5 Takeaways from the Oilprice Interview With OPEC Sec. Gen. al-Ghais (31 March 2024): By Alan Mammoser - Since the public spat over long-term forecasts between the leading voice of the world’s oil producers – OPEC – and consumers – the International Energy Agency (IEA) – broke out last fall, it remains apparent that a deep divide exists between them. Their contrasting reports were published last October in the weeks leading up to COP28. In a recent interview with Oilprice.com, HE Haitham Al Ghais, OPEC Secretary General, reaffirmed his organization’s position on long-term oil demand while elaborating on its perspective on carbon emissions. His comments reflect a very different outlook from that of the IEA on key variables that will determine much of the world’s energy future. ... (Source: Oil Price)
Copper Atoms Key to Sustainable Methanol Production (28 March 2024): By Brian Westenhaus - University of Nottingham researchers have successfully transformed CO2 into methanol by shining sunlight on single atoms of copper deposited on a light-activated material, a discovery that paves the way for creating new green fuels. The international team of researchers from the University of Nottingham’s School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham, University of Queensland and University of Ulm have research has been published in the Sustainable Energy & Fuels Journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry. The material design is made up of copper anchored on nanocrystalline carbon nitride. The copper atoms are nested within the nanocrystalline structure, which allows electrons to move from carbon nitride to CO2, an essential step in the production of methanol from CO2 under the influence of solar irradiation. ... (Source: Oil Price)
U.S. Heavy Industries Get Green Makeover with $6 Billion Boost (27 March 2024): By Felicity Bradstock - The latest green transition move by the U.S. government is to invest in the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries. The White House has announced that it will provide funds for companies across several industries to increase the use of renewable energy and clean technologies to power and run plants, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It will also incorporate carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology into operations to reduce the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. This is expected to spur greater private investment in the sector and encourage other companies to follow suit. The Biden administration has awarded $6 billion in funding to decarbonise U.S. industry facilities across several sectors. Industry in the U.S. contributes around a quarter of the country’s emissions, and it is extremely hard to abate, with companies countrywide continuing to rely heavily on fossil fuels to run operations. Public funds come from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and will be distributed across a range of companies and projects in industries including iron, steel, aluminium, food and beverage, concrete and cement. ... (Source: Oil Price)
AI Surge Has Big Tech Scrambling for Power Supply (26 March 2024): By Tsvetana Paraskova - The surge in AI technologies and the massive build-out of data centers in America have had the biggest tech corporations scrambling for grid connection and reliable power supply to power the technologies of the future. Most of the giant corporations want their power sources to be as clean as possible—preferably all renewable. But utilities are struggling to meet soaring demand from data centers while keeping reliable operations for all the customers in the areas they serve. As much as Amazon, Microsoft, and all other tech giants want solar and wind to power their operations, the lead times to new grid connections could be longer than they would like. And so technology firms have started asking around for other sources of energy, such as natural gas, which currently delivers about 43% of U.S. utility-scale electricity generation. Definitely not as clean as solar and wind, but beggars can't be choosers if the tech firms want to keep their data center construction and AI development timelines. ... (Source: Oil Price)
Decentralized Renewable Energy Helps Ukraine Weather Russian Attacks (25 March 2024): By RFE/RL staff - Vadym Kolisnyk stands on a rooftop on the eastern edge of Zhashkiv. It’s the end of February, and the dark and fog that shroud central Ukraine for much of the winter have broken. The sun has returned to Cherkasy Oblast. This is good news for Kolisnyk, for whom the sun is money. Solar panels stretch along aluminum frames that go all the way to the eastern face of the barn roof on which he stands. Beyond, fields of grain wait for sowing. The lowing of some 3,000 cows, mostly Holsteins, rises to the rooftop – along with the smell, inescapable now that the thaw has come. Zhashkiv straddles the main highway between Uman and Bila Tserkva in Cherkasy Oblast, about 150 kilometers south of Kyiv. Kolisnyk lives in the city of Cherkasy, installing independent solar systems like this one from there to the Kyiv Oblast with his company, SolarGlass. ... (Source: Oil Price)
Self-Heating Concrete Paves the Way for Easier Winters (24 March 2024): By Brian Westenhaus - Drexel University researchers recently reported on the science behind its special concrete, that can warm itself up when it snows, or as temperatures approach freezing. In a paper published in the American Society for Civil Engineering’s Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, the group took the important step of proving its viability in the natural environment. There’s a patch of concrete on Drexel University’s campus that could portend a frost-free future for sidewalks and highways in the Northeast. Tucked inconspicuously next to a parking lot for the university’s facilities vehicles, two 30-inch-by-30-inch slabs have been warding off snow, sleet and freezing rain on their own – without shoveling, salting or scraping – for a little over three years. ... (Source: Oil Price)
Offshore Wind Development Costs 30% Higher in United States (21 March 2024): By Julianne Geiger - Offshore wind development costs are 30% higher in the United States than they are in Europe, Germany’s biggest utility said on Thursday at the CERAWeek conference. According to RWE AG CEO Markus Krebber, the wind industry in the United States lacks maturity. “Offshore wind has become very complicated,” Krebber said, with inflation and supply chain delays rampant. RWE, with projects both in Germany and the United States, would know. RWE is currently engaged in a joint venture with National Grid off the coast of New York in the project known as Community Offshore Wind. “When I look at the current offshore wind program, it will take some time to make it more competitive,” Krebber said, referring to the United States’ wind industry in general. Eventually, Krebber expects the wind industry in the United States to become more competitive in the coming years as supply constraints are relieved. ... (Source: Oil Price)
Saudi Aramco To Expand Natural Gas Output Capacity by 60% (20 March 2024): By Charles Kennedy - After scrapping oil capacity expansion plans earlier this year, Saudi state oil giant Aramco is now poised to boost natural gas output by 60% by 2030, Reuters reports, citing an Aramco executive on the sidelines of the Houston CERAWeek energy conference. In the third quarter of last year, Saudi Arabia made two significant natural gas discoveries in two fields in the Empty Quarter, along with the discovery of five reservoirs in previously discovered fields. At the Al-Hiran field, gas flowed at a rate of 30 million cubic feet daily. At the Al-Mahakik field, the gas flow was 0.85 million cubic feet daily. Demand for gas is seen increasing significantly amid a global energy transition, which has prompted Saudi Arabia to move more quickly to open up the development of unconventional natural gas fields. LNG demand is expected to grow by 50% by 2030. The Saudis’ growing interest in natural gas has also led to the Kingdom’s first acquisition in the LNG space earlier this year. ... (Source: Oil Price)
UK Plans £60 Billion Grid Overhaul To Support Offshore Wind Boom (19 March 2024): By City A.M - Pylon-haters beware – the National Grid has unveiled a multi-billion pound plan to overhaul the UK’s energy and electricity framework. The ‘Beyond 2030’ report outlines the need for a £60bn injection to fortify the UK’s embattled offshore wind sector and how it can be used to power the country. It sets out an ambitious target of 86GW of offshore wind by 2035 – more than exists today in the world as a whole. For many, this will mean using electricity generated from the current and planned stock of wind farms off the coast of Scotland, which could reach 30GW of total generative power – 8GW more than the UK has currently. ... (Source: Oil Price)
Europe Gas Prices To Fall Throughout 2024 Amid High Storage Levels (18 March 2024): By Alex Kimani - Gas prices in Europe could plunge as low as $6.70 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) this summer thanks to a mild winter and ample gas inventories, Wood Mackenzie has said in a new report. The report states that gas markets kicked off the current year on a more bullish note as colder weather swept through Europe while industrial demand maintained its recovering trend, increasing 12% year-on-year in January and around 6% in February. WoodMac has forecast that household gas demand in Europe will increase by 12 billion cu m (bcm) in 2024, under normal weather conditions, while industrial demand will grow by 5.5 bcm as the EU economy rebounds in the second half of the year. However, 9 bcm less gas will go into power generation, implying that overall European demand is set to increase by 9 bcm. Still, it won’t be enough to support higher gas prices with storage levels at record highs. ... (Source: Oil price)
Oil Majors Set To Sanction $125 Billion Upstream Projects in 2024 (16 March 2024): By Tsvetana Paraskova - International oil and gas majors and the Middle East’s national oil companies are expected to give the green light this year to up to 30 projects, worth a total investment of $125 billion and holding an estimated 14 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of resources. That’s the estimate in Wood Mackenzie’s latest analysis of upstream oil and gas projects expected to reach final investment decisions (FIDs) in 2024. The consultancy expects more projects to take FID this year compared to last year’s 22 sanctioned upstream developments as several projects slated for 2023 approval were delayed. “With many projects delayed or postponed, we expect operators to commit to more projects in 2024 than last year,” said Ross McGavin, principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie. ... (Source: Oil Price)
Shell Focuses on Investor Returns as Climate Goals Take a Backseat (14 March 2024): By City A.M - The head of Shell received nearly £8m last year as the petrol giant cut executive pay following a drop in energy prices. The firm handed chief executive Wael Sawan, who took over the role from longstanding predecessor Ben van Beurden in January of 2023, a total pay packet worth £7.94m. This comprised a base salary of £1.40m, an annual bonus of £2.71m and a £2.60m long-term incentive payment, among other payments. This figure ranks more than van Beurden’s 2021 pay packet, but less than the £9.7m the former chief received after a bumper 2022 sent profit through the roof. It also ranks slightly behind the sum taken for the period by Murray Auchincloss, head of fellow UK fossil fuel major BP. Both firms hope to keep investors happy with bumper buyback programmes planned for the next few months. ... (Source: Oil Price)
Can Tech Keep Up With AI's Appetite for Energy? (13 March 2024): By Haley Zaremba - We tend to imagine the internet as something intangible. Data as ones and zeros that float through the cloud. Artificial Intelligence as a sinister savior of an electric pulse. But in reality, the digital age depends on lots and lots of physical infrastructure, from massive cables running alone the ocean floor to warehouse upon warehouse of computer servers. And all that infrastructure requires a massive amount of energy. And as the demand for digital services increases rapidly, so too does the sector’s already prodigious energy consumption and associated carbon footprint. This puts the tech industry in a bind. The “hyperscalers” of big tech have made some of the biggest decarbonization commitments of any business in any sector, but they’re struggling to get their consumption under control and the feasibility of those pledges is seriously under threat. “Currently, the entire IT industry is responsible for around 2 percent of global CO2 emissions,” Science Alert reported last year. And that number is growing rapidly, and will skyrocket in coming years. Already, according to figures from the International Energy Agency, data centers and transmission networks are jointly emitting as much carbon dioxide every year as the entire nation of Brazil. ... (Source: Oil Price)
The Battle Over Energy-Efficient Housing is Heating Up Across the U.S. (12 March 2024): By Haley Zaremba - Energy efficiency is essential for meeting climate goals and studies show that they will save consumers money on heating and electric bills in the long run – so why do standards for energy-efficient housing get so much pushback? One big reason is a nationwide coordinated defensive effort by the National Association of Home Builders, the United States housing industry’s largest lobbying group. There’s no denying that government mandates that require more stringent energy efficiency standards in newly built homes increase up-front costs. But those costs have been greatly inflated by the home-builder lobby according to reporting from The Washington Post. In North Carolina, one of the major flash points for this surprisingly hot issue, the National Association of Home Builders widely reported that new standards proposed by the state government would increase the average home-building cost by $20,400. A federal study of the North Carolina code update found that the actual figure would be around $6,500. ... (Source: Oil Price)
Generative AI: Industry perspectives (10 M If 2023 was generative AI’s breakout year, 2024 is shaping up to be the year for generative AI to prove its value. Which industries are poised to benefit most from the rapidly developing technology? This collection of insights from McKinsey’s Rodney Zemmel, Matt Fitzpatrick, Delphine Nain Zurkiya, and many others, dives into perspectives across industries, including energy and materials, real estate, life sciences, high tech, and banking. For more on how organizations can most effectively and responsibly use generative AI to create business value, check out QuantumBlack, McKinsey’s AI arm. ...
Offshore Oil & Gas E&P Staging A Comeback (10 March 2024): By Tsvetana Paraskova - The oil industry has found its newest exploration hotspot offshore Namibia. The high success rate of drilling and appraisal activity offshore Africa's southwestern coast is spurring Big Oil to boost acreage in the area and seek other exploration frontiers. After years of muted interest in high-impact frontier exploration due to the budget austerity after the 2015-2016 crash and the crash in demand during Covid, major international oil firms and their smaller junior partners are ramping up exploration again, hoping to find the next Guyana, where Exxon and Hess have discovered more than 11 billion barrels of oil in place. Offshore Namibia, the success rate in discoveries has been phenomenal so far—companies have confirmed 15 discoveries of commercial volumes of oil or gas out of 17 exploration wells drilled since February 2022, the Financial Times notes. ... (Source: Oil Price)
The Big Question in OPEC’s Production Cut Strategy (6 March 2024): By Irina Slav - Last weekend, OPEC and its partners, led by Russia, decided to extend their combined production cut agreement until the end of the first quarter. Nobody was surprised by that decision, and its effect on oil prices was limited. But the longer the cuts continue, the more pressing one question becomes: how long can OPEC keep doing it? The answer appears easy at first glance. OPEC, Russia, and the Central Asian producers can keep limiting their oil supply as long as it is necessary. Yet not everyone within the OPEC+ grouping is happy with the current arrangement, as evidenced by Angola’s recent exit from the cartel and the UAE’s individual quota adjustment after OPEC’s number three complained about the limits. ... (Source: Oil price)
Cutting-Edge AI Identifies New Catalysts for Hydrogen Electrolysis (6 March 2024): By Brian Westenhaus - A National Institute for Materials Science, Japan research team has developed an AI technique capable of expediting the identification of materials with desirable characteristics. Using this technique, the team was able to discover high-performance water electrolyzer electrode materials free of platinum-group elements – substances previously thought to be indispensable in water electrolysis. These materials may be used to reduce the cost of large-scale production of green hydrogen – a next-generation energy source. The paper reporting the work has been published in ACS Central Science. Large-scale production of green hydrogen using water electrolyzers is hoped to be a viable means of achieving carbon neutrality. ... (Source: Oil Price)
Russia Mulls Putting Nuclear Power Plant on Moon (5 March 2024): By Julianne Geiger - Russia is considering a nuclear power plant installation on the moon starting between 2033 and 2035, according to the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos. Russia—along with China—is considering the idea of placing a nuclear power plant on the moon over the next decade or so, and the two countries have been working together on a lunar program for nuclear space energy. “Today we are seriously considering a project—somewhere at the turn of 2033-2035—to deliver and install a power unit on the lunar surface together with our Chinese colleagues,” Yuri Borisov, head of Roscosmos said on Tuesday. ... (Source: Oil Price)
Startups and Big Oil Use Fracking Tech To Unlock Geothermal Energy (4 March 2024): By Tsvetana Paraskova - Big Oil is using its deep pockets and expertise in well geology to back and partner with energy startups that are looking to unlock renewable energy from beneath the earth’s surface. Geothermal energy, which has been around for decades, has received new momentum with the net-zero targets of many economies, including the United States. Some of the biggest oil and gas firms, including Chevron, BP, and Devon Energy, are investing directly in geothermal projects and startups. And some of the newly created geothermal companies are using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to reach the heat beneath the surface, using the technology that ushered in the U.S. shale revolution. ... (Source: Oil Price)
OPEC Lifts Production in February (01 March 2024): By Julianne Geiger - OPEC raised its oil production in January despite voluntary production cuts that the group was supposed to be adhering to, according to new data published on Friday by Bloomberg. A new Bloomberg survey showed that OPEC’s production rose by 110,000 barrels per day to 26.68 million barrels per day—with Libya accounting for much of the increase as it brought production back online at its Sharara oilfield. Iraq—a chronic overproducer, did lower its February production, but it is still producing more than its agreement with OPEC calls for. The survey showed that the UAE also produced more than its quota. OPEC voluntarily agreed to deepen its oil production cuts for the first quarter of this year, although several members have been struggling to meet those commitments. Several countries have promised to make up for any overages in subsequent months. Most analysts predict that OPEC+ will extend its production cuts into the second quarter, and the market is eagerly awaiting the news from the group regarding their plans for April and beyond. ... (Source: Oil Price)