Petroleum has always been used by humans, from time immemorial as a waterproofing agent in Noah’s Ark, as a weapon during the Crusades, and as an adhesive for Neanderthals. Its eventual extraction from the earth in vast quantities transformed into light, heat, and power. A Pipeline Runs Through it, looks at the social, economic, political,…
In the past when the oil prices rose, Saudi Arabia, which sits on an estimated 80 years of oil reserves at the current rate of production, came to the rescue with a positive response, but during the 2008 spike that pushed the oil to $147 per barrel, Riyadh’s oil ministry formed a team to protect…
Inflation leaps from seven per cent in March was as much in a single month as the Bank of England’s inflation target for an entire year, as the petrol prices hit a new all-time high of £1.67 at the pump and City experts cautioned that supermarket and energy bills, as well as the mortgages, will…
Pictures R Nair Chancellor Rishi Sunak is in talks with Bank of England to head off the “cost of living cataclysm” as interest rates lift to 0.5%, from 0.1 per cent in December. Higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive, higher mortgage costs, higher gas bills and harder choices during grocery shopping. Some lenders raised…
Royal Dutch Shell plc commonly known as Shell, an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company proposes to tilt the FTSE 100 oil giants centre of gravity from Netherlands to London and cross the North Sea. Shell is one of the oil and gas “supermajors” and measured by 2020 revenues, ranked by Forbes Global 2000, as…
Singapore registered X-Press Pearl with tonnes of chemicals and plastics is threatening marine life off the coast of Sri Lanka. Efforts to two the sinking cargo ship into deeper water to limit its environmental impact failed according to officials. Hundreds of tonnes of oil could leak into sea with some warning it would destroy the…
Resolution Foundation’s latest survey of 6, 000 adults found 19 per cent of 18-24-year-olds who were furloughed during lockdown were unemployed in September. For Black, Asian, and other minority ethnic workers the figure was 22 per cent compared to 9 per cent for the general population. The Treasury said its wage support schemes had helped…
Saudi Arabia has launched an oil price war targeting its biggest rivals to swamp the crude market with supplies at deep discounts to win new customers next month, a move that would send crude prices tumbling and expected to ripple through the US Junk bond market, where shale producers have borrowed billions of dollars recently.…
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline intended to connect Moscow and Germany, opposed by the US, which has imposed a series of sanctions in an attempt to stop it, as well as by several other EU member states. When Angela Merkel met Vladimir Putin, after the US military killed Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in a…
Saudi Aramco launched its public offering yesterday kicking off Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambition to overhaul the kingdom’s oil addicted economy. The IPO, a landmark in Prince Mohammed’s drive on his pledge to modernise the kingdom, was tipped to be the world’s largest, hoping to raise in excess of $60bn with a sale of…