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Articles on Oil

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The offshore industry need not be so dangerous if safety is put first. PA

The oil industry has yet to learn lessons of Piper Alpha

The explosions and fire that completely destroyed the North Sea oil rig Piper Alpha and cost 167 workers their lives remains the world’s worst offshore oil disaster. Saturday, July 6, marks 25 years since…
Shell and BP in less competitive times. flikr/recursion_see_recursion

Oil, the marketing wolf pack, and EU price-fixing

When most of us think of cartels, we think of Colombian drug gangs rather than multi-national businesses. But not any more; if European regulators are to be believed, a cartel has been operating much closer…
The land under Coober Pedy is home to vast reserves of shale oil. Perhaps not $20 trillion worth though. edenink/Flickr.

Can shale oil fuel Australia?

Earlier this week, Linc Energy released two reports estimating the amount of oil in the Arckaringa Basin near Coober Pedy in South Australia. Independent reports from Gustavson Associates and DeGolyer…
If you don’t deal with road transport, you’re really not dealing with emissions. Rachel Wray

Oil’s well in the white paper’s version of future transport

Much of the recent debate over Australia’s new Energy White Paper deals with climate change, the planned growth of Australia’s coal and gas exports, and the future of electricity sector. And although when…
The IEA has made a sketchy prediction that the United States is to be the world’s biggest oil producer within five years. Zoe52/Flickr

Oil, oil everywhere: but still no such thing as US energy independence

The United States will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s leading oil producer by about 2017 and will become a net oil exporter by 2030, the International Energy Agency (IEA) [recently predicted](http://iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/English.pdf](http://iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/English.pdf…
Our lives and lifestyles depend on mobility of people and freight; are we ready to lose that? Martin Wurt

Wean transport off fossil fuels, or grind to a halt

Over the next 50 years the world will increasingly confront a dilemma. On the one hand, the global economy and local lifestyles depend on the mobility of people and goods. On the other, that mobility depends…
The American people have spoken in favour of climate change by re-electing Barack Obama to a second presidential term. Flickr/350.org

Obama’s second term challenges must include tackling climate change

In his acceptance speech of November 6, Barack Obama at long last reaffirmed the need to address global warming. But unfortunately he also reaffirmed the spurious goal of US oil independence, which can…
Republicans have dragged the US energy policy debate, on issues like foreign oil independence, far to the right. micheleoneill/Flickr

US elections and environment: the politics and the policy fundamentals

That Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is locked into such an unalloyed pro-oil stance is not so surprising, given the alignment of the core Republican states with oil producers’ interests. However…
It’s the dawning of a new day for South Sudan, but there is much to be done. EPA/Paul Banks/Unmis

Happy birthday, South Sudan – your struggle isn’t over yet

When I arrived in South Sudan in November 2005, the scars of war were everywhere. Intermittent power came from generators, there was no clean drinking water, schools were little more than benches under…
Many Argentinians are in favour of President Kirchner’s expropriation of oil company YPF, but what impact will it have on the beleaguered nation’s economic growth? AAP

Why Argentina’s oil grab is a massive economic gamble

In mid-April, in the largest nationalisation since Russia’s acquisition of Yukos in 2003, Argentina’s President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, seized a majority stake in the oil company Yacimientos Petrolíferos…
Facing the music: Australia is losing its capacity to refine oil. AAP/Andrew Brownbill

Security in doubt as Australia’s aging oil refineries shut down

The looming closure of three Australian refineries will affect the security of liquid fuel supplies in Australia. This is particularly so if the government and the oil industry do not devise a joint strategy…

Oil sands create pollution

The pollution created from extracting and processing Canadian tar sands is comparable to a large power plant or a mid-size…
Celebrating: after being seen as a basket case for so long, Brazil’s economy is now powering. AAP

Brazil and Australia: the rise of the southern hemisphere powers

Few countries have been left unscathed by the global financial crisis and it seems that they are all situated in the southern hemisphere. Brazil and Australia are some of them. Recently, their economies…

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