First published in The Independent on Sunday, 26 October 2008 Once again Gordon Brown has energy policy all wrong. Even before OPEC announced an output cut of 1.5 million barrels per day, the prime minister had denounced the move as "absolutely scandalous", fearing it would force the oil price higher just as the world slides into recession. (more…)...

First published in the Independent on Sunday, 22 June 2008 It must be increasingly lonely being Tony Hayward. As the oil price continues to soar there is a gathering consensus that global oil production is nearing some fundamental geological limits, yet BP's chief executive continues to argue valiantly that the causes of the current oil shock are "not so much below ground as above it, and not geological but political"...

First published in the Independent on Sunday, 25 May 2008 Never mind speculation, forget the weak dollar. To understand the soaring oil price you need only glance at figures from the US government which show that global oil production has been essentially stagnant - at just under 86 million barrels per day - since early 2005. (more…)...

By David Strahan and Andrew Murray-Watson. First published in the Independent on Sunday, 16 September 2007 Lord Oxburgh, the former chairman of Shell, has issued a stark warning that the price of oil could hit $150 per barrel, with oil production peaking within the next 20 years. (more…)...

By David Strahan. First published in the The Independent on Sunday, 15 July 2007. BP and Shell are finally about to merge. That’s if you believe the tittle-tattle in the Square Mile. Of course rumours that the two giant companies might wed are hardly new and have been the stuff of bankers’ fevered imagination for years. But there is now an increasingly compelling case why the two energy groups should be integrated. (more…)...

By David Strahan. First published in the Independent on Sunday, 6 May 2007. Is it possible that Lord Browne’s humiliation is not yet complete? It may be hard to credit in a week when he was forced to resign with immediate effect – at a personal cost of £15m – after lying in a witness statement about a lover he met through a male escort agency. (more…)...