All Blog Posts from Investigative Round-Up

New York Times:
Brazil’s national oil company, Petrobras, has come under scrutiny in an investigation that threatens to complicate government efforts to wring more revenue from the deepwater oil fields that are expected to transform the country into a global energy power.
(Read the article)

El Khabar:
Algerian security services have warned security companies operating in oil plants in southern Algeria against potential terror attacks on oil installations and foreign staff members working in oil companies, the Algerian el Khabar daily reported today.

According to the report, the 4th Military Region Commandment and Regional Brigade at National Gendarmerie in Ourgla southern province asked security companies to prepare a list of potential targets and advised them to step up security around the premises.
(Read the article in Arabic)

CBS News:
About the only economic break most Americans have gotten in the last six months has been the drastic drop in the price of oil, which has fallen even more precipitously than it rose. In a year's time, a commodity that was theoretically priced according to supply and demand doubled from $69 a barrel to nearly $150, and then, in a period of just three months, crashed along with the stock market.
(Read the article)

The Guardian:
Somali pirates who seized a Saudi supertanker with two British crew on board claim to have released the vessel and its crew today after receiving a $3m (£1.9m) ransom.
(read the article

Washington Post:
Just two months ago, spiking petroleum prices were emboldening confrontational oil exporters such as Venezuela, Russia and Iran, fueling inflation anxiety at the Federal Reserve, raising expectations at American biofuel producers, and crimping the budgets of airlines and ordinary households alike.
(read the article)

BBC News:
The US energy regulator has taken civil action against a Dutch-based oil trading firm and three top employees for manipulating crude oil prices.
(read the article)

AP:
The State Department's inspector general is investigating Iraqi oil contracts after four Democratic senators complained that department employees may have encouraged lucrative oil deals between Iraq and several Western companies.
(read the article)

New York Times:
Bush administration officials knew that a Texas oil company with close ties to President Bush was planning to sign an oil deal with the regional Kurdistan government that ran counter to American policy and undercut Iraq’s central government, a Congressional committee has concluded.
(read the article)

Financial Times:
Why The London Loophole Should Be Closed
On June 12, US Senator Richard Durbin introduced legislation to provide the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal agency that oversees commodity derivatives markets in the US, with regulatory authority to oversee trading activity in oil markets. This was followed by an announcement from the CFTC that it would change its policy relating to US traders' ability to execute contracts in West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil contracts. There would be nothing remarkable about these actions, except for one thing: the activity that is being targeted takes place on a foreign exchange - in London.
(read the article)

The Atlantic Journal-Constitution:
Speculators Aren't Driving Oil Prices, ICE Says
IntercontinentalExchange is cooperating with regulators in their efforts to restrict oil traiding, but the Atlanta-based company insists that speculation is not the reason for soaring prices.
(read the article)

Wall Street Journal: [Subscription Service]
Oil Speculation Draws Scrutiny
Lawmakers eager to curb speculation in oil markets got support Monday from witnesses who told a House subcommittee that oil prices could fall sharply if Congress put strict limits on trading in energy futures by investment banks, pension funds and other financial investors.
(read the article)

Washington Post:
A multi-billion-dollar government program designed to reward oil and gas companies for drilling in expensive locales is plagued with bad business practices, according to an inspector general's report released last week from the Department of the Interior.
(read the article)