Republished on Global Geopolitics & Political Economy By. John C.K. Daly of Oilprice.com Kazakhstan’s international energy image is now that of one of the world’s rising oil exporters, an extraordinary feat given that, two decades ago its hydrocarbon output was beyond insignificant when the USSR collapsed. The vast Central Asian nation, larger than Western Europe, [...]
ICELAND: New Energy Stinks, And Worse
June 19, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Lowana Veal REYKJAVIK, Jun 19, 2011 (IPS) – Public health authorities in Reykjavik have criticised plans for the expansion of the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant. They say that levels of the gas hydrogen sulphide could increase by 40 percent if a new geothermal field, Grauhnukur, is developed [...]
LATIN AMERICA: Digging Deep for Transparency in Oil and Mining
May 23, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Gonzalo Ortiz QUITO, May 23, 2011 (IPS) – Oil and mineral resources are abundant in several Latin American countries but will not last forever, and should be used to fuel the transition to a more diversified economy. The warning comes from María del Carmen Pantoja, head of [...]
LATIN AMERICA: Boosting Accountability for Mining and Oil Industries
April 12, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Danilo Valladares* GUATEMALA CITY, Apr 12, 2011 (IPS) – Guatemala has been accepted as a candidate country by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which aims to strengthen governance by improving transparency and accountability in the sector, and to reduce tensions between mining and oil companies and [...]
A Small Indian Tribe Fights a British Giant
March 17, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By Devinder Kumar IDN-InDepth NewsReport NEW DELHI (IDN) – A small tribe in India is pitted against a British giant like the proverbial David against Goliath. Some 8,000 members of the Dongria Kondh tribe are resisting a bid by $8 billion worth Vedanta Resources to start digging [...]
Canada’s Parliament Buckles under Weight of Mining Industry
November 8, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Paul Weinberg TORONTO, Nov 8, 2010 (IPS) – The corporate clout of the mining industry trumped political ideology in Canada when members of all political parties helped to narrowly defeat a bill late last month that would have imposed standards on Canadian mining companies operating in developing [...]
Unstoppable Rise in Kazakh Uranium Production
August 10, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By Nirode Masson IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis LONDON (IDN) – The central Asian republic of Kazakhstan, which laid claim to being the world’s top uranium producing country in 2009, surpassing both Canada’s and Australia, is continuing to make giant strides. The country, greater than Western Europe, has 15 percent of [...]
AUSTRALIA: Enough of Uranium Mining, Say Aboriginal Communities
August 9, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Jessie Boylan KALGOORLIE-BOULDER, Australia, Aug 9, 2010 (IPS) – As a mining giant prepares to open a major uranium mining site in Western Australia next year, the clamour for the state to once more ban mining of the radioactive mineral has become louder. In fact, the Wongatha [...]
PERU:: Transparency a Challenge for Mining and Oil
August 8, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS Milagros Salazar* – Tierramérica LIMA, Aug 8 (IPS) – Peru is the only Latin American country that has made steps towards joining the international Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), but has a difficult stretch ahead as it tries to overcome industry resistance to reporting profits and the government’s [...]
Civil Society Hails New Oil and Mining Transparency Standards
July 16, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, Jul 15, 2010 (IPS) – National and international civil society groups Thursday hailed the U.S. Senate’s passage of a major financial reform act that includes a key anti-corruption provision requiring energy and mining companies to publicly disclose payments they make to governments around the [...]
