Revelation That UK Gov Lobbied for Big Oil in Brazil Sparks Political Fallout

News that the UK lobbied Brazil on behalf of Shell and BP has sparked a political fallout in Brazil.

Joe Sandler Clarke
By Joe Sandler Clarke
Top photo | UK Trade Minister Greg Hands, pictured center right) meets with Brazilian officials ahead of on March 21, 2017. (Photo: Twitter)

An attempt by Liam Fox’s Department for International Trade (DIT) to lobby on behalf of Shell and BP while the companies looked to secure lucrative oil blocks off the coast of Brazil has led to a major political controversy in the country. The political furor was triggered by a diplomatic telegram obtained by Unearthed under Freedom of

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Accidentally Un-Redacted Cable Reveals How the British Government Lobbied Brazil on Behalf of BP and Shell

Key information in the diplomatic cable was mistakenly highlighted, instead of being redacted.

Joe Sandler Clarke
By Joe Sandler Clarke
A flare from the the Petrobras offshore ship platform FPSO Cidade de Angra dos Reis is seen on the day the first oil sample was taken from the pre-salt layer of Tupi field in Santos Bay off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (AP/Felipe Dana)

A minister from Liam Fox’s Department for International Trade (DIT) lobbied the Brazilian government to smooth the path for BP and Shell to secure oil blocks in the country’s controversial pre-salt region, according to a diplomatic cable that officials accidentally failed to redact. The document – obtained by Unearthed – details a March trip to

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BP’s Solution To Amazon Reef Spill Is A Coral Killing Chemical

Corexit is a chemical dispersant which was used extensively during the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, despite evidence that the chemical had harmful effects on sea life in the Gulf of Mexico, BP plans to use it in the case of a spill in the sensitive ecosystem of the Amazon Reef.

Joe Sandler Clarke
By Joe Sandler Clarke
This Wednesday, April 21, 2010 aerial photo shows oil in the Gulf of Mexico, more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, as the Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns.

BP plans to use chemicals that kill off coral larvae in the event of an oil spill near a unique coral reef in the mouth of the Amazon river. The British oil giant intends to drill in the region in August 2018. The company’s environmental impact assessment (EIA), submitted to the Brazilian authorities for the project, submitted in 2015, states it

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Oil Giants Admit Risk Of Spill In Drilling Project Near Amazon Reef

The reef – which is largely undocumented – is believed to be more than a thousand miles long, stretching from the southern tip of French Guiana to Brazil’s Maranhão State.

Zachary Davies Boren
By Zachary Davies Boren
People stand together to spell out a message that reads in Portuguese: "Defend the Amazon coral reef", on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 29, 2017. The event is a protest organized by the non-governmental environmental group Greenpeace against announced plans to explore for oil in the Amazon River Basin. (AP/Mario Lobao)

The controversial offshore oil drilling project in the mouth of the Amazon river could pose a significant risk to the mysterious nearby coral reef, according to documents filed by Total and BP. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for drilling blocks shared by the European oil giants claims there is an up to 30% chance that a prospective

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BP, Total Set To Drill Near Newly Discovered Amazonian Coral Reef

The discovery of the reef has raised concerns that oil exploration in the area poses a threat to a vast ecosystem that isn’t yet understood.

Lawrence Carter
By Lawrence Carter

BP and Total are planning to drill for oil near a recently discovered coral reef off the coast of Brazil, Energydesk can reveal. Together the oil majors own five deepwater exploration licences in the Foz do Amazonas (Mouth of the Amazon River) basin and are expected to be granted permits to begin exploratory drilling early this year – once their

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What’s Behind BP’s Decision To Abandon Drilling In The Great Australian Bight?

Taken at face value, one could applaud BP’s decision to finally pull the plug on the project rather than stubbornly struggle on.

Energydesk
By Energydesk
The Great Australian Bight is a large open bay off the southern coastline of mainland Australia.

While BP’s decision to cancel its plans to drill in the pristine Great Australian Bight ends a public relations nightmare for the company, questions remain about BP’s and its peers’ growth-led and frontier-dependent business model. BP’s announcement binning its Bight ambitions suggests that the project is no longer competitive or aligned with

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