Monday, December 23, 2024

The National News

DOE-backed report: U.S. data centers' power consumption could triple by 2028

According to a Department of Energy report, the U.S. power consumption for data centers could triple within three years and account for 12% of all electricity consumed in the United States. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's report is due to be released this Friday. It comes as the U.S. government and power industry are…

The spot price rises on the drop in wind and nuclear demand, as well as higher French demand

European power prices rose Thursday as the main wind producer Germany was expected to experience a sharp drop in wind production output, and French nuclear availability fell sharply. LSEG's analysis painted a positive picture. It noted that the demand for electric heating in France was increasing as temperatures dropped. The French day-ahead baseload electricity gained 45.5% since the close of trade…

Wall Street Journal, Dec 19,

These are the most popular stories from the Wall Street Journal. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. Woodside and Chevron announced they would streamline their oil and gas operations throughout Western Australia by announcing a stake exchange deal. This move will result in the Australian energy company exiting the $34 Billion Wheatstone LNG Project. The U.S.

Qcells claims that a new technology could reduce the space required for solar panels

Hanwha Corp.'s Qcells announced on Wednesday that it had made a significant breakthrough in a new solar technology. This has the potential of reducing the space needed by panels to generate electricity from the sun's light. The solar industry is facing a number of pressing challenges, including the need for more space. In some areas of the United States…

Biden's DoE LNG Export Study Tepid on New Permits

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The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden released a long-awaited study on the economic and environmental impacts of liquefied natural gas exports on Tuesday, saying the results underscored the need for a cautious approach to new permits.Biden in January had paused the Department of Energy's approvals of U.S. LNG exports to…

Vice Minister says Saudi Arabia has extracted lithium in oilfield runoffs

Saudi Arabia has successfully recovered lithium from samples of brine from the oilfields of national giant Aramco and plans to launch soon a commercial pilot program for direct extraction, said the Saudi vice-minister for mining affairs on Tuesday. Khalid al-Mudaifer, CEO of King Abdullah University for Science and Technology's Lihytech start-up…

ADNOC Drilling partners with SLB and Patterson-UTI to form a 'unconventional energy venture'

ADNOC Drilling, a division of the state oil company in the United Arab Emirates, announced on Tuesday that it had signed an agreement for Turnwell Industries - a joint venture between oilfield service firms SLB, Patterson-UTI, and ADNOC Drilling. ADNOC Drilling owns 55% of the company, which was created to access unconventional energy resources such as oil and gas requiring advanced extraction techniques.

Arcius Energy, a joint venture between BP and ADNOC’s XRG, will supply Egypt's gas.

BP and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s international investment arm XRG announced on Monday that they had closed a deal to create a natural gas joint-venture in Egypt. ADNOC is expanding its efforts abroad. Arcius Energy is a joint venture owned by BP (51%), and XRG (49%). The joint venture will initially operate in Egypt. Naser Saif Al Yafei is a former ADNOC executive who was appointed as Arcius CEO.

China's thermal energy generation increased by 1.9% from Jan-Nov, despite a growth in renewables.

Official data released on Monday showed that China's fossil fuel power generation increased by 1.9% in the first eleven months of this year. This is despite the rapid expansion of renewable energy plants in the last few years. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, thermal power generation from January to December was 5.74 trillion Kilowatt-hours.

China's oil refinery production in November increased by 0.2% year/year

China's refinery output in November increased slightly compared to last year, ending a seven-month drop, according to official data released on Monday. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), according to its data, showed that refiners processed 58.51 millions metric tons of crude last month. This is equivalent to 14,24 million barrels of oil per day.

Britain announces plan to encourage the development of clean energy projects

The UK launched on Friday a plan that will make it easier for developers and investors to build clean energy project, which they hope will help them meet their climate targets as well as create jobs. The UK has set a goal to decarbonise the power sector largely by 2030. This will reduce its dependence on gas-fired plants and increase its renewable energy capacity rapidly.

Moldova declares a state of emergency when the risk of Russian gas being cut off looms

The Moldovan parliament voted on Friday morning to declare a state of national emergency lasting 60 days, starting Dec. 16, due to the expected interruption of Russian gas supply on Jan. After Prime Minister Dorin Recean's request for approval, 56 members of the 101-seat chamber approved the measure just after midnight. He said that the vote was to stop "gas blackmail" by Moscow.

AVG US Gasoline Price Lowest in 3 Years

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On Monday, the average U.S. gas prices dropped below $3 per gallon for the very first time in more than three years. This is a welcome relief for Americans who have been struggling with high inflation rates in recent years.Since the summer driving peak, fuel prices have steadily declined, boosting consumer spending, even though…

Iberdrola Gets Portugese Nod for Wind Farm Start

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Iberdrola has received a production license from the Portuguese Directorate-General for Energy and Geology of Portugal (DGEG), taking another step towards the construction of the largest wind farm in Portugal.Located in the districts of Vila Real and Braga, in northern Portugal, with a total investment of around €350 million, this project reinforces Iberdrola's commitment to environmental goals…

US AI Task Force co-chair requests FERC support for co-located Data Centers - Letter

According to a Dec. 5 letter, a co-chair of Congressional Artificial Intelligence Task Force in the U.S. urged federal energy regulators to support the creation of data centers that are directly connected to power stations, citing national safety and competition to dominate global AI. U.S. Congressman Jay Obernolte stated that…

NOIA Reacts as BOEM Announces Next Steps for GoM Oil & Gas

FOTOSTUDIO / Adobestock

National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) President Erik Milito issued the following statement after the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico:"We are pleased to see BOEM finally moving forward with the next…

Cuba's electrical grid is back online but generation still lagged

Cuba announced late Wednesday that it had reconnected the national electrical grid. However, production remained well below demand a day after an outage caused by a power plant knocked millions of people off their electricity. Cuba's Energy and Mines minister Vicente de la O Levy announced on X on Wednesday that the grid had been restored just before midnight.

More wind and lower demand causes spot prices to fall

European power prices fell on Thursday, as the main German market was expected to have more wind energy and demand in the area had slowed down ahead of the weekend. LSEG data shows that German baseload power for the day ahead was 17.1% lower at 87 Euros ($91.69), while still remaining at multiple-week highs. The French equivalent…

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.

Pakistan Pushes Qatar LNG Contract with Qatar for a Year

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Pakistan has deferred its liquefied natural gas (LNG) contract with Qatar for a year, Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik said, adding that the country will now get LNG cargoes from Qatar in 2026 instead of 2025.Annual power use in Pakistan, which gets over a third of its electricity from natural gas, has declined 8-10% year-on-year over the past three quarters, the country's power minister told Reuters in Nov