Junior minister: Austria looks to renewables and African gas to reduce US LNG dependency
PARIS, February 18 - Austria wants to increase renewable energy and import more?gas from Africa in order to avoid becoming too dependent on U.S. Liquefied Natural?Gas? as Europe changes its energy supply. As a result of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European countries struggle to maintain affordable electricity prices. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has many governments concerned about replacing one dependence with another. "The U.S. cannot be predicted in these times.
Spain's Naturgy wants to talk with Yamal about the impact of EU's Russian Gas Ban
A senior official at Naturgy said that the company will be holding talks with Russia's Yamal Gas in order to declare force majeure on their long-term contract. This is due to an EU ban on Russian gas imports. In 2013, the Spanish power utility Yamal signed a long-term agreement to import around 3 billion cubic meters of Russian LNG every year. The talks are imminent, but they haven't started yet. This was the message from Manuel Garcia Cobaleda Naturgy's General Counsel, in a conference with journalists after the company's results.
Junior minister: Austria looks to renewables and African gas to reduce US LNG dependency
PARIS, February 18 - Austria is looking to increase renewable energy and gas imports from Africa in order to avoid becoming too dependent on U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas as Europe reshapes its 'energy supply. As a result of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, European countries struggle to maintain affordable electricity prices. Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has many governments concerned about replacing one dependence with another. "The U.S. cannot be predicted in these times.
Andy Home, Andy Home: The US and Canada are now working together to secure critical minerals.
The U.S. president Donald Trump just announced "Project Vault", an $12 billion stockpile of critical minerals intended to protect U.S. manufacturing companies from disruptions in supply. The U.S. will need help to fill the Vault with 60 minerals that are currently classified as "critical". The U.S. is reviving friend-shoring as it seeks to form a metal alliance with China to break its stranglehold on the metals at the heart of modern technology. The U.S. is more popular than ever.
Congo declares it will seek out other partners in the event that US Minerals Framework fails
If the minerals?cooperation agreement with the United States does not lead to concrete projects, then the Democratic Republic of Congo will seek out other partners. The country's mining minister stated that the framework does not result in concrete projects. "Everything that we have done in our relationship with America has been a framework within which we can discuss issues of mutual interest." Louis Watum Kabamba told the crowds at the?Indaba Mining Conference in Cape Town that this is all there is. It could become a major project.
Andy Home, Andy Home: The US and Canada are now working together to secure critical minerals.
The U.S. president Donald Trump just announced "Project Vault", an $12 billion stockpile of critical minerals intended to protect U.S. manufacturing companies from disruptions in supply. The U.S. will need help to fill up the Vault's 60 critical minerals. The friend-shoring game is back and with a vengeance. As the U.S. tries to build a metal alliance to loosen China’s grip on the metals at the core of modern technology. The U.S. has more friends now than ever. At the February 4th ministerial conference on critical minerals, 54 countries were present.
Sources say Mercuria is moving closer to purchasing Raizen's Argentine assets worth over $1 billion.
According to two sources familiar with the situation, a Swiss-founded energy company Mercuria Energy Group is advancing in its bid to purchase a'refinery' and a large number of gas stations located in Argentina. The acquisition would be from Raizen, a Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer in financial trouble. A source told us that the deal may be done soon, but there is still a chance it won't be. The signing could still be weeks away according to a second source. They also said that it is possible that no binding agreement will yet have been signed.
Executives warn that Europe could lose its nascent green hydrogen industry to China
The fledgling green hydrogen industry in Europe is calling on the EU to introduce "made-in-Europe" requirements for spending public money on the sector. They warn that without the support needed to scale up quickly, the domestic producers will be overtaken by their Chinese competitors. In 2025, the industry suffered a severe blow as many projects were cancelled or postponed due to high energy prices in Europe and the cheaper hydrogen derived from fossil fuels.
Cristal Union announces higher sugar and ethanol production in 2025/26
After integrating a new refinery, and taking advantage of higher sugar beet yields this season, France's second largest sugar producer Cristal Union has produced 6.5% more sugar and 5% alcohol and ethanol. The cooperative said it would produce 1.6 million metric tonnes of sugar from beets, and 2.1 millions hectolitres each of alcohol and bioethanol by 2025/26. This compares to 1.5 million 'tons of sugar, and 2,000,000 hectolitres each of alcohol and bioethanol last season.
Chinese solar stocks jump on news of Musk's visit, but some firms deny cooperating
Chinese solar shares rose on Wednesday, after local media reported Elon 'Musk sent delegations to visit various companies. This was days after Elon announced plans to build a large-scale?cell capacity for the U.S. The CSI All Share Solar Power Equipment Sub-Industry Index grew 3.61%, while the CSI SH-HK-SZ Solar Power 50 Index grew 3.22%. According to a report published by Sina Finance on Tuesday, citing sources from the Chinese solar industry, a team sent by Musk visited several photovoltaic companies in China.
Equinor sold around 30% of its US Gas on the spot market during January's price spike
Equinor, a Norwegian company, sold 30% of its U.S. natural gas assets in January on a'spot basis,' capitalizing on a chilly snap which boosted demand and prices. A January Arctic blast sent U.S. heat demand skyrocketing and frozen oil and gas wells. This cut gas production to a 2-year low, pushing prices at some Northeast gas hubs to record levels. Equinor has stakes in onshore gas production on the U.S. east coast, and the Marcellus position is its largest natural gas asset.
Congo fighting drove spike in insurance costs, squeezing miners, insurer says
Insurance executives said that the cost of copper and cobalt mining increased as well as insurance premiums for political violence in Democratic Republic of Congo. This was due to the unrest in eastern DRC, which boosted 'insurers' but also 'lifted costs for copper-cobalt miner. In January 2025, AFC/M23-backed rebels from Rwanda overran Goma in eastern Congo. This was part of a larger advance by the group that saw it seize more land than ever. The violence caused widespread business closures and left thousands dead. Hundreds of?thousands were displaced.
Sources say that OPEC+ will pause oil production in March due to the price increase.
Five delegates said that OPEC+ will likely pause its oil production increases in March when it meets on Sunday. This is despite crude prices rising above $70 a barrel on fears the U.S. might launch a strike against OPEC member Iran. Brent crude is at its highest level since August. The eight OPEC+ member countries, who pump half of the world's oil supply, met as Brent crude prices rose to $72 a barrel. Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates along with Kazakhstan…
Engie continues to invest in Middle East renewables, as the momentum in US and Europe slows
Engie has reached the 'financial close on a 1.5 Gigawatt solar park, its largest in the world, said the French utility on Monday. The company is stepping up projects in the Middle East, a fast-growing market, amid a slowdown of renewable energy in the U.S. The Khazna Park is set to start commercial operations in the year 2028. It will provide electricity for 160,000 homes throughout the United Arab Emirates, under a 30-year agreement with Emirates Water and Electricity Company.
Sources: Devon Energy and Coterra Energy, two US shale producers, are in merger talks.
People familiar with the matter have confirmed that Devon Energy and Coterra Energy were exploring the possibility of merging, which could result in one of the biggest independent shale producers in the United States. The U.S. oil market is still under pressure from the?near term global oil glut, and Venezuela's increased supply in the coming years. Sources said that the two companies were in early stage talks about a merger. They cautioned, however, that a deal was not guaranteed.
Sources say that Repsol, Maurel & Prom are applying to the US for licenses to export Venezuelan crude oil.
Five industry sources have confirmed that several?European oil companies, including Spain's Repsol, France's Maurel & Prom and France's Repsol, have applied to the United States for licenses or authorizations in order to export Venezuelan oil. Two sources confirmed that the terms requested are similar to the ones Washington granted in the past, which allowed companies to import and export Venezuelan crude oil to their refineries, as well as to other customers. Fuel was also supplied to Venezuela via a debt recovery mechanism.
UAE's ADNOC weighs Venezuela gas investment, Bloomberg News reports
Bloomberg News, citing sources familiar with the situation, reported that the?state oil company of Abu Dhabi, ADNOC, is considering entering Venezuela's energy industry. It could also seek a partnership to participate in Venezuela's gas projects with?another? international producer. Could not verify the report immediately. XRG, ADNOC’s international investment arm, set up?inlate 2024, declined comment. Bloomberg stated that ADNOC was interested in investing, but it would be dependent on the legal and financial structure of any investment.
After merger probe, UK watchdog orders Aramark divest Entier
The British Competition Watchdog ordered Aramark, a U.S. food services provider, to sell the offshore catering company Entier on Thursday. It ruled that this acquisition would harm competition in North Sea oil and natural gas platforms. After a?in-depth examination, the Competition and Markets Authority stated that the deal combined two of the only three major offshore caterers and facilities managers in the UK Continental Shelf. The company said that the merger completed by January 2025 could limit customer choice…
Viaro Energy's purchase of Shell and Exxon UK gas assets fails
Shell and Exxon Mobil halted the sale of natural-gas assets in Britain's Southern North Sea to a British oil producer, Viaro Energy. Shell announced this in a Wednesday statement. Shell stated that the conditions required to close the deal were not met because of changes in market and commercial conditions. Shell said that the parties had agreed on a'sale,' which would involve one of the largest,?longest-producing gas portfolios in the UK Continental Shelf. The sale was to take place by July 2024.
Power prices rise due to higher carbon costs and fuel costs
The European power price curve rose on Tuesday as a result of higher carbon contract prices and firmer gas prices. Analysts at Engie EnergyScan stated that the effects of the price increase were most noticeable in the German front-month baseload contract. The contract for German baseload power at the month-ahead level was up 2.7% at Euros per megawatt at 1002 GMT on Tuesday, and 10.2% over the past week. Early trade in Europe's benchmark contract for gas?touched its highest level in 10 weeks…