Новости за 22.05.2024

China’s runaway nuclear energy expansion has competitors biting their fingernails. As nuclear energy regains traction around the world as a promising baseload power source for a decarbonized future, it’s also become more and more of a geopolitical battleground. As countries scramble to keep a strategic foothold in a rapidly changing energy landscape, becoming a nuclear energy powerhouse is suddenly important for world superpowers. And China seems to be winning this race.  While the United States... Читать дальше...

Russia has withdrawn without explanation a Defense Ministry draft that proposed revising Moscow's maritime border in the eastern Baltic Sea and expanding its territorial waters that raised the ire of littoral NATO members Finland, Sweden, Lithuania, and Estonia. The draft, dated May 21, was initially published on an official Russian portal of legal drafts. It proposed expanding Russia's territorial waters in the Gulf of Finland and around the Kaliningrad exclave near the maritime borders with Finland, Estonia, and Lithuania. Читать дальше...

Up to 25 named storms for this year’s hurricane season could wreak more havoc on the American oil and gas industry than ever before, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday in an in-depth analysis of weather’s effects on supply and demand.  “The potential for a stronger hurricane season suggests heightened risk for weather-related production outages in the U.S. oil and natural gas industry,” the EIA warned, as meteorologists forecast a “particularly intense” Atlantic hurricane... Читать дальше...

The U.S. crude oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) has fallen well below the $80 mark it surpassed at the beginning of the week, with Brent crude also losing ground around $82 per barrel as inflation concerns once again took center stage.  At 1:45 p.m. ET on Wednesday, WTI was trading down 0.92% on the day, trading at $77.94, while Brent crude was trading down 0.81% at $82.21 per barrel. On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve put the brakes on oil prices when it suggested waiting months longer... Читать дальше...

American oilfield services provider and pipeline operator Kinder Morgan has acquired nearly 12,000 acres of Texas oil and gas producing assets in its quest to take advantage of carbon capture incentives designed to boost output from producing fields, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the deal.  According to Reuters, the Kinder acquisition indicates the attractive nature of incentives laid out in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which offers a tax credit for carbon sequestration of $60 per metric ton. Читать дальше...

The dictionary doesn't quite do justice to the word "boondoggle" according to author Dmitri Orlov, best known for his book Reinventing Collapse. A contemporary boondoggle must not only be wasteful, it should, if possible, also create additional problems that can only be addressed by yet more boondoggles. (This does NOT preclude boondoggles from being profitable for certain insiders.) In Orlov's universe, such boondoggles dissipate the wealth and vitality of a society until it collapses. But if executed properly... Читать дальше...

Shell is planning extensive work and a turnaround at the Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland near Cologne, Germany’s biggest oil-refining complex, in the autumn of 2024, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, quoting sources with knowledge of the plans. The turnaround means that the crude processing unit would be offline for at least a few weeks and supply to the market from the refinery would be reduced.   The Godorf section of the Rheinland complex will undergo a turnaround in the autumn, while Wesseling... Читать дальше...

WTI crude oil traded below $78 today after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an estimated inventory increase of 1.8 million barrels for the week to May 17. This compared with a draw of 2.5 million barrels for the previous week that pushed benchmarks higher last week as it came after an API estimate that also pointed to a draw and it was the second weekly draw in a row, suggesting demand picking up. A day before the EIA released its report, the American Petroleum Institute estimated... Читать дальше...

Europe needs to double its annual investments in grids to keep net zero in sight by enabling electrification of transport, heating, and industry, and integrating rising renewable energy sources, Eurelectric, the federation of the European electricity industry, said in a report on Wednesday. Europe’s investments in distribution grids should jump to as much as $72.5 billion (67 billion euros) per year from 2025 to 2050, up from a current annual average investment of $36 billion (33 billion euros),... Читать дальше...

The clock is counting down on BHP’s takeover swoop for Anglo American today as the Australian miner is left with just hours to table an improved offer or walk away. BHP has been hiking its bids for Anglo American over the past month after making an initial unsolicited $31bn offer for the firm in April, which was rejected. Last week, the Sydney-listed miner lifted that to £34bn but retained its condition that Anglo American carve off its iron ore and platinum business, in an offer that was roundly... Читать дальше...

Weakening demand is keeping crude oil prices stuck in a range that they can’t break above. Ample supply is helping. In even worse news for oil bulls, the chances of this state of affairs changing anytime soon are slim. The perception that demand is weakening comes from traders and analysts who spoke to Reuters this week, saying refiners in some big markets were buying less crude. As for the reason for this lower buying, it was twofold and nothing new. Inflation and interest rates—this is what is... Читать дальше...

Russian state giant Gazprom could halt natural gas supply to Austria’s OMV due to a foreign court ruling that could interrupt OMV payments to Gazprom Export, the Austrian firm said in an urgent market message. OMV’s unit OMV Gas Marketing & Trading GmbH (OGMT) has learned about a foreign court decision obtained by a major European energy company which, if enforced in Austria against OGMT, would require OGMT to make payments under its gas supply contract with Gazprom Export to such European energy company... Читать дальше...

Abu Dhabi’s national oil company ADNOC has acquired a 10% interest in an LNG project offshore Mozambique as it continues to expand its international natural gas operations. ADNOC has bought the 10% stake in the Area 4 concession of the Rovuma basin in Mozambique held by Portugal’s Galp. The deal will entitle ADNOC to a share of the LNG production from the concession, which has a combined production capacity exceeding 25 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), the state energy firm of the United Arab Emirates... Читать дальше...

Chinese coal production this year will vary by between a 1% annual decline and 1% growth this year, a major industry association said on Wednesday, revising down its previous forecast of a 1% increase in coal production. China’s top producing region, Shanxi, is likely to miss its coal production target for 2024, Li Xuegang, deputy chairman of the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association (CCTD), said on Wednesday, as carried by Reuters. Shanxi, the coal county in the world’s top coal producer... Читать дальше...

The United States is on track to meet its goal to have by 2027 a domestic supply chain of rare earth elements for its defense needs, according to a senior official at the Department of Defense. The U.S. looks to cut its reliance on Chinese rare earth materials and has classified close allies Australia, Canada, and the UK as a ‘domestic’ source of critical mineral supply.   “We are on track to meet our goal of a sustainable mine to magnet supply chain capable of supporting U.S. defence requirements... Читать дальше...

Guyana has turned into a significant contributor to global crude oil supply growth in just a few short years. This is according to data published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration this week that showed Guyana had the third-fastest production growth rate globally, after the United States and Brazil. Between 2019, when oil production began in the tiny South American country, and 2023, output grew at an average annual rate of 98,000 barrels daily, taking the total from zero to 645,000 barrels daily last year. Читать дальше...

The Senate voted against proposed energy efficiency measures from the Department of Energy that would have essentially amounted to a ban on household gas furnaces. Introduced by Senator Ted Cruz, the resolution to strike down the measure got the support of 50 Senators, including several Democrats. This is not the end of the gas furnace ban, however, the Washington Examiner noted in a report on the news. Even before the vote in the Senate, the White House said President Biden would veto the resolution if it passed in the Senate. Читать дальше...

A second Trump presidency could place a huge part of renewable energy investments at risk, increase carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes more by 2050 and delay peak fossil fuel demand by 10 years beyond current forecasts, energy analytics firm Wood Mackenzie has predicted.   WoodMac projects ~$7.7T in overall spending by the U.S. energy sector through 2050 under current policies, a figure that could be cut by $1T under Trump through reduced policy support for low carbon energy and infrastructure improvements. Читать дальше...

With Bitcoin prices up more than 126% since last October – and with many experts predicting even higher prices in the months ahead – the question for investors is...         What’s the best way to play crypto for maximum upside potential in 2024? Some would recommend that you take advantage of this crypto bull market by simply investing in Bitcoin...or maybe adding one of the new Bitcoin ETF products to your portfolio.  And while those types of investments can certainly do well in a rising market…

In commodity circles, Argentina is known for its agricultural produce and for the Vaca Muerta shale play. But the country has recently started drawing attention to other kinds of natural resources: copper and lithium. According to some, it has a bright future as one of the world’s biggest transition minerals suppliers. Two weeks ago, a local investment company, Integra Capital, struck a deal with Glencore to acquire its stake in a company called Volcan Compania Minera. According to Bloomberg, this... Читать дальше...

After reeling from soaring energy costs in 2022, when diesel prices in the U.S. hit a record high, American farmers are taking advantage of provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act from the same year that help small farms install solar power at virtually no cost.    Demand for the Rural Energy for America Program of the U.S. Agriculture Department is overwhelming as farmers seek to slash their energy bills by having solar power installed at their farms.   For rural America, incentives and subsidies... Читать дальше...

Two announcements made on consecutive days last week may have far-reaching consequences for the security of the Middle East and the West for years to come if they reach the implementation stage. One was Iran’s offer on 11 May to establish an ‘energy corridor’ from Russia to the Persian Gulf. The other was Turkey’s announcement on 12 May that it is interested in buying more gas and oil from Iran and that the subsequent transit of these resources to eastern Europe through the country is possible. In the simplest terms... Читать дальше...