OPEC+ Has Oil Price and Demand Problems. It Should Solve Demand
OPEC+ has two problems and two solutions.The first problem is that crude oil prices are too low for the comfort of most of the members of the group, which pulls together the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies including Russia.The second issue is that crude demand has so far disappointed the somewhat optimistic forecasts made by OPEC for 2024 growth.The first solution is for OPEC+ to surprise…
US LNG Export Dominance Tested as Europe's Demand Wilts
The United States has remained the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) so far in 2024, but a steep drop in selling prices and a sharp swing in export volumes to key markets is likely testing exporter appetite to stay on top.The United States shipped a record 56.9 million metric tons of LNG during the first eight months of 2024, according to Kpler.That surpassed the 54.3 million tons from Australia and 53.7 million tons from Qatar during that period, and marks only the second straight year that U.S.
How Trump will try to undo Biden's environmental legacy
Donald Trump, the presidential hopeful, has outlined an energy policy that focuses on maximizing U.S. power and fuel output. This includes dismantling Biden's main efforts to combat climate change. The Republican campaign for the former president has stated that President Joe Biden's efforts in supporting the adoption of electric cars while reducing the use of gas and coal poses a threat to the country's power grid during a time when energy demand is soaring.
Yellen warns that the end of US clean energy tax credit would increase consumer costs
U.S. Treasury secretary Janet Yellen will warn on Thursday that any attempt to rollback the Biden administration’s clean energy tax credit would increase costs for families and threaten new investments in U.S. Manufacturing that are creating jobs. In excerpts from remarks that she will deliver on a visit to Raleigh, North Carolina Yellen said that across the nation, families have claimed 8,4 billion dollars in energy tax credit that would lower their long-term energy bills.
Rystad reports that US oil and gas M&A will reach a record in 2023, with the focus shifting away from Permian.
Analysts at Rystad, a consultancy, said that the appetite of U.S. producers for deals is close to last year's level, as a rise in interest in smaller oilfields offsets sluggish activity in the Permian Basin, which produces most oil. According to Rystad's analysis of the U.S. market through August, nearly $100 billion was spent on mergers and purchases (M&As) by U.S. producers. Another $46 billion worth of assets is currently up for sale.
Putin and Serbian deputy PM discuss gas contract
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, said that he planned to discuss with Serbian Vice Prime Minister Aleksandar Volin a contract for gas supply that will expire in March 2025. Putin and Vulin met at the Eastern Economic Forum, in Russia's far-eastern port of Vladivostok. Serbia, which NATO bombed during the war in Kosovo in 1999, has historical close ties with Russia, but also aspirations to join the EU. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic…
Zara founder Ortega triples investment in energy assets
Amancio Ortega, founder of Zara and his investment company Pontegadea, almost tripled their investments in renewable energy last year. They are continuing to expand the efforts they have made to diversify Amancio Ortega’s fortune outside his fashion empire. The 2023 financial statements filed at the Mercantile Register, and seen by reveals that the Inditex family office, which is the owner of Zara's mother company, invested 693 million euros (766.87 millions) in wind, solar, and other energy assets across Spain and France.
US CFTC fines energy traders
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered TOTSA TotalEnergies Trading SA on August 27 to pay a fine of $48 million for alleged gasoline price manipulation. Ian McGinley, CFTC Director of Enforcement, said that the CFTC had "guarded the integrity of the market in numerous cases during the past 20 years" by detecting these benchmark-related scheme and prosecuting them. The U.S. regulator has fined several companies for what they call oil and gas market malpractice. Here are some examples.
Iraq wants U.S. gas investment as part of new energy-independence projects
He announced that Iraq will offer 10 gas exploration block to U.S. firms during a visit to the United States by Oil Minister Hayan Abdul-Ghani. Baghdad is trying to bring U.S. investors into its energy sector after previous rounds of licensing where Chinese firms dominated the available fields. Iraqi state-run media announced that the 10 gas blocks left unclaimed after six licensing rounds will be offered in a fresh bidding round. This comes at a time when Iraq is looking to boost its domestic gas production.
Maxeon will try to stop SunPower's asset sale
Maxeon, a solar panel manufacturer, said it would object to the sale of SunPower assets by a bankruptcy court because it claims to own the rights to use SunPower's brand outside the United States. SunPower, the pioneer of residential solar energy, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month. It is now looking to sell a number of its assets for $45,000,000 to Complete Solaria, a rival. This sale could be stopped if a court determines that SunPower has no right to sell its assets. Maxeon spun off from SunPower 2020.
Senators ask Biden to reduce South Korean import quotas for piping products
Three Democratic U.S. Senators called on the Biden Administration on Friday to lower the current import quota for oil and gas drilling pipe from South Korea. They said it had impacted businesses in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Sherrod Brown, Bob Casey, and John Fetterman, senators from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania, all noted that the market for Oil Country Tubular Goods - used in drilling, extraction, and transportation of oil and gas - has decreased, resulting in layoffs at companies operating within the United States.
GE Vernova claims that offshore wind turbine blade failures have nothing to do with each other
GE Vernova said on Friday that recent turbine blade failures in two offshore wind farms located in the United States of America and the United Kingdom were unrelated. The company is still dealing with the fallout of three separate blade accidents that occurred in just four months. The latest incident occurred on August 22 at Dogger Bank, off the coasts of Yorkshire and the North Sea. This was just over a week after a blade broke off at Vineyard Wind off the coasts of Massachusetts.
Storage broker: Global IT outage of July caused California fuel storage problems
Storage broker The Tank Tiger said this week that the CrowdStrike IT failure last month, which grounded scores of flights, created new problems in California's fuel markets. U.S. traders were forced to store jet fuel bound for California on waterborne tanks, forcing them to store fuel for California on tankers. The Californian policies to end fossil fuel use have made it difficult to set up new oil and gas pipelines. The Tank Tiger…
Texas sued for anti-ESG laws
Texas was sued on Thursday by a nonprofit whose members support environmentally-friendly policies, and which seeks to block a state law targeting businesses that support reduced reliance on fossil fuels. The American Sustainable Business Council claimed that the 2021 law, known as Senate Bill 13, violates the free speech rights of its members by prohibiting Texas from investing or contracting in businesses which, according to the state, "boycott" oil and gas.
US mineral projects close down government loans in fear of Trump
U.S. battery and miner recyclers have been rushing to close billions-dollar government loans before January, out of fear that the former president Donald Trump, if elected, would block funding necessary to boost American production of vital minerals for energy transition. The falling prices of lithium, nickel, and other minerals this year, along with lower than expected EV sales have scared private financiers. This has put the conservative mining industry into an unusual position…
Libyan oilfields shut down in dispute over central bank
Two field engineers reported that the Sarir oilfield had almost completely stopped production on Wednesday, due to a dispute between the government and the central bank over oil revenues. The authorities in the east of Libya, where the majority of oilfields are located, announced on Monday that production and exports will be stopped. The engineers stated that Sarir produced about 209,000 barrels of oil per day before production was reduced.
Starmer wants to help Europe reset its ties by pursuing a defence deal with Germany
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will discuss a landmark economic and defence accord with German leaders on Wednesday, hoping to use a visit to pursue a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" to reset relations with the rest of Europe. Starmer, who is on a two-day trip to Germany and France to promote Britain's economy, said that he wanted to see Britain move past the fractious relationship with European allies of the previous Conservative government and place improved relations at the center of his efforts.
Indian solar panels are under scrutiny by the US for possible links with China's forced labor
U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained nearly 43 million dollars in electronics equipment shipments from India under a law that prohibits goods made using forced labor. This is a new focus of the agency, which enforces trade. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which prohibits forced labor in Uyghurs, lists polysilicon as a sector of high priority. According to industry sources, solar panels are the most common type of equipment that has been stopped. The CBP didn't immediately respond to our request for comment.
Meta Platforms signs geothermal energy agreement with Sage Geosystems for US data centers
Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook, announced on August 26 that it had struck a deal with Sage Geosystems for up to 150MW of geothermal energy to power its U.S. Data Centers. The company is racing to develop infrastructure to support massive investments in artificial intelligence, which consumes a lot of energy. According to the social media firm, the first phase of the project is expected to be operational in 2027. It will "significantly" increase the use of geothermal energy in the United States.
US drillers reduce oil and gas rigs in the US for a second consecutive week - Baker Hughes
Baker Hughes, a leading energy services company, said that the U.S. firms have cut back on the number of natural gas and oil rigs for a second consecutive week for the first since late June. The number of oil and gas drilling rigs, a good indicator of future production, dropped by one in the week ending August 23. Baker Hughes reported that the total number of rigs is 47 or 7% lower than it was at this time last. Baker Hughes reported that oil rigs remained at 483 in this week's report, while gas-rigs dropped by one to 97.
