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Can BP redeem itself with a second chance in the Gulf of Mexico?
Lucy Wallwork Natural ResourcesIn March, the ban imposed on BP and its subsidiaries on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico was lifted for the first time since the disastrous Deepwater Horizon blowout flooded U.S. waters with 4.9 million barrels of crude in April 2010.
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Has US oil consumption decreased because of peak oil?
Stefanie Heerwig Natural ResourcesSince 2008, U.S. oil consumption has declined by more than 20 percent, giving peak-oil theorists their confirmation — world crude oil production is decreasing. And no matter how much U.S. production increases, everyone will feel the squeeze in the face of rising international oil prices.
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Can Russian gas go west? China’s role in Europe’s energy standoff
Lucy Wallwork Natural ResourcesSpeculation rumbles on over the implications of targeted sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the European Union on key figures in Russian President Vladimir Putin's administration. In response, Russia has been playing the China card.
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Women in oil and gas: Why the US may be lagging behind
Lucy Wallwork Natural ResourcesNumerous studies reaffirm the contribution of women to the workplace across all industries. But in the oil and gas sector — an industry with a lingering reputation of an "old boys' club" — it somehow still seems more of an uphill struggle to achieve meaningful participation by women.
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Are electric cars an efficient renewable energy policy?
Stefanie Heerwig Natural ResourcesIn his 2011 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama set an ambitious goal — for the United States to become the first country in the world with 1 million electric cars on its roads by 2015. In fact, the U.S. currently has the largest electric car fleet in the world.
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The role of American gas in the US-Russia sanctions dance
Lucy Wallwork Natural ResourcesMany doubt that the tit-for-tat sanctions against Russia seen so far will expand to anything more meaningful, given the billions invested by Russian oligarchs and businesses in Europe. But market sentiment suggests otherwise.
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Managing bribery risk as the FCPA bares its teeth
Lucy Wallwork Natural ResourcesIn the first few months of 2014, the SEC has already brought as many enforcement actions under the Foreign and Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) as through all of 2013. These enforcements span a range of business sectors, but there are a number of reasons why the global oil and gas sector is specifically exposed to bribery risk.
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Big data and big oil — a perfect marriage?
Stefanie Heerwig Natural ResourcesBig oil and gas companies are finding new ways to extract data streams, combine them, merge them and gain insights that can optimize their businesses, increase profits and save the environment. We're talking about big oil meeting big data.
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Energy and revolution in the Ukraine
Lucy Wallwork Natural ResourcesIf we look a little deeper in the Ukraine, the question of energy has played no small role in the eruption of violence on the streets of Kiev, where Ukrainians rely on Russian gas for over 50 percent of their energy needs. Where revolution comes, energy never lies far beneath the surface.
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Solar energy process technology developments to watch
Don Rosato ManufacturingSystem considerations such as reliability, overall energy production rate and competitiveness in the Levelized Cost of Energy are dominating solar energy or photovoltaic maturation as subsidized manufacturing is replaced by true grid parity.
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