Free Republic

Excerpt - Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is planning a new assault on Big Oil, potentially taking a major step toward nationalization of Venezuela's oil industry that could hurt oil-company profits, reduce production and put further pressure on global oil prices. Venezuela's Congress, made up entirely of Mr. Chávez's allies, is considering sharply raising taxes and royalties on foreign companies' operations in the Orinoco River basin, the country's richest oil deposit. Major oil companies like Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips of the U.S. and Total SA of France have invested billions of dollars there to turn the basin's characteristically tar-like oil...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Never one to back away from confrontation while head of ExxonMobil Corp. for more than 13 years, Lee Raymond showed few signs of mellowing in retirement in his first public appearance following the controversy that erupted with the disclosure of his multimillion-dollar retirement package. In a 90-minute talk at Columbia University on Tuesday evening, Raymond was unrepentant for any past decisions he had made and he blasted politicians, the U.S. car industry, Wall Street, environmentalists and other critics of the oil industry for what he said was their failure to understand the nature of the energy...

Two and a half years ago, Public Interest Watch, a self-described watchdog of nonprofit groups, wrote to the Internal Revenue Service urging the agency to audit Greenpeace and accusing the environmental group of money laundering and other crimes. Last September, the IRS began a months-long audit of the U.S. arm of Greenpeace... This month, Greenpeace says, it received notice from the IRS that the group "continues to qualify for exemption from federal income tax" as a nonprofit entity. Greenpeace says an IRS auditor told it that the PIW letter triggered the audit. The IRS won't say how it decided to...

House Republicans, worried about political fallout from the high-profit figures that oil companies are expected to release later this week, will demand that companies pour those profits into refining more oil for the U.S. market in order to lower prices. At a press conference today, Republicans led by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert will tell the companies to explain why they are making so much money and what they will do to bring down the cost of gasoline. "Big Oil needs to do its part. Increasing capacity and improving refineries will do much to boost supplies so that consumers do...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A jury ordered Exxon Mobil Corp. to pay $11.9 billion in damages today after finding the oil giant had cheated the state of Alabama out of natural gas royalties. The jury, which began deliberating Thursday, awarded $63.6 million in compensatory damages and $11.8 billion in punitive damages, a record in the state. Jurors had to find Exxon Mobil committed fraud to return the multibillion-dollar verdict Alabama sought. If the damages are upheld on appeal, the money would go into state coffers. "We felt Exxon thought they were going to get away with this," said jury foreman Joe...

By Polly Campbell The Cincinnati Enquirer Nat Comisar (left) and Executive Chef Bertrand Bouquin have reason to smile. (Enquirer file photo) For the 40th consecutive year, Maisonette has won bragging rights to five culinary stars. The Mobil Travel Guide announced today that it has awarded the downtown French restaurant its highest rating in its 2004 guide. No other restaurant on the continent has held that rating as long. Nat Comisar, owner of Maisonette, calls it "marvelous news - like holding a 40-year world championship." The five-star rating is a key component of the restaurant's marketing and reputation and will...

LONDON (AP) - Iraq plans to invite executives from as many as 60 foreign oil companies to a Baghdad conference to discuss ways of developing the country's vast oil resources, the first event of its kind since the ouster of Saddam Hussein. The meeting, scheduled for December, would be "a brainstorming session" for companies hungry for investment opportunities and for Iraqi oil officials eager to acquaint themselves with key players and technologies long denied them under U.N. sanctions, the event's organizer, Paul Bristol, said Thursday. The Iraqi Oil Ministry has hired Bristol, an independent, London-based oil consultant, to arrange the...

former executive at the Mobil Oil Company pleaded guilty yesterday to evading taxes on more than $7 million in unreported income, including a $2 million kickback in connection with Mobil's oil business in Kazakhstan. J. Bryan Williams, 63, was charged in April with failing to report the $2 million kickback he received for negotiating Mobil's purchase in 1996 of a 25 percent stake in the Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan for $1.05 billion. The field, which has estimated reserves of 9 billion barrels, now produces 261,000 barrels a day. Advertisement The guilty plea in United States District Court in Manhattan...

By Jon Herskovitz DALLAS, May 28 (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp. (nyse: XOM - news - people) shareholders on Wednesday voted down proposals concerning global warming and renewable energy, as the head of the global energy giant said profits take precedence over social causes. "We won't jump on the bandwagon just because others may have a different view," Chief Executive and Chairman Lee Raymond said. "We don't invest to make social statements at the expense of shareholder return." The proposals failed to sway many shareholders, who rejected the renewable energy measure with 79 percent opposed, compared with 80 percent...

Greenpeace Demonstrators Block ExxonMobil HQ Gate POSTED: 9:46 a.m. CDT May 27, 2003 UPDATED: 11:03 a.m. CDT May 27, 2003 DALLAS -- Greenpeace demonstrators were arrested after protesting global warming Tuesday morning, attempting to block ExxonMobil's compound in Irving, its international headquarters. A statement from the environmental group Greenpeace said 45 demonstrators tried to block access to the complex, saying ExxonMobil isn't doing enough to help solve global warming. Some demonstrators were positioned across the entrance while others reportedly entered the building to serve a list of charges against the company. The move comes as ExxonMobil's board of directors and...

<p>NOGLIKI, Russia -- Sakhalin Island has long been celebrated in Russia for its salmon streams and shallow ocean waters full of cod, crab and herring -- a bounty for fishermen and for endangered gray whales. Now it's about to become more famous for its oil.</p>