The future EU energy chief says he will speed up the end of Russian gas imports
Dan Jorgensen wants to end the EU's dependency on Russian fossil fuels as soon as possible, he said at a Tuesday parliamentary hearing. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, has given Jorgensen the task to lower energy prices in order to restore Europe's competitiveness as an industrial powerhouse. She also wants to decarbonise Europe's economy and stop the remaining Russian energy imports. In the next few weeks, he is expected to receive confirmation of his new position. "We have a problem, our industry suffers." "They are paying twice or three times more for energy than in the U.S.A.
Public Service Enterprise Group exceeds Q3 profit expectations on the back of higher sales
Public Service Enterprise Group surpassed Wall Street expectations for the third quarter profit on Monday as the electric utility and gas utility benefitted from higher retail sales and growth in distribution margins.U.S. Electric firms are looking to increase customer bills in order to fund upgrades to the grid. This is due to extreme weather conditions, such as hurricanes and storms, and an increased demand for industrial consumers, like data centers.Public Service Enterprise has reached…
Chinese solar firms are ever-nimble and go to places where US tariffs do not reach
The U.S. tariffs on Vietnam and three other Southeast Asian nations have prompted some of the largest Chinese-owned factories to cut production and lay off workers. In the meantime, a number of Chinese-owned solar power plants are being built in Indonesia and Laos. These are outside of Washington's protections on trade. Reports show that their planned capacity would be enough to provide about half of the solar panels installed in the U.S. Chinese solar firms have shrunk their output in existing hubs, while building new factories elsewhere. This has allowed them to avoid tariffs and to dominate the U.S.
Meyer Burger talks to bondholders about injecting new capital
Meyer Burger, a Swiss solar panel manufacturer, said that it had entered into advanced negotiations on Thursday with a group holders of its convertible bond maturing in the years 2027 and 2029. The aim is to inject new capital into their business and restructure liabilities under some convertible bonds. The company said that it expects to achieve annual sales between CHF 350 and CHF 400 millions and EBITDA of approximately CHF 70millions by 2026. In its report for the first half of the year…
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. Amazon.com, Apple and other technology stocks fell ahead of their quarterly reports due after market close.
Xcel Energy announces $45 billion investment plan and higher quarterly profits
Xcel Energy announced a higher third-quarter profit Thursday. This was due to a greater demand for electricity among industrial and commercial customers, as well as lower cost. The company has more than 3.8 million customers in eight Western and Midwestern U.S. States, and another 2.1 million who use natural gas. It also announced a $45 billion five-year investment plan to upgrade infrastructure. The company's executives stated that it aims to grow electric sales by 5% per year, with data centers accounting for about half of the growth. Xcel is still bullish on data center demand.
Linde is optimistic about clean energy projects despite reducing its full-year outlook
Linde, world's biggest industrial gas company, announced on Thursday that it is confident in its clean energy projects, despite reducing its full-year outlook due to a decline in the end markets, including mining, metals, and healthcare. Sanjiv Lamba, CEO of Sanjiv Lamba Technologies said in a conference call that he was "pretty confident" about the 8-10 billion dollars for investments in hydrogen over the next several years. Linde announced in August that it would invest over $2 billion to build an environmentally friendly hydrogen facility for Dow's Path2Zero complex in Canada.
Demand for Spots drops as public holidays approach
The European power price fell on Thursday ahead of All Saints Day in some parts of the region, which falls on November 1. This added to the expectation of a weaker demand for the weekend. Data from LSEG's utility EDF and LSEG showed that the supply of solar and wind electricity is expected to grow, while nuclear power availability will remain flat. French baseload electricity for Friday delivery fell by 30.2%, to 63.5 Euros ($68.95/MWh) by 8:20 GMT. The German baseload for the day ahead was down 40.1% at 61.3 Euro/MWh.
NiSource's profit beats expectations for the third quarter on increased demand for electricity
NiSource, an electric and gas utility, beat Wall Street expectations for the third-quarter profits on Wednesday. This was due to higher residential and industrial power demand. The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects that power consumption will reach record levels in 2024 and 25. This is due to the demand for AI technology, data centers and rising electricity usage in homes and business amid record temperatures. NiSource's gas distribution revenues increased by 1.2%, to $531m. Total operating revenues rose nearly 5% in the quarter of July-September to $1.08b.
Gazprom subsidiary claims $880 million against Linde
Court documents revealed on Wednesday that a subsidiary of Russia’s gas giant Gazprom filed a claim against Linde, claiming 879 million dollars. The Amur Gas Processing Plant, a subsidiary of Gazprom, filed the complaint on October 29 at the Arbitration Court in Amur Region in Russia's East. Linde has left Russia, and the Power of Siberia Pipeline plant that facilitates Russian gas to China exports, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in February 2022. In June 2021, the first technological line of the plant will be operational.
Vopak lowers its profit forecast for 2024 on the basis of sustained demand
Vopak, a Dutch tank storage company, raised its core profit forecast for 2024 on Wednesday following the release of its third-quarter results that were slightly better than analysts' expectations. The Rotterdam based company now expects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), in 2024, to be between 930 and 950 millions euros, up from a previous guideline of 920 and 950 millions euros. Vopak raised its EBITDA targets for 2024 in July for the second consecutive year…
Norwegian infrastructure fund Aker to launch 1 billion euros in 2025
The head of the Infrastructure unit at Industry Capital Partners, a Norwegian investment fund for energy transition, backed by Aker ASA industrial group, said that it plans to launch a 1 billion euro ($1.08 billion), inaugural fund in 2019. Christian Rynning Toennesen, the head of ICP Infrastructure in Oslo said that they were working on energy projects onshore. He added that the projects were mainly for onshore winds, along with investments in data centers and power grid technologies, and are currently focused in Norway, Sweden. Rynning-Toennesen was the former CEO of Statkraft, a Norwegian energy producer.
Phillips 66, the refiner, reports a Q3 profit increase on the strength of midstream and chemicals
Phillips 66 surpassed quarterly profit expectations on Tuesday, as its chemical and midstream segments were able to more than compensate for a decline in refinery margins due to a lackluster fuel demand. This year, the company has increased its market share for natural gas liquids by expanding its pipelines. It owns more than 72,000 miles in U.S. The super-chilled fuel volumes that passed through the pipelines in the first nine month of 2024 increased to 2,79 million barrels a day, up from 2.70 million bpd. The company reported that its adjusted third-quarter profit increased 15.6% compared to a year ago.
The Globe and Mail reports that Canada is proposing to support the carbon-capture projects of oil-sands companies.
The Globe and Mail reported that Canada Growth Fund, the federal funding agency of Canada, has proposed to fund a multi-billion dollar carbon-capture project by Pathways Alliance. The Alliance represents Canada's largest oil sands producers. According to a report published on Sunday, which cited sources familiar with this matter, the CGF's offer is likely to start further negotiations. However, the final agreement is still months away as the two sides are at odds on certain key terms. Carbon capture is the process by which the carbon dioxide produced from industrial activity can be stored underground.
Australia and UK join forces to support clean energy technologies
The leaders of Australia and Britain announced on Friday that they plan to collaborate to increase the deployment and use of renewable energy technologies such as green hydrogen, offshore wind and other forms of renewable energy to help decarbonise the world. In a joint press release, Australian Premier Anthony Albanese said that the transition to net zero will create new jobs for both countries and strengthen their industrial base. In their statement, they did not specify how much money they would be committing to clean energy.
DTE Energy's profit beats expectations, thanks to higher rates
DTE Energy, an electric and gas utility, beat Wall Street expectations for the third-quarter profits on Thursday as higher supply rates helped its performance in its electricity unit. In premarket trading, shares of the company rose 1%. According to LSEG data, on an adjusted basis the Michigan-based firm reported operating profit at $2.22 per common share for the quarter ended September 30 compared with the analysts' average estimate of just $1.88. Electric companies in the United States have requested higher rates for electricity from regulators…
Baker Hughes exceeds profit forecasts on international drilling demand
Baker Hughes, a drilling equipment and oilfield technologies company, beat Wall Street's third-quarter profit estimates on Tuesday. Oilfield Services Companies have been able to offset some of their declines in North America due to the robust activity on several international markets. Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO of Lorenzo Simonelli Group, said in a press release that he was confident about achieving the midpoint for EBITDA. Baker Hughes, a Houston-based company, has benefitted from several LNG projects as energy companies rush to build new LNG production facilities in anticipation of long-term demand.
RSC Bio Solutions Launches FUTERRA Compressor Oils
RSC Bio Solutions launched FUTERRA Compressor Oils, synthetic lubricants designed to meet the performance demands of industrial and marine sectors while addressing sustainability needs.FUTERRA Compressor Oil is formulated with a synthetic, sustainable base oil, offering outstanding thermal stability, long service intervals, and inherent biodegradability. This product is tailored to rotary screw, reciprocating, and other high-performance air compressors in applications where reliability and…
S&P 500 and Nasdaq close at record highs after Netflix earnings, tech stocks and other factors.
The S&P 500, Nasdaq and other technology stocks ended the day higher Friday. This was largely due to a surge in Netflix stock shares fueled by earnings and wider gains amongst technology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed largely unchanged, a day after it posted a record-breaking closing high. Netflix shares jumped after it surpassed Wall Street's estimates for new subscribers and stated that they expect to continue growing through the end the year. The price of many of the Magnificent Seven technology stocks that have been driving Wall Street's rally in this year rose.
S&P, Nasdaq boosted by tech stocks. Netflix soars following results
S&P 500, Nasdaq and other technology stocks all gained on Friday. This was due to a surge in Netflix stock shares fueled by earnings and wider gains amongst technology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had just posted a record-breaking closing high the day before, was largely unchanged. Netflix shares jumped by 10.5%, reaching a new record high. The streaming giant exceeded Wall Street's estimates of subscriber growth and stated that it expects to continue growing through the end the year. All seven of the "Magnificent Seven" stocks that have been driving Wall Street's rally in this year rose.
