In May oil spilled from a well in south-west Queensland owned by Australian oil and gas company Santos. In what may be the state’s third largest spill, more than 250,000 litres of oil flowed from the well…
John Mathews, Macquarie Graduate School of Management
The Obama Administration is facing a critical choice over whether to approve an extension of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. If approved it will carry heavy crude oil from the tar sands of Alberta to refineries…
We’re all too familiar with footage of ruptured tankers or busted rigs dumping millions of litres of oil into the sea, coating shorelines and animals in crude sludge. Many traditional methods of cleaning…
It is now two and a half years since the Deepwater Horizon oil well blowout in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Both the people and the ecosystem of the Gulf were changed by this massive spill; how well…
In August 2009, a blowout at the Montara wellhead platform became Australia’s third-largest oil spill. Three years later, a fine of $510,000 has been levied on the Thai-based oil company PTT Exploration…
Christmas Island has been once again in the headlines: not because of incidents involving asylum-seekers, but because of the recent sinking and breaking up of the Panamanian phosphate carrier MC Tycoon…
Last week the Rena, a Liberian-registered container ship, ran aground on Astrolaube Reef in the Bay of Plenty, around 12 nautical miles from the New Zealand coast. The stricken vessel has been stuck there…
Responding to oil spills, like that in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty, is a very complex, high pressure situation. Decisions must be made based on whatever data are available at the time. One of the difficulties…
Dispersants used to break down the 300 tonnes of oil that has leaked from a cargo ship into New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty may do marine ecosystems more harm than good, an ocean oil spill expert has said…
Experts have warned of damage to marine ecosystems after the cargo ship Rena struck a New Zealand reef and leaked around 50 tonnes of oil into the Bay of Plenty. New Zealand maritime authorities said on…