Call for unified efforts to achieve net-zero goals

The vice chairman of the American finance and insurance company S&P Global was speaking at a plenary session titled “Energy volatility, security and access” at the 44th conference of the International Association for Energy Economics in Riyadh on Sunday.
The vice chairman of the American finance and insurance company S&P Global was speaking at a plenary session titled “Energy volatility, security and access” at the 44th conference of the International Association for Energy Economics in Riyadh on Sunday.
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Updated 05 February 2023

Call for unified efforts to achieve net-zero goals

Call for unified efforts to achieve net-zero goals

RIYADH: Highlighting the challenges on the road to the energy transition, energy expert Daniel Yergin called for making concerted efforts and setting realistic goals to achieve success in this regard.

The vice chairman of the American finance and insurance company S&P Global was speaking at a plenary session titled “Energy volatility, security and access” at the 44th conference of the International Association for Energy Economics in Riyadh on Sunday.

Yergin identified the main challenges as energy security, the size and scale of the transition, net zero goals, and government intervention.

He expressed his concern over the different timeframes set by various countries to achieve net zero.

Yergin said it was confusing to note that some countries have set to achieve their net-zero goal by 2050 but China’s goal is 2060 and India seeks to achieve it in 2070.

He also laid emphasis on government intervention in effectively achieving the net-zero goals and fighting climate change.

“A good example of this is the British government’s windfall taxes on North Sea oil,” he stressed.

The S&P Global’s top official also highlighted the importance of increasing copper production to help the energy transition goal but he also expressed concern over different countries’ respective capacities to boost its production as “it takes a long time to open copper mines.”

He said in addition to these challenges, there is a lot of uncertainty nowadays. Yergin said nobody expected the outbreak of COVID-19 or the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It would be difficult to predict what lies ahead, he added.

“The IAEE was founded in 1977 which was a time of energy turbulence and time of energy uncertainty and here, we are in 2023 — a new age of energy turbulence and energy uncertainty,” Yergin said.

“The complexities in the energy transition calls for deeper thinking and analysis.”


QatarEnergy picks up stakes from Exxon in Canadian offshore blocks

QatarEnergy picks up stakes from Exxon in Canadian offshore blocks
Updated 9 min 10 sec ago

QatarEnergy picks up stakes from Exxon in Canadian offshore blocks

QatarEnergy picks up stakes from Exxon in Canadian offshore blocks

DOHA: Qatar's state-owned energy company on Wednesday signed a deal to acquire from ExxonMobil stakes in two Canadian offshore explorations block, the latest in the Gulf state's efforts to expand its global oil and gas portfolio.

QatarEnergy, the world's largest producer of liquefied natural gas, has in recent years entered some of the most promising oil and gas basins through deals with top Western companies eager to secure stakes in Qatar's LNG industry.

As part of its quest to diversify internationally, QatarEnergy has in recent years picked up exploration blocks in basins including Guyana, Namibia, South Africa and Cyprus from companies including TotalEnergies, Shell and Exxon.

More recently it joined TotalEnergies and Italy's Eni in a three-way consortium to explore oil and gas in two maritime blocks off the coast of Lebanon. It is also in discussions to enter a large project in Iraq with TotalEnergies, Reuters reported.

The Qatari company first entered offshore exploration in Canada in 2021 with a 40 percent stake in ExxonMobil's license for EL 1165A off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The latest farm-in agreement announced on Wednesday gives QatarEnergy a 28 percent interest in license EL 1167, with ExxonMobil Canada holding 50 percent and Cenovus Energy 22 percent, as well as 40 percent in license EL 1162, with ExxonMobil Canada holding 60 percent.

"We are pleased to sign this agreement with our strategic partner, ExxonMobil, to further grow our offshore Atlantic Canada portfolio as part of our international growth drive," QatarEnergy CEO Saad Al-Kaabi said in a statement.

For the Western companies, awarding QatarEnergy stakes in lucrative prospects is part of a wider quest to tighten ties with the company in an effort to secure a share in the Gulf country's sprawling LNG operations.

New natural gas sources

Demand for natural gas is expected to rise in the coming decades as countries shift away from the more polluting coal to generate electricity.

Europe's efforts to find new sources of natural gas to replace supplies from Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 further strengthened the outlook for LNG demand.

Qatar last year picked Exxon, TotalEnergies, Shell, Eni and ConocoPhillips as partners in a $30 billion expansion of its LNG production, known as North Field East. It also awarded stakes in a second expansion phase, known as North Field South later last year.

Qatar is the world's largest LNG supplier and aims to expand production to 126 million tonnes annually by 2027 from 77 million tonnes under the two-phase North Field expansion project.


ADNOC Gas annual core earnings jump 32% on pro forma basis

ADNOC Gas annual core earnings jump 32% on pro forma basis
Updated 39 min 22 sec ago

ADNOC Gas annual core earnings jump 32% on pro forma basis

ADNOC Gas annual core earnings jump 32% on pro forma basis

DUBAI: Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. Gas on Thursday reported a 32 percent increase in its 2022 core earnings on a pro forma basis, citing a higher pricing environment and increased sales volumes amid strong market conditions.

ADNOC raised $2.5 billion earlier this month by selling a 5 percent stake in ADNOC Gas to investors via an initial public offering.

ADNOC Gas' pro forma adjusted core earnings for last year came in at $8.7 billion, the company said in a bourse filing, up from $6.6 billion in 2021.

ADNOC Gas became operational on Jan. 1 through the consolidation of ADNOC Gas Processing, ADNOC LNG and ADNOC Industrial Gas.


Egypt to raise food subsidies spending by 20% in draft budget – statement

Egypt to raise food subsidies spending by 20% in draft budget – statement
Updated 45 min 18 sec ago

Egypt to raise food subsidies spending by 20% in draft budget – statement

Egypt to raise food subsidies spending by 20% in draft budget – statement

CAIRO: Egypt expects to raise its allocation for food subsidies by 20 percent and for petroleum products by 24 percent in the 2023-24 fiscal year, according to a draft budget approved by the cabinet on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

The budget forecasts gross domestic product growth at 4.1 percent and inflation at an average rate of 16 percent during the next fiscal year, which starts in July, according to a cabinet statement.

Egypt has been struggling to contain economic pressures exposed by the consequences of the war in Ukraine, which include rising costs to grain and fuel imports.

Its currency has come under renewed pressure this month despite three sharp devaluations since last March that have seen the Egyptian pound lose nearly half its value against the dollar.

Headline inflation has accelerated to five-and-a-half year highs of 31.9 percent.

Despite the challenges, the government is projecting a primary surplus of 2.5 percent, a 38.4 percent rise in overall revenues and a 28 percent rise in tax revenues, the cabinet statement said.

The budget still needs approval by Egypt’s parliament, and comes just days after a report by Morgan Stanley warned the country’s external financing needs are standing in the way of its economic development and may hinder its medium-term growth.

The investment management and financial services firm recommended the North African country implement structural reforms through a large-scale privatization program in order to boost its economy.

In December the International Monetary Fund approved a $3 billion Extended Fund Facility loan for Egypt, but Morgan Stanley warned in its report that this is “insufficient to close the financing gap and provide the country's foreign exchange needs in the near term”.

Egypt’s financial gap is currently pegged at $23 billion to $24 billion by the end of fiscal year 2023/2024, reported Morgan Stanley  

“This in turn should tame further expectations of FX depreciation and ensure a smooth transition to a durably flexible regime, potentially lowering the bar for portfolio investors and buying time for the authorities to implement the structural reforms to level the playing field and boost FDI inflows further,” added the report.


EU reaches deal on higher renewable energy share by 2030

EU reaches deal on higher renewable energy share by 2030
Updated 30 March 2023

EU reaches deal on higher renewable energy share by 2030

EU reaches deal on higher renewable energy share by 2030

BRUSSELS: The EU reached a provisional deal on Thursday on higher renewable energy targets, an important pillar of the bloc's plans to fight climate change and end dependence on Russian fossil fuels. 
Negotiators of the European Parliament and the Council, representing EU members, agreed that by 2030, the 27-country EU would commit to sourcing 42.5 percent of its energy from renewable sources like wind and solar, with a potential top-up to 45 percent. 

The EU's current 2030 target is for a 32 percent renewable energy share. 

The EU got 22 percent of its energy from renewable sources in 2021, but the level varied significantly between countries. Sweden leads the 27 EU countries with its 63 percent renewable energy share, while in Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands and Ireland, renewable sources make up less than 13 percent of total energy use. 

A rapid shift to renewable energy is crucial if the EU is to meet its climate change goals, including a legally binding aim to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030, from 1990 levels. 

EU countries will have to raise to 29 percent the share of renewables in energy used by the transport sector. EU industry would increase its use of renewables by 1.6 percent per year, with 42 percent of the hydrogen it uses deriving from renewable sources by 2030 and 60 percent by 2035. 

The directive added targets for buildings and sought accelerated permitting processes for renewable energy projects. 

Renewable energy targets have gained significance since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the EU has vowed to end its dependence on Russian fossil fuels by 2027 - and plans to do this mostly through locally produced, low-carbon energy. 

Reaching the new goals will require massive investment in wind and solar farms, scaling up production of renewable gases, and reinforcing Europe's power grids to integrate more clean energy. 

The European Commission has said additional investments of 113 billion euros ($123 billion) in renewable energy and hydrogen infrastructure will be needed by 2030, if EU countries are to end their reliance on Russian fossil fuels. 

The deal must be approved by the EU Parliament and EU countries to become law, normally a formality.


Oil Updates — Crude steady; PetroChina’s net profit surges 62% to record high

Oil Updates — Crude steady; PetroChina’s net profit surges 62% to record high
Updated 30 March 2023

Oil Updates — Crude steady; PetroChina’s net profit surges 62% to record high

Oil Updates — Crude steady; PetroChina’s net profit surges 62% to record high

RIYADH: Oil was steady on Thursday as a surprise drop in US crude stockpiles offset a smaller-than-expected cut to Russian supplies, while investors closely watched developments on Iraqi Kurdistan oil exports.

Brent crude futures were up 20 cents, or 0.26 percent, to $78.48 a barrel at 10.50 a.m. Saudi time, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose 34 cents, or 0.47 percent, to $73.31 a barrel.

Producers have shut in or reduced output at several oilfields in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq following a halt to the northern export pipeline, with more outages on the horizon, company statements showed.

Shell names Tony Nunan as its first chief of staff

Shell Plc said on Thursday that Tony Nunan will undertake the newly created senior role of the chief of staff and corporate relations, while Cecile Wake would take over from Nunan as Chair of Shell Australia.

The chief of staff, the first in Shell’s 115-year-old history, is the biggest change made by CEO Wael Sawan to the top management since he took the helm on Jan. 1, with a promise to boost the oil major’s performance.

Under the new role, Nunan will report to Sawan and be based in London, the company said, adding that Wake would replace Nunan, effective May 22.

PetroChina’s 2022 net profit surges 62 percent to record high

PetroChina’s net profit jumped 62.1 percent to a record high last year as stronger energy prices more than offset weak demand for fuel and chemicals, China’s largest oil and gas producer said on Wednesday.

PetroChina’s net profit amounted to 149.38 billion yuan ($21.69 billion) last year, while revenue rose 24 percent to 3,239 billion yuan, the firm said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The state energy giant produced 2.1 percent more crude oil last year at 906.2 million barrels, and natural gas output rose 5.8 percent to 4,675 billion cubic feet.

Refinery crude throughput, however, dipped 1 percent last year to 1,213 million barrels, or 3.32 million barrels per day, as Chinese consumption of gasoline and aviation fuel took a hard hit from Beijing’s COVID-19 control measures.

PetroChina recorded a 6.5 percent drop in domestic sales of gasoline, diesel and kerosene combined.

“For 2023, the global economy is expected to continue to recover but at a slower pace and there are still many unstable and uncertain factors,” PetroChina said.

(With input from Reuters)