking deals to service the country’s fields—and at far worse terms than they’d hoped. Most companies balked at Iraq’s initial service contract offers, refusing to...

American Adviser to Kurds Outed as Oil Shareholder

Galbraith's policy push won him $100M

(Newser) - An influential American advocate for Iraqi Kurds, who helped successfully secure Kurdish control over new oil finds in northern Iraq in the country's constitution, stands to reap more than $100 million from the policy he shaped. Peter Galbraith, it turns out, received rights to an enormous oil stake in Kurdistan...

Oil Giant Tries to Settle Biggest- Ever UK Lawsuit

Trafigura offers deal to Africans sickened by toxic sludge

(Newser) - A British multinational has offered a multimillion-dollar payout to settle a case involving toxic pollution in the Ivory Coast, the Independent reports. A contractor working for oil trading firm Trafigura dumped hundreds of tons of toxic sludge around Abidjan in 2006, sickening tens of thousands. Some were permanently disfigured, and...

In Televised Auction of Oil Contracts, Iraq Plays Hardball

Oil ministry plays hardball on prices

(Newser) - The Iraqi oil industry has been nationalized since 1972, but today the country is awarding the first contracts in decades to private petroleum companies—live on television. So far a joint bid by British Petroleum and a Chinese firm has won the first contract, for a 17 billion-barrel field in...

Big Oil Drooling Over Iraq Contracts

Firms booted out in '72 eye nation's vast untapped reserves

(Newser) - Iraq is preparing to welcome back the foreign oil companies it ejected over 30 years ago, and the firms are giddy with anticipation, the Wall Street Journal reports. Contracts to revive production at neglected oil fields go up for auction next week, and competition is expected to be fierce. Oil...

Amazon Indians Win Repeal of Land Grab Laws

Decision hailed as major victory for indigenous people

(Newser) - Peru's Congress has revoked two laws that led to bloody clashes between police and indigenous protesters, CNN reports. Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favor of ditching the laws that opened up the country's Amazon region to mining, logging, and oil companies. Dozens of people died earlier this month when police moved...

Oil Industry Squeezed as US Demand Tanks

(Newser) - Big oil execs, analysts, and government sources say a century-old American tradition is waning: after years of increasing oil consumption, US guzzling has peaked, they believe. Last year, demand plunged 7.1% for gas, diesel, and jet fuel—the biggest drop since 1950, when dependable records began. And major changes...

Iraq PM Shrugs Off US as Sarko Cozies Up

In his first visit to Baghdad, French prez seeks oil, influence

(Newser) - French prez Nicolas Sarkozy, whose predecessor led international opposition to the Iraq war, paid a surprise visit to Baghdad yesterday in an attempt to raise his country's profile in the region. Sarkozy met with PM Nouri al-Maliki, who used a joint news conference to slap at recent US pressure to...

Chavez Quietly Courts Western Oil Firms

Falling oil prices force Venezuelan prez to swallow his pride

(Newser) - The falling price of oil is forcing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to quietly make overtures to the Western oil companies he used to harass and shun, reports the New York Times. Chavez needs the foreign expertise and purchasing power to help boost Venezuela's declining production and income. The lure of...

Fat Cat Exxon Primed to Deal
 Fat Cat Exxon Primed to Deal 

Fat Cat Exxon Primed to Deal

Behemoth stood still when oil hit record highs, now has $40B for buying spree

(Newser) - Flush with cash after resisting costly acquisitions while oil prices hit record highs, Exxon Mobil could be ready for a shopping spree that could alter the face of the world’s energy supply, reports the Wall Street Journal. The company has nearly $37 billion in reserves and could target another...

Not Yet Sworn In, and Already Flip-Flopping?
Not Yet Sworn In, and Already Flip-Flopping?
ANALYSIS

Not Yet Sworn In, and Already Flip-Flopping?

Blogger: Obama's backing off promise to tax oil companies

(Newser) - Barack Obama vowed on the campaign trail to slap oil companies with a windfall tax, but, blogs Kevin Drum at Mother Jones, it might've all just been old-fashioned populist bluster that's led to Obama’s first breach of a campaign promise. The American Small Business League has noted, and decried,...

$100 Oil Will Return Soon Enough: Study

Price will rebound with economy, likely to hit $200 a barrel in 2030

(Newser) - If today’s price of $60 per barrel of oil seems too good to be true, that’s because it is. Oil prices will rebound to $100 a barrel once the economy recovers, and climb toward $200 by 2030, the market’s most comprehensive review predicts. Output is declining at...

Exxon Mobil Shatters Own Record With $14B Profit

Company earned $14.8B last quarter

(Newser) - Exxon Mobil breezed by its own record for the biggest quarterly profit for a US corporation, earning $14.83 billion in the third quarter. Bolstered by this summer's record crude prices, net income jumped nearly 58%, or $2.86 a share, for the world's largest publicly traded oil company. Exxon...

PR Blitz Aside, Big Oil Drilled Consumers for Stockholders

As demand drops, companies shelve plans to explore—among moves that benefit shareholders, not consumers

(Newser) - Despite public-relations campaigns designed to make consumers think otherwise, big oil companies remain firmly tied to doing what’s best for their stockholders and bottom line, the Los Angeles Times reports. Though demand has outstripped production, companies spend more on stock buybacks than supply-boosting exploration. But, one analyst notes, “...

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