Latest Energy News
Policy & Regulatory
Virginia (US) adopts 5.2 GW offshore wind target by 2034
17 Feb 2020The Virginia’s House and Senate (United States) have passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which lays out a plan to reach 100% of renewable power generation by 2050 at the latest. The legislation would replace the existing voluntary renewable energy portfolio system (RPS) scheme with a programme with mandatory RPS. It also calls for the construction of 5,200 MW of offshore wind capacity by 2034, with the first 2,600 MW developed by 2030, and for the development of 2,400 MW of energy storage capacity by 2035.
Vietnam will use more fossil fuels to generate electricity in 2020
17 Feb 2020As the output from hydropower plants is expected to decrease due to a lack of rain, Vietnam intends to generate more electricity from fossil fuels (coal and oil) in 2020: it will increase the production from coal-fired power plants by 1.9 TWh compared with previous plans and that from oil-fired power plants by 1.2 TWh to
Indonesia considers creating a state-owned upstream company
14 Feb 2020The government of Indonesia has submitted a bill to the parliament to create a new state-owned company in charge of upstream oil and gas activities, which would conduct business with private companies through production sharing contracts (PSCs) and would regulate the hydrocarbon sector. The upstream oil and gas regulator tasks (production licence allocation, work programmes and budget) are currently carried out by SKK Migas, which was created in 2001 and took over these activities from the national oil company Pertamina.
Companies
British energy group Centrica unveils massive loss in 2019
17 Feb 2020The British oil and gas producer and energy supplier Centrica has unveiled its 2019 results, announcing a statutory loss attributable to shareholders of £1,023m (€1,232m) in 2019 compared to a profit of £183m (€220m) in 2018.
EDF’s power generation dipped by 4.5% in 2019 (France)
17 Feb 2020EDF has released its 2019 results, announcing a 3.5% growth in its turnover (€71.3b) and a fourfold increase in its net result (€5.2bn).
Statkraft (Norway) plans to expand in hydropower, wind and solar by 2025
14 Feb 2020The Norwegian power group Statkraft has released its 2019 results, posting a 1% decline in its power generation to 61.1 TWh in 2019 due to a lower hydropower availability (-6.6% to 53 TWh) that was partly offset by a higher gas-fired power generation (tripling to 4.5 TWh). Nearly 74% of the company’s power generation came from Norway (45 TWh). The group sold 60% of its power generation on spot markets (nearly 37 TWh) and 35% under long-term commercial contracts (the remainder was sold at statutory prices (concessionary sales)).
Chevron will restart Wafra oilfield on Saudi-Kuwaiti border in March 2020
17 Feb 2020Chevron has started arrangements to resume crude oil production from the Neutral Zone shared by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia at the end of March 2020. Saudi Arabian Chevron (SAC), which operates the field on behalf of the Saudi government and of the Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC), would start with a trial oil production of 10,000 bbl/d and would ramp it up to reach a production level of 80,000 bbl/d by September 2020 and 145,000 bbl/d by early 2021. The field has an output capacity of about 200,000 bbl/d.
Forecasts
GECF expects global gas production to increase by 1.3%/year by 2050
17 Feb 2020The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) has released its Global Gas Outlook 2050, which forecasts global investments in the gas sector to reach US$9,700bn by 2050. The GECF expects economic growth to improve global energy accessibility and to unlock nearly 30% of additional energy demand, with gas gaining momentum as an alternative to coal-fired and oil-fired generation and as a flexible option to complement renewable power generation.
Infrastructure & Investments
TC Energy plans two gas pipeline expansion worth US$980m (Canada)
17 Feb 2020Canadian energy infrastructure group TC Energy plans to develop two new gas pipeline expansion projects for a total investment of CAD1.3bn (US$980m). The CAD900m (US$679m) 2023 NGTL Intra-Basin System Expansion will supply gas from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) to customers within Alberta on the NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. (NGTL) System. The expansion project is underpinned by new 15-year long supply agreements for 309 mcf/d (8.7 mcm/d) of gas starting in 2023. TC Energy plans to start applications in 2020 and construction by the end of 2021.
Energa and ENEA suspend 1 GW Ostroleka coal-fired power project (Poland)
17 Feb 2020Polish state-owned energy group Energa and Enea have suspended financing for their joint 1 GW coal-fired power plant project in Ostrołęka (northeastern Poland), which could lead to the suspension of construction works. Construction has already stared, reaching 5% at the end of January 2020, but the two utilities struggle to secure the full financing, as bank are reluctant to fund coal-fired power projects.
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