Botswana Launches Regulator to Oversee Private Power Firms
Botswana has established an energy regulator to manage private firms it hopes will expand an electricity sector currently dominated by the state, a local newspaper reported Wednesday. "The authority will be mandated to make sure that power producers follow set prices, and that will encourage fair competition while also protecting consumers, government and electricity generators," advisor at the Department of Energy Freddie Motlhatlhedi told the Daily News.
Pertamina Plans to Develop South China Sea Border Areas
Energy company Pertamina plans to explore for oil and gas in areas close to Indonesia's maritime border in the South China Sea to assert the country's territorial rights, the upstream director of the state-owned company said. "The government needs to have activities around the borders and one of Pertamina's strategies is to support this," Syamsu Alam told Reuters in an interview on Monday. He said Indonesia had lost sovereignty over two disputed islands in the past because it was not developing those areas.
China: Rig Not Drilling in Disputed Waters
In mid-2014, rig caused worst breakdown in ties in decades. China's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that a $1-billion deepwater oil rig was not drilling in disputed territory in the South China Sea, in response to a warning from Vietnam against such activity. Vietnam closely tracks the movement of the oil rig, which in mid-2014 caused the worst diplomatic breakdown between the neighbours in decades, when China parked it for 10 weeks in waters Vietnam considers its own.
China: $5 bln Loan to Boost PDVSA Output
Venezuela and China have signed a deal for a $5 billion loan designed to increase the OPEC country's oil production, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said. Maduro, speaking from China in a program broadcast on Venezuelan state television late on Tuesday, said the loan was destined "to increase oil production in a gradual way in coming months," without providing further details. A source at Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA told Reuters…
Botswana Seeks Bids to Build Solar Plants for Mines
Botswana's government launched a bidding process on Tuesday to construct solar power plants near its huge Jwaneng diamond mine and for the nation's northwest, where copper assets are being developed. "This invitation ... is a request for expression of interest to construct, operate, maintain and decommission at the end of its economic life, a scalable solar power plant," the government said in a notice in the state-owned Daily News. The notice…
Obama: China Bullying in South China Sea
Obama: China forcing countries into subordinate positions; China hits back, accuses U.S. of throwing its weight around. U.S. President Barack Obama said Washington is concerned China is using its "sheer size and muscle" to push around smaller nations in the South China Sea, drawing a swift rebuke from Beijing which accused the United States of being the bully. China's rapid reclamation around seven reefs in the Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea has alarmed other claimants…
Kemp: Oil Wells in England's Green and Pleasant Land
There could be up to 100 billion barrels of oil onshore beneath southern England, the chief executive of a small exploration firm told the BBC in an interview on Thursday. To which the correct response is "yes, but". Based on an analysis of samples from a single well drilled near London's Gatwick airport, UK Oil and Gas Investments estimates there could be 158 million barrels per square mile in the local area. Horse Hill, where the well was drilled…
Africa to Roll out Three Floating LNG Projects
Africa has planned three floating LNG export projects - Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Mozambique. According to local media reports, the African nations are launching LNG projects - three such planned projects in Nigeria; two planned LNG projects in Equatorial Guinea; two in Mozambique and one in Tanzania, none of which is sanctioned. Cameroon is the latest African country to signal a planned LNG project. Of the planned LNG projects one is a Floating LNG each in Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique and Cameroon.
China Will Help Iraq Where Possible
China said on Friday that it was watching security developments in Iraq closely after Islamist fighters captured two more towns in a sweep south, and offered the government in Baghdad whatever help it can give. China is the top foreign player in Iraq's oilfields, which are the largest in the Middle East open to foreign investment, and has a natural interest in the country's stability. "China is paying close attention to the recent security situation in Iraq and we support the Iraqi government's efforts to maintain domestic security and stability.
Vietnam says China Moving Rig; China Denies Sending Warships
Vietnam said on Wednesday a Chinese oil rig at the center of an increasingly bitter territorial dispute appeared to be on the move again, as China denied Vietnamese accusations that it had sent warships to the scene. The rig's deployment triggered anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam last month that killed at least four workers. Scores of Vietnamese and Chinese ships, including coastguard vessels, have squared off around the rig despite a series of collisions after the platform was towed to the area in early May.
China: U.S. Stoking South Chine Sea Tension
China's foreign ministry blamed the United States on Friday for stoking tensions in the disputed South China Sea by encouraging countries to engage in dangerous behaviour, following an uptick in tensions between China and both the Philippines and Vietnam. China this week accused Vietnam of intentionally colliding with its ships in the South China Sea after Vietnam asserted that Chinese vessels used water cannon and rammed eight of its vessels at the weekend near an oil rig.
CLEAR Coalition Supports a Fair Drilling Tax
The CLEAR Coalition today reiterated its support for a shale excise tax and applauded efforts led by Sen. Vincent Hughes to force oil companies reaping profits from Pennsylvania to pay their fair share. Sen. Hughes, the Minority Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced plans to introduce legislation to impose a 5-percent severance tax on natural-gas drilling in the state's Marcellus Shale region. The tax would generate more than $1 billion in new funding for the state by 2020.
