Leaked letter
A letter from LNG plant builder Bechtel to Australian Manufacturing Workers Union state secretary Rohan Webb, leaked on Facebook, has revealed that the engineering giant will seek to employ 120-150 mechanical trades from the UK and Ireland on 457 visas.
Bechtel said it would continue recruitment efforts in Australia, but it had been no longer able to supply adequately qualified and experienced mechanical trades people with suitable pipe fitting and special-class welding skills in the numbers required for the three Curtis Island LNG projects it is developing.
There were angry responses to the letter on Facebook, with locals claiming to have been overlooked despite meeting the selection criteria.
Libyan PM ousted
A parliamentary no-confidence motion has ended Ali Zeidan's 16-month reign as Libya's prime minister after the North Korean oil tanker Morning Glory managed to escape the country's naval forces.
The oil tanker is believed to have loaded 234,000 barrels of crude at the rebel-controlled Es-Sider port in Libya over the weekend.
While Libyan government officials previously threatened to destroy the tanker if it tried to leave, then later claimed to have seized it and even later told media it was on fire, AFP reported that parliamentarians said bad weather prevented the small naval vessels, mainly patrol boats, from following the huge tanker out into the Mediterranean.
Defence Minister Abdullah al-Thani is the new interim PM until a successor is chosen within two weeks.
Libyan media have also reported that Zeidan has left the country, despite a travel ban placed on the leader on Tuesday due to suspected involvement in the disappearance of public funds.
Es-Sider is one of three eastern ports seized by protesting provincial forces led by former militia leader Ibrahim Jathran last year. Analysts are increasingly concerned that Libya could plunge into civil war.
Poland's shale incentive
The Polish government took the bold step yesterday of making shale gas extraction tax-free up to 2020 to help achieve more energy independence from Russia.
According to AFP, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said taxes should not exceed 40% of extraction income after 2020.
"We adopted measures that should encourage shale gas exploration," he reportedly said.
The new policy also follows some high profile exits from Poland's shale exploration scene which included Italian oil major Eni in January.
Marathon Oil and Talisman Energy exited Polish shale plays last year, while ExxonMobil exited in 2012.
ConocoPhillips still has exposure, while Chevron signed a non-binding agreement with state-owned PGNiG in December over starting joint shale gas exploration in southeastern Poland.
Exxon and Marathon blamed disappointing drilling results, while Talisman referenced geological uncertainty and an unclear legal framework
Ukraine standoff
Western powers are reportedly working on possible economic sanctions to punish Russia's involvement in the Crimea crisis, with this region set to vote on a referendum over leaving Ukraine to join Russia on Sunday.
"French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius tweeted that sanctions could come as early as this week, although the European Union may want to wait until all 28 foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Monday before taking a final decision," CNNMoney reported.
However, the Russian government has previously threatened to sell off its US currency holdings and refuse to repay loans to US banks if it faces economic sanctions.
US economist John Williams has already claimed that Russia could trigger hyperinflation if it sells its US dollar holdings.
In other developments over the past day, Crimea's main international airport fell into Russian control while the Crimean parliament has reportedly declared its independence from Ukraine ahead of the referendum.
