RWE and TotalEnergies have joined forces to deliver the OranjeWind offshore wind project in the Netherlands. The project features an installed capacity of 795 MW, and marks the first system integration project in the Dutch market. Each partner holds a 50% stake in the venture, with RWE leading the development, construction, and operation of the wind farm. OranjeWind aims to perfectly match intermittent wind power generation with flexible energy demand, contributing to grid stability. The highly intermittent nature of wind power is often an obstacle…

Russia, Iraq, and Kazakhstan have submitted their compensation plans to the OPEC Secretariat for overproduced crude volumes for the first six months of 2024. According to OPEC, the entire over-produced volumes will be fully compensated for over the next 15 months through September 2025, with Russia ‘paying back’ a cumulative 480 kb/d, Iraq 1,184 kb/d, and Kazakhstan 620 kb/d. Last month, OPEC+ announced that it would extend a cut of 1.65 million barrels per day, announced in April 2023, until the end of 2025. The cut was due to expire…

Russia, Iraq, and Kazakhstan have submitted their compensation plans to the OPEC Secretariat for overproduced crude volumes for the first six months of 2024. According to OPEC, the entire over-produced volumes will be fully compensated for over the next 15 months through September 2025, with Russia ‘paying back’ a cumulative 480 kb/d, Iraq 1,184 kb/d, and Kazakhstan 620 kb/d. Last month, OPEC+ announced that it would extend a cut of 1.65 million barrels per day, announced in April 2023, until the end of 2025. The cut was due to expire…

Russia, Iraq, and Kazakhstan have submitted their compensation plans to the OPEC Secretariat for overproduced crude volumes for the first six months of 2024. According to OPEC, the entire over-produced volumes will be fully compensated for over the next 15 months through September 2025, with Russia ‘paying back’ a cumulative 480 kb/d, Iraq 1,184 kb/d, and Kazakhstan 620 kb/d. Last month, OPEC+ announced that it would extend a cut of 1.65 million barrels per day, announced in April 2023, until the end of 2025. The cut was due to expire…

In line with global green transition aims, pressure is increasing to support developing countries around the globe to tackle climate change and develop their renewable energy capacity. The COP29 host country Azerbaijan is now in charge of setting up a new climate fund, aimed at encouraging fossil fuel producers to support low-income countries battling with the effects of climate change. Fossil-fuel-producing countries and companies will be encouraged to invest in the new Climate Finance Action Fund, which will provide finance for low-income…

Greencoat UK Wind has pushed ahead with an ambitious share buyback programme, even as the trust struggles with low wind speeds and falling electricity prices. The trust’s half-year results reported that net asset value per share had dropped by 2.9 percent in the last six months, though this is still up 1.1 percent compared to the quarter before. Electricity generation for the six months jumped 27 percent year-on-year but was 15 percent below budget due to low wind speeds and an export cable failure at one of its sites. The trust has previously…

Greencoat UK Wind has pushed ahead with an ambitious share buyback programme, even as the trust struggles with low wind speeds and falling electricity prices. The trust’s half-year results reported that net asset value per share had dropped by 2.9 percent in the last six months, though this is still up 1.1 percent compared to the quarter before. Electricity generation for the six months jumped 27 percent year-on-year but was 15 percent below budget due to low wind speeds and an export cable failure at one of its sites. The trust has previously…

Crude oil prices ticked higher today after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an inventory decline of 3.7 million barrels for the week to July 19. This compared with an inventory draw of 4.9 million barrels estimated by the EIA for the previous week. The American Petroleum Institute, meanwhile, on Tuesday estimated another inventory draw in crude oil for the week to July 19, at 3.9 million barrels. In fuels, the EIA reported more draws. Gasoline stocks shed 5.6 million barrels in the week to July 19,…

A coordinated “Oil Kills” action of climate activists blocked on Wednesday airports across Europe, grounding flights and creating chaos amid the summer holidays, as campaigners demanded “an end to oil, gas and coal by 2030.” One of Germany’s busiest airports, the Cologne-Bonn Airport, stopped flights briefly in the morning local time as activists from the Last Generation movement glued themselves to the tarmac. Inbound flights were diverted to nearby airports and while flights have resumed, the…

Amid softer EV demand and worsening profit margins this year, Tesla is setting its sights on AI as Elon Musk is betting more on self-driving and artificial intelligence.    The AI hype has investors hooked in the past three months since Tesla’s underwhelming first-quarter deliveries and earnings numbers published in April. The company’s value has risen by $386 billion since then, per Bloomberg’s estimates, as Musk has been touting a Tesla future of AI, autonomous driving, and humanoid robots…

A week ago, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) announced a significant discovery of light oil and associated gas in the offshore Al-Nokhatha field. KOC said that the field, located east of Kuwait’s Failaka Island, covers an estimated area of 96km² with preliminary estimates of the reserves at around 2.1bbbl of light oil and 5.1tcf of gas, or roughly 3.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe). The Al-Nokhatha well is currently producing just 2,800 barrels of light oil and seven million cubic feet of associated gas daily.  …

Kamala Harris looks like the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for the November vote. Based on her track record as California attorney general and as vice president, this is going to be bad news for the oil industry. Overviews of her career that have flooded the media space note her lawsuits against oil companies including Chevron, which she prosecuted for hazardous materials mishandling. Plains All-American Pipeline also became a target for California's AG back in 2015 for an oil spill off the state's coast. Interestingly, Harris' claim…

The last few days have seen the U.K.’s Shell and BP, Japan’s Mitsui, and France’s TotalEnergies each take a 10 percent stake in the huge Ruwais LNG (liquefied natural gas) liquefaction plant project run by the U.A.E.’s flagship energy firm, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). The 9.6 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) has also seen several offtake and other agreements signed with Western firms (including Shell, Mitsui, and Germany’s Energie Baden-Württemberg and Securing Energy for Europe). Such deals…

Interest in Argentina’s mineral resources has risen significantly in recent years, as demand for critical minerals continues to increase, which has attracted high levels of investment in the country’s mining industry. The South American country is also pursuing the expansion of its oil and gas industry, as home to the second-largest reserve of shale gas and the fourth-largest reserve of shale oil worldwide. In addition, Argentina is steadily growing its renewable energy resources to help diversify the energy mix and support a green…

Crude oil inventories in the United States fell again this week, this time by 3.9 million barrels for the week ending July 19, according to The American Petroleum Institute (API). The reality was a far cry from analyst predictions which pegged the inventory move at a 700,000-barrel build for the week. For the week prior, the API reported a 4.44 million barrel draw in crude inventories. This week marks the fourth week in a row of API-estimated inventory draws for crude oil, for a total loss of  19.4 million barrels during that time. On Monday,…

Crude oil inventories in the United States fell again this week, this time by 3.9 million barrels for the week ending July 19, according to The American Petroleum Institute (API). The reality was a far cry from analyst predictions which pegged the inventory move at a 700,000-barrel build for the week. For the week prior, the API reported a 4.44 million barrel draw in crude inventories. This week marks the fourth week in a row of API-estimated inventory draws for crude oil, for a total loss of  19.4 million barrels during that time. On Monday,…

U.S. consumers are set to pay higher electricity bills as power providers raise investments in much-needed grid improvements amid an old power system that is not designed to cope with soaring demand and more frequent extreme weather events.    Over the past year, electricity price inflation has outpaced total consumer inflation in the United States.   While encouraging signs have emerged that the Fed is winning some of the battle with high overall inflation, prices for electricity are set to continue rising in the coming years due…

Brazil's federal environment workers, represented by the union Ascema, have proposed a deal to end their strike that has hindered oil and gas project permits in the Amazon rainforest. The strike, initiated last month as the group demanded better wages and working conditions, saw a partial resolution as the union decided to forgo most of its demands except for a salary hike. The strike has placed considerable strain on Brazil's environmental agency, Ibama, which is responsible for issuing licenses crucial for its oil industry. This slowdown has…

The Kazakh government has decided to keep a controversial fee in place for imported autos. Officials say the fee generates revenue for a recycling program that scraps durable goods, including cars, in an environmentally responsible manner. Critics, however, contend that the fee is achieving the opposite of its intended effect by keeping high-polluting junkers on the road because it puts newer, imported cars out of the financial reach of many Kazakhs. A citizens’ initiative group submitted a petition containing more than 50,000 signatures…

Oil prices dropped on Tuesday to their lowest point in five weeks, driven by a wave of algorithmic selling. The U.S. benchmark WTI has now dipped as much as 1.6% to a level that is dangerously close to $77 per barrel. The decline follows the surpassing of key technical levels, namely the 50-day and 100-day moving averages, which typically serve as support thresholds. The market's current low liquidity during the summer months has further amplified this downturn. The Brent crude benchmark fell 1.27% by 2pm ET, to $81.13 per barrel. The drop in prices…