Offshore wind development costs are 30% higher in the United States than they are in Europe, Germany’s biggest utility said on Thursday at the CERAWeek conference. According to RWE AG CEO Markus Krebber, the wind industry in the United States lacks maturity. “Offshore wind has become very complicated,” Krebber said, with inflation and supply chain delays rampant. RWE, with projects both in Germany and the United States, would know. RWE is currently engaged in a joint venture with National Grid off... Читать дальше...
Tokyo Institute of Technology scientists have reported hydrogen stored in hydrogen boride sheets can be efficiently released electrochemically. Through a series of experiments, they demonstrated that dispersing these sheets in an organic solvent and applying a small voltage is enough to release all the stored hydrogen efficiently. The results suggest hydrogen boride sheets could soon become a safe and convenient way to store and transport hydrogen, which is a cleaner and more sustainable fuel. The research paper... Читать дальше...
U.S. senators introduced a bill on Thursday designed to expand the ban on selling off the nation's oil held in the Strategic Petroleum Reserves to China. U.S. President Joe Biden signed a funding bill earlier this month that blocked Chinese companies from purchasing U.S. crude oil held in the nation's SPR, but the bill still allowed oil sales to Chinese companies, provided the oil wasn't actually being exported to China. A next-level bill was introduced on Thursday that would expand the earlier funding... Читать дальше...
Via Metal Miner Investors, traders, and the metals community continue to anticipate fresh stimulus measures from China’s top leaders, which could potentially kickstart economic growth, increase metals consumption, and affect metal prices. However, they remain rather disappointed with Beijing’s target 5% growth for 2024. Moreover, demand has remained subdued since the Lunar New Year holiday. Almost everyone was awaiting the annual, week-long session of China’s parliament, which ended on March 11, 2024... Читать дальше...
It will take a mighty big change of fortune for the electric vehicle (EV) industry to meet Illinois’ goal of one million EVs on the road in Illinois by 2030. Gov. JB Pritzker repeated that target last week, but trends are pointing somewhere else. The hard numbers are EV registrations in Illinois, published by the Illinois Secretary of State. For the most recent 12-month period, Illinois added just 32,478 vehicles to its EV registration rolls. That’s 8,120 per quarter. But to reach the target of one million by 2030... Читать дальше...
Russia’s coal sales to China plunged by 22% in January and February compared to the same months last year after China re-imposed an import tax, which makes Russian coal more expensive. The reintroduced import tax on coal doesn’t affect either Australia or Indonesia, two major coal exporters and direct competitors of Russia, because they have free trade agreements with China. Despite the jump in total Chinese coal imports in the first two months of 2024, Russian sales plunged, according to official... Читать дальше...
This week, the Environmental Protection Agency announced the finalization of new tailpipe emission standards. The agency boasted that these were the strictest standards ever, adding that they would save money, create jobs, and eliminate billions of tons of CO2 emissions. The American Petroleum Institute, along with the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, issued an immediate reaction, warning that the new standards would make all gasoline and diesel-powered light vehicles illegal in less than 10 years. Читать дальше...
A US-led effort to help Central Asian states reshape the region’s business landscape is achieving some of its initial objectives, putting the initiative on a more solid foundation for potential success. Key Central Asian governments are reacting favorably to the plan. Heading into the inaugural meeting of what is called the B5+1 process, a primary aim was to institutionalize an annual gathering bringing together private and public sector leaders from all five Central Asian states for discussions... Читать дальше...
The electricity and water utility industries are mirror images in a way. Government agencies service roughly 85% of water consumers and investor-owned companies the rest. Investor-owned utilities serve roughly 85% of the electricity market and government agencies serve the balance. Government agencies provide both essential commodities at a lower cost in both markets. This is not because they are operationally more efficient but for two other reasons: very low tax rates and significantly lower capital costs. Читать дальше...
The world will need nuclear power generation to reach its emission reduction and net-zero targets, according to Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA). “Without the support of nuclear power, we have no chance to reach our climate targets on time,” Birol said ahead of a nuclear energy summit in Brussels on Thursday, as carried by Reuters. “Renewables will play a major role in terms of electricity, especially solar, supported by wind and hydro power,” the head... Читать дальше...
The United States and the EU continue to exert “unprecedented pressure” on China to reject trade payments from Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday. China and Russia have forged closer trade ties in recent years, especially in oil trade, after the West banned imports of Russian crude and fuels, and imposed a price cap on Russia’s petroleum products if they use Western transportation, insurance, and financing. “Of course, unprecedented pressure from the United States and the... Читать дальше...
Spanish utility giant Iberdrola will focus the largest part of its multi-billion investments for 2024-2026 on the United States as its capex plans don’t hinge on the Inflation Reduction Act and a possible repeal of the IRA by a second Trump presidency, Iberdrola’s executive chairman Ignacio Galán told the Financial Times in an interview on Thursday. Iberdrola said today it would invest $44.7 billion (41 billion euros) and hire 10,000 people by 2026 to accelerate electrification in its key markets. Читать дальше...
UK oil major Wood Group is set to cut hundreds of jobs as it prepares to release its 2023 annual results, reports suggest. According to Sky News, the London-listed oil major is eyeing up the axeing of 200 positions from its 36,000-strong employee base. The firm employs roughly 6,500 in the UK, the majority of whom are based in Aberdeen. The news comes nearly a year after a rumoured £1.7bn takeover by private equity giant Apollo Management was culled, with the investment group saying that it would make no further offers. Читать дальше...
China’s state-held oil and gas giant CNOOC said on Thursday that its net profit for 2023 slipped by 12.6% from a record-high level in 2022, due to the decline in international oil prices. CNOOC, which specializes in offshore oil and gas developments in China and internationally, reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of the company of $17.2 billion (123.8 billion Chinese yuan) for 2023, down from the all-time high of $19.7 billion (141.7 billion yuan) booked for 2022, when oil prices... Читать дальше...
Congress leaders from the Republican Party have sent a letter to Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, expressing concern that the IEA has strayed from its core mission of promoting energy security. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member John Barrasso (Wyo) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash) wrote in the letter that the agency has been undermining energy security by discouraging enough investment in oil, natural gas, and coal. Читать дальше...
Shell has sold its 50% equity share in SouthCoast Wind Energy, a joint venture set up to develop offshore wind projects off the coast of Massachusetts, as the supermajor continues to divest assets in line with its new strategy to high-grade its renewable projects globally. Shell sold its stake in SouthCoast Wind to its joint venture partner Ocean Winds North America LLC for an undisclosed sum. “In-line with our Powering Progress strategy, Shell continues to hone our portfolio of renewable generation... Читать дальше...
India’s largest refiner, Reliance, has stopped buying crude oil sourced from Russia and carried on tankers owned by Sovcomflot as the U.S. tightened sanction enforcement. The information comes from two unnamed sources familiar with the situation who spoke to Reuters. Sovcomflot was among a number of Russian entities that were individually targeted with U.S. sanctions last month. As a result, Reliance has asked its Russian oil trading partners to not load the shipments on Sovcomflot vessels, the Reuters sources said. Читать дальше...
The threat of attacks by Yemeni Houthis on vessels crossing the Red Sea have added 100,000 bpd to global oil demand as ships choose to divert to a longer route around Africa. This is according to the chief executive of commodity trading major Vitol, Russel Hardy, who said that "We have had to re-orientate so much all over," because of the crisis. Speaking at a panel at CERAWeek, as quoted by Reuters, Hardy noted that because of the situation in the Red Sea, the total distance traveled by ships now... Читать дальше...
A substantial decline in LNG prices has led to an increase in purchases on the spot market from Asian buyers, such as China, India, and Southeast Asian nations. According to analysts cited by Reuters, this could see China break its own LNG import record, set back in 2021, and boost India’s intake of liquefied natural gas by 10% this year. In 2021, China imported 78.8 million tons of LNG. Asia LNG purchases on the spot market totaled 161 cargoes over the first three months of the year, S&P Global data shows... Читать дальше...
Until recently, large oil companies tended to stay quiet when governments and activists urged them to accelerate the transition from their products to alternative energy sources. Now, this is changing. And it is changing radically. At this week's CERAWeek conference in Houston, this change was especially visible, with several top executives openly calling for a rethink of the transition and caution in the rush to give up oil and gas—which is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Unsurprisingly, Aramco's Amin Nasser was especially blunt... Читать дальше...
Hydrogen produced with renewable power had a significant breakthrough this month, with the signing of an offtake agreement between a European buyer and an Indian producer in Oman. Yara, the Norwegian fertilizer and industrial chemicals producer, entered a long-term contract with ACME Cleantech Solutions Pvt. Ltd. to supply 100,000 tonnes per annum (mtpa) of ‘green’ ammonia beginning early 2027. ACME will soon start construction on a fully integrated plant on 12 sq. km in the Special Economic Zone... Читать дальше...
Lithium has become one of the most sought-after metals in the world as the clean energy transition accelerates around the world. This ‘white gold’ is an integral part of many technologies at the heart of the decarbonization movement, including solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, and batteries used for renewable energy storage. As a result, demand for lithium is rapidly increasing, and countries around the world are racing to shore up supplies. According to estimates from the International Energy Agency (IEA)... Читать дальше...
