Big Oil’s Digital Pivot Marks The Beginning Of A New Era For The Industry (30 June 2021): By Tsvetana Paraskova - The oil and gas industry is embracing new technologies to save time and costs and, most recently, to reduce the carbon footprint of its supply chain as the energy sector is under increased pressure to reward shareholders while helping to fight climate change. Along with artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital twins, and robotics, the world’s biggest oil and gas firms and oilfield services providers are betting on 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, to streamline operations, cut costs and save time, and reduce emissions from spare parts manufacturing. Over the past decade, some of the biggest oil and gas firms in the world have turned to 3D printing to procure parts and create digital warehouses to procure and manage the supply of necessary equipment. One such example is supermajor Shell (0.62%), which believes that additive manufacturing technology can reduce the costs, delivery time, and the carbon footprint of spare parts. Shell has ongoing projects with other industry players, including Baker Hughes (0.75%), to push the innovation of 3D printing for the energy sector, say Nick van Keulen, Supply Chain Digitalisation Manager and Angeline Goh, 3D Printing Technology Manager at Shell. (Source: Oil Price)
The Resource Behind The New Housing Price Explosion Is Crashing (29 June 2021): By Safehaven.com - Lumber prices have skyrocketed in the past 12 months, causing the average price of both new and existing single-family homes to increase. Until now. That bubble appears to have burst, finally. Mandated lockdowns caused lumber sawmills to halt production while at the same time many Americans, trapped inside due to the stay-at-home orders, rushed to the stores to buy lumber for projects to kill the time. Those two related things caused lumber inventory to plummet. As a result, lumber prices have skyrocketed more than 300% since April last year, leading the National Association of Homebuilders to report that the lumber shortage has added at least $36,000 to the cost of a new home. They estimated that the cost of lumber for building a home hit $70,000, nearly double the cost of building the exact same home last March. Also, the median sale price of existing homes surged by a record 17% to $329,100 — the highest since the National Association of Realtors began tracking prices in 1999. (Source: Oil Price)
Qatar: Peak Natural Gas Demand To Occur Around 2040 (28 June 2021): By Charles Kennedy - One of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters, Qatar, expects global natural gas demand to peak at some point around 2040, Bloomberg reported on Monday, quoting a bond prospectus of Qatar Petroleum it had seen. According to Qatar’s state-owned giant, worldwide natural gas demand still has two decades to grow, unlike the International Energy Agency (IEA), which warned in its Net Zero by 2050 report last month that in a scenario of net-zero emissions by 2050, the world doesn’t need any new oil and gas field developments beyond those sanctioned this year. According to the IEA net-zero vision, natural gas would need to peak around the mid-2020s and fall by more than 5 percent per year on average in the 2030s. Demand is then set to slow the decline in the 2040s because more than half of natural gas globally in 2050 would be used to produce hydrogen with carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS). This net-zero scenario would also mean that LNG trade would drop by 60 percent between 2020 and 2050, and gas carried by pipelines would fall by 65 percent, according to the agency. However, the IEA’s Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS) scenario—examining the consequences of existing and stated policies for the energy sector—sees natural gas demand rising from 3,900 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2020 to 4,600 bcm in 2030 and 5,700 bcm in 2050. (Source: Oil Price)
Biden's Import Ban Could Break The U.S. Solar Boom (27 June 2021): By Tsvetana Paraskova - The U.S. Administration banned imports of material for solar panels from a Chinese company this week as America seeks to eradicate forced labor from its supply chain. The Biden Administration says that the import ban on silica-based products from a company in China's Xinjiang region will not impact the booming U.S. solar industry. But some analysts are not so sure and think there would be negative effects on the American solar panel manufacturing supply chain. The United States is prohibiting imports of silica-based products made by Hoshine Silicon Industry Co., Ltd., a company located in Xinjiang, and its subsidiaries. The ban is based on information reasonably indicating that Hoshine used forced labor to manufacture silica-based products, the White House said on Thursday. The ban includes products made outside the United States that use Hoshine materials, including solar panels manufactured with polysilicon from Hoshine. China's "use of forced labor in Xinjiang is an integral part of its systematic abuses against the Uyghur population and other ethnic and religious minority groups, and addressing these abuses will remain a high priority for the Biden-Harris administration," the White House said. (Source: Oil Price)
Panasonic Has Sold Its Entire Stake In Tesla (25 June 2021): By ZeroHedge - Panasonic has officially sold all of its shares in Tesla. The Japanese giant offloaded its entire $3.6 billion stake in the name last year, according to a new report from Nikkei. Panasonic said it would continue supplying Tesla with batteries: "Our relationship with Tesla as a business partner will not change going forward," a Panasonic executive told Nikkei. Reuters, however, reported on Thursday that the sale was partially for Panasonic to "reduce its reliance" on Tesla. Panasonic is/was one of Tesla's oldest allies, buying into Tesla back in 2010 after its IPO. It not only continues to be a battery supplier to the company, but was one of Tesla's first major company partnerships and, in turn, public votes of confidence. It paid $21.15 for 1.4 million shares, valued at just over $30 million in 2010. Those shares were worth about $730 million by March 2020, according to Panasonic's annual securities report. But now it appears as though Panasonic - likely like many other vendors and clients - is no longer amused with the Tesla saga. (Source: Oil Price)
UAE Could Become First OPEC Producer To Pledge Net-Zero By 2050 (24 June 2021): By Tsvetana Paraskova - One of OPEC’s largest producers, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is considering the potential adoption of a net-zero by 2050 goal, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing sources with knowledge of the talks. If the Gulf oil producer joins major industrialized nations in the net-zero emissions commitments, it will become the first major petrostate to balance major emission-reduction goals with its important oil and gas industry. Around 30 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is directly based on oil and gas output, according to OPEC. Oil discoveries in the UAE, the first in the late 1950s, have made the emirates a wealthy country with a high standard of living. According to Bloomberg’s sources, the UAE could be looking to make a net-zero announcement ahead of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow in November. The UAE is “certainly working on a whole-of-government approach to see at what point it would be feasible to achieve net zero,” Hana AlHashimi, who heads the office of Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Group CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), said on a U.S.-UAE Business Council call this week, as quoted by Bloomberg. (Source: Oil Price)
Will Canada’s Oil Sands Survive The Green Revolution? (23 June 2021): By Haley Zaremba - Canada’s climate is heating up at a rate twice as fast as the rest of the world. In order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, experts have determined that it’s imperative to keep our world from warming more than 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial averages, and preferably no more than 1.5 degrees. In northern Canada, annual average temperatures have already increased by approximately 2.3 degrees Celsius. And it’s not just the Canadian arctic that is heating up alarmingly, dangerously fast -- the entire country of Canada has already surpassed the 1.5 degree threshold, having warmed an average of 1.7 Celsius (the equivalent of 3 degrees Fahrenheit). While the entire world is vulnerable to the devastating impacts of climate change, few nations are as urgently under threat as Canada. The country's response to this common enemy, however, has been far from united. In fact, the warming statistics cited in the first paragraph came from a government report that was released in conjunction with carbon taxes to be imposed on four of the nation’s 10 provinces for failing to take action into their own hands and make a plan to curb emissions and combat global warming. (Source: Oil Price)
Is The Green Hydrogen Hype Warranted? (22 June 2021): By Haley Zaremba - When you imagine a clean energy future, what does it look like? For most people, the idea conjures images of spinning fields of wind turbines and massive solar farms. But while wind and solar are excellent and increasingly efficient and affordable forms of clean energy production, they have their limitations. The first and most commonly known drawback to wind and solar is that these forms of energy production are variable, which is to say that they can’t produce power inconsistent quantities around the block. Wind and solar power both depend on weather patterns, which humans still haven’t found a way to control despite all of our other nature-defying feats, and the time of day -- you can’t extract energy from the sun’s rays if only the moon is out. This means that, unlike with conventional fossil fuels, the flow of energy to the grid from wind and solar comes in stops and starts that can’t always be reliably predicted. Humans, however, demand energy more or less constantly, regardless of whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. Of course, there are solutions to this. There are many forms of energy storage and smart-grid solutions which maintain an even flow of carbon-neutral energy to your municipal grid. And these technologies are advancing all the time, especially as cash begins to flow into the energy storage sector as it’s become clear that it will be a significant mainstay of our greening economy. (Source: Oil Price)
Texas Grid Operators Have Another Mess On Their Hands (21 June 2021): By Haley Zaremba - It’s been one heck of a year for Texas energy grids. Six months ago only a very select group of industry insiders and policy nerds had ever heard of The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Now, they’re a national household name and the Lone Star State’s public enemy number one. ERCOT first gained its notoriety in February of this year when a severe cold snap led to devastating failures across Texan power grids. Lack of energy across huge swaths of the state in combination with the dangerously low temperatures and storm conditions tragically led to critical shortages of water, food, and heat, ultimately culminating in the death of 111 people at the very least, and that’s just in Texas. While there were several competing narratives circulating to explain the catastrophic failure in its immediate aftermath, the clear culprit was ERCOT and the unusual and unique organization and orchestration of the Texan power grid.’ (Source: Oil Price)
Emerging Economies Face An Impossible Challenge In The Energy Transition (Source: Oil Price): By Oxford Business Group - Climate concerns are driving an acceleration in the global transition towards environmentally sustainable energy sources, with significant implications for emerging markets as they seek to keep pace with high demand growth over the long term. In a sign of the growing influence of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards on the energy industry, three of the world’s energy majors recently experienced significant developments that could dramatically change the way they do business. In a landmark ruling, on May 26 a Dutch court ordered Royal Dutch Shell (-5.26%) to reduce its carbon emissions by 45% – as measured against 2019 levels – by 2030. The lawsuit was filed by seven groups, including environmental organizations Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth Netherlands, on behalf of 17,000 Dutch citizens, and claimed that the company was threatening their human rights by continuing to invest in fossil fuels. Although Shell, which had previously unveiled a carbon reduction plan, has pledged to appeal the ruling, the decision is nevertheless indicative of the growing pressure on energy majors to improve their climate credentials. (Source: Oil Price)
The Energy Transition Will Provide A Wealth Of Opportunities In Europe (19 June 2021): By Global Risk Insights - Energy dependence of European countries has become evident as a consequence of the geopolitical turmoil during the two Oil Crises of the 1970s and in disruptions of Russian gas supplies in 2006, as well as 2009. In other words, the need for a common energy policy has become an increasingly significant priority for the European Union. Yet, today, the Union still lacks a coherent common energy policy and energy continues to be an essential component of national security agendas despite substantial harmonization efforts. According to European Energy Security Strategy, the EU imports about 53% of the energy it consumes, which makes it the largest energy importer in the world, in contrast with the growing energy demand worldwide. The Union needs an ever-integrated energy market to pioneer the transition to a low-carbon economy and retain Europe’s leading role in climate change as well as global investment in renewable energy. Since the 1990s, the European Commission has been putting emphasis on the cost-effective outcomes that can be achieved through harmonized energy supply security policies at a supranational level. For this purpose, the Framework Strategy for a Resilient Energy Union prioritizes among all five strategic dimensions: energy security, the internal energy market, energy efficiency, decarbonization and research, innovation, and competitiveness with the ultimate goal of fostering energy security and sustainability in the wider region. (Source: Oil Price)
Big Oil Used Instagram And Gen Z Lost It (17 June 2021): By Irina Slav - To say that Big Oil has had some reputation management problems would be the understatement of the decade. Pressure from environmentalist organizations, regulators—and most recently, investors—has combined to make life quite difficult for the industry that is being singled out as virtually the only culprit behind anthropogenic climate change. But now it’s fighting back. A recent article published in Gizmodo details the Instagram foray of Shell and Phillips 66 as sponsors of influencers on the social network. Some of these sponsored posts, the author writes, are clearly advertising material. Others, however, are more difficult to recognize as such. If it was any other industry doing this, it would have been called native advertising and left alone. But when Big Oil does it, it is clearly evil. Carbon and particulate matter emissions from the production, processing and use of fossil fuels are unquestionably the largest single source of air pollution. So it’s no surprise that everyone is blaming Big Oil—and oil of any size, really—for the planet’s emission problems and the changing climate. (Source: Oil Price)
Carbon Trade Could Be 10 Times Bigger Than Global Crude Oil Market (16 June 2021): By Tsvetana Paraskova - The growing market for paying for carbon emissions could become a larger market than the one for crude oil, according to the head of carbon trading at Trafigura, one of the world’s largest commodity traders. The carbon market has the potential to become 10 times larger than the global crude oil market, Hannah Hauman, Global Head of Carbon Trading at Trafigura, said at FT Commodities Global Summit on Wednesday, as carried by Bloomberg. The biggest commodity traders are looking at growing opportunities in carbon trading and trading in energy transition metals. Amid booming demand for key metals in the energy transition, commodity traders, and some hedge funds are racing to hire metals traders to capitalize on the demand for critical minerals, Reuters reported earlier this month, quoting sources with direct knowledge of the hiring spree. Trafigura, for example, became last year the first commodity trading company to establish a low-carbon aluminum trading desk and established a non-ferrous metals business development unit. During 2020, Trafigura’s non-ferrous Metals and Minerals department recorded its most successful performance, the trader said in its annual report. Last year was also the first full year after restructuring the department into four books: copper, zinc and lead, nickel and cobalt, and aluminum. (Source: Oil Price)
The Renewable Energy Revolution Has A Major Employment Problem (14 June 2021): By Haley Zaremba - Renewable energy is going gangbusters. The “remarkable and unstoppable growth of green energy” has been on the horizon for a long time now, with technologies like wind and solar becoming competitively cost-effective and even cheaper than some fossil fuels in most of the world, electric cars becoming more and more accessible and mainstream, and as more consumers become more concerned about their own personal carbon footprint’s role in the warming of the planet. While the global clean energy transition has been a long time coming, we seem to have reached a tipping point, going from far-off aspirations and pleading from environmentalists and climate scientists to an in-earnest, urgent movement over the course of 2020. The move towards renewables was undoubtedly catalyzed by the spread of the novel coronavirus, which brought the usually unstoppable momentum of industrial and economic business as usual to a screeching halt at the beginning of last year. As demand for fossil fuels lagged and the bottom fell out of the petroleum market, it seemed possible, for the first time in recent memory and perhaps even since the industrial revolution, to redirect the trajectory of the global economy away from oil, coal, and gas and toward a greener, more renewable future. (Source: Oil Price)
China Delivers Crushing Blow To Wind, Solar Power (11 June 2021): By Irina Slav - China will stop subsidizing new solar farm projects, distributed solar projects for commercial users, and onshore wind farms as soon as this year, Reuters reported, citing the central planning authority of the country. The change will enter into effect on August 1 and is a departure from the course set late last year. The country’s finance ministry had previously committed to granting 57 percent more subsidies to solar power projects this year, although it did slash subsidies for wind power. China is a lesson in progress on using subsidies to support the more extensive deployment of renewable power capacity. For years, Beijing has been pretty generous with these installations, spurring a renewables push that turned it into the country with the greatest solar and wind capacity. Then, in 2018, China dropped a bomb on renewables investors. “A joint statement put out on Friday by the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance and National Energy Administration said the allocation of quotas for new projects had been halted until further notice, and tariffs on electricity generated from clean energy will be lowered by 0.05 yuan per kilowatt hour, a cut of 6.7 to 9 per cent depending on the region, effective June 1,” the South China Morning Post wrote in 2018. (Source: Oil Price)
Three Futuristic Travel Technologies That Almost Became Reality (10 June 2021): By Alex Kimani - There are few things quite as fascinating as learning what people in the past dreamed about the future. What is particularly striking is that lots of their ideas involve mechanized devices, flying, or a combination of the two. Some of the portraits are quite fantastic and bizarre by modern standards, but others are surprisingly accurate visions of our current era, including helicopters, farming machines, and what looks like a precursor to the new robot vacuum, the iRobot Roomba vacuum. The 4th Industrial Revolution is well and truly underway, and technology is evolving faster than ever before in the history of mankind. Whereas we may not have succeeded yet in terraforming and colonizing Mars or developing the whale bus and riding giant seahorses as people envisioned more than a century ago, there's little doubt the current decade is set to spawn even more impressive feats of techno-wizardry. Here are 3 futuristic but promising travel dreams that have yet to be realized, including one that might actually become a reality during our lifetimes: JetTrain; Hyperloop; Flying cars (Source: Oil Price)
Natural Gas Is The Secret To Scaling Geothermal Energy (9 June 2021): By Haley Zaremba - No matter where you are on Earth, you are situated right on top of a potential clean energy production hub. This is the argument at the heart of the push for expanding geothermal energy, a renewable and carbon neutral form of energy production that relies upon the heat naturally produced under the ground to create turbine-turning steam or to pump straight into residences as well as commercial buildings. Worldwide, the average “geothermal gradient” is about 30 degrees Celsius per kilometer (which translates to 86 degrees Fahrenheit for every 0.6 miles), meaning that for every kilometer deeper you drill into the Earth, the surroundings increase in temperature by about 30 degrees. A geothermal power plant will drill one or two miles deep under the surface of the Earth in order to extract steam or hot water, bringing it to the surface to turn it into energy. Most geothermal power plants position themselves where the Earth is hotter much closer to the surface, such as areas with hot springs, geysers, or volcanic activity. Volcanic Iceland, for example, gets an astonishing 66% of its energy from geothermal sources. Yes, having access to hot water and steam right under the Earth’s surface makes geothermal energy much more economically feasible and logistically practical. But what if that didn’t matter? What if geothermal energy were less limited to being within proximity of hot water and steam? What if heat was all it took, and a geothermal energy plant could be created absolutely anywhere on Earth? (Source: Oil Price)
Carbon Capture Investment Soars As CO2 Levels Hit Record High (8 June 2021): By Felicity Bradstock - With carbon capture having hit record levels, government investment in new projects is soaring, even Elon Musk is backing it. Here’s what’s happening in the space. As populations continue to grow and our energy burden to the planet increases, carbon dioxide levels in the earth’s atmosphere have hit a 4.5 million-year high, reaching 419 parts per million (ppm) this May. The greenhouse gas traps heat from the sun and keeps it close to the earth’s surface, contributing to climate change and causing devastating environmental effects. As a means of tackling the increase of carbon dioxide, governments and private energy companies are now looking for ways to capture carbon emissions produced during energy production to prevent their release into the air. In the U.S., private firm Venture Global LNG Inc. is aiming to capture 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year from its sites across Louisiana, pending regulatory approval. The liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer hopes to use carbon capture, use, and storage (CCS) technology to compress and transport CO2 from gas sites to inject it into subsurface saline aquifers where it can be safely stored. (Source: Oil Price)
Energy Secretary Warns Cyberattack Could Shut Down U.S. Power Grid (7 June 2021): By Tsvetana Paraskova - There are malign cyber actors capable of shutting down the U.S. power grid or parts of it, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said this weekend, calling for increased public-private cooperation in fending off cyberattacks. “I think that there are very malign actors who are trying,” Secretary Granholm said on CNN and NBC on Sunday. “Even as we speak, there are thousands of attacks on all aspects of the energy sector and the private sector generally,” she added. When asked if American adversaries have the capability now of shutting down the U.S. power grid, Secretary Granholm said: “Yes, they do.” “Everyone needs to wake up and up their game in terms of protecting themselves, but also telling the federal government if they are target of attacks,” she told NBC. Secretary Granholm also said that companies paying ransomware only exacerbates the cyberattack problem, and no one should be paying ransomware. (Source: Oil Price)
Saudi Arabia Says It is No Longer An Oil Producing Country (6 June 2021): By Julianne Geiger - When Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman announced that Saudi Arabia was no longer an oil-producing country, he likely didn’t mean literally. “Saudi Arabia is no longer an oil country, it’s an energy-producing country,” the Energy Minister told S&P Global Platts this week. Saudi Arabia has high green ambitions that include gas production, renewables, and hydrogen. “I urge the world to accept this as a reality. We are going to be winners of all these activities. Saudi Arabia will surely benefit from the green transition. While the Exxons, Chevrons, and Shells of the world are busy doing climate activists’ bidding in the boardroom and courtroom, NOCs--particularly in various OPEC nations--are all-too-eager to take advantage of what will surely be increased oil prices. Already Saudi Arabia has raised its official selling price for the month of July to Asia. But that doesn’t stop Saudi Arabia from pursuing its green ambitions--the Saudi Green Initiative--while funding those green ambitions through oil sales. Saudi Arabia plans to generate 50% of its energy from renewables by 2030, in part to reduce its dependence on oil. In 2017, renewables made up just 0.02% of the overall energy share in Saudi Arabia. (Source: Oil Price)
Buffett And Gates Are Building A Nuclear Plant In Coal Country (5 June 2021): By Felicity Bradstock - Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have chosen a top U.S. coal-producing state as the location for a new kind of nuclear reactor, using Natrium as its power source. The natrium power plant, with an anticipated cost of $1 billion, will repurpose a coal plant for its operations in Wyoming, with the exact location to be announced by the end of 2021. The partners hope this will help the U.S. on its way to a carbon-zero future. The development consists of a 345-megawatt sodium-cooled fast reactor with molten salt-based energy storage that could boost the system’s power output to 500MW during peak power demand. This would provide enough energy to power as many as 400,000 homes. The project will be overseen by TerraPower and Pacificorp, founded by Gates and Buffett respectively. TerraPower has been key in exploring the potential of Natrium power as the U.S. energy department awarded the company $80 million in funding last year to demonstrate the potential power of this chemical. “We think Natrium will be a game-changer for the energy industry,” Gates stated of the project. (Source: Oil Price)
TotalEnergies lets contract for biorefinery as part of Grandpuits zero-crude conversion (4 June 2021): Robert Brelsford - TotalEnergies let a contract to NextChem to produce all necessary process and engineering documentation for a new biorefinery to be built as part of the operator’s Project Galaxie repurposing of its Grandpuits refinery in France. TotalEnergies SE has let a contract to Maire Tecnimont SPA subsidiary NextChem SPA to produce all necessary process and engineering documentation for a new biorefinery to be built as part of the operator’s Project Galaxie repurposing of its 101,000-b/d Grandpuits refinery at Seine-et-Marne near Melun in northern France, which intends to convert the site into a zero-crude industrial platform by 2024. As part of the contract, NextChem will execute front-end engineering design (FEED) for the Grandpuits biorefinery, which is scheduled to begin producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in 2024, Maire Technimont said. While the service provider disclosed neither a value nor timeframe for delivery of its work under the agreement, Virginie Merini, TotalEnergies’ senior vice-president renewable fuels, said signing of the June 3 FEED contract forms an important milestone in the operator’s reinforcement of its commitment to accelerating its growth on the renewable fuels market. By 2030, TotalEnergies plans to produce close to 5 million tonnes/year of renewable fuels, according to Merini. (Source: OGJ)
Are Regional Companies Ready To Dominate South Asian Oil Markets? (3 June 2021): By Felicity Bradstock - Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd. is set to take over Repsol’s operations in Malaysia and Vietnam as the Spanish company sells its exploration and production assets in a move away from Malaysia to focus on its core market. Repsol announced it will be selling oil exploration and production assets in Malaysia as well as Block 46 CN in Vietnam to a Malaysian Hibiscus Petroleum-owned subsidiary. Kuala-Lumpur listed Hibiscus will acquire the whole equity interest in Fortuna International Petroleum Corp for $212.5 million. Rumors have been circulating around Repsol’s departure from Malaysia since February this year. But Repsol still holds a significant stake in the Southeast Asian oil sector, with major assets in Vietnam and Indonesia. The shift appears to be in a bid for Repsol to focus its portfolio on a core set of countries and activities, following its recent withdrawal from Russia and the ceasing of its oil production in Spain. Repsol will continue to focus its efforts around upstream activities, reducing its presence from 25 to 14 core countries. (Source: Oil Price)
G7 Nations Invest More In Fossil Fuels Than Clean Energy Despite Pledges (2 June 2021): By Charles Kennedy - The G7 nations have been pumping more in fossil fuels than in clean energy since the start of the pandemic, despite headline-grabbing pledges for ‘building back greener’, a new report found on Wednesday. Since the pandemic started, major industrialized nations, including the U.S. earlier this year, have pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and strengthened policies to support renewable energy, electric vehicles, and energy storage. Yet, this was not enough, according to the analysis published by charity Tearfund, in collaboration with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). The Group of Seven most industrialized nations—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the U.S.—committed between January 2020 and March 2021 more than US$189 billion to support coal, oil, and gas, while clean forms of energy received only $147 billion, the analysis showed. “These investments – including the many direct support measures and environmental deregulations adopted in favour of the fossil fuel industry – are inconsistent with the steep decline in emissions needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C and with G7 countries’ own net-zero targets,” the authors of the report wrote. (Source: Oil Price)
Oil Tops $71 As OPEC+ Keeps Output Plans Unchanged (1 June 2021): By Tsvetana Paraskova - Oil prices rallied ahead of and during the monthly meeting of OPEC+ early on Tuesday after the alliance’s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) signaled there would be no changes in the plans to boost July oil production by 840,000 barrels per day (bpd). As of 9:05 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, WTI Crude was up by 3.36 percent at $68.61, and Brent Crude was trading above $71 per barrel after breaching the $70 mark earlier today. Brent was up 2.55 percent at $71.14. The meeting of the JMMC also signaled that OPEC and OPEC+ see the global oil market in a better place than earlier this year and that the group is carefully monitoring the ongoing talks about the Iran nuclear deal that could soon result in Iran’s oil legitimately returning to the market. “The projections for oil are largely unchanged from our last meeting, with demand expected to grow by 6 mb/d to around 96.5 mb/d on average for the year, an increase of 6.6%. As with the economy, the market outlook for later this year looks especially promising,” OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said at the JMMC meeting, which preceded the full OPEC+ meeting. (Source: Oil Price)