Sunday, December 22, 2024

Energy Sector News

Sinopec, a top refiner, claims that China's oil demand will peak in 2027.

Sinopec, the state-owned refinery, said that China's oil demand will peak in 2027. This is due to a decline in diesel and gasoline consumption, which has slowed down global oil markets. Sinopec stated that the peak oil demand in 2027 will not exceed 800 million metric tonnes, or 16 millions barrels of crude oil per day. Sinopec predicted peak China oil demand at 800 million tonnes around 2026-2030. The energy sector in China faces new uncertainty by 2025, with the…

Shell's former US offshore wind leader Orsted replaces Shell's executive

Amanda Dasch, Shell's director of renewables for the Americas, will join Danish offshore wind company Orsted as its head of U.S. operations in January. Shell has announced that it will stop investing in new offshore wind farms as CEO Wael Sawan concentrates on higher-margin operations. Dasch has spent the majority of her career in Shell's upstream oil and natural gas division. She has been leading Shell's offshore development in North America since 2022 and renewables in South America.

TWMA Appoints Group Commercial Director

Jonathan Parkes, Commercial Director at TWMA (c) TWMA

Drilling waste management specialist, TWMA, has announced the appointment of Jonathan Parkes as its new Group Commercial Director. This strategic hire comes as the Aberdeen-based company continues to build on a period of rapid international growth and expansion.Joining the company in October 2024, Jonathan brings 20 years of commercial and strategic expertise across the energy market. His new role follows seven years at an energy, maritime and defence company where…

Continuum Green Energy Files for $430 mln India IPO

Continuum Green Energy, an Indian power company, filed a 430.26-million rupee ($36.5-billion) initial public offering on Monday to capitalize on the growing demand for clean energy in India. In India, the renewable energy sector is growing rapidly. However, most of India's power is still generated by coal. To reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the government aims to add 500 gigawatts of clean power by 2030. Large power producers have also pledged to increase their green energy capacity. Investors are increasingly betting on clean energy to be the future buzzword.

Alberta, Canada's oil province, will clean up 5% of its inactive wells by 2023

A regulatory report on Thursday said that the number of inactive gas and oil wells in Alberta, Canada’s largest fossil fuel producing province, dropped 5% from 2022 to 2023, indicating progress in reclamation and decommissioning work. Alberta has 79,000 inactive wells compared to 83,000 in 2012. Inactive wells are no longer producing oil or gas, and must be permanently plugged. The land surrounding them should also be restored. Canada is the fourth largest oil producer in the world and the sixth largest gas producer.

Toronto stock prices reach record highs after bank earnings

Canada's main index of stocks hit a new record on Wednesday. This was largely due to the performance of technology and financial companies, as well as investors' assessment of strong quarterly earnings by two major domestic lenders. The Toronto Stock Exchange S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 28.72, or 0.11% at 25,664.45, but was still trading below its record high. Angelo Kourkafas is an investment strategist with Edward Jones Investments. I would say that the market is showing some hesitation in light of last month's significant gains.

Lazard hires Miller from Citigroup in its energy investment banking drive, sources claim

People familiar with the matter said that Lazard hired Citigroup veteran investment banker Chris Miller to lead its dealmaking efforts within the energy sector. Miller, who was based in Houston, and had the title of vice-chairman of energy investment banking for Citigroup, recently resigned his position with the Wall Street bank and will begin his new role at Lazard early in 2025, after a period gardening leave, according to the sources. The sources, who requested anonymity because the matter was confidential, said that Miller would report to George Bilicic.

Investors' concerns about Trump's tariff promises cause the TSX to fall

Canada's main index of stocks fell on Tuesday as energy shares were hurt. Investor sentiment was weighed down by President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to impose large tariffs on the top U.S. Trading Partners, including Canada. The S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 117.7 point, or 0.46% at 25,292.65. Trump said on Monday that he would impose 25% tariffs on imports coming from Canada and Mexico, until those countries crack down on drugs - particularly fentanyl - and migrants who cross the border.

Mooreast Appoints Ellingsen as CEO

Eirik Ellingsen Mooreast CEO (c) Mooreast

Mooreast Holdings Ltd. announced today it will appoint Mr Eirik Ellingsen, a Norwegian with deep experience in the offshore and marine sector, as Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) amid growing adoption of floating wind energy projects worldwide.Mr Ellingsen will assume the role of CEO at Mooreast on 1 January 2025. He will be taking over from Mr Sim Koon Lam, the founder, who will continue to serve as Executive Director and Deputy Chairman of the Group.Mooreast is a…

Ukraine's DTEK will receive 107 million euros from EU and US for the rebuilding of power facilities

The European Commission and the United States have announced that Ukraine's largest private power company DTEK will receive 107 millions euros ($112,30 million) to restore the power plants destroyed by Russian attacks against the Ukrainian energy system. The company stated that it would receive 62.8 million Euros from the EU, and $46.1 from the U.S. Government. Since this spring, Russia has intensified their attacks on Ukraine's energy sector. They have destroyed about 90% of DTEK's generating capacity. DTEK announced that the U.S.

Danos Leaders Recognized in “40 Under 40” Lists

Melanie Hill (c) Danos

Danos announced that two of its leaders, Melanie Hill and Scott Theriot, have been named to prestigious “40 Under 40” lists for 2024.Melanie Hill, Danos’ general manager of shale production, was honored in Hart Energy’s Oil and Gas Investor Forty Under 40. This national recognition highlights leaders across the energy sector for their proven leadership and positive impact in their respective organizations. These honorees demonstrate entrepreneurial spirit, creative problem-solving, leadership and community involvement.

Rystad reports that oil majors have over 40 biofuel projects planned by 2030.

Rystad, a consultancy, said that major oil and gas companies are investing more in biofuels, betting on sustainable aircraft fuel (SAF). By 2030, 43 projects should be completed, the report stated. Energy research firm says that industry giants like ExxonMobil and Shell could increase production by 286,000 barrels a day. SAF is produced by using wastes and residues like organic crops or used cooking oils. It emits the exact same amount of CO2 as kerosene. It is considered to be less polluting because it is made from plants or leftovers…

Biden officials ask EU methane regulations to be aligned with US rules to ease LNG flow, says letter

According to a letter obtained by the, President Joe Biden’s administration asked that the European Union ensure that liquefied gas imports meeting U.S. regulations for methane automatically meet Europe’s standards. The linking of U.S. methane and EU standards will protect the United States' LNG trade with Europe, while also securing Biden's rules on methane even if these are repealed in the future by Donald Trump's administration. We understand that the process will take some time.

India requests states to consider nuclear power plants and list of power utilities

The Indian federal power minister asked on Tuesday that states without coal resources consider building nuclear power plants. He also listed the utilities who could help meet the growing demand for power. In its budget for this year, the Indian government proposed to work with private companies to develop small reactors in order to increase electricity produced from sources without carbon dioxide emissions. According to a government announcement, Manohar lal, India's energy minister…

WSJ reports that Russia is exploring a plan to merge Rosneft, a Gazprom subsidiary, and Lukoil.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia is working on plans to merge Rosneft oil, a state-backed company, with Gazprom, creating the second-largest crude oil producer in the world. The newspaper reported that executives and government officials have been in talks over the last few months. A deal could or might not be reached, it said, citing unidentified sources familiar with the issue. The report said that a combination of Rosneft with Gazprom Neft - a subsidiary owned by Gazprom and Lukoil - would rank second only to Saudi Arabia's Aramco…

Australia suffers wide losses when central bank keeps rate at 12-year high

The Australian share market continued to decline on Tuesday, after the central bank maintained the key policy rate in a 12-year-high level. This was done in order to maintain a restrictive policy until the core inflation rate is brought under control. By 0352 GMT, the S&P/ASX 200 Index had fallen 0.4% to 8,131.4. The benchmark index was trading at a 0.3% decline ahead of the policy announcement. The benchmark closed Monday 0.6% higher. In line with the poll, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), kept its interest rate at the same level.

Canada wants the energy sector to reduce emissions up to 35% from 2019 levels

The Canadian government released on Monday a draft regulation that would limit emissions of greenhouse gasses from the oil and natural gas sector to 35% below 2019 levels. This is a little less than originally anticipated. In a press release, the Environment Ministry said that the regulations would create a cap and trade system to reward companies with better performance. It will also provide an incentive for polluting firms to improve their production processes. The Liberal government originally said that it wanted to reduce emissions from the energy sector…

Futures on the TSX fall before domestic GDP data

The futures linked to Canada's main index of stocks fell on Thursday, as disappointing earnings from U.S. technology giants dampened the market sentiment ahead of important domestic GDP and U.S. Economic data that will be released later in the day. At 6:00 a.m., December futures for the S&P/TSX Index were down by 0.3%. ET (10:00 GMT). Wall Street futures dropped on Thursday as Meta Platforms' and Microsoft's warnings about artificial intelligence-related costs dampened optimism. Investors could get clues about future U.S.

Drill, baby, drill in Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale lands!

Argentina's new, market-friendly government, and concerns about oil supplies from the Middle East, and elsewhere, are driving a boom in drilling and production in the Patagonian South, which is home to the giant Vaca Muerta shale, Spanish for "Dead Cow". In the flat, arid terrain, the production of shale oil and gas is surging. Fracking wells have been drilled in record numbers, and pipelines have been built to transport gas to the capital Buenos Aires – and beyond once LNG plants are operational.

WiseTech shares soar after the CEO of WiseTech takes on a new role.

Australian shares rose Friday, with mining and technology stocks leading the way. WiseTech surged after its former CEO moved into a consultant role, and Whitehaven Coal soared on higher-than-expected quarter output. As of 2347 GMT, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3% to 8231.3. The benchmark is expected to lose 0.6% per week, the biggest loss since late September. Even as iron ore fell, miners gained 0.3%, and they were on course for a weekly increase of 0.1%. This is their first gain in four weeks. BHP gained 0.2% and Rio Tinto 0.9%.