European energy giants Equinor and BP have scrapped a deal to sell power to the state of New York from the Empire Wind 2 offshore wind farm in the Atlantic Ocean, saying the project is no longer commercially feasible. Citing higher inflation and borrowing costs, along with various supply chain issues, Equinor and BP said they would exit the agreement with the state of New York and would instead look for better offtake deals after the state’s regulators in October had rejected a request from BP and... Читать дальше...
For Chinese Ambassador to the EU Fu Cong, the Israel-Hamas war laid bare the West’s double standards and how Beijing sees it falling out of touch with the rest of the world. Speaking in Brussels in mid-November, shortly after the October 7 outbreak of hostilities in Israel and Gaza, Fu railed against the bloc’s labeling of China as a “rival” on the global stage, saying that if having different foreign policy views makes Beijing a rival then Brussels will find it has many other competitors. “From... Читать дальше...
The Department of Energy’s Office of Petroleum Reserves has announced a solicitation for the purchase of up to 3 million barrels of crude oil for the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR), the agency said in a Wednesday press release. The solicitation is for as many as 3 million barrels of crude for delivery into the SPR in April 2024, and will go towards replenishing the nearly 300 million barrels of crude oil sold off during the current administration, ostensibly to lower retail gasoline... Читать дальше...
Crude oil prices rose more than 3% Wednesday driven by escalating tensions in the Middle East, an OPEC pledge of unity and the shut-in of Libya’s biggest oilfield over protests. At 14:13 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Brent crude was trading up 3.07% at $78.22, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading up 3.25% at $72.69. Up until now, weak fundamentals had been counterbalancing any impact on oil prices from escalating tensions in the MIddle East. “We haven’t seen prices react much in part because... Читать дальше...
Ruhr-University Bochum researchers are constantly pushing the limits of technology by breaking new ground in CO2 conversion. The goal is to turn the harmful greenhouse gas into a valuable resource. A novel catalyst system could help reach the CO2 recycling goal. Research groups around the world are developing technologies to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into raw materials for industrial applications. Most experiments under industrially relevant conditions have been carried out with heterogeneous electrocatalysts... Читать дальше...
Petronet LNG, the largest natural gas importer in India, expects to sign later this month an agreement to extend its LNG supply deal with Qatar beyond 2028, India’s Oil Secretary Pankaj Jain said on Wednesday. “We are pretty close to signing the deal,” the secretary told reporters in New Delhi, as carried by Reuters. Qatar, one of the world’s top LNG exporters, prefers to sign long-term agreements with its buyers, and had given its Indian customers until the end of 2023 to negotiate possible extension... Читать дальше...
When Argentine libertarian Javier Milei made his debut into politics in 2020 with a mission to"blow up" the system, few predicted that he would have a chance to do the shake-up from the highest office in the land and, not certainly, just three years later. However, that’s exactly what the economist and former TV pundit is now doing. Last week, Milei sent a wide-ranging omnibus reform package to congress, part of his shock therapy approach he has adopted to transform Argentina’s economic policy into... Читать дальше...
India’s lower imports of Russian crude oil in recent weeks were the result of unattractive discounts, not because of payment issues amid tougher U.S. sanctions on Russia’s exports, Indian Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday. “There is no payment problem,” Puri told a briefing in New Delhi on Wednesday, as quoted by Bloomberg. “It is a pure function of price at which our refiners will buy,” he said, adding that India’s priority is to ensure the cheapest price possible for its consumers.…
Via Metal Miner Turkish longs and flats producer Haba? recently announced plans to build a downstream cold rolling and tinplate mill. The growing Turkish steel industry brand estimates that the plant will have an annual capacity of 900,000 metric tons. Current plans place the new plant on a greenfield site close to Haba?’ main production facilities at Alia?a. This sits roughly 50 kilometers north of the Western Turkish city of Izmir. In a December 22 announcement, Italian equipment provider and... Читать дальше...
Italy’s government is discussing a plan worth $1 billion (930 million euros) to incentivize purchases of electric vehicles as part of efforts to renew one of Europe’s oldest auto fleets, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, quoting a draft document it has seen. The Italian industry ministry is currently discussing the package of incentives, which are set to include financial stimulus of as much as $15,030 (13,750 euros) to allow citizens with an annual income lower than $32,780 (30,000 euros) to scrap... Читать дальше...
At least 100 people have been killed in two explosions in Iran on Wednesday during a ceremony to mark the 2020 assassination of Iran’s Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani. Various Iranian media have reported the death toll as ranging from 73 to over 100, with scores of others injured by two explosive devices planted along the road to Iran’s Keman’s Martyrs’ Cemetery. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack–the deadliest in Iran since the late 70s. The attack comes as tensions…
For the first time ever, BYD has passed Tesla as the world's most popular electric vehicle. As we noted moments ago, Tesla announced this morning it had "produced approximately 495,000 vehicles and delivered over 484,000 vehicles" for Q4. The company noted that its full year vehicle delivery number was up 38% to 1.81 million, slightly less than recently revised expectations for the year. Nonetheless, total deliveries mark a record quarter for the EV manufacturer. The company manufactured approximately... Читать дальше...
Lower crude oil prices will likely prompt Chinese refiners to buy more crude and send more of those volumes to build up stockpiles, after purchases and estimated inventory builds slowed significantly in October and November in response to the 2023-high oil prices hit at the end of September. As oil prices eased in November and December, Chinese refiners are estimated to have purchased higher volumes of crude oil, and China’s crude oil imports could be on track to rebound in early 2024 if prices... Читать дальше...
Europe’s natural gas prices jumped by 5% mid-day on Wednesday as the latest forecasts showed most of Europe would see below-average freezing temperatures next week in a cold snap that would last at least until the middle of January. The February Dutch TTF Natural Gas Futures, the benchmark for Europe’s gas trading, had surged by 4.99% at $35.06 (32.10 euros) per megawatt-hour (MWh) as of 12:27 p.m. in Amsterdam today. The benchmark gas prices ended on Wednesday three consecutive trading days in... Читать дальше...
A deepwater oil field in Brazil that is operated by China’s CNOOC has started production, Chinese media reported, noting the capacity of the project is 180,000 bpd. The Mero 2 project is part of the Mero field, which is one of the three biggest ones in the prolific Santos Basin off the coast of southeastern Brazil. The field is part of the pre-salt zone of Brazil that contains most of the country’s untapped oil and gas resources. It is also the source of most of its current production: most of Brazil’s... Читать дальше...
The sovereign wealth funds of the Gulf Cooperation Council members topped $4 trillion last year, which was an all-time high. Called the “Oil Five”, the group of top sovereign wealth funds includes three entities from the United Arab Emirates, one from Saudi Arabia, and the Qatar Investment Authority. The five invested a total $75.6 billion last year, which was a decline on 2022 investments, the Khaleej Times reported, citing data from a report by Global SWF. The Saudi Public Investment Fund and the... Читать дальше...
Crude oil prices have been trading in a tight range since the start of the New Year as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East counter now chronic economic concern. Still, benchmarks booked a decline in the first trading day of the new year as worry about the U.S. economy specifically temporarily outweighed fears of another escalation in the Red Sea. "Energy markets were unable to escape the broader pressure seen on risk assets with equity markets also weaker. The weakness in oil comes despite a... Читать дальше...
After false rumors of the closure of the giant Libyan Sharara oil field on Tuesday, a letter from Libya’s National Oil Company on Wednesday confirms the shutdown of one of Libya’s most important oil fields. According to Libya’s Al-Ahrar disgruntled protestors took to the field on Wednesday morning stating that the field would not be re-opened until their demands and those of the entire region of Fezzan in Southern Libya would be met. In talks with Libya’s Al-Ahrar TV, spokesman Abu Bakr Abu Shreya... Читать дальше...
Iraq has potentially huge gas reserves but its failure so far to properly develop them has led to three key problems for itself and the global energy markets. First, it has left the country dependent on neighbouring Iran for up to 40 percent of its energy requirements, which are imported through gas and electricity supplies. This exacerbates the already tight control that Tehran has over Baghdad through its networks of political, economic, and military proxies. Second, these imports from Iran have... Читать дальше...
Last year, U.S. crude oil production broke another record. This in itself is not exactly news. The shale oil industry has been breaking records for breakfast for years. But that was before the pandemic. After the pandemic, many pronounced the shale boom dead. Of course, those same people found out in 2023 that this wasn’t strictly true. Despite a continued focus on capital discipline and the flurry of cash they returned to shareholders, U.S. drillers managed to boost their overall output to over... Читать дальше...
U.S. oil production has increased by 21% over the past five years. According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), earlier this month U.S. oil producers set a new annual production record. This increase is being driven by a surge of production in a handful of states. I thought it might be of interest to look at which states are contributing the most to U.S. oil production, and how much production has changed over the past five years. Total production for 2023 is not yet available... Читать дальше...
The United States is now the world’s LNG exporter, after overtaking Australia and Qatar, according to new data compiled and shared by Bloomberg on Tuesday. The United States exported 91.2 million metric tons of LNG last year, after the country’s primary export facility, Freeport LNG, resumed operations after an eight-month hiatus following a fire in June 2022. Meanwhile, EU countries were looking to reduce their reliance on Russian gas and compensate for Russia’s curtailment of pipeline gas into Europe. Читать дальше...
Chevron flagged on Tuesday that it would take an up to $4 billion impairment in the fourth-quarter results, due to impairments to U.S. upstream assets in California and the Gulf of Mexico. The continuing regulatory challenges in California have made Chevron revise down its planned investments in the state, the U.S. supermajor said in an SEC filing on Tuesday. In addition, Chevron will also impair a portion of previously sold oil and gas production assets in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico because some... Читать дальше...
