The immediate cause of BP’s latest Russian crisis is the ruling last month of an arbitration panel in Switzerland. But its roots spread all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, and as far back as the company’s last but one chief executive. And it all reflects the company’s floundering attempts to secure production growth in a world of dwindling oil resources. (more…)...

Here's my initial take on DECC's new energy planning toy, My2050, launched this week. The aim is to cut emissions to 20% of 1990 levels by 2050 and keep the lights on. There are screenshots of my choices below. (more…)...

British energy policy is founded on dangerously optimistic assumptions that need to be urgently reassessed, according to a paper from the Oil Depletion Analysis Centre (ODAC) published today. (more…)...

First published in the The Independent on Sunday, 27 February 2011. Oil prices surged to a thirty-month high this week as the turmoil in Libya cut supplies by over 1 million barrels per day, raising the chances of a global supply shock that could push the economy back into recession. Brent crude reached almost $120 per barrel, its highest level since August 2008, as international oil companies pulled out and foreign workers fled the country. (more…)...

As the last oilman out of Iran in 1979, Jeremy Gilbert knows just how it feels to be caught up in a Middle Eastern revolution. Hospitalized and desperately weak with hepatitis, he was left behind in the general evacuation and only escaped by walking through Iraq – after being forced to kiss the shoes of a border official. (more…)...