Institutional Investors Urge Oil Majors to Isolate Qaddifi Regime

US institutional investors have called on oil giants including BP, Shell, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhilips with business in Libya to halt revenue payments to the government and pay them into an escrow account after the shooting of hundreds of protesters in the country. The call comes after United Nations Security Council sanctions against Libya were approved last weekend followed by a European Union arms embargo, asset freeze and visa ban. The investors belong to the Conflict Risk Network (CRN), a hundred-strong group, which includes the $140.6bn New York State Common Retirement Fund. Read more here

Secretive Libya wealth fund vital for reconstruction | Reuters

Libya's secretive sovereign wealth fund could hold the key to any post-conflict reconstruction and future economic development with its $70 billion in assets including lucrative stakes in Western firms.

Libyan Investment Authority, set up in 2006 to manage the country's oil revenues, has assets of around $70 billion, equivalent to nearly 75 percent of the country's economy. It owns stakes in a clutch of European bluechips ranging from Italian bank UniCredit to British publisher Pearson.

LIA, which is roughly the same size as Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, publishes little information, but a rare annual report in 2009 shows how liquid the fund is. It had more than 78 percent in 'short-term financial instruments abroad' and had only $8 billion in long-term equity investments in North Africa, Asia and Europe.
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Obama's budget to call for slashing oil tax breaks, boosting clean energy

President Obama is expected to call on Congress Monday to eliminate billions of dollars in oil industry tax breaks, while setting aside money for his top clean-energy policy priorities. The budget will include $8bn for clean energy programs and R&D while cutting some $3.6bn per year in oil industry tax breaks.

Obama will send his fiscal year 2012 budget request to Congress on Monday. The budget comes as Republicans are calling for massive cuts in spending, unveiling a proposal this week to fund the government through the end of this fiscal year that would cut $100 billion in spending when compared to Obama’s 2011 budget request. Click here to read more

Shareholders press oil firms on tar sands issues

Shareholders plan to question French oil giant Total SA on their "tar sands" activites at the company's forthcoming annual shareholder meeting. Fellow oil firms BP and Shell have faced shareholder resolutions on the tar sands issue in the past. For its part, Total says environmental stewardship is a priority and cites its position as the top-ranked oil and gas company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. It acknowledges that oil sands development is challenging in terms of CO2 emissions, water consumption, land footprint and tailings management. Read more at Responsible Investor.com