Human rights activists from across the African continent that converged in Durban, South Africa recently for a conference which was convened by Oilwatch Africa and Groundwork South Africa have warned that Africa is facing another round of colonisation that threatens livelihoods and ecology. The thrust of the conference was the renewed focus on Africa as one of the fastest growing sources of oil and gas for the global markets amidst tightening oil supplies, spike in oil prices, low sulphur content of the oil found in Africa and an equally growing appetite for fuel by emerging global economic powers like China, India and Korea.

On 28 May 2006 hydrogen sulfide gas leaked from a gas exploration rig in Sidoarjo, Java, Indonesia. Shortly after the leak hot mud and boiling water erupted from the ground close to the site at a rate of thousands of liters a minute. Within hours the mud was inundating nearby villages.

 

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Letter to the editor
Monday, October 27, 2008
Executive Order Nos. 9, released by Gov. Gwen Garcia ordering the Department of Energy and its cohorts in destroying our marine environment and dislocating the rights of fisherfolk to stop its destructive activities, is nevertheless a victory.

Launch of report on Chinese Oil and Gas investment in Burma
Tuesday, October 21, 10.00 am - 11.00 am (FCCT, Bangkok)
Tuesday, October 21, 6–7 pm (Chiiang Mai)

Arakan Oil Watch will launch "Blocking Freedom," a report describing the disruptive impacts of recent Chinese oil exploration on Ramree Island in western Burma, where local oil workers have extracted oil by traditional methods for centuries.

An International Fact-Finding Mission (IFFM) today declared that it found overwhelming evidence that off-shore mining exploration activities of foreign transnational companies in marine biodiversity centers in Central Visayas,  Philippines violates the social, economic, and cultural rights of thousands of fisherfolk and encroaches upon the country’s national patrimony and sovereignty.

By Ma. Bernadette A. Parco
Cebu Daily News
First Posted 08:51:00 10/23/2008


A fact-finding monitoring team composed of non-government organizations (NGO) from Asian countries called on the national government to end oil exploration activities in the Visayas.

Block 31, which is also located in the heart of Ecuador's Yasuní national park, was untill recently licenced to be exploited by Petrobras. It was licitated in 1996, long before the proposal to keep to oil underground in ITT was born.

We stand at a crossroads.  The facts are clear. Global climate change, caused by human activities, is happening, threatening the lives and livelihoods of billions of people and the existence of millions of species.  Social movements, environmental groups, and scientists from all over the world are calling for urgent and radical action on climate
change.

UPDATE 1-Petrobras to return Amazon oilfield to Ecuador
Sat Sep 20, 2008 4:57pm EDT

QUITO, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Brazilian oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has agreed to give back to Ecuador a controversial oilfield in the heart of the Amazon jungle, President Rafael Correa said on Saturday.