Ecuador to Quit OPEC in 2020
Ecuador, one of the smallest members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said on Tuesday it will leave the 14-nation bloc from Jan. 1 due to fiscal problems.The Andean nation is attempting to increase crude production to raise more income and has on multiple occasions broken its output quota fixed by OPEC."The decision is based on the issues and internal challenges that the country must take on related to fiscal sustainability…
Colombia Oil Industry Threatened by Local Opposition
Colombia's oil industry is threatened by a growing number of public referendums that seek to ban crude production, the country's oil association said on Monday, as the mining sector faced similar votes. The warning from the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP), which represents private producers in the Andean country, came one day after residents of Cumaral municipality in Meta province voted by a large majority to ban crude exploration, drilling and production.
Australia says clean energy fund could underwrite new coal plants
Australia is considering altering legislation to enable funds slated for clean energy developments to be used to bankroll construction of new low emission, coal-fired power plants. The suggestion by Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg comes after a major power outage during a heat wave in South Australia state worsened a row with the national government over energy security and the state's heavy reliance on wind and solar power.
APR wins Extension to Myanmar Plant
APR Energy, a global leader in fast-track power solutions, announces today that its 102MW project in Myanmar has been extended into the fourth quarter of 2017. The original contract for the plant, signed in February 2014, was the first agreement between a U.S.-based company and the government of Myanmar for power generation since the lifting of sanctions. The Kyaukse power plant is located south of Mandalay…
Oslo's Radical 'Climate Budget' Aims to Halve Carbon Emissions
Oslo's leftist city government issued its first "climate budget" on Wednesday aiming to halve greenhouse gas emission within four years in one of the world's most radical experiments to slow global warming. The budget, setting out annual goals to choke off emissions from cars, homes and businesses in the Norwegian capital, adds to a scheme announced last year to ban private cars from the city centre.
Brazil President Surveys Dam Disaster Site
President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday flew over a devastated part of Brazil's southeast region where two dams burst at an iron ore mine last week, killing at least seven people and swamping a vast area with mud and mine waste. Her visit comes as federal prosecutors said Wednesday they would work with state prosecutors to investigate possible crimes behind the disaster, and the country's mining minister said the government would conduct an audit of other dams in the sector.
Hi-Tech Thermal Power Plant for Fukushima
Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated (TEPCO), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Joban Joint Power Co., Ltd., today concluded a letter of intent to promote the development of the world's most advanced coal-fired thermal power plants in Fukushima. The project is currently being undertaken by TEPCO as part of its contribution to revitalization in the prefecture.
Britain is Wrong to Reject Fracking Application: Kemp
"The first shock of a great earthquake had, just at that period, rent the whole neighbourhood to its centre," is how Charles Dickens described the coming of the railroads to north London. "Houses were knocked down; streets broken through and stopped; deep pits and trenches dug in the ground; enormous heaps of earth and clay thrown up; buildings that were undermined and shaking, propped by great beams of wood…
UK Delivers Blow to Local Shale Project
British local government officials rejected a shale gas project in northwest England on Monday, dealing a blow to Britain's shale gas sector that is supported by Prime Minister David Cameron's government. Officials at Lancashire County Council spurned a shale gas planning application lodged by Cuadrilla Resources, saying the project would have an "unacceptable" visual and noise impact.
UK Officials Delay Shale Permit Decision to Wednesday
British officials have adjourned until Wednesday the process for deciding on whether to grant shale gas firm Cuadrilla a project planning permit in northwest England. If approved, the shale gas project at Preston New Road near Blackpool could become Britain's first producing shale gas site. Officials at Lancashire County Council deferred a decision to Wednesday as they ran out of time whilst hearing evidence that included testimonials from local residents and businesses.
Cameron Taps Rudd as UK Energy Secretary
British Prime Minister David Cameron has named Amber Rudd, one of the lesser known names from his party, as energy minister to tackle such controversial issues as government support for onshore wind farms and shale gas. Rudd, a former investment banker who previously served as parliamentary under-secretary in the Department of Energy and Climate Change for less than one year, replaces Ed Davey, a member of the Liberal Democrat Party who lost his parliamentary seat last week.
UK Officials Delay Shale Gas Decisions Until After Election
British officials have delayed decisions on whether to allow Cuadrilla to explore for shale gas at two sites in northwest England until after next month's general election. Britain is estimated to have substantial amounts of shale gas trapped in underground rocks and the national government has been supportive of developing these reserves. However, progress has been slow because of local opposition to hydraulic fracturing - or fracking - due to environmental concerns.
Libyan Government Forces Attack Tripoli Airport
War planes from Libya's internationally recognised government attacked the last functioning airport in Tripoli, the capital controlled by a rival administration, on Monday, officials said, the latest in a string of tit-for-tat strikes. Rival governments and parliaments are battling for control of the North African country and its oil resources four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi.
Plans for New Local Mining Tax Angers Kenya Govt
Local authorities along Kenya's coast said they plan to introduce new taxes on mining and oil exploration despite resistance from the country's central government. Kwale, Lamu and Taita Taveta counties along Kenya's Indian Ocean coastline have proposed the new taxes on investors exploiting minerals, gas and oil in these areas, proposals which the government said could scare away investors.
Oil Holds around $110
Brent crude oil steadied around $110 a barrel on Monday, resisting sharp declines in some other risk assets on news of further supply losses in Africa and expectations of revived oil demand growth. Libyan oil output plunged further over the weekend, falling to 230,000 barrels per day (bpd) on Sunday after a new protest shut the El Sharara field. Before nationwide protests started in the middle of last year, Libyan oil production was closer to 1.4 million bpd.
