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Anger grows across the world at the real price of ‘frontier oil’
June 21, 2010
Richard Wachman and Jon Stibbs, The Observer
The eyes of the world are on BP after the disaster that left oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico at the rate of 50,000 gallons a day. But campaigners accuse Big Oil of an appalling track record elsewhere in the world, saying it leaves a trail of devastation in its wake.
From Nigeria to Kazakhstan in Central Asia, and Colombia and Ecuador in South America, the oil majors stand accused of a blatant disregard for local communities and the environments in which they operate.
With demand for energy expected to surge as industrialisation accelerates in China, India and Brazil, critics say oil companies are taking ever-increasing risks to cash in on yet another bonanza.
Two other factors ensure the dash for oil continues apace. One is growing concern in the developed world that, at some point in the next 30 years, demand could outstrip supply. That means governments are under pressure to make it easier for firms to look for oil in inhospitable areas, whether in deep water off the US or in the tar sands of Canada.
Secondly, western governments want to reduce their dependence on unstable regimes in the Middle East, which partly explains the recent US move to lift restrictions on drilling in Alaska.
All this could change if the world made a determined attempt to invest more heavily in renewable energy sources, but international initiatives take time. In the interim, the oil majors face a barrage of criticism from environmental and human rights campaigners in places thousands of miles away from BP’s sunken Deepwater Horizon rig.
