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So how does the experience of Sarah Palin stack up against the experience of Joe Biden? Just ask British PetroleumWould you trust Sarah Palin to negotiate with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without preconditions? Well, why not? Palin came into the governor's office and found a mess on her desk. The oil deal struck by defeated Republican governor Frank Murkowski wasn't working. Through creative accounting by big oil and ambiguous reporting standards, the Murkowski plan just wasn't giving the State of Alaska the pay-off that was expected. So the former mayor of Wasilla (population 9,000, as the MSM always points out) demanded that...

LONDON (Reuters) - BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday exports of Azeri oil from Turkey should resume next week after repairs to the $4 billion (2.1 billion pounds) Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline damaged by a fire two weeks ago. The line can pump up to 1 million barrels per day of oil, equal to more than 1 percent of world supply, from fields in the Azeri part of the Caspian Sea to Ceyhan in Turkey. Its closure had supported world oil prices, which fell initially on news that it was reopening. "We've taken the decision to start dynamic integrity...

Russian jets targeted a key oil pipeline with over 50 missiles in a weekend bombing raid in Georgia that raised fears the conflict will tighten Moscow's stranglehold on Europe's energy supplies. Deep craters pockmark the landscape south of the Georgian capital Tblisi in a Y-shaped pattern straddling the British-operated pipeline. The attack left two deep holes less than 100 yards either side of a pressure vent on the pipeline. Shrapnel of highly engineered munitions litters the area. There was no visible damage to the pipeline. Its vulnerability is summed up by a yellow hazard sign next to the vent warning...

The war in Georgia escalated dangerously last night after Russian jets reportedly bombed a vital pipeline that supplies oil to the West. After a day of heightening international tensions, Georgian leaders claimed that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which transports oil from the Caspian Sea to Turkey, had been attacked. But it is thought the bombs missed their target. Their claims came after Russian jets struck deep into the territory of its tiny neighbour, killing civilians and ‘completely devastating’ the strategic Black Sea port of Poti, a staging post for oil and other energy supplies. Georgian economic development minister Ekaterina Sharashidzne said:...

Excerpt - MOSCOW (AFP)--British-Russian oil company TNK-BP chief executive, Robert Dudley, has been summoned to appear before Russian prosecutors on Monday to explain "violations" of labor laws by his company, Interfax news agency reported Saturday. Dudley "temporarily" left Russia this week, the company said Thursday, saying he would run the company from outside the country. ~ snip ~

TNK-BP: something rotten in the state of Russia David Wighton: Business Editor’s commentary With its tail between its legs, Britain's biggest company is being all but chased out of Russia. BP will try to put a brave face on the retreat of Bob Dudley, still nominally chief executive of TNK-BP, to the safety of St James's Square. But it does not look good. When you wish to assert your authority, the best way to conduct business is not by e-mail from an office thousands of miles away. If BP is to avoid a de facto transfer of management authority to...

ASHINGTON - Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is giving oil companies permission to annoy and potentially harm them in the pursuit of oil and natural gas.

BP has upped the stakes in its battle for control of its Russian joint venture, by accusing Vladimir Putin of damaging his country's reputation through failing to intervene in the escalating dispute. John Sutherland, the BP chairman, used a press conference in Stockholm to lament the prime minister's lack of action to halt oligarchs using strong-arm tactics to try to take control of TNK-BP. "This is just a return to the corporate raiding activities that were prevalent in Russia in the 1990s. Prime minister Putin has referred to these tactics as relics of the 1990s, but unfortunately our partners continue...

LONDON (Reuters) - A pipeline carrying nearly half of Britain's oil was closed on Sunday as a strike over pensions began at the neighboring Grangemouth refinery in Scotland, operator BP said. The refinery, owned by international chemical company Ineos, produces a tenth of Britain's petrol and diesel but also supplies vital steam to BP's Kinneil plant that starts to process the crude oil coming ashore from 70 North Sea fields. Unions have rejected pleas to operate the steam plant at the level necessary to keep Kinneil functioning during the two-day stoppage which began at 6 a.m. (1 a.m. EDT)....

House Speaker John Harris is threatening to hold hearings on whether owners of the shipping company that hauls North Slope crude oil for BP are skimping on tanker maintenance. Harris, R-Valdez, recently fired letters to top executives of three firms that jointly own Alaska Tanker Co., the operator of BP's troubled tanker fleet. Harris, said he wrote the letters after ATC's president, Anil Mathur, came to him and said he was having difficulties with the company owners. Harris wrote that he understood Mathur had been "warned and put on notice by you ... for poor behavior" after funding for tanker...

A senior executive at TNK-BP told us a few months ago that the oil company was "a poster child" for foreign investment in Russia. So it is turning out to be, only not in the way that he intended. Blessed by Vladimir Putin at its creation in 2003, BP's Russian joint venture is now getting the standard Kremlin treatment. Yesterday a "bureaucratic" visa problem forced the British company to send home 148 expatriate workers. Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry launched a "tax evasion" probe into a TNK-BP unit. And last week, the (renamed) KGB raided the oil company's Moscow offices and...

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday it had arrested Ilya Zaslavsky, an employee of TNK-BP, and his brother Alexander, on suspicion of industrial espionage. The arrest on spying charges of an employee with oil major BP's Russian joint venture has nothing to do with Moscow's strained relations with Britain, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday. Both men have ties to the British Council, the government's cultural arm. The arrests, which followed raids on TNK-BP's headquarters and BP's Moscow office, were interpreted by analysts as a signal that the Russian authorities had decided to target the joint venture,...

Over the years, investors in Russia have grown accustomed to the unexpected. Often, just when things seem to have calmed down, the next bombshell is right around the corner. That's surely the only way to describe the extraordinary news that a manager from TNK-BP, British Petroleum's Russian joint venture, and his brother, who works for the British Council, have been arrested and accused of spying. The arrests came less than three weeks after Russia's election of a new President, Dmitry Medvedev, which seemed to send a reassuring message of liberalism and stability (BusinessWeek.com, 3/3/08). Remarkably, they also occurred just one...

Russia targets UK interests with 'spy' arrests By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow Last Updated: 2:08am GMT 21/03/2008

Russian police have raided the Moscow offices of the oil giant BP and its joint venture TNK-BP. The searches have renewed fears that the Russian government wants greater control of foreign-owned energy assets. There is market speculation that the Kremlin would like the state-owned gas firm Gazprom to buy the stakes of BP's Russian partners in TNK-BP. Last year, TNK-BP was forced to sell its stake in the Kovykta gas field at a discount price to Gazprom. In 2006, Shell was forced to cede control of its Sakhalin gas field to Gazprom. "We will co-operate with the authorities but we...

A former Border Patrol agent and his wife, who also own the restaurant Burger Patrol, were arrested Thursday on charges of conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants.An indictment unsealed in federal court Friday alleges that on three occasions in 2007, David Cruz, 32, and Susana Lopez-Portillo De Cruz, 35, conspired to transport illegal immigrants by motor vehicle. The indictment alleges that the couple transported 10 illegal immigrants on Jan. 23 and eight on July 21. David Cruz served as a Border Patrol agent from March 2002 until he resigned in September 2007, said Greg Salinas, an agency spokesman. Salinas could not...

Foreign News Report 01-06-08 By: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS Cambio de Michoacan (Morelia, Mich.) 1/5/08 note: yesterday's report carried a single quote from Eduardo Medina Mora, Mexico's Attorney General, during an interview with the Spanish newspaper "El Pais"; what follows is a translation of the article about the interview, including more quotes and a Q&A session. "The PGR (note: the Mex. Dep't. of Justice) reports that city police protect narco" One year after Felipe Calderon's arrival at the Presidency of Mexico, the battle against drug traffic continues to be the largest challenge for the state. From his...

An off-duty Border Patrol agent shot two men after he caught them burglarizing his vehicle early Saturday morning, he told police.Gilbert Sanchez, 18, was grazed by a bullet and treated by paramedics, then arrested, said Officer Ernesto Elizondo, a spokesman for the Laredo Police Department. Another man, whose name was not released because he had not been arrested, was taken to Doctors Hospital with bullet wounds to his back and right arm, said Eloy Vega, a spokesman for the Laredo Fire Department. The injuries did not appear to be life threatening, and the man remained conscious throughout the incident, Vega...

Oil hit $100 a barrel last week, but scandal and corruption still stalk the industry, reports Iain Dey Doug Suttles, a senior executive at BP, had more than his fair share of bad news over Christmas. While most of the western world was eating turkey, the lawmakers in the area he runs for the British oil giant decided to throw their weight about. The authorities on Suttles' turf decided to press ahead with a big rise in tax on oil companies. On Boxing Day, they upheld a decision to withdraw exploration licences awarded to BP and other large oil producers....

Agents' Defense Tactics Causing Controversy SAN YSIDRO -- The Border Patrol released photos Friday of attacks on agents that they say have led to the use of pepper spray and tear gas in Mexican border neighborhoods. Officials said that escalating violence at the U.S.-Mexico border is forcing agents to take new measures, and the new tactics are creating controversy. Since October 1, there have been 90 assaults against Border Patrol agents in the San Diego area, according to officials. The violence is most common just east of the San Ysidro port of entry along a 2-mile stretch of border, in...

Jordan Andrew Davidson pleaded guilty Tuesday to the attempted killing of Jesus Humberto Aguilar, a Border Patrol agent.The 21-year-old, living in Bryan at the time of his arrest, pleaded to one count of attempted murder of an officer or employee of the U.S. and one count of using a firearm during a violent crime. He was arrested earlier this year in Nuevo Laredo after he shot Aguilar in the hand and fled across the Rio Grande. The attempted murder charge holds a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and the use of a firearm charge could add up...

A national review board created to protect the rights of federal employees has ordered the U.S. Border Patrol to reinstate an agent cleared of felony charges earlier this year. Former agent David Sipe was acquitted in January of using excessive force while arresting a group of illegal immigrants outside Peñitas in April 2000. Since then, Sipe has tried to return to work, but the Border Patrol has refused to re-hire him, his attorney, Jack Wolfe, said. “He’s basically had seven years of his life taken away from him with his trial,” he said. “And he still wants to go back...

A public-interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption says it has obtained a videotape of a Border Patrol sector chief which could shed light on the illegal immigration problem in the United States. Judicial Watch (JW) says it obtained the videotape and transcript of an August 15, 2007, town hall meeting in Laredo, Texas, through the Freedom of Information Act. JW president Tom Fitton says Laredo Sector Chief Carlos Carrillo told the audience that the Border Patrol's job is not to stop illegal aliens, narcotics, or criminals, but to keep the nation safe by stopping terrorists and terrorist weapons...

Mayor-elect Jack Wilson deserves kudos for convening his ex-officio task force on immigration this past week even before he takes office. At least it's a recognition of how serious the problem is. All of the usual suspects showed up with all of the usual comments, to wit: • City Attorney Gary Kidd said anything the city does to fight illegal immigration likely will elicit a federal or civil libertarian legal challenge. He's right, but that's exactly why the city should push. For the past 50 years, the Washington establishment has done nothing about the problem while zealously claiming exclusive jurisdiction....

After the CEO of Total (the French oil major) last week, two more CEOs of an oil major came out this Thursday to give stark warnings that mean that peak oil is happening right now. In addition, the chief economist of the International Energy Agency (the IEA), one of the main cheerleaders of the "there's more than enough oil" camp until now, is giving an extraordinarily pessimistic interview in the Financial Times, following the recent publication of their latest World Energy Outlook. Let me take you through all their affirmations. Big Oil CEOs Point To Constraints On Supply Growth HOUSTON...

A group of congressmen is demanding an investigation into the treatment of two former Border Patrol agents in prison for shooting an admitted drug dealer near the Mexican border, saying the conditions are far worse than those of suspected terrorists being held at the U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican, and Rep. John Culberson, Texas Republican — who have championed the fight for Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean — will deliver a letter detailing their concerns today to Attorney General-designate Michael B. Mukasey. More than three dozen House members have signed it. Ramos...

Everyone seems to think that ethanol is a good way to make cars greener. Everyone is wrong SOMETIMES you do things simply because you know how to. People have known how to make ethanol since the dawn of civilisation, if not before. Take some sugary liquid. Add yeast. Wait. They have also known for a thousand years how to get that ethanol out of the formerly sugary liquid and into a more or less pure form. You heat it up, catch the vapour that emanates, and cool that vapour down until it liquefies. The result burns. And when Henry Ford...

The U.S. CBP Border Patrol is joining with America's Team to help recruit more than 4,000 new agents the federal agency wants to hire before the end of 2008.Saturday afternoon, Laredo sector's Border Patrol Chief Carlos X. Carrillo announced the Laredo sector of BP is an official sponsor of the Dallas Cowboys. "The sponsorship will highlight career opportunities for men and women interested in a career with the Border Patrol," Carrillo said. "To become a Dallas Cowboy, it requires talent, hard work and dedication. To become a Border Patrol agent, it requires the same type of characteristics." The marketing campaign...

Laredo Border Patrol Chief Carlos X. Carrillo's presentation at an Aug. 15 town hall meeting will be broadcast Sunday at 10 a.m. on 'KGNS Issues 8,' Time Warner Channel 10.Carrillo's comments during that presentation about his agency's mission, reported by Laredo Morning Times, caused controversy as his comments were disseminated across the Internet. The comments drew angry response from those who favor strong laws restricting immigration as well as from a Colorado congressman. The chief has since claimed several times that the LMT article had "inaccuracies" and that he was taken out of context. He also has said the reporter...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Texas have been ordered to abbreviate national security checks at one of the nation"s busiest ports of entry to speed up travel between the United States and Mexico, according to official documents and multiple interviews with agents. An Aug. 16 memorandum from CBP El Paso field office Director Luis Garcia directs agents to limit inspections of vehicle and pedestrian border crossers as wait times escalate. The document, obtained by The Washington Times, sets new guidelines that border inspectors say undermine efforts to prevent terrorists and other criminals from entering the United States. The...

HUDSPETH COUNTY, TX. - A driver led El Paso and Hudspeth County Sheriff's deputies in a chase along the interstate Wednesday morning. Border Patrol Spokesman Doug Mosier confirms the incident involved hundreds of pounds of marijuana in a stolen 2005 GMC Yukon. The SUV came across the river approximately 1 mile east of the the port of entry. Border Patrol agents observed the vehicle and began pursuit, attempting to make an immigration stop. The vehicle failed to yield and continued on Interstate 10 West towards Fabens. The SUV then made a U-turn and began heading south, El Paso and Hudspeth...

Meager Expectations We've long become accustomed to typical behavior from given groups. For example, when it comes to bureaucracies like the EPA, no one would be shocked to find it infested with anal-retentive types so focused on what they perceive as the crucial details of their job they long-ago lost sight of the big picture. With the EPA, there's at least a potential upside. The environment is far cleaner now than back when Richard Nixon signed it into existence. In the decades since, it has made major gains over pollution and have been proven at times to be a pyrrhic...

A Border Patrol chief at one of the nation's most dangerous Southwest border crossings says the agency's mission doesn't include apprehending illegal aliens or seizing narcotics — perplexing front-line agents and angering a congressional critic of illegal immigration. "I've said it before and I'll say it again," Carlos X. Carrillo, Border Patrol chief of Laredo, Texas, told guests at a town-hall meeting Thursday. "The Border Patrol's job is not to stop illegal immigrants. The Border Patrol's job is not to stop narcotics. ... The Border Patrol's mission is not to stop criminals. "The Border Patrol's mission is to stop terrorists...

SAN ANTONIO — A congressman who has been an outspoken critic of illegal immigration called for the removal Friday of the Border Patrol's chief in Laredo, saying his recent comments about the role of the agency make him unfit for the job. Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican and long-shot presidential candidate, said Carlos X. Carrillo's remarks in a town hall meeting were "diametrically opposed" to the Border Patrol's mission. Carrillo spoke Aug. 15 in Laredo, a border community intimately connected by commerce and family with Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. At the meeting, Carrillo said, "The Border Patrol's job is not...

SAN DIEGO — Leather belts with brass buckles are out; nylon belts with quick-release plastic buckles are in. Slacks are out; lightweight cargo pants are in. Shiny badges and nameplates are out; cloth patches are in. The Border Patrol uniform is getting its first makeover since the 1950s to look more like military fatigues and less like a police officer's duty garb. The new uniform, introduced this week, reflects how illegal border crossings have changed in the last decade. As enforcement heightened, routes moved from the streets of San Diego and other border cities to unforgiving, often remote mountains and...

Border Patrol agents dont have the responsibility of apprehending illegal immigrants, Carlos X. Carrillo, chief patrol agent for the Laredo sector, said at a town hall meeting Wednesday."The Border Patrol is not equipped to stop illegal immigrants," Carrillo said, noting that illegal narcotics are also not on the agents priority list. "The Border Patrol mission is not to do any of those things," he emphasized. The Border Patrols mission is to keep the country safe from terrorist and terrorist weapons, he said. Carrillo added that when and if terrorists come into the country, the agents will be ready. During a...

AGUA DULCE — Border Patrol agents early Friday continued to search for several undocumented immigrants who left the scene of a train wreck Thursday in Agua Dulce. Three people died and four others were injured Thursday evening when a train hit a truck near Agua Dulce, a Texas Department of Public Safety official said. Oscar Saldaña, Border Patrol spokesman, said Friday that Border Patrol agents were looking for several other undocumented immigrants who were in the truck at the time of the accident. They fled before authorities arrived. A Kansas City Southern train struck the truck, which was attempting to...

Mexico is demanding the United States conduct an investigation following the shooting death of a man who allegedly tried to cross the border into the U.S. illegally. U.S. authorities say a border patrol agent shot and killed a suspected smuggler of illegal immigrants on Wednesday at the fence that separates the southern U.S. city of El Paso, Texas, from Mexico. U.S. authorities say the man tried to hit the agent with a rock and was holding bolt cutters in his other hand. Mexico's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that the Mexican government opposes the use of lethal weapons "in...

Border Talk 3 I was told that this is a hysterical story and to share it with everybody. So, here it is! July 5,2007 I've been busy! Called in 4 illegal aliens while I was on my way to do some work at the front gate (Gretchen, my German Shepherd, helped again). They loaded into a BP vehicle and I went back to my tack room to get something else. Came back out to the road and another illegal was waving me down from the King Ranch side. He wanted a ride to Houston (Katy) and had some friends (4...

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators have extended their investigation into alleged oil market manipulation at BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research), probing trades going back an additional four years, a spokesman for the oil major said on Friday. BP said in a statement the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice were investigating aspects of BP's commodity trading activities, including crude oil trading and storage activities, in the US since 1999. The spokesman said BP had previously reported that regulators were only looking into crude trades from 2003. Regulators have also investigated BP for alleged propane markets...

BISBEE, Arizona -- An Arizona judge ruled on Monday that a U.S. Border Patrol agent must stand trial for murder for shooting dead a Mexican immigrant in a case that prompted condemnation and increased tensions with Mexico. Agent Nicholas Corbett was charged in April on four counts of homicide in connection with the January 12 shooting death of Francisco Dominguez Rivera shortly after he crossed a stretch of desert border between Douglas and Naco. Cochise County Justice of the Peace David Morales ruled on Monday the evidence supported lesser charges of second degree murder in the shooting, but tossed charges...

January shooting death of entrant nets 4 charges - A preliminary hearing to determine whether a Border Patrol agent should be charged with murder for fatally shooting a Mexican man just north of the border is set for Monday in Bisbee. Nicholas Corbett, 39, was charged April 23 with four counts of homicide in connection with the Jan. 12 shooting death of Francisco Javier Domínguez Rivera, 22, of Puebla, Mexico, about 150 yards north of the border, between Bisbee and Douglas. The shooting occurred as Corbett was trying to detain Domínguez Rivera and his brothers and sister-in-law who had entered...

The Border Patrol is beefing up its forces with thousands of new agents, and for some, that also means training their four-legged partners. Dogs play an increasingly important role in border security, and KENS 5 got a look inside the National Canine Facility in El Paso. Clay Thomas and his partner Jacko the dog search vehicles during a demonstration at the canine training facility, and in a matter of seconds, it's clear to Jacko that there's something — or someone — hidden in a truck. Jacko has a proven track record at real checkpoints, having found more than 200 people...

A BP refinery in Indiana will be allowed to continue to dump mercury into Lake Michigan under a permit issued by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. The permit exempts the BP plant at Whiting, Ind., 3 miles southeast of Chicago, from a 1995 federal regulation limiting mercury discharges into the Great Lakes to 1.3 ounces per year.

‘Buy Feed Corn: They’re about to stop making it…’ F. William Engdahl July 26 2007 That bowl of Kellogg’s Cornflakes on the breakfast table, or the portion of pasta or corn tortillas, cheese or meat on the table is going to rise in price over the coming months as sure as the sun rises in the East. Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the new world food price shock, conveniently timed to accompany our current world oil price shock. Curiously it’s ominously similar in many respects to the early 1970’s when prices for oil and food both exploded by several hundred...

ABRAM -- A man who shot at a U.S. Border Patrol agent this weekend remains at large, federal authorities said Sunday. No injuries were reported in the Saturday attack, the details of which are still under investigation, local FBI spokesman Jorge Cisneros said. The incident occurred in the small border community of Abram, near Penitas, where an agent attempted to pull over a suspected smuggler around 10 a.m. The man attacked the agent, who fired at least two shots in self-defense. At some point during the stop, the alleged smuggler fired back but missed the agent. How many shots were...

EL PASO, Texas — A Border Patrol agent shot a migrant who was crossing illegally into the U.S. through a drainage tunnel early Tuesday, the U.S. Border Patrol said. The agent, who was not identified, encountered a group of people in the tunnel around 12:30 a.m. The actions of a migrant who approached him prompted the agent to draw his weapon and fire, the Border Patrol said in a news release. The single bullet fired stuck the migrant in the left arm. He was transported to the hospital with a non-life threatening injury, according to the Border Patrol statement. The...

Even after he put him in prison for more than two years, Gary Brugman doesn't hate Johnny Sutton. But thousands of others across the country feel differently, professing a deep abhorrence for Sutton, the top federal law enforcer in San Antonio as the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas. Appointed to the job a month after the 9-11 attacks by longtime friend President Bush, Sutton has in recent months become the target of anti-illegal-immigration groups who say he's leading an unjust campaign against law enforcement officers, particularly Border Patrol agents, such as Brugman before he was convicted of...

EL PASO, Texas — An illegal immigrant drowned in a border canal Wednesday after a U.S. Border Patrol agent trying to rescue him was hit in the head with a rock thrown by a suspected human smuggler, Border Patrol officials said. The agent, who was not identified, fired at least one shot at the suspected smuggler and another would-be immigrant, who fled back into Mexico, Border Patrol spokesman Patrick Berry said. Berry said the incident started about 12:30 p.m. after agents watching video feed from a border camera saw a group of at least three men coming through a hole...

SAN ELIZARIO, Texas — A small U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter crashed in a residential area during a routine patrol along the Mexican border today, killing the pilot and critically injuring the other person onboard after slamming into a backyard and hitting a pickup truck. The pilot and passenger, who was a Border Patrol observer monitoring the area for illegal activity, were taken by ambulance to a hospital, Senior Border Patrol Agent Patrick Berry said. No one on the ground was hurt, but one resident was treated for anxiety, Berry said. A witness to the crash about 10 miles...