Latest Energy News
Policy & Regulatory
EU considers tighter GHG emissions cuts by 2030 to reach 2050 targets
2 Apr 2020The European Commission has launched a public consultation on tightening the European Union’s 2030 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target. The European Union (EU) has set a target to cut GHG emissions by 40% by 2030, compared with 1990 levels. The Commission is considering raising the target to a 50% or 55% cut by 2030, i.e. the level required to reach net-zero GHG emissions by 2050, as set by the EU’s Green Deal strategy of December 2019. The consultation is open until the end of June 2020 and the new target will be proposed in September 2020.
Read moreCompanies
BP reduces investment plan by 25% in 2020 to US$12bn
2 Apr 2020BP has cut its 2020 spending plan by a quarter, from US$15bn to US$12bn, including a US$1bn reduction investment in short-cycle onshore activity; this will include its US shale business BPX Energy, which will slash its output by 70 kboe/d. In addition, BP will reduce its spending in downstream (fuels marketing, refining and petrochemicals) by around US$1bn.
Read moreShell withdraws from Lake Charles LNG project (United States)
2 Apr 2020Shell has decided to withdraw from the proposed 16.5 Mt/year Lake Charles LNG project in Lake Charles, Louisiana (United States), in which it holds 50%, citing adverse market conditions. The group will support its partner, the US pipeline company Energy Transfer that owns the remaining 50%, in the ongoing bidding process for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract.
Read moreFiddler’s Ferry and Aberthaw B coal-fired power plants shut down (UK)
1 Apr 2020SSE has closed the remaining units of its Fiddler’s Ferry coal-fired power plant in Warrington, Cheshire (United Kingdom). The power units, totalling around 1.5 GW, were idle and were the last remaining coal-fired units operated by SSE.
Read moreBrazil’s Eletrobras plans to invest US$6.2bn by 2024
1 Apr 2020According to its Business and Management Master Plan 2020-2024, Brazilian state-owned power utility Eletrobras plans to invest BRL32.4bn (US$6.2bn) over the period 2020-2024. Around 65% of this amount will be invested in power generation, including BRL13.9bn (US$2.7bn) in the Angra 3 nuclear power project (nearly 43% of total investments). In addition, Eletrobras will invest BRL9.4bn (US$1.8bn) in electricity transmission, and BRL1.8bn (US$346m) in infrastructure and environmental works. The plan was prepared before the Covid-19 epidemic in Brazil.
Read moreEnergy & Climate Markets
Gazprom ordered to pay Poland’s PGNiG US$1.5bn over gas deal terms
2 Apr 2020Poland’s state-owned oil and gas company PGNiG has won an international arbitration against Gazprom over a reduction in the price of its long-term Yamal gas supply contract. The arbitration court of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce ruled that Gazprom must reimburse to PGNiG approximately US$1.5bn for the period from 1 November 2014 to 29 February 2020. In addition, the gas pricing formula in the contract between the two parties should be amended to consider natural gas market quotations, as PGNiG is paying more for Russian gas than its European peers.
Read moreForecasts
Renewables expected to reach 28% of the Vietnam energy mix in 2030
2 Apr 2020According to “The Energy Development in Vietnam to 2025 with a vision up to 2035”, the total primary energy supply in Vietnam is expected to growth by 5.3%/year between 2016 and 2025 and by 4.8%/year between 2016 and 2035, increasing from 80.5 Mtoe in 2015 to 218 Mtoe in 2035.
Read moreInfrastructure & Investments
TC Energy will start the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline (US)
2 Apr 2020The Canadian energy infrastructure group TC Energy will start the construction of its US$8bn Keystone XL Pipeline, that will transport 830,000 bbl/d of Alberta oil sands (Canada) through Steele City in Nebraska (United States) to the Mexico Gulf coast refiners over an 1,897 km route. The construction of a 2 km segment crossing the US-Canada border could begin in April 2020. The company would then build pumping stations along the pipeline route as of June 2020, along with a pipeline segment in Nebraska, before starting to build segments in Montana and South Dakota in August 2020.
Read moreSOCAR and Equinor will develop the Karabagh field (Azerbaijan)
2 Apr 2020The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and the Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor have decided to develop the Karabagh field located 120 km offshore, east of Baku, in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea, based on effective results. The newly discovered reservoir holds enough volumes of oil and gas to pursue commercial development of the field, with oil reserves estimated at more than 60 Mt.
Read moreWorld Bank lends US$700m for the Dasu hydropower project (Pakistan)
2 Apr 2020Pakistan has secured a US$700m loan from the World Bank to finance the first phase of the 4,320 MW Dasu hydropower project on the main Indus river, in the Kohsitan district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region. The credit line has a 25-year maturity including a 5-year grace period. It will finance the transmission line, which will connect the project to the Pakistani power grid.
Read more
No Comment