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- Convocan en Chile a nueva movilización nacional contra las AFP
- Detienen a presuntos responsables de ejecución en Nuevo Laredo, México
- Docentes argentinos exigen mejoras salariales en Jujuy
- Reportan 743 decesos por cólera en Haití desde octubre pasado
- Perfil de candidatos de Revolución Ciudadana a la Presidencia de Ecuador
- Luisa González y Andrés Arauz son el binomio presidencial de Revolución Ciudadana en Ecuador
- Ministro de Defensa colombiano visita a niños rescatados de la selva
- Gobierno ecuatoriano declara emergencia vial en Esmeraldas
- Cuatro niños rescatados en la selva llegan a Bogotá, Colombia
- La ONU reporta más de 160.000 desplazados internos en Haití
Governments in Europe, the United States, Canada, and Australia have set themselves ambitious targets for a transition to a low-carbon energy system. These targets are overwhelmingly dependent on the mining industry. The transition is impossible without massive amounts of copper, steel, lithium, and a host of other elements found in the Earth’s crust. But there is a problem: taking these elements out takes people. And there are not enough people to do that. The labor shortage problem first became obvious during the pandemic, when lockdowns…
The government needs to do more than ease the windfall tax to reassure troubled North Sea oil and gas companies over the UK’s investment climate and protect future production, warned Offshore Energies UK (OEUK). The industry body’s chief executive David Whitehouse welcomed the Treasury’s decision to introduce a price floor into the Energy Profits Levy, and said it was only fair that “when the windfall conditions go, the windfall tax should go.” However, he believed this had to be the starting point for improving investment…
Turkmenistan and Pakistan continue their talks on the revival of the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) pipeline, and a bilateral meeting on the issue in Islamabad will be announced soon—possibly in late June 2023. For its part, Ashgabat is keen on moving ahead with the project, while energy-deficient Pakistan is willing to go ahead with or without India. And Kabul has said it is ready to raise a special force to provide security for the project (Business Recorder, May 13). Some sources have stated that the potential…
Some $30bn (£24.2bn) of investment in new UK energy projects is at risk if Labour wins the next election, a top energy consultancy has warned. Consultancy giant Wood Mackenzie believed the growing expectation of a Labour government – which has pledged to ban new North Sea oil and gas developments – was already causing energy firms to pivot from the UK. The Conservative government’s windfall tax has already angered many oil and gas firms, with several currently reconsidering their pipeline of UK projects. But it added that…
Argonne National Lab scientists have developed a fluorine containing electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries whose charging performance remains high in frigid regions and seasons. They also determined why it is so effective. The research report has been published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials. Many owners of electric vehicles worry about how effective their battery will be in very cold weather. Now a new battery chemistry may have solved that problem. In current lithium ion batteries, the main problem lies in the liquid electrolyte. This…
Following the recent China-brokered resumption of relationship deal between historical enemies Saudi Arabia and Iran, a deal for the Kingdom to develop two key projects in Iran’s close ally Iraq is in the offing. The problem with this idea is that it is dependent on two highly unpredictable elements. The first is the degree to which senior Iraq Oil Ministry officials are willing to put the interests of their country ahead of their own. The second is the U.S.’s on the whole thing. The deal – which was announced as definite and…
A year ago, the Financial Times reported how maritime insurers were concerned that sanctions targeting Russian oil exports would disrupt global supply chains, lead to higher prices, and make life for shippers and insurers more stressful. This week, the same publication sounded the sanction alarm again. But it is no longer a general concern about supply chains, oil prices, and the price cap compliance woes of shippers and insurers. It is now a much more direct concern about how cap-compliant companies are suffering lost business…
China is racing toward decarbonization at a rate that few could have predicted. The nation is crushing its competition in terms of clean energy spending, and Bloomberg recently described that a frenzied air of enthusiasm about solar power and electric vehicles in China that “suggests China is nearing an inflection point in its energy transition more than a half-decade before a 2030 target to peak emissions.” To be certain, China is still burning more fossil fuels than almost any other country on Earth, but its turbocharged clean…
Oil prices were trading up on Friday afternoon as shorters got a little nervous heading into the OPEC+ weekend, with new rumors circulating about the group’s discussions about another 1 million bpd in production cuts. The OPEC+ group is scheduled for three separate meetings beginning this weekend and concluding on June 4. While the general sentiment has been that the group will keep the status quo as far as production targets are concerned. But Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister has made boistrous threats against oil’s speculators…
Despite a long history of being Latin America’s best-managed national oil company Colombia’s Ecopetrol is swamped by uncertainty. For over a decade, the integrated energy major has been battling to significantly expand its scant proven oil reserves. Now Ecopetrol is facing many grave headwinds which could derail efforts to boost those meager reserves and softer petroleum production. Among the most serious is the plan of Colombia’s first leftist President Gustavo Petro to ban hydrocarbon exploration. His electoral victory…
Energy markets have been lackluster in the current year, and it appears the malaise and bearishness have spread into the M&A sector. Oil and gas executives have become increasingly hesitant to pull the trigger on new deals, with mergers in the U.S. energy sector decreasing both in volume and deal value. While there have been some headline-grabbing big deals recently, on a quarterly basis the stats tell a different story. According to GlobalData’s United States of America (USA) Lower 48 Unconventional Oil and Gas…
A new climate-risk disclosure rule that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to finalize this year is dividing companies, industries, and lawmakers. SEC’s proposed rules to “Enhance and Standardize Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors” include requirements for listed companies to report the so-called Scope 3 emissions. Those are the greenhouse gas emissions from the outside suppliers and vendors up and down a company’s supply chain. The proposed requirements, of course, also…
Following several major oil discoveries in recent months, Turkey is optimistic about its energy potential. The country’s oil and gas company, Turkish Petroleum (TPAO), has accelerated its exploration activities in recent years, which has proven fruitful. Recent oil discoveries follow a major 2020 natural gas find in the Black Sea, which is expected to support the government’s goal of gaining energy independence. In December last year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the discovery of 150 million barrels…
The amount of capital investment flowing into the solar sector is poised to overtake the amount of investment going into oil production for the first time ever in 2023, the International Energy Association has reported. According to Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, solar investments are expected to attract over $1 billion a day in 2023 with over $1.7 trillion slated to flow clean energy technologies such as EVs, renewables and storage. Overall, global investment in energy is projected to hit ~$2.8 trillion in the current year. …
Colombia’s first-ever leftist president emerged victorious from the July 2022 election run-off after running a broad reform-based campaign with a focus on transitioning the Andean country away from a reliance on fossil fuels. This includes plans to ban hydraulic fracturing and end awarding new contracts for oil and natural gas exploration. That sparked considerable concern because Colombia is highly reliant upon petroleum which is the largest export by value while natural gas is a key source of energy domestically. Colombia was…
A new bill that was approved by the California state Senate on Thursday would require two of the country’s largest pension fund to pull $15 billion in investments from oil and gas companies. The measure passed the California Senate with a vote of 23-10, according to Bloomberg, and would require the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers Retirement System to stop any new oil and gas investments by 2024, and completely divest from large oil and gas company stocks by 2031. The Senate…
All of Europe’s efforts to slap sanctions on Russian oil and gas may have been in vain. While the European Union has shown considerable success in weaning itself off of its heavy Russian gas dependence, Asian countries have not followed the same path. The result has been a windfall of cheap energy for China and India and an extreme softening of the intended blow to Moscow. Despite the West’s best efforts to push a coordinated attack on the Russian energy economy in condemnation of the Kremlin’s ongoing war in Ukraine, some…
Alaska is one of the oldest oil-producing regions in the United States. Just recently, the public was reminded of that when the Biden administration approved a new, sizeable oil project in the state. At the same time, Alaska is, like other states, eager for a part in the transition to lower-carbon forms of energy. More specifically, Alaska wants a piece of the carbon offset action. This week, Governor Mike Dunleavy is convening a conference on sustainable energy where the issue will be discussed as well as the path of Alaska to making the most…
The United States has renewed a license that will extend the authorization to select oilfield services companies to keep assets in Venezuela. The license does not allow the companies to drill, process, or handle Venezuelan-derived crude oil, Reuters reported on Tuesday. The license to preserve oilfield assets was originally granted back in 2019 to U.S. oilfield services providers Baker Hughes, Halliburton, Schlumberger, and Weatherford International. The license allows them to maintain a physical presence in the country, including their assets,…
A huge new Middle East to Asia pipeline that could provide the East with high volumes of reliable gas supplies for decades is being planned. The presence of such a pipeline could also lead to vital gas supplies being diverted from Europe, in which demand for them has dramatically increased to substitute from lost gas supplies after sanctions were imposed on Russia. The announcement of the new pipeline comes just a few weeks after the China-brokered Iran-Saudi Arabia relationship resumption deal that marked a milestone in the new global oil market…
A Dutch court ruled against Shell two years ago in a case targeting the supermajor’s emission footprint. It obliged the company to slash its emissions by almost half from 2019 by 2030. In response, then-CEO Ben van Beurden wrote a post on LinkedIn, noting an obvious fact that seems to have remained a mystery for the environmentalists that sued Shell and many more like them. “Imagine Shell decided to stop selling petrol and diesel today. This would certainly cut Shell’s carbon emissions. But it would not help the world…
If the United States and China ever enter into conflict, one of the key battlegrounds could be the Middle East. China has been busily trying to shore up its energy security and diversify its energy portfolio around the world, but the country remains heavily dependent on the Middle East for oil. Unfortunately for Beijing, the United States retains a significant amount of leverage and military might in the region which could be used as a powerful weapon in a war of wills between the two global superpowers. Maintaining a reliable and increasing energy…
Global LNG inventories may be at a record high amid weak demand but serious buyers are looking forward and sealing long-term supply deals to secure enough LNG for the future without exposing themselves to the fickle spot market. While Europeans may not be huge fans of long-term deals because of their transition plans, Asians definitely like their long-term LNG deals. And so do the supermajors that will then sell this LNG to long-term-averse Europeans. Since the start of the year, long-term deals worth some 13 million tons annually have been closed,…
After releasing its impressive oil consumption data for March 2023, the latest production figures from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) show that Saudi oil exports rose slightly from 7.45 million bpd to 7.52 million bpd in February. The data also shows a slight increase in Saudi production to 10.46 million bpd ahead of the surprise production cut, which was announced during the first week of April 2023. Market watchers have kept a close eye on both Saudi and Russian production and export figures in April and May. According…
