Year Ender: Big Oil retreats from renewables as climate agenda falters
In 2024, major European energy companies increased their focus on oil and natural gas to maximize profits in the short-term. They also slowed down and sometimes reversed climate commitments. This is a trend that will likely continue in 2025. Oil majors have retreated after governments worldwide slowed down the rollout…
SOCAR sources: Russia and Ukraine cannot agree on gas deal mediated by Azerbaijan
Azeri SOCAR, a leading energy company in Azerbaijan, said on Friday that Moscow and Kyiv failed to reach an agreement on the deal brokered by Azerbaijan for Russian gas to be exported to Europe via Ukraine. Azerbaijan was asked by the European Union and Ukraine to facilitate talks with Russia regarding a gas-transit deal due to expire this year.
Equinor sells assets worth up to $2 billion in Nigeria and Azerbaijan
Equinor announced on Monday that it had completed the sale of its assets located in Nigeria and Azerbaijan, for up to a $2 billion total. This marked the end of the Norwegian oil company's presence in the two countries, which lasted more than 30 years. The group stated that the divestments announced in 2023, and completed recently, would boost cash flow for the fourth quarter.
Azerbaijan: OPEC+ may consider a rollover of oil cuts at the Dec. 1 meeting
Parviz Shahbazov, Azerbaijan’s Energy minister, said that OPEC+ could decide to keep its current oil production cuts in place as of Jan. 1, at their next meeting on Sunday. The group has already delayed increases due to demand concerns. Shahbazov told Baku that the issue of continued oil production cuts could be raised at the meeting.
Azerbaijan: OPEC+ may consider oil reduction rollover at the Dec. 1 meeting
Parviz Shahbazov, Azerbaijan’s Energy minister, said that OPEC+ could decide to keep its current oil production cuts in place as of Jan. 1, at their next meeting on Sunday. The group has already delayed increases due to demand concerns. Azerbaijan belongs to the OPEC+ Group, which also includes the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, such as Russia.
COP29 hosts urges collaboration as final negotiations of the deal enter stage
Azerbaijan, the host of COP29's climate summit, urged participants to come up with a financial deal by Friday as negotiations for the two-week long conference reached their final hours. The world governments present at the Baku meeting, in the Caspian Sea City, are required to agree on a comprehensive plan whereby rich…
The new COP29 proposal reveals a wide gap in climate financing
The United Nations Climate body published new options on Thursday for the COP29 Summit's primary objective of agreeing to how much money richer nations should provide poorer countries to help them combat climate change. The talks in Baku, Azerbaijan, have been slow to reach a consensus on money. The latest draft of the negotiation text was delivered several hours after the scheduled time…
World Bank: Bosnia must invest $6.8 billion to combat climate change impacts
Bosnia and Herzegovina faces risks of flooding, wildfires, and severe air pollution. A World Bank report released on Wednesday said that the country needs to invest 6,8 billion dollars over the next 10 years to offset the effects of climate change. The report stated that climate-related damages, including floods, could shrink Bosnia’s economy by as much as 14% by the year 2050.
Azerbaijan, summit host, warns that COP29 will not succeed without G20 support
Azerbaijan, the host of the COP29 Climate Summit, said that leaders from the world's largest economies should send a strong message about the urgency to combat global warming. The appeal came at a meeting of the Group of 20 leaders (G20) in Brazil, where climate was just one of many topics on their agenda. Others included war in Ukraine and Donald Trump's victory in the election.
Edison CEO: US utilities want Trump and Republicans to save the inflation act
Pedro Pizarro said that the U.S. Utility Industry wants the incoming Trump Administration and the Republican-led Congress in Congress to maintain clean energy and EV Tax Credits in the Inflation Reduction Act. The 2022 IRA is a law that contains hundreds of billions in subsidies for clean power and was signed by outgoing president Joe Biden to combat climate changes.
Cyprus says that Europe has set the bar too high for climate change.
The president of Cyprus stated on Friday that Europe has set too high a bar for its climate goals, without paying enough attention to economic competitiveness. This is adding fuel to the growing debate about the pace of reforms. The European Union has strict rules that aim to reduce net greenhouse gas emission in the bloc 90% by 2040 and achieve zero net emissions by 2020.
UN: Companies and countries are lagging behind in tackling methane emissions
Since the U.N. began monitoring oil and gas infrastructure for leaks of methane last year, 1,200 alerts have been sent to government and company officials. Only 12 out of the 2,000 alerts for large plumes, or 1%, were followed up with "substantive" action to stop the leaks. This was according to the report released by the U.N. International Methane Emissions Observatory.
TotalEnergies and BP, Equinor, and Shell each commit $500 mln for energy access
TotalEnergies BP Shell Equinor, oil and gas giants BP and Equinor, pledged to invest $500m on Friday in order to increase the availability of affordable energy, primarily for sub-Saharan Africa and south and southeast Asia. The announcement was made at the United Nations COP29 Climate Summit in Azerbaijan where discussions…
South Asia's solar power push is facing a land battle
Food and jobs are at risk when cropland and pastures are taken away. By BhaskerTripathi and Md. Modhera’s 6 megawatts (MW) of solar power and battery storage system were built in 2022, despite the opposition of local farmers who had filed a lawsuit in the highest court for the state in 2020 to stop its construction.
EUROPE GAS prices near a one-year high due to concerns about Russian supply and cold weather
The Dutch and British wholesale gas prices reached their highest intraday levels in almost a year on Thursday, amid concerns about Russian gas supply. Austrian energy group OMV said that an award of over $243 mln for irregular German gas supplies by Gazprom may impact its Gazprom gas supply agreement. The benchmark…
The pledge of financing by the Development Bank gives COP29 an early boost
COP29 negotiators have welcomed a commitment by major development bank to increase funding for poor and middle-income nations struggling to combat global warming. This is a positive start to the two week summit. The World Bank and a group of lenders announced on Tuesday that they would increase the finance amount to $120 billion in 2030. This is a 60% increase over the amount of 2023.
The price of gas in Europe is falling amid profit-taking
The Dutch and British wholesale gas prices fell on Wednesday morning as profit-taking and Slovakia's SPP announced that it would take measures to guarantee supply because of the risk of Ukraine ending its transit at the end the year. LSEG data shows that the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF hub fell by 0.10 euros to 43.45 Euro per megawatt hour at 1025 GMT.
The pledge of financing by the Development Bank gives COP29 an early boost
COP29 negotiators said that the pledge of major development banks, to increase funding for poor and middle income countries who are struggling to combat global warming was a positive start to the two week summit. Tuesday, a group of lenders including the World Bank announced that they would increase this financing to $120 billion, which is a 60% increase from the amount in 2030.
Envoy to COP29 says Indonesia will build 75 GW renewable energy within 15 years.
Indonesia will offer international investors the opportunity to build 75 gigawatts of renewable energy in the country within the next 15-year period, said its climate envoy on the sidelines the COP29 summit. Hashim Djojohadikusumo is Prabowo’s brother, and Indonesia’s envoy at the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
IMF and World Bank leaders promise to work with Trump at UN climate summit
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund chiefs said on Tuesday that they would continue to work with Donald Trump's incoming administration in the United States to provide funding to countries affected by climate change. Kristalina Georgeieva, IMF's chief, told a panel at the U.N. COP29 Climate Summit in Azerbaijan…
