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The European Commission has issued a long-term strategy document in which it unfolds why the European Union should reach climate neutrality by 2050 and confirms its commitment to lead in global climate action. The proposed strategy is not meant to change the 2030 current targets, but rather intends to set the direction of the future energy policy. The full implementation of EU’s existing climate and energy policies is on track to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030 and 60% by 2050 but the Commission believes that this is not sufficient to meet the long-term temperature objectives of the Paris Agreement

The document sets out how reaching the objective of net-zero emissions could boost the EU’s economy by 2%/year and help cut energy imports by 70%, resulting in a sharp reduction of fossil fuel import expenditures (reduction of €2,000-3,000bn over the 2031-2050 period). The European Commission forecasts that it would significantly reduce the EU’s energy dependence (currently €266bn/year) as regards imports of oil and gas from the current 55% to around 20% by 2050.

The European Commission also pushes for the strong development of renewable energies, which would in turn lead to the electrification of the EU’s economy and higher degrees of decentralisation. It predicts that the share of electricity in final energy demand will at least double by 2050 and reach 53%. As for power generation, the European Commission foresees that by 2050, more than 80% of electricity will be coming from renewable energy sources, which will be increasingly located offshore. Nuclear power generation is expected to account for 15% of the EU’s power generation: overall, CO2-free energies will cover more than 95% of the power mix, contributing to make Europe carbon neutral.

Danish energy group Ørsted expects the global renewable energy market to triple by 2030 and plans to reach an installed renewable capacity of more than 30 GW. Besides, the company plans to reach 15 GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030, up from the previous target of 11-12 GW.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report 2017, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (including emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry, LULUCF) by 2030 could be between 13 GtCO2e and 15 GtCO2e higher than the level needed to keep global warming within 2 degrees Celsius (2°C) this century. In 2017,…

India, the third largest crude oil importer worldwide, currently has surplus refining capacity and rarely imports oil products. However,…

State-run Saudi Arabian oil and gas company Saudi Aramco has unveiled plans to raise its integrated refining and marketing capacity from the current 5 mb/d to 8-10 mb/d, in order to better balance between its upstream and downstream segments.

The Iraqi government has issued its 2019 oil sales allocation plans and expects them to be spread as follows: 67% will head to Asian markets (from 60% in 2018), while the remainder will be shipped to Europe (20%) and the Americas (13%). These figures will also include sales from the country’s southern oil fields near Basra and from the Kirkuk region in the north.

The government of the United Kingdom has issued an action plan aimed at setting up the country’s first carbon capture usage and storage (CCS) project by the middle of the next decade, followed by full-scale CCS projects in the 2030s.

Dutch tank storage company Royal Vopak has increased its stake in Elengy Terminal Pakistan (ETPL, wholly-owned by Engro Corporation), which owns a floating LNG import facility anchored at Port Qasim near Karachi (Pakistan), from 29% to 44%.

Algerian state-run oil and gas company Sonatrach has awarded a DZD70bn (US$600m) contract to the British oil services provider Petrofac to boost gas output at the Tinhert field (Illizi wilaya, Algeria) by an additional 4.7 mcm/d (1.7 bcm/year). Works are expected to start shortly and the project is slated for completion in 36 months with a deadline set for 2023.