| US: Cash-rich SAIC hits the acquisition trail by Sami Lais, Washington Technology August 6th, 2009 Making a big splash in recent weeks, Science Applications International Corp. bought two companies, adding new capabilities in cybersecurity, energy and disaster recovery — areas in which government spending is expected to grow. |
| FRANCE: In French Inquiry, a Glimpse at Corporate Spying by DAVID JOLLY, New York Times August 1st, 2009 A corporate espionage case unfolding in France involves some of the biggest French companies, including Électricité de France, the world’s largest operator of nuclear power plants, and Vivendi, the media and telecommunications conglomerate. The story has the elements of a corporate thriller: a cast of characters that includes former French spies and military men, an American cycling champion, Greenpeace activists and a dogged judge. |
| UK: Two men and a website mount vendetta against an oil giant by Danny Fortson, Sunday Times (UK) July 19th, 2009 In Colchester, Essex, John and Alfred Donovan are compiling perhaps the world's largest dossier on Royal Dutch Shell, at royaldutchshellplc.com. It's an awkward position for Shell, this month crowned by Fortune magazine as the world’s largest company, as trying to shut the website down would draw even more attention to it. |
| UK: Two men and a website mount vendetta against an oil giant by Danny Fortson, The Sunday Times (UK) July 19th, 2009 In Colchester, Essex, John and Alfred Donovan are compiling perhaps the world's largest dossier on Royal Dutch Shell, at royaldutchshellplc.com. It's an awkward position for Shell, this month crowned by Fortune magazine as the world’s largest company, as trying to shut the website down would draw even more attention to it. |
| UK: Fears for safety as nuclear watchdog hires staff from firms pitching to build reactors by Tim Webb, The Guardian June 26th, 2009 In another example of the revolving door between industry and government, the UK Nuclear Installations Inspectorate is recruiting more than a dozen project managers to speed up its review of new nuclear reactor designs – even though those managers work for the companies hoping to build the reactors. |
| ECUADOR: Chevron's Amazon 'fake cleanup' trial United Press International June 25th, 2009 A report submitted this week to a court in Ecuador finding dangerous levels of contamination at oil wells Chevron says it cleaned up in the 1990s is expected to reinforce a fraud indictment against two Chevron lawyers in a $27.3 billion environmental lawsuit against the oil company. |
| IRAQ: Big Oil Ready for Big Gamble in Iraq by Gina Chon, Wall Street Journal June 24th, 2009 Next week, Iraqi officials will auction off oil contracts to foreign companies for the first time since Iraq nationalized its oil industry three decades ago. Some 120 companies expressed interest in bidding for the contracts, and thirty-five companies qualified. They include Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Italy's Eni SpA, Russia's Lukoil and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec. |
| US: NRC Cites Utility Shortfalls by Rebecca Smith, Wall Street Journal June 20th, 2009 The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission told six utility companies they have until year-end to explain plans to remedy shortfalls in nuclear decommissioning funds. The license holders receiving notice -- Exelon Corp., Entergy Corp., Constellation Energy Group Inc., FPL Group, First Energy and Tennessee Valley Authority -- include some of the industry's biggest names. |
| AFRICA: Battle to Halt Graft Scourge in Africa Ebbs by Celia W. Dugger, New York Times June 9th, 2009 The fight against corruption in Africa is faltering as public agencies investigating wrongdoing by powerful politicians have been undermined and officials leading the charge have been dismissed, subjected to death threats and driven into exile. The search is on for more effective ways to tackle corruption, including intensified legal efforts to prosecute multinational corporations that pay the bribes and reclaim loot that African political elites have stashed abroad. |
| NIGERIA: Shell to Pay $15.5 Million to Settle Nigerian Case by Jad Mouawad, New York Times June 8th, 2009 Royal Dutch Shell agreed to pay $15.5 million to settle a case accusing it of taking part in human rights abuses in the Niger Delta, a striking sum given it has denied any wrongdoing. Ken Saro-Wiwa, Shell’s most prominent critic at the time in Nigeria, was hanged in 1995 by that country’s military regime after protesting Shell's environmental practices in the oil-rich delta, especially in his native Ogoni region. |
| INDONESIA: Scramble for coal assets in Indonesia by Sundeep Tucker and John Aglionby, Financial Times June 7th, 2009 Some of the world’s largest energy groups are scrambling to acquire coal mining assets in Indonesia as family-run conglomerates consider divestments to raise cash. Peabody Energy, the US coal miner, and Xstrata, the Anglo-Swiss miner, are believed to be among those interested. Industry analysts said Chinese, South Korean, Indian and Middle Eastern companies were also scouring Indonesia for assets. |
| GHANA: Energy groups lured by Ghana’s Kosmos by Carola Hoyos, Financial Times June 4th, 2009 Big international energy groups and state-owned oil companies from China and India are circling Kosmos Energy for its Ghanaian oilfield assets, which have been valued at $3bn-$6bn by analysts. The sale could open an oil corridor off the west African coast, stretching as far north-west as Sierra Leone. |
| FINLAND: In Finland, Nuclear Renaissance Runs Into Trouble by James Kanter, New York Times May 28th, 2009 As the Obama administration tries to steer America toward cleaner sources of energy, it would do well to consider the cautionary tale of this new-generation nuclear reactor site. The massive power plant under construction on muddy terrain on this Finnish island was supposed to be the showpiece of a nuclear renaissance. But things have not gone as planned. |
| US: Chevron annual meeting heats up over Ecuador suit by Jordan Robertson, Washington Post May 27th, 2009 In a combative and sometimes colorful annual meeting, Chevron's CEO and chairman exchanged barbs with activists over pollution in the Amazon rain forest and the company's human rights record. The nation's second-largest oil company is awaiting a verdict from a judge in Ecuador that could come with a $27 billion price tag. |
| US: U.S. Cracks Down on Corporate Bribes by DIONNE SEARCEY, Wall Street Journal May 26th, 2009 The Justice Department is increasing its prosecutions of alleged acts of foreign bribery by U.S. corporations, forcing them to take costly steps to defend against scrutiny. The crackdown under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA -- a post-Watergate law largely dormant for decades -- now extends across five continents and penetrates entire industries. |
| US: Protesters await Chevron meeting by David R. Baker, Houston Chronicle May 26th, 2009 When Chevron Corp. shareholders gather Wednesday morning in the company’s suburban San Ramon headquarters for their annual meeting, the protesters will be waiting. A coalition of environmental and human rights groups offered a preview Tuesday when they released their own alternate annual report for Chevron. Dubbed “The True Cost of Chevron,” it accuses the company of polluting the Amazon, Canada, Kazakhstan and Richmond, as well as collaborating with repressive regimes in Burma and Nigeria. |
| EUROPE: Greenpeace warns on Shell oil sands projects by Carola Hoyos, Financial Times May 18th, 2009 A study by Greenpeace and several other environmental groups has concluded that Royal Dutch Shell's carbon intensity will rise 85 per cent as it develops its oil and gas fields in the coming years. Campaigners warn Shell’s investors that this disadvantages the company vis a vis its peers as US and European policymakers move towards a broad cap-and-trade system to limit carbon emissions. Shell’s growing carbon intensity stems from its resource base, which is heavily made up of Canadian oil and Nigerian gas. |
| UK: Shell faces investor fury over pay, pollution and human rights by Terry Macalister, The Guardian May 17th, 2009 |
| ECUADOR: In Ecuador, Resentment of an Oil Company Oozes by SIMON ROMERO and CLIFFORD KRAUSS, New York Times May 14th, 2009 Texaco, the American oil company that Chevron acquired in 2001, once poured oil waste into pits used decades ago for drilling wells in Ecuador's northeastern jungle. Texaco’s roughnecks are long gone, but black gunk from the pits seeps to the topsoil here and in dozens of other spots. These days the only Chevron employees who visit the former oil fields do so escorted by bodyguards toting guns. They represent one side in a bitter fight that is developing into the world’s largest environmental lawsuit, with $27 billion in potential damages. |
| WORLD: When Chevron Hires Ex-Reporter to Investigate Pollution, Chevron Looks Good by Brian Stelter, New York Times May 10th, 2009 When Chevron learned that “60 Minutes” was preparing a potentially damaging report about oil company contamination of the Amazon rain forest in Ecuador, it hired a former journalist to produce a mirror image of the report, from the corporation’s point of view. An Ecuadorean judge is expected to rule soon on whether Chevron owes up to $27 billion in damages. |