Oh that’s right – Chevron Australia - the petroleum tax Yabby – mere petty cash!

Gas flaring has been outlawed in Nigeria since 1984, but it’s cheaper for oil companies to pay the insignificant fines and kill off the natives.

The Nigerian Federal Government announced again that gas flaring would cease on January 1, 2008, and any ‘company which flares gas after that time would be shut down.’

Well no, they weren’t shut down and they've not ceased gas flaring because in March this year , Raymond Anyadike, a professor of climatology at the Department of Geography of University of Nigeria, told journalists that acid rain could only fall within the Niger Delta region because of the huge quantity of sulphuric dioxide and methane in the air as a result of gas flaring from the operations of Shell, Chevron et al.

The report stated that gas flaring has created thick plumes of smoke across the Niger Delta region, releasing over 250 identifiable toxins, and contributing more CO2 to the atmosphere than the whole of sub-Saharan Africa combined.

December 1999: US: Chevron, BP Amoco, and Conoco agree to pay a total of $153 million to settle allegations that they underpaid royalties for oil produced on federal lands.

December 2009: Washington — 'Chevron Corp. will pay $45.5 million to resolve claims that it underpaid natural gas royalties to the government and Native Americans, the Justice Department announced.

'The government contended that the corporation made improper deductions from royalty values and violated the False Claims Act by underpaying the royalties.'

“Integrity means something to me.” Yeah sure it does Yabby - corporate graft and corruption rewarded with billions of dollars of taxpayers’ subsidies to trash the planet and the ecosystems of its poverty stricken inhabitants!

Oops Dickie, that female prisoner who went around killing people,
she is female just like you. Shame on you! :)

Chevron has nothing to do with this dispute or with any agreements
involved.

Sorry darling try again.

Yabby
I started by throwing around insults? Any thing that points out your philosophic bias is insulting hey? Interesting.

This argument (by we mortals is based on what we are told by the media) as it stands now. Therefore it's either philosophical, political or theoretical/speculative.
i.e. The parameters/definitions of the 'tax' are neither set in concrete or defined.

They (both miners and Govt) are euphemistically still in the ambit stage. The miners are naturally reacting to their perceived interests(protecting their status lucrative profits).

Of course they want to get away Scott free. That is the whole ethos of capitalism ....reduce costs, increase sale price No biggy.
Will the miners Pack up and leave?....Not Bloody Likely.
Will they seek bigger returns else where? They'll do that anyway.

The miners are playing power politics. However, Publicly threatening to bring down a sovereign government in favour of a "more corporately acquiescent one", by massive spin campaigns.

The question in my mind is more fundamental "Who runs this country the voters via their government or Corporations whose interest are clearly exploitive?".
Most these miners have records of only being interested in the countries/people, providing it doesn't affect their share price (profits) and therefore executive bonuses.

You ignore the plethora of cost cutting history, profiteering and other corporate shenanigans.
You talk about integrity! (I still don't understand why my personal integrity is at stake , not that I care in this context.).

In short My original comment stands. There is so much *more* to this , much of which we don't know.
In the absence of real information Politically blinkered individuals like you and others jump to *political* (opinionated) conclusions not All the facts.

Examinator, you make my point for me. You are frankly too stupid
to understand this dispute.

What blokes like Kloppers are saying, is not the media, it is
their own words, which you are free to watch, if you pay just
a bit of attention to how business functions, how and why
they make decisions.

But I can assure you that its about to get very political.
The Govt will have to go into major backdown, or these companies
will become political, something they have avoided in the past.

You don't negotiate ambit claims by claiming it as future law and
including the figures in the budget. The Govt was free to
discuss these things with the key players all along. But nope,
they are too stupid, like you. Instead they have signalled to
the world, that Australian Govts are unreliable and cannot be
trusted, when it comes to investment, for the moment investors
have spent their money, they might just get shafted up their arse.

That is the difference between a Costello and a Swan. Costello
understood these things, Swan knows as little about business as
you do.

I certainly hope that the miners make it highly political. I hope
that they put on hold every single resource project, in every
single marginal seat, so that all those employees, contractors,
suppliers and others down the chain, vote with their wallets.

Never mind the millions of outraged shareholders, they will just
be another whole host of people who have had a gutful

'
When they make a comparison to Africa they refer to sovereign risk. Countries with higher risk find it harder to raise funds and when they do it is is at higher interest rates. If this tax is considered to impact the rating of Australia then interest rates will rise both for miners and the population. About half of borrowed money is sourced from overseas. When a country re-invests such a rent into a future fund it is not considered a soveriegn risk because the country is maintaining an asset, The labor government here though are intent on wasting the revenues so is seen as arbitrary and interventionist. Such fancy schemes were dreamt up last century and usually led to recession with inflation and higher rates being the trigger.

So it could be very bad for everyone, very very bad, Who knows, such a gamble but the big mistake I feel is they have gone in too hard and hate the foreign investors, so a bit silly. Very silly. Hate and envy, greed and so, usualy emotive and visise politics.

We will just have to wait and see. If we are re-rated as a risk then it will get ugly. I would have prefered a more consultive approach to the miners and a considered rise in tax. Also as states actually own the resource would have been nice to let them know beforehand the Feds were raiding their wealth. We amy end up with WA seceding. You cannot be so arrogant in power and get away with it.

60 minutes has exposed the issue of fraking..where chemicals and water are put hydroliclly into the coal gas seams..naturally the chemicals are secret...but research discloses this

Companies are wanting to drill natural gas wells in New York City's drinking watershed."

Several City Council members have expressed concern over that idea, and there's been talk of finding a way to ban drilling in that region.

But the natural gas industry argues that more regulation will push up prices. To be sure, hydraulic fracturing is, in part, responsible for the low natural gas prices consumers are paying now.

Colorado School of Mines professor Geoffrey Thyne understands that. Still, he wants the industry to start encouraging more scientific research on fracking.

"Let's prove to everybody what we're saying — that's there's absolutely no danger — but let's do it in a rigorous way we can defend," says Thyne.

Thyne says the industry also could agree to stop using harmful chemicals in the process.

Already, several of the largest drillers have agreed to stop using diesel, which can poison groundwater with benzene...noting benzine is a known carcinogen...[added to petrol..instead of lead..lol]..govt servants prefer to have us get cancer...than lead..which only dumbed us down...clearly qld govt wants us dead not just dumb

if your not dumbed down too much yet..you just might do some light reading...before you get your few pieces of silver..from your investments....noting water is often used to grow the yabby

http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1052462
http://www.newsweek.com/id/154394

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=MEDA%2CMEDA%3A2008-36%2CMEDA%3Aen-GB&q=gas+fracking+chemicals&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=