Brazil's mega dams were supposed to lead the way for a greener future. Climate change came next
The drought has exacerbated the problem of underperformance. When he first came to power in the early 2000s, Brazil's President Luiz inacio Lula da silva bet his green future on "run-of river" megadams - whose turbines move by natural river flow rather than cascading water from towering dams. Santo Antonio Jirau and Belo Monte have been built in the Amazonian rainforest despite the strong opposition of environmental groups. They are now among the five most powerful dams within the country. Belo Monte was built in 2016 and has the fourth largest capacity in the entire world.
Leviathan Gas Exports Expected by Month's End
Israel's largest offshore natural gas field, Leviathan, will begin supplying the local market by the end of this month, with exports to Egypt and Jordan following shortly after, an official from the field's operator said on Monday."Within 2-3 weeks we will open the wells and start to supply the gas," said Binyamin Zomer, vice president for regional affairs at Texas-based Noble Energy, reaffirming the company's pledge to begin production by the end of 2019."Before the end of the year we will start supplying the domestic market, and the in the weeks right after that we will export to Egypt and J
China's CEFC Investigation Hits $9 billion Russian Oil Deal
Chinese conglomerate CEFC had already started paying for a stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft when the economic crime police took its chairman Ye Jianming away, halting the $9.1 billion deal in its tracks, according to three sources close to the matter. The fate of the deal, one of the largest Chinese investments in Russia, has become a litmus test of how far President Xi Jinping's government is prepared to go with a crackdown on financially risky activities among big-spending conglomerates.
Pressured for Profit, Oil Majors Bet Big on Shale Technology
Shale oil engineer Oscar Portillo spends his days drilling as many as five wells at once - without ever setting foot on a rig. Part of a team working to cut the cost of drilling a new shale well by a third, Portillo works from a Royal Dutch Shell Plc office in suburban Houston, his eyes darting among 13 monitors flashing data on speed, temperature and other metrics as he helps control rigs more than 500 miles (805 km) away in the Permian Basin, the largest U.S. oilfield. For the last decade…
Egypt Inks Oil & Gas Exploration Deals
Egyptian Oil Minister Tarek El Molla has signed three oil and gas exploration deals for 16 new fields in the Western Desert worth at least $81.4 million in total with Royal Dutch Shell and the U.S.-based Apex International Energy. The Petroleum Ministry said in a statement that the first deal would see Shell invest $35.5 million, and the other two would see Apex, which is operating in Egypt for the first time, invest a combined $45.9 million on two projects. Egypt, which used to be a net energy exporter…
Egypt Replaces Heads of State O&G Companies
Egyptian Oil Minister Tarek al-Molla has replaced the heads of state oil company EGPC and state gas company EGAS, the Ministry of Petroleum said in a statement on Tuesday. Abed Ezz el-Regal will replace Tarek al-Hadidi, appointed in April 2016, as head of EGPC while Osama Al Bakly will take over from Mohamed al-Masry as head of EGAS. Once an energy exporter, Egypt has turned into a net importer because of declining oil and gas production and increasing consumption. It is trying to speed up production at recent discoveries. (Writing by Amina Ismail; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
US Set to Become Energy Exporter by 2026 -EIA
The United States is projected to become a net energy exporter over the next decade due to rising natural gas exports and falling petroleum product imports, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Thursday. While the United States has been a net energy importer since 1953, declining energy imports and growing exports that started over the past year will allow that trend to switch by 2026, the EIA said. In late 2015, the U.S. government lifted a decades-old ban on U.S. crude exports, while natural gas exports from the Lower 48 began in 2016. "The U.S.
Egypt's Launches Tender for Another FSRU
Egypt has launched a tender to hire a third floating and storage regasification unit (FSRU) to import liquefied natural gas (LNG), an official from state-run energy firm EGAS told Reuters. Egypt, a former energy exporter but now net importer due to falling production and rising consumption, began LNG imports last year to help avert blackouts on its overworked power grid. The official said the tender was launched on Tuesday seeking an FSRU with a capacity of 750 million cubic feet per day and would close in two weeks.
BP, Eni Make Gas Discovery off Egyptian Coast
Energy majors BP and Eni on Thursday announced a significant natural gas discovery off the Egyptian coast. The discovery is in the Baltim southwest exploration prospect in the East Nile Delta. It is 10 km north of the Nooros gas field which was discovered in July last year and has a production rate of 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the companies said. Italy's Eni, through its subsidiary IEOC, holds a 50 percent stake in the licence of Baltim South and BP holds the other 50 percent.
Egypt to receive first LNG shipment from Rosneft in May
Egypt will receive the first of five agreed shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia's Rosneft this month, an official at the state gas board EGAS told Reuters on Thursday. Last year Egypt and Rosneft signed a memorandum of understanding for a slew of petroleum products as well as 24 LNG cargoes. Only five of the 24 initially agreed cargoes were later inked into a final deal. "We're receiving the first shipments of LNG from Rosneft this month out of the five shipments that were agreed upon," said the EGAS official, declining to provide the value of the shipment or its size.
Zohr Gas Field to Begin Production by end-2017
Egypt has agreed with Italy's Eni to begin production of 1 billion cubic feet per day of gas at the Zohr gas field, the biggest in the Mediterranean, by the end of 2017, oil minister Tarek El Molla said on Tuesday. Zohr, discovered by Eni last year, has an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas. It is expected to plug Egypt's acute energy shortages and save it billions of dollars in precious hard currency that would otherwise be spent on imports. The company has so far completed three of the field's wells, El Molla said.
Egypt to Launch New Oil Exploration Round Next Week
Egypt plans to launch a new oil exploration round next week, offering 11 blocks in the Western desert and the Gulf of Suez, Petroleum Minister Tarek al-Molla said on Tuesday. He said that Egypt also plans to launch two gas exploration rounds this year. Egypt, which used to be a net energy exporter, has become a net importer in recent years as consumption has increased while production has fallen. The government has been on a drive to lure back foreign investors to its energy sector in an effort to address a squeeze on public finances.
Egypt Okays Chinese Coal Power Plant Proposals
Egypt's cabinet has approved two conditional contracts with Chinese firms to produce electricity from coal-fired plants with a total capacity of over 4000 megawatts, Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker said on Wednesday. China's Dongfang Electric Corporation plans to build a plant with a capacity of 1,980 megawatts while Shanghi Electric submitted an offer to construct four plants with a combined capacity of 2,400 megawatts, Shaker said at a news conference. Egypt has been facing a power shortage that has hampered heavy industry in recent years.
Iran's Oil Return to Boost SUMED Volumes
Egypt anticipates a ramp-up in oil volumes through the SUMED pipeline once Iran re-enters the world market - a move that is welcomed by Cairo, the country's petroleum minister Tarek El Molla told Reuters on Friday. SUMED, which owns and operates Egypt's Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir, is half owned by state-run oil company Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. A group of four other Gulf Arab countries - Iran's arch rival Saudi Arabia, as well as Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar - owns the other half.
Zohr Discovery Could end Egypt LNG Imports
Egypt hopes to stop importing LNG by 2020; Zohr has potential 30 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas. The huge Zohr natural gas field discovered by Eni off the coast of Egypt, could tip the country back into exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG), making the bright spot of demand it has created in an oversupplied global gas market short-lived. Once an energy exporter, declining oil and gas production and increasing consumption had turned Egypt into a net energy importer, but the discovery of the largest gas fields ever found in the Mediterranean could reverse this.
Senators ask Spy Chief to Advise on Energy Boom
Four Republican senators on Tuesday urged the director of national intelligence to keep policymakers informed of the global security implications of booming U.S. energy output as Congress considers repealing the ban on domestic oil exports. "We agree that energy independence within North America and, perhaps, the Western Hemisphere is not only an attainable goal, but also increasingly the economic reality," Senators Lisa Murkowski, the head of the Senate energy committee, and Richard Burr…
Egypt Extends Med Gas Exploration Tender
Egypt has extended its tender for natural gas exploration in the Mediterranean Sea by two months with the addition of four new blocks, the state gas board said on Tuesday, as the country seeks to boost domestic energy production. The bidding period now runs to July 30 and will include 12 offshore concessions instead of eight, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) said in an advertisement published in state-run Al Ahram newspaper. Egypt is going through its worst energy crisis in decades…
Tender for second Egypt LNG Terminal Issued
Egypt has issued a five-year tender to lease a second liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, the head of the state gas board told Reuters on Monday, seeking to tackle an energy crisis. Egypt was once an energy exporter but declining oil and gas production and increasing consumption has forced the government to divert energy supplies to the domestic market, turning the country into a net energy importer. "We launched yesterday a tender to lease a second LNG import terminal for a period of five years.
Egypt Plans Smart Card System for Fuel from Mid-June
Egypt will begin rolling out a smart card system for subsidised fuel from June 15, the head of the firm overseeing the project said, part of plans to reduce costly energy subsidies over time. Fuel subsidies have long weighed on Egypt's state budget and contributed to the economic stagnation that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi promised to tackle when he took office last May. The government cut fuel subsidies last summer, raising prices by up to 78 percent, in a move lauded by economists but criticised by some Egyptians accustomed to cheap energy.
BP Inks $12 Bln Energy Deal in Egypt
British oil company BP (BP.L) finalised on Saturday a $12 billion deal with Egypt to develop 5 trillion cubic feet of gas resources and 55 million barrels of condensates in the West Nile Delta. The supply deal, signed at an international investment conference in the Sharm El-Sheikh resort, will help Egypt as it tackles its worst energy crisis in decades. Rising energy consumption and decreasing production have turned it from a net energy exporter to a net importer in the last few years and caused persistent blackouts.
