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Producción y mercados energéticos 26/02/19

Latest Energy News

26 February 2019

TOP STORY: Canadian regulator reconsiders Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion The Canadian National Energy Board (NEB) has issued its reconsideration report to the government regarding the next steps of the CAD7.4bn (US$5.5bn) Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion project and estimates that its completion is in the Canadian public interest and should be approved. If the project is later cleared by the government, it will have to comply with 156 new conditions covering a wide array of issues such as environmental protection, pipeline safety and integrity, commercial support for the project and financial responsibility. In addition, the NEB has issued 16 recommendations to the Government of Canada related to project-related marine shipping. The project was rejected by the Canadian Federal court of appeal in September 2018 on grounds that government had failed to consider the concerns of some First Nations. The 1,150-km long pipeline expansion project would twin the existing Trans Mountain line, which transports approximately 300,000 bbl/d of crude oil and refined petroleum products from the oil sands deposits in Alberta to Vancouver (British Columbia) and to the Washington State (United States). The proposed expansion project would raise transport capacity to 890,000 bbl/d and would significantly increase crude tanker traffic off the Canadian west coast.

Companies Lietuvos Energija seeks partners for offshore wind projects (Lithuania) State-run Lithuanian holding company Lietuvos Energija has issued an Expression of Interest (EoI) process to select an experienced partner for the development of new offshore wind projects in the Baltic Sea. Interested players have until the end of 2019 to submit their proposal. In case of a successful cooperation agreement, the partnership will then be set up through a two-stage process. Read more Policy & Regulatory India’s SECI 1.2 GW solar auction draws lowest bid of US$3.6c/kWh Indian state-run Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has unveiled the results of the latest nationwide tender to set up 1.2 GW of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity. Four companies were awarded a total capacity of 300 MW each: ReNew Power, Azure Power, Eden Renewable and SBSR Power (Softbank); the latter had offered to develop 600 MW. Read more Portugal plans to hold solar power licensing auctions in June 2019 The Portuguese government plans to hold the country’s first large-scale solar power capacity auction in June or July 2019. 1,750 MW will be made available to investors in a bold move to increase the future domestic renewable power generation. This amount is much larger than the current solar installed capacity in the country, which stood at 822 MW in 2017. Read more Energy Markets ADNOC sets up new entity for pipeline infrastructure development (UAE) Abu Dhabi state-held National Oil Company (ADNOC) has entered into a US$4bn landmark infrastructure partnership with the institutional investors KKR and BlackRock for establishing a new entity called ADNOC Oil Pipelines. Read more Infrastructure & Investments OL-3 nuclear power project one step closer to operational license (Finland) The Finnish nuclear regulator STUK has reviewed the 1,650 MWe Olkiluoto-3 (OL3) nuclear power project in Eurajoki (Finland) and sees no obstacle to granting an operating license to Teollisuuden Voima’s (TVO) plant until the end of 2038. However, the regulator has also noted that a last safety problem has to be fixed before the start of the fuel loading procedure. Read more Tullow Oil plans to build new US$1bn crude oil pipeline in Kenya Independent oil and gas producer Tullow Oil has announced plans to build a US$1bn crude oil pipeline in Kenya by 2022. The project will be owned and operated by a joint venture (JV) of the government and the Kenya Joint Venture (KJV) comprising Tullow Oil, Africa Oil and Total. The final investment decision (FID) on the project is slated for later in 2019. Upon completion,… Read more ADNOC awards pre-FEED contract for 600,000 bbl/d Ruwais refinery (UAE) Emirati state-run oil company Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has awarded a pre-front end engineering and design (pre-FEED) contract to the engineering, project and technical services provider Wood Group for the Ruwais refinery expansion project in the United Arab Emirates. The Pre-FEED is expected to be completed by the end of 2019. Read more