Hungary declares that the issue of Russian gas payments has been resolved
Hungary's foreign minister announced on Friday that it had found a way to pay for Russian gas via the Turkstream pipe from Bulgaria, while avoiding the U.S. sanction. He did not provide any details about the agreement. The U.S. On Nov. 21, creating a barrier for European gas buyers. Gazprombank has been used by buyers to pay for their purchases, including a currency conversion scheme to roubles. Turkstream, which runs through Bulgaria from Turkey, is the main pipeline used by Hungary to receive its Russian gas, 7 billion cubic meters so far in this year.
Hungary asks for an exemption from US sanctions on gas payments to Gazprombank
Hungary's Foreign Minister said that the United States should exempt Russia's Gazprombank when it comes payments for natural gases, as these sanctions could adversely affect some U.S. Allies. On Nov. 21, President Joe Biden stepped up measures to punish Moscow before he leaves his office in January. The sanctions prohibit the state-controlled bank from handling new transactions involving energy that are part of the U.S. Financial System. Szijjarto cited Anthony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary for State, as having said that he would "be willing to consult with any allies who had problems due to sanctions".
Wall St. ends lower than expected as Meta and Microsoft highlight AI costs
The major U.S. indexes ended lower on Thursday, after Microsoft and Meta Platforms pointed out that artificial intelligence costs could impact their earnings. This dampened the enthusiasm for megacaps which have been driving this year's market rally. Microsoft and Meta Platforms, which own Facebook, saw their shares fall despite the fact that both companies beat earnings expectations in results announced after Wednesday's bell. The other so-called Magnificent 7 megacap technology companies also fell.
Min says that seismic work will begin on gas fields shared between Trinidad and Venezuela.
Stuart Young, Trinidad and Tobago's energy minister, said on Facebook on Friday that seismic work is expected to begin in the next few days at the offshore gas fields shared between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago. Venezuela issued a license in July allowing for the development of the Cocuina Field, its side of reservoir. In early 2014, the U.S. also approved this project. It will be developed by Britain’s BP and Trinidad’s National Gas Company. Cocuina and Manakin, whose Venezuelan part belongs to the Plataforma Deltana offshore gas project…
Meta Platforms signs geothermal energy agreement with Sage Geosystems for US data centers
Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook, announced on August 26 that it had struck a deal with Sage Geosystems for up to 150MW of geothermal energy to power its U.S. Data Centers. The company is racing to develop infrastructure to support massive investments in artificial intelligence, which consumes a lot of energy. According to the social media firm, the first phase of the project is expected to be operational in 2027. It will "significantly" increase the use of geothermal energy in the United States. Meta's announcement was made at a U.S. Department of Energy geothermal event.
India's Reliance Cuts Pay of Oil & Gas Division's Execs
India's Reliance Industries has cut the pay of some top oil-and-gas division employees by up to 50%, according to six sources and a letter seen by Reuters, as it battles lower profitability because of the coronavirus epidemic.Reliance, headed by India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, has decided that employees earning more than 1.5 million rupees ($20,000) a year will face a 10% salary cut, while the cuts will be 30% to 50% for senior executives, the sources said.The pay cuts, first reported by Reuters…
Oil Giants Set Health Checks, Work-from-home Rules
Major energy companies in the United States imposed work-from-home rules for office staff and began health checks for remote or critical workers as coronavirus spread and threatened an industry reeling from falling demand and profits.BP, Exxon Mobil, Kinder Morgan, Motiva Enterprises and Royal Dutch Shell told most office staff to work from home starting Monday. Federal regulators on Friday were pressed by companies to ease work rules for pipeline operators and to limit visits to some sites. Shell and Chevron began health checks of workers and visitors at some key U.S.
Libyan Oil Revenues Fall to Zero as Ports Blocked
Libya's vital oil revenues fell to zero in January, the central bank said on Monday, after forces and tribesmen allied to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar blocked major oil ports.Haftar is embroiled in a conflict with the internationally recognized government in Tripoli and has been trying to seize the capital by force since April.Tribesmen and forces loyal to him closed all eastern ports and major fields last month in a power play, part of chaos in Libya since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.The oil shutdown has caused losses exceeding 2.5 billion Libyan dinar ($1.78 billion)…
Google to Tap the Power of Offshore Wind
Google invests $700 mln in Danish data center, secures green energyGoogle will invest almost $700 million in a Danish data centre, the latest investment in the Nordic region which is known for its abundant renewable energy.Google said it would match the new centre's use of energy made from fossil fuels with green energy generated through so-called power purchase agreements (PPAs).The Nordic countries, which can generate electricity relatively cheaply from renewable sources such as hydropower and wind…
Google Buys into New Finnish Wind Energy in Renewables Search
Google said it has signed a 10-year deal to buy renewable energy from three new wind farms that are being built in Finland and which will power one of its data centers.Big companies have rushed to secure cheap renewable energy to manage costs and reduce their carbon footprint through so-called corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs), which allow firms such as Google, owned by Alphabet Inc, Facebook and Microsoft to buy directly from the energy generator.Google said on Tuesday that the Finnish deal is the first where it is buying power from European projects that will not receive any government subsid
As Mexico Oil Sector Sputters, Crime and Violence Rattle Industry Towns
Until recently, Edgar Barrera enjoyed a life many Mexicans could only hope for. In a few short years, the 36-year-old bookkeeper rose from handyman to white-collar worker at what seemed to be one of the most stable companies in Latin America: state-owned oil firm Pemex. Thanks to Pemex, Barrera met his wife, vacationed on the Mayan Riviera and envisaged a rewarding career without leaving his hometown in Tabasco, a rural state at the southern hook of the Gulf of Mexico where more than half the population lives on less than roughly $92 a month. Then everything changed.
Wind Farms Boost Tax Base for Local US Governments
Wind farms have boosted local tax bases and generated new revenue as they expand across the United States, especially for rural areas, Moody's Investors Service said in a report on Monday."What we're seeing is wind farms generate new operating revenues, lower the tax burden for local residents," Moody's analyst Frank Mamo told Reuters. "In many cases, local governments are using this new money to address what was a growing backlog of deferred capital expenditures."In Adair County, Iowa…
Philippines Eyes Exploration Deal with China in S.China Sea
The Philippines is looking to seal a pact with China within a few months to jointly explore for oil and gas in a part of the busy South China Sea waterway claimed by both countries, a Philippine official said on Monday. In February, the two countries agreed to set up a special panel to work out how to jointly explore for offshore oil and gas in areas both sides claim, without needing to address the touchy issue of sovereignty. "We're trying to see if we can achieve an agreement, hopefully within the next couple of months…
Statkraft in Talks with Firms to Set up Data Centers in Norway
Norwegian power firm Statkraft is negotiating with U.S. and other companies to build large data centers in its home country, favored by a recent change in Norway's tax system, the state-owned utility told Reuters on Thursday. Unlike its Nordic neighbours, which have attracted large data center investments from big-data firms such as Apple , Alphabet, Facebook and Hive Blockchain, Norway has not yet cashed in on the trend. Known for its cheap, plentiful supply of hydroelectric power, Norway…
Update: Worker Missing after Oil Platform Explosion
The search continued for a worker missing from an oil production platform in Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain that exploded and caught fire late Sunday, sending six others to hospital with injuries, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Coast Guard rescue crews and a helicopter failed to locate the worker overnight, according to Coast Guard Petty Officer Alexandria Preston. In addition, authorities on Monday were checking for any evidence of oil leaking from the facility, she said. The platform is operated by Clovelly Oil Co, said Donald Mackenroth, a Clovelly vice president reached by phone late Sunday.
Scientists Turn to Big Data in Hunt for Minerals, Oil and Gas
Scientists searching for everything from oil and gas to copper and gold are adopting techniques used by companies such as Netflix or Amazon to sift through vast amounts of data, a study showed on Tuesday. The method has already helped to discover 10 carbon-bearing minerals and could be widely applied to exploration, they wrote in the journal American Mineralogist. "Big data points to new minerals, new deposits," they wrote of the findings. The technique goes beyond traditional geology by amassing data about how and where minerals have formed, for instance by the cooling of lava after volcanic eruptions.
Facebook's Zuckerberg Drills Down into North Dakota's Oil Patch
Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg toured a North Dakota drilling rig on Tuesday and peppered industry workers in the No. 2 U.S. oil-producing state with questions about automation, safety and fracking. The visit to North Dakota, which pumps about 1.1 million barrels of oil per day - more than some OPEC members - is part of Zuckerberg's plan to tour all 50 states this year and learn about their local economies and communities. While Zuckerberg, 33, is a vocal supporter of renewable energy development…
Cyber Attack Hits Oil Giant and Banks in Russia and Ukraine
Russia's top oil producer Rosneft said a large-scale cyber attack hit its servers on Tuesday and computer systems at some banks and the main airport in neighbouring Ukraine were also disrupted. A Moscow-based cyber security firm, Group-IB, said it appeared to be a coordinated attack simultaneously targeting victims in Russia and Ukraine. In Copenhagen, global shipping firm Shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk said it had suffered a computer system outage caused by a cyber attack thought it was not immediately clear if it was connected.
Ukraine Faces Energy Crisis As Blockade Cuts Coal Supply
Ukrainian authorities vowed on Thursday to restore coal supply from the separatist-held Donbass and warned that a blockade by activists could deprive millions of heating and electricity, harm the steel industry and cost the country some $2 billion. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the blocking of a railway link in the east by opposition lawmakers and army veterans who fought against separatist factions was a "destabilising factor". The European Union and the United States called for action to prevent "a major energy crisis".
Trump Taps Congressman Zinke as Interior Secretary
President-elect Donald Trump has chosen first-term Republican U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke of Montana, a former Navy SEAL commander, as his interior secretary, a senior transition official said on Tuesday. Zinke, 55, will be nominated to head the Interior Department, which employs more than 70,000 people across the United States and oversees more than 20 percent of federal land, including national parks like Yellowstone and Yosemite. Zinke's choice was something of a surprise since some Republican officials wanted him to challenge Democratic U.S. Senator Jon Tester of Montana in the 2018 elections.
