News bites: Dispersants linger in Gulf, another UN climate meeting set, and more

Dispersants used to break up oil from the BP oil spill linger near the site of the Gulf of Mexico disaster, according to new research.

Greenwire reports: “A core ingredient of the dispersant injected deep underwater at BP's runaway oil well remained trapped in an undersea plume of oil, methane and other hydrocarbons, resisting decay even as it became vanishingly dilute, scientists reported yesterday in the first detailed study of undersea dispersants in the Gulf of Mexico.”

An additional United Nations climate summit is being held in Bangkok this year.

Reuters says: “Climate negotiators from almost 200 nations will hold an extra session in Bangkok in April to try to unblock work on a successor to the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol for slowing global warming, officials said on Friday.”

“They said that 2011 is likely to mark a slowdown in the overall number of U.N. meetings about climate change after a rush of talks since 2007 failed to come up with a treaty.”

Shell says it’s not going to pay up for oil spills in Nigeria.

“Royal Dutch Shell won't pay compensation for the thousands of oil spills in Nigeria caused by oil bandits, company executives said at The Hague,” according to United Press International.

“Shell faced Dutch lawmakers at The Hague to answer questions about their safety record in Nigeria. Amnesty International and Friends of the Earth International announced they had filed formal complaints with the British and Dutch governments over Shell's failure to take responsibility for the majority of the oil pollution in the region.”

And Exxon Mobil came out with its energy demand predictions for the coming decades.

“Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) projected global demand for oil, natural gas and other fuels to be about 35 percent higher in 2030 compared to 2005, as emerging markets drive the bulk of global demand,” Dow Jones Newswires reports.

“Expanding prosperity in developing nations will increase energy demand more than 70 percent during the same time frame, the report said.”

“In contrast, Exxon said efficiency improvements and other measures will keep energy demand 'essentially flat' in the so-called developed nations that are part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, even as their economic output grow an estimated 60 percent.”