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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government of Pakistan have signed loan and grant agreements worth US$284m to upgrade the country’s power transmission grid. This is the third stage of a multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) under the ADB Second Power Transmission Enhancement Investment Programme, which aims at increasing the domestic grid stability and capacity along with the integration of intermittent renewable energy sources. The last tranche amounted to US$260m and was provided in March 2018.

The investment will be used to pilot large-scale, grid-connected battery energy storage system, which will enable state-run transmission operator National Transmission & Dispatch Company Limited (NTDC) to dispatch more intermittent renewable energy. The funding will also facilitate the development of ancillary services market.

South Korean power utility Kepco (Korea Electric Power Corporation) has outlined a first feasibility report on the development of a cross-border power grid system, the Northeast Asia Super Grid, which would connect South Korea with China, Russia and Japan. The document has been submitted to the South Korean Parliament.

The members of the European Parliament have voted in a non-binding resolution calling for the cancellation of the €9.5bn Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project between Russia and Germany, on grounds that it bypasses Ukraine and poses a threat to European energy security. However, the resolution has no power to stop the construction of the pipeline.

French energy major Total has signed an agreement to divest a 4% stake in the Ichthys LNG export project in Darwin (Northern Territory, Australia) for a total consideration of US$1.6bn, thus reducing its interest in the asset from 30% to 26%. The transaction is subject to Australian regulatory approvals and is in line with the group’s strategy.

US-based oil and gas company ExxonMobil and its partner BHP Billiton have made a final investment decision (FID) to develop the West Barracouta gas field in the Bass Strait offshore Australia. The project is slated to bring in new gas supplies to the Australian domestic gas market by 2021 and will be tied back to the existing Barracouta infrastructure.

Chinese state-run oil and gas company Petrochina (a subsidiary of CNPC) has lifted the crude oil production at the Iraqi Halfaya field (in the Missan governorate, 35 kilometers southeast of Amara, Iraq) by an additional 100,000 bbl/d, bringing the total output to 370,000 bbl/d. A new oil processing facility was launched and is now progressively ramping up its production.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has voted to issue a series of air permits to NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG project in Brownsville, South Texas (United States). The next awaited milestone is the review of the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which issued a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the facility in October 2018.