Environment news

• Pipeline from two Libyan oil fields 'reopens' but output hampered

  15-12-2016 23:41
  By Ahmed Elumami TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A group of oil guards in Libya said on Thursday they had reopened a long blockaded pipeline leading from the major oil fields of Sharara and El Feel, but an oil worker said a separate group had prevented a production restart at El Feel. The apparent agreement by a faction of the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) in Rayana to open the pipeline after shutting it for more than two years has raised hopes of a major output boost from Sharara and El Feel, which toge
  
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• Transforming waste into fuel with Australian innovations, from tyres to sugar cane and agave

  15-12-2016 23:26 via theguardian.com
  
  The emerging biofuel industry is casting the net wide to find solutions to two environmental problems: reducing waste and increasing fuel production In a world of dwindling resources, waste is one thing in no danger of running out. Each Australian generates more than 2,000kg of waste per year, and around half of that ends up in landfill. But at least some of that waste could be turned into a resource that is both in demand and in decline: fuel.
  The global waste-to-fuel industry is considering op
  
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• Antarctic 'pole of ignorance' finally addressed

  15-12-2016 23:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  European scientists have flown instruments back and forth across the South Pole to map its hidden depths.
  
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• Oil prices settle flat despite rising dollar, trade volatile

  15-12-2016 21:41
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil settled little changed on Thursday after sliding to its lowest level in a week in volatile trade, but a surging dollar did not pressure prices below technical support levels as OPEC members told customers they would cut crude supplies. Oil tumbled early as the dollar rallied near a 14-year high against a basket of other currencies the day after the Federal Reserve raised U.S. interest rates for the first time in a year. The market declined earlier in th
  
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• 'An epic mistake': environmental groups fume over Rex Tillerson nomination

  15-12-2016 20:32 via theguardian.com
  
  One non-profit leader compared Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of state to choosing the CEO of a tobacco company for surgeon general Environmental groups have called Donald Trump’s choice of Rex Tillerson as secretary of state “unfathomable” and “an epic mistake” and accused the president-elect of creating “a government of, by, and for the oil and gas industry”.
  Trump announced his nomination of the 64-year-old outgoing ExxonMobil CEO on Tuesda
  
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• Weak labelling may allow unethically fished seafood into Australia, Greenpeace says

  15-12-2016 20:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Warning against sale of seafood from environmentally destructive fishing fleets operating with slave-like conditionsGreenpeace has warned that Australia’s weak labelling laws may be allowing the sale of seafood from environmentally destructive and unethical fishing fleets in south-east Asia.The group has released the results of a 12-month investigation of Thailand’s ghost fishing fleet, a collection of refrigerated vessels, or reefers, notorious for causing damage to fragi
  
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• Trump taps Montana Congressman Zinke to lead Interior Dept

  15-12-2016 20:17
  By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke of Montana, a former Navy SEAL commander who questions whether humans are largely the cause of climate change, as his choice for secretary of the interior. If the Senate confirms Zinke, a Republican, to lead the Interior Department, he will head an agency that employs more than 70,000 people across the country and oversees more than 20 percent of federal land, including nationa
  
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• New map reveals shattering effect of roads on nature

  15-12-2016 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Rampant road building has split the Earth’s land into 600,000 fragments, most of which are too tiny to support significant wildlife, study showsRampant road building has shattered the Earth’s land into 600,000 fragments, most of which are too tiny to support significant wildlife, a new study has revealed.The researchers warn roadless areas are disappearing and that urgent action is needed to protect these last wildernesses, which help provide vital natural services to humanity such a
  
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• Oil prices turn positive on technicals, OPEC delivery cuts

  15-12-2016 19:57
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices reversed earlier losses and turned slightly positive on Thursday after failing to break below technical support levels and as OPEC members told customers they would cut crude supplies as part of the cartel's agreement to reduce output. The dollar neared a 14-year high against a basket of other currencies after the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised rates for the first time in a year and hinted rates could rise more quickly than investors ha
  
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• Pipeline from two Libyan oil fields reopens, but production hampered

  15-12-2016 19:28
  By Ahmed Elumami TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A group of oil guards in Libya said on Thursday they had reopened a long blockaded pipeline leading from the major oil fields of Sharara and El Feel, but an oil worker said a separate group had prevented a production restart at El Feel. The agreement by a faction of the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) in Rayana to open the pipeline after shutting it for more than two years has raised hopes of a major output boost from Sharara and El Feel, which together can
  
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• Earth’s driest desert once had lakes

  15-12-2016 19:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Atacama Desert - the driest desert on Earth - may once have had lakes and wetlands, scientists report.
  
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• Former Nasa chief scientist says access to federal data must continue

  15-12-2016 18:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Limiting access to federal research would do an "enormous disservice" to the US and the world according to former Nasa chief scientist.
  
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• Former Nasa chief scientist says access to federal data is critical

  15-12-2016 18:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Limiting access to federal research would do an "enormous disservice" to the US and the world according to former Nasa chief scientist.
  
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• Climate change denial in the Trump cabinet: where do his nominees stand?

  15-12-2016 18:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Critics say the president-elect’s picks represent ‘unprecedented’ influence from the fossil fuel industry. Their statements do little to dispel the notionAs Donald Trump assembles his cabinet, one consistent theme has emerged: many of his nominees have expressed doubt about the science of human-caused climate change.
  “We’re seeing an unprecedented amount of influence from the fossil fuel industry in Trump’s cabinet,” Jeremy Symons, who works on climate p
  
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• Will Rick Perry's pro-wind power stance carry on in the Trump administration?

  15-12-2016 18:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Choice of former Texas governor to lead energy department is a potentially encouraging sign for those alarmed by Trump’s nomination of climate deniersEnvironmental activists in Texas have stories to tell about Rick Perry, who was governor of the state for 14 years. Jim Marston, the Texas head of the Environmental Defense Fund, remembers when Perry, seemingly out of the blue, signed an executive order fast-tracking coal plant air permits in October 2005.
  “We scratched our head,”
  
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• Oil prices fall to lowest in a week as dollar nears 14-year high

  15-12-2016 18:12
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Thursday as the dollar rallied in the wake of a rise in U.S. interest rates, despite forecasts of a tighter oil market in 2017 due to planned output cuts. The dollar neared a 14-year high against a basket of other currencies after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time in a year and hinted rates could rise more quickly than investors had anticipated in 2017.
  
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• Brazil prosecutors hit ex-president Lula with more corruption charges

  15-12-2016 17:40
  Brazilian federal prosecutors on Thursday charged former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with more corruption charges tied to the massive probe into graft at state-run oil company Petrobras. It is now up to crusading anti-corruption federal judge Sergio Moro to decide if the fresh charges will result in yet another trial for Lula. Lula is already on trial in Moro's southern Brazil court for separate corruption charges, with a ruling not expected before late January or early February.
  
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• Dutch union calls off strike at Shell Pernis refinery

  15-12-2016 17:38
  Dutch union FNV has called off a strike which began late last week at Shell's 404,000 barrels per day Pernis oil refinery in the Netherlands even though it has rejected a new pay proposal from the oil company, a union spokesman said. On Thursday, the CNV union accepted a new pay offer for workers at the refinery and neighbouring petrochemical plant, a Shell spokeswoman said. "Shell and CNV will now sign their Collective Labour Agreement (CLA).
  
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• Pegasus rocket launches from underside of plane

  15-12-2016 17:05 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Small satellites, meant to detect wind speed in stormy weather, blast off over Cape Canaveral on an air-launched rocket.
  
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• Oil prices fall as dollar hits 14-year high

  15-12-2016 15:24
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Thursday as the dollar rallied in the wake of a rise in U.S. interest rates, despite forecasts of a tighter oil market in 2017 due to planned output cuts. The dollar hit a 14-year high against a basket of other currencies after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time in a year and hinted rates could rise faster than investors had anticipated in 2017. U.S. light crude oil fell $1.09 a barrel to a low of $49.95 before re
  
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• Taking stock of the world's lakes - New global database

  15-12-2016 15:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  The total shoreline of the world’s lakes is more than four times longer than the global ocean coastline. And if all the water in those lakes were spread over the Earth’s landmass, it would form a layer some four feet (1.3 metres) deep. Those are just two of the big-picture findings to emerge from the most complete global database of lakes to date, compiled by geographers at McGill University. Their research, published in Nature Communications, promises to help scientis
  
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• Reduce, generate and store: SMEs urged to capitalise on energy transition

  15-12-2016 14:50
  
  UK SMEs can thrive in a low-carbon economy if they follow the mantra of 'reduce, generate and store' as a way to revamp energy costs during an era of "unprecedented disruption", a new whitepaper from financial solutions partner DLL has claimed.
  
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• One of two Dutch unions accepts Shell pay proposal

  15-12-2016 14:45
  One of two Dutch labour unions on Thursday accepted a new pay offer from Royal Dutch Shell for workers at the Pernis oil refinery and neighbouring petrochemical plant. Members of the CNV union accepted the offer, a Shell spokeswoman said. Members of FNV rejected the offer, however, and a spokesman for the union said the FNV's next move would be decided at a meeting on Thursday.
  
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• EU's Galileo satellite system goes live after 17 years

  15-12-2016 14:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Europe launches its long-delayed Galileo satellite system, aiming to be the world's most accurate.
  
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• The 2C catwalk: Kering commits to approved science-based emissions goal

  15-12-2016 13:51
  
  Global luxury fashion group Kering, which includes Gucci, Saint Lauren and Stella McCartney amongst its brands, has seen its target to halve scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2025 officially verified by the Science-Based Targets initiative.
  
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• Recycling rates in England drop for first time

  15-12-2016 13:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Waste companies call for tax on packaging to drive up rates as UK likely to miss EU recycling targets Recycling rates in England have fallen for the first time ever, prompting calls for a tax on packaging and meaning EU targets are now almost certain to be missed.The amount of rubbish sent to recycling plants by householders had been steadily increasing for more than a decade, but more recently flatlined for three years. Now new government figures published on Thursday show that the recycling ra
  
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• Dubai’s teen eco-warrior: ‘It was preordained that I'd take care of mother earth’

  15-12-2016 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Kehkashan Basu’s activism began when she planted a seed in her parents’ garden. Thousands of trees later, she has inspired young people and won a peace prizeWhen she turned eight, Kehkashan Basu decided that she was grown up enough to begin her lifetime’s work. And so on her birthday she planted a sea grape seed in the garden of her parents’ apartment block in Dubai. Related: The world's 3.5bn young people are the key to change – let's not shut them outContinue read
  
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• From disruptors to Hinkley: 7 things we've learnt about Greg Clark's industrial strategy

  15-12-2016 12:56
  
  As Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark fielded questions from the Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee, edie round-ups seven key talking points that look set to form integral roles in the highly-anticipated industrial strategy.
  
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• Nicholas Stern: Donald Trump may not be as bad for the environment as feared

  15-12-2016 12:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Environmentalists should be alert but not pessimistic over the impact of Trump’s presidency, says the leading climate economistThe impact of Donald Trump’s presidency on the environment may not be as catastrophic as some fear, says leading climate economist Lord Nicholas Stern.The cross-bench peer said that while it was difficult to predict what Trump would do in office, those worried that Trump’s leadership spelled disaster for the planet should focus on the good things he has
  
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• Babies made from three people approved in UK

  15-12-2016 12:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Babies made from two women and one man win approval from the UK's fertility regulator.
  
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• Exclusive - Cost of pump-at-will oil policy spurred Saudi OPEC U-turn

  15-12-2016 11:59
  By Rania El Gamal and Dmitry Zhdannikov DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has long said it could produce as much as 12 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil if needed, but that pump-at-will claim - which would require huge capital spending to access spare capacity - has never been tested. Riyadh, the world's top oil exporter, felt the burn of cheap oil this year when crude was trading below $50 a barrel, as the reality of its costly war in Yemen and the task of shaking up its economy to creat
  
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• Light pollution dampens urban robins' song

  15-12-2016 11:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The song and behaviour of the UK's favourite bird is being affected by light and noise pollution, a study reveals.
  
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• Oil recovers after Fed hike as tighter market looms

  15-12-2016 11:40
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices recovered ground on Thursday after sharp falls in the wake of the U.S. interest rate rise as investors anticipated a tighter market in 2017 due to planned output cuts led by OPEC and Russia. The dollar rose to a 14-year high against a basket of other currencies after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time in a year on Wednesday. North Sea Brent crude oil was up 45 cents at $54.35 a barrel by 1030 GMT.
  
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• Shell, Varo in talks on German refinery stake sale

  15-12-2016 11:36
  Royal Dutch Shell and Varo Energy are in advanced talks on the sale of Shell's 37.5 percent stake in the 220,000 barrels per day refinery in Schwedt, Germany, they said on Thursday. Varo Energy, a joint venture between the world's biggest oil trader Vitol and private equity firm Carlyle Group, owns a refinery in Cressier in Switzerland and the Bayernoil refinery in Germany.
  
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• Landowners receive billions in subsidies to protect watersheds - study

  15-12-2016 10:34
  By Chris Arsenault RIO DE JANEIRO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Governments are offering more incentives to landowners who protect their watersheds to improve conservation, but must expand these efforts in order to provide reliable water supplies to growing populations, researchers said on Thursday. Subsidies for landholders who protect watersheds - land that absorbs rainwater - exceeded $23 billion last year, about $2 billion more than 2014, the study said. Direct subsidies to farmers and land
  
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• From Trump and his new team, mixed signals on climate change

  15-12-2016 10:18
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — He brushed off it off as a Chinese hoax, then called it the real deal and finally declared that "nobody really knows." When it comes to climate change, Donald Trump is sending mixed signals on whether or how he will try to slow Earth's warming temperatures and rising sea levels.
  
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• Petrofac says services business sees higher bidding activity

  15-12-2016 10:05
  (Reuters) - British oilfield services company Petrofac Ltd said deferral and cancellation of projects hurt order intake at its biggest unit this year, but the recovery in oil prices has helped improve bidding activity for services contracts in the final quarter. The company's stock was down about 4.4 percent at 870 pence at 0900 GMT on Thursday on the London Stock Exchange. Petrofac's engineering and production services unit was performing in-line with expectations and is on track to make up in
  
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• Oil steady after Fed hike as tighter market looms

  15-12-2016 09:58
  By Christopher Johnson LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices stabilised on Thursday after sharp falls in the wake of the U.S. interest rate rise as investors anticipated a tighter market in 2017 due to planned output cuts led by OPEC and Russia. The dollar rose to a 14-year high against a basket of other currencies after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time in a year on Wednesday. North Sea Brent crude oil was up 30 cents at $54.20 a barrel by 0840 GMT.
  
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• Shell finance chief to leave company in March

  15-12-2016 09:48
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry will leave in March and be replaced by Jessica Uhl, a finance executive in Shell's gas business, the oil company said on Thursday. Henry, a 55-year-old Shell veteran, was one of the main executives who oversaw the $54 billion (43.05 billion pounds) acquisition of BG Group that turned Shell into the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) trader. Henry, who has worked at Shell for 34 years including mor
  
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• One Nation senator joins new world order of climate change denial | Graham Readfearn

  15-12-2016 09:25 via theguardian.com
  
  Malcolm Roberts attends meeting with Trump EPA transition team head Myron Ebell and other longtime deniersA key figure picked to prepare the US federal environment agency for life under a Donald Trump administration has met in Washington DC with some of the world’s most notorious and longest-serving climate science deniers, including One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts.Myron Ebell, of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), was picked by the now president-elect to lead the Environmental
  
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• EU lawmakers adopt draft reform of carbon market

  15-12-2016 09:17
  Lawmakers in the European Parliament Environment Committee on Thursday adopted a long-awaited draft proposal for a reform of the carbon market after 2020, including a higher rate at which permits should be removed from the market. The political groups in the body also endorsed a draft proposal that will push for a doubling of the rate at which the Market Stability Reserve (MSR) soaks up excess allowances to 24 percent in the four years until 2022. Benchmark European carbon prices were down 2.2 p
  
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• 'The time has never been more urgent': at the world's largest Earth science event

  15-12-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  With Trump set to have a ‘chilling effect’ on environmental policy, 20,000 Earth and space scientists met in California to face up to a new responsibility They argued about moon-plasma interactions, joked about polar bears, and waxed nostalgic for sturdy sea ice. But few of the 20,000 Earth and climate scientists meeting in San Francisco this week had much to say about the president-elect, Donald Trump – though his incoming administration loomed over much of the conference. Con
  
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• Breathe less … or ban cars: cities have radically different responses to pollution

  15-12-2016 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  When thick smog hits the city, Londoners are advised to avoid exercise, Parisians get free public transport and Beijing limits cars. Which is the best solution?When a thick cloud of air pollution settled in over London last week, experts warned those with health problems to avoid strenuous exercise. The advice to Londoners essentially boiled down to this: breathe less.Meanwhile, as Paris suffered a similar pollution episode – its worst in a decade – officials swung into action, waivi
  
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• Moss spores seize the day under bare trees

  15-12-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Wolsingham, Weardale With brighter light, mosses can reproduce – with structures of exquisite functional beautyToday was the worst kind of winter day; short, sunless and cold. It took a real effort of will to leave home and walk muddy footpaths under drizzly skies, but I was glad that I did.Everywhere there were signs of vigorous, bright green, new growth in the woodlands beside the river bank. Continue reading...
  
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• Oil prices stabilise after Fed hike as tighter market looms

  15-12-2016 05:55
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices stabilized on Thursday as a tighter market looms in 2017 due to planned output cuts led by OPEC and Russia, after sharp declines earlier following Wednesday's U.S. interest rate increase that drove investors out of commodities. International Brent crude oil futures were trading at $54.02 a barrel at 0428 GMT, up 12 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $51.02 per barrel, virtually flat with
  
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• Japan, Hitachi to stump up $8.5 billion for Horizon nuclear project in Wales - source

  15-12-2016 05:33
  By Takaya Yamaguchi TOKYO (Reuters) - The Japanese government and a Hitachi Ltd unit will compile a package worth around 1 trillion yen ($8.5 billion) for a UK nuclear power plant project, a government official involved in the project said on Thursday. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation and the Development Bank of Japan will provide financing for the project, the official told Reuters. The funding plans are a boost for the project, one of several new nuclear plants planned in the UK, w
  
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• New marine life found in deep sea vents

  15-12-2016 04:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Six new animal species are identified at deep-sea vents beneath the Indian Ocean.
  
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• New spider species resembles Harry Potter 'Sorting Hat'

  15-12-2016 04:18 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A newly discovered spider bears an "uncanny" resemblance to a magical hat in the Harry Potter books.
  
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• Oil prices fall after Fed hike, but tighter market looms

  15-12-2016 03:50
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices dropped on Thursday as a hike in U.S. interest rates drove money away from commodities and into U.S. bonds and the dollar, but a tighter fuel market looms in 2017 due to planned production cuts led by OPEC and Russia. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were trading at $50.87 per barrel at 0235 GMT, down 17 cents from their last settlement. International Brent crude oil futures were down 7 cents at $53.83 a barrel.
  
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• Offshore oil regulator hires former oil firm boss as head of safety and integrity

  15-12-2016 02:26 via theguardian.com
  
  Environmentalists criticise appointment of Derrick O’Keeffe, who spent past four years as Australia manager of Murphy OilEnvironmentalists have criticised the offshore oil regulator for appointing a recent head of the Australian arm of a major oil company to a senior position, saying the move is “like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse”.Derrick O’Keeffe spent the past four years as country manager in Australia for Murphy Oil, which under his watch entered into a jo
  
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