Новости за 21.05.2024

Crude oil inventories in the United States rose this week by 2.48 million barrels for the week ending May 10, according to The American Petroleum Institute (API). For the week prior, the API reported a 3.104 million barrel dip in crude inventories. On Tuesday, the Department of Energy (DoE) reported that crude oil inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) rose by 1 million barrels as of May 17. Inventories are now at 368.8 million barrels—the highest point since last April, but well below... Читать дальше...

Solar executives in China are railing the U.S. and Europe over trade protectionism, claiming that the West should instead “let the best technology win” in their respective markets. The Financial Times conducted an interview with Zhou Shijun, who leads global marketing for Arctech, who told them that the West ignoring the best technology would "come back to haunt" the renewable energy industry.  Shijun said that the introduction of trade barriers disproportionately impacted manufacturers of advanced... Читать дальше...

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have found that persimmon tannin, known for its antioxidant properties, improves the growth of yeast in the presence of ethanol. It’s a case of naturally derived antioxidants improving growth of yeast strain in presence of ethanol. The findings have been published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. While ethanol in alcoholic beverages impairs drinkers’ motor functions, it is that same substance that can power motor vehicles in a cleaner... Читать дальше...

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the sale of 1 million barrels (42 million gallons) of gasoline from the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve (NGSR) aimed at alleviating gasoline prices as Americans gear up for the summer driving season and ahead of U.S. elections this fall. "The Biden-Harris Administration is laser-focused on lowering prices at the pump for American families, especially as drivers hit the road for summer driving season," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. Читать дальше...

Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack, Afghanistan’s acting Industry and Trade Minister Nooruddin Azizi told Reuters earlier this month that his country agreed with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to build a logistics hub in its northwestern Herat province, which he said will also facilitate the export of Russian oil to South Asia via road and rail routes. The outlet noted that he’s particularly optimistic about Russia exporting this resource to Pakistan in the coming future, though they’ve yet to... Читать дальше...

In a dramatic move sure to attract attention, environmental activists have launched an unprecedented legal action against oil giant TotalEnergies and its major shareholders, including BlackRock and Norges Bank. The case, filed in a French court, seeks to hold these entities criminally responsible for extreme weather events attributed to climate change, with charges as serious as involuntary manslaughter. Individuals affected by disasters like Greek wildfires, Storm Alex, and Cyclone Idai, supported by the environmental group Bloom... Читать дальше...

Via MetalMiner.com Overall, the Copper Monthly Metals Index (MMI) rose 17.36% from April to May. The copper price uptrend accelerated throughout April. Bullish momentum saw prices surge nearly 14% from the close of March. By April 29, prices pushed past the $10,000 per metric ton mark. They continued to move even higher by mid-May, with an additional 1.14% increase. Despite these recent surges, the copper price today still faces numerous risks. Long-Term Fundamentals Drive Copper Pricing Above $10k Per Metric Ton Unstoppable copper? Читать дальше...

The world would need as much as $215 trillion in cumulative investments to achieve a fully decarbonized global energy system by 2050, research provider BloombergNEF (BNEF) said in a report on Tuesday. This investment would be 19% higher than an estimated $181 trillion price tag in an Economic Transition Scenario (ETS), in which the energy transition is driven by economics and where the Paris Agreement goals are missed and global warming reaches 2.6 degrees Celsius, according to BloombergNEF’s New Energy Outlook 2024. Читать дальше...

The trade writers and auto guys have changed their tune. Before, hybrid vehicles supposedly were a technological dead end with nowhere to go. Electric vehicles (EVs) representing the future would soon put even these “gas-sippers” out of business. But now, the EV business’ expansion of market share has begun to stutter, possibly because the potential buyers worried about a lack of charging stations (a topic we covered last week). Recent figures show that hybrid and plug in hybrid vehicle sales now... Читать дальше...

TotalEnergies and its partners have decided to move ahead with a $6-billion deepwater oil project offshore Angola, the French supermajor said on Tuesday. TotalEnergies is the operator and holder of 40% in Block 20/11 where the deepwater Kaminho project will be developed. Its partners are Malaysia’s Petronas with a 40% stake and Angola’s oil firm Sonangol with a 20% interest. The Kaminho project to develop the Cameia and Golfinho fields, located 100 kilometers (62 miles) off the coast of Angola, will... Читать дальше...

Bearish sentiment appears to have taken hold of oil markets lately, with demand concerns dragging prices lower. Oil bulls will be looking to OPEC+ to lift prices at its upcoming meeting.- European crude differentials have dipped this week after the continent’s return from maintenance has not seen a recovery in crude buying, with ample crude inventories allowing refiners to stave off purchases. - The North Sea’s Forties grade fell to a -$1 per barrel discount to Dated Brent, the physical benchmark in Europe... Читать дальше...

A near-record number of Americans plan road trips this summer as gasoline prices continue to drop ahead of Memorial Day weekend, the start to summer travel, the 2024 Summer Travel Survey of fuel savings platform GasBuddy showed on Tuesday. A total of 76% of Americans plan to take at least one road trip between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, the GasBuddy survey showed. That’s 18% higher than last year. The average American traveler has two road trips planned, with many venturing far – 49% expect... Читать дальше...

The helicopter crash that killed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has sent shock waves around the Islamic Republic and the region. But Raisi's death is not expected to bring major changes to Tehran's domestic and foreign policies, analysts say. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all major state affairs, and the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps are the key centers of power in Iran, where the president's authority is limited. "The death of Raisi, in itself, will... Читать дальше...

Eskom, the state-held utility of South Africa, plans to operate some coal-fired power plants for longer than initially envisaged to avoid making an already vulnerable grid more unreliable, the company’s CEO said on Tuesday. South Africa has been in the grips of an energy crisis with daily rolling power cuts that have been crippling the economy as Eskom continually fails to boost generation capacity to keep pace with growing demand in recent years.  South Africa, one of the world’s largest coal producers and exporters... Читать дальше...

WildFire Energy I LLC will become the biggest holder of consolidated acreage in the Eagle Ford shale play in East Texas after buying net acreage and wells from Apache Corporation, amid the ongoing mergers and acquisitions (M&A) wave in the U.S. oil and gas industry. WildFire Energy announced this week that it had entered into a definitive agreement to buy around 237,000 net acres and interests in 465 wells in the East Texas Eagle Ford from Apache Corporation and subsidiaries. With the acquisition... Читать дальше...

Zimbabwe, Africa’s top lithium producer and the world’s sixth-largest lithium miner, is looking to boost its economy with higher-value lithium by refining the raw material to battery-grade lithium.    Four large-scale producers of lithium concentrate have already submitted plans to refine the raw material locally, instead of shipping it to China, whose lithium companies dominate the lithium extraction industry in Zimbabwe, according to a senior government official in the African country. “They are... Читать дальше...

Australia faces electricity reliability gaps over the next decade if urgent investments in transmission infrastructure are not made on time, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said on Tuesday.   AEMO published today an update to the 2023 Electricity Statement of Opportunities (ESOO) report, the 10-year reliability outlook for the National Electricity Market (NEM). The update was triggered after the regulator received new information on new commissioning dates for Project EnergyConnect,... Читать дальше...

Crude oil prices have weakened this week, as expectations of higher rates for longer in the U.S. were seen depressing demand for everything including oil. Lower volatility on oil markets as traders cut their bullish positions on crude also helped push oil lower earlier today—a trend that Bloomberg sees extending, as it cited yet another report of a drone attack on a Russian refinery as failing to produce any effect on international oil benchmarks. Since the start of the year, Brent crude has gained... Читать дальше...

Chesapeake Energy this week started laying off employees following the divestment of its assets in the Eagle Ford play, Reuters reported, citing the company. Also according to the company, the layoffs had nothing to do with its $7.4-billion merger with Southwestern Energy. Chesapeake Energy, which went through bankruptcy in 2020 when oil and gas prices crashed, has been solidifying in the past year its strategic focus on its gas assets in the Marcellus shale in Appalachia and in the Haynesville shale... Читать дальше...

An Emirati tanker this week arrived at the port of Vancouver to load the first cargo to be delivered to international oil markets from the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline. Per a Reuters report, the cargo was 550,000 barrels of Suncor Energy crude, to be delivered to China, according to tanker-tracking data from Kpler. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Suncor had been chartering Aframax tankers aiming to sell its crude on international oil markets without using intermediaries. Reuters then reported that... Читать дальше...

Iraq remains crucial to China’s ongoing efforts to establish dominance over the Middle East for three main reasons, which is why the slew of new ‘fifth-plus’ and sixth oil and gas licensing concessions its firms won last week is not just enormously significant for it, but also for the U.S. as well. On the first day of the concessions round, China’s Zhongman Petroleum and Natural Gas Group (ZPEC) was awarded the northern extension of the Eastern Baghdad field, its United Energy Group won the development... Читать дальше...

Bitcoin's price swings make headlines, but the real power play in the crypto world is about to shift.  If you think the only way to profit from this surging market is by buying Bitcoin itself… Think again.  2024 could be the year that Bitcoin miners become a hot ticket in the crypto space. Why the sudden interest?  Three converging trends are poised to shake up the mining landscape:  Mounting pressure over energy use Merger mania  A wave of new regulations Success in this volatile arena will go to... Читать дальше...

A rare lizard that lives in Texas and New Mexico has become the latest potential threat to oil and gas production growth in the Permian. The dunes sagebrush lizard was granted endangered status by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last week, prompting an outcry from the industry, which warned the change in the lizard's status would be detrimental to its activity in the most prolific shale play in the country. According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the dunes sagebrush lizard occurs in about... Читать дальше...

Despite a continuous decline in U.S. coal power generation, the share of coal in America’s electricity mix is still above 15%, more than any renewable energy source.    All renewable energy sources combined—wind, solar, hydropower, biomass, and geothermal—surpassed coal-fired generation in the U.S. electric power sector for the first time in 2022. But coal still holds about 16% share of electricity generation, more than wind’s share of around 11%, hydropower’s 6%, or solar power’s 4% share of the…