New Fortress Energy signs a gas supply agreement with Energiza
New Fortress Energy announced on Wednesday that it had signed an agreement with Energiza for the supply of natural gas to a combined-cycle power station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The plant will be developing a 478 megawatt combined-cycle energy plant. This move coincides with the lifting of the ban on new export permits for liquefied gas by U.S. president Donald Trump, imposed in January 2024 by his predecessor Joe Biden. Biden has halted all new approvals until a study is completed on the economic and environmental effects of the export boom. The study was published in December. New Fortress Energy was granted permission by the U.S.
Lyondell to begin closure of Houston Refinery this weekend
LyondellBasell Industries will begin the permanent closure of its 263,776 barrel-per-day Houston refinery this coming weekend, said people familiar with plant operations.Layoffs of up to 400 employees at the refinery are scheduled to begin two months after the shutdown begins, the sources said.A Lyondell spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment.Lyondell plans to convert existing hydrotreaters at the refinery site along the Houston Ship Channel for use with equipment to be added after 2027…
Freeport LNG plant in Texas will remain closed until the power supply stabilises
Freeport LNG, a U.S. company that exports liquefied gas, said Wednesday it had closed its Texas plant on Jan. 21, due to an electrical problem caused by a winter storm. It will remain shut until the power supply is stabilized. CenterPoint Energy officials in the United States were not immediately available to comment. CenterPoint released a statement on Tuesday stating that more than 99.9% customers in the Greater Houston Area still have power and that crews continue to respond to scattered outages. PowerOutage.us tracks power outages and reported that there were approximately 16…
Colombia's President suspends peace negotiations with ELN rebels
The Colombian president Gustavo Petro halted peace talks on Friday with the leftist National Liberation Army, (ELN), after accusing them of committing a crime against humanity in the Catatumbo area, located in Norte de Santander, the province in which the country is situated. Petro, on X, said: "The dialogue with this group has been suspended. William Villamizar, the governor of Norte de Santander, reported that more than 30 people died and 20 were injured in Thursday's attack. The government reported that at least five of the dead were former FARC fighters who had been demobilized and were part of an agreement for peace in 2016.
After holiday weekend, US demand for natgas is expected to reach record levels
The U.S. demand for natural gas is expected to hit a record next week, as the extreme cold that has gripped the U.S. this winter will put pressure on power grids again the day following the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. This week, gas futures reached two-year highs ahead of the freezing weather. Meanwhile, spot prices in several major hubs around the country have risen to their highest level since January 2024's Martin Luther King holiday weekend. The week before last, gas demand reached its current record high. Next-day prices also soared.
Beware of Egypt's smokestack reshoring as Cement Exports Soar: Maguire
North Africa's second largest natural gas producer and its largest economy have increased the production and exports of several energy-intensive commodities in an effort to boost the growth of their industrial sector. Egypt's exports of chemicals, fertilizers, and cement doubled from 2022 to 2024. They have also grown by 350% in the last year thanks to government initiatives aimed at promoting rapid industrial growth. The increased output in Egypt coincides with a decrease in production in Europe of the same commodities.
Beware of Egypt's smokestack reshoring as Cement Exports Soar: Maguire
North Africa's second largest natural gas producer and its largest economy have increased the production and exports of several energy-intensive commodities in an effort to boost the growth of their industrial sector. Egypt's exports of chemicals, fertilizers, and cement doubled from 2022 to 2024. They have also grown by 350% in the last year thanks to government initiatives aimed at promoting rapid industrial growth. The increased output in Egypt coincides with a decrease in production in Europe of the same commodities. This trend highlights the growing re-shoring away from areas of high energy costs and pollution control.
Canadian farmers warn Bunge Viterra's takeover of Bunge will reduce competition
Farmers say that Canada's approval for Bunge's $34 billion takeover of Glencore's Viterra by U.S. grain traders Bunge will reduce their ability to sell crops at competitive rates and that the government has not made enough concessions. The approval of Canada with conditions, on Tuesday, was the last step needed to complete the largest global agriculture merger in dollar terms. Experts expected that asset sales would need to be made in a country with overlaps between the businesses of both companies. Canada's farmers, who are the top canola producers in the world and the No.
Hapoalim provides $1.5 billion to Dalia Energy for a new power plant
Dalia Energy, an Israeli company, announced on Thursday that it had signed a loan agreement with Bank Hapoalim for 5.3 billion Shekels ($1.5billion) to fund the construction of a brand new power plant. The deal, which is non-binding, is intended to fund the construction of a new power plant with a capacity of up to 850 megawatts at the site of Ashdod's current Eshol Power Station. The plant will be paid 0.065 Shekel per kilowatt-hour for the first 20 years of its operation. Dalia bought the Eshkol Power Plant in Ashdod, from Israel Electric Corp., last year as part of structural reform.
The separatist enclave of Moldova hopes that Russia will soon resume gas supplies
Vadim Krsnoselsky, the leader of Transdniestria, a breakaway region in Moldova, said that it expects to be able to get Russian gas soon, to meet its own needs. This comes after two weeks of crippling power outages. Prime Minister of Moldova's pro European central government, said that Russia is determined to bring a Moscow friendly government into power in the country. He said that Moscow was likely to provide only a small amount of gas to guarantee electricity to both the rebel-held and government-held regions. Since January 1, Russia's Gazprom has suspended gas exports into the region.
Thyssenkrupp's $3 billion green steel plan is not entirely dependent on hydrogen
Thyssenkrupp has said that a green steel plant worth 3 billion euros could still be built even if the government's ambitions of building a world-leading hydrogen industry fail. Friedrich Merz of the German opposition, who is expected to win next month's elections and become chancellor, said on Monday that a rapid shift to hydrogen would be unrealistic. The current SPD government, which split last year due to disagreements over funding and other issues, has tried to accelerate the decarbonisation in its industry. Hydrogen is a key component of this strategy.
Data shows that LNG vessels are due to load at sanctioned Russian Terminals and head for Europe and Asia
Shiptracking data revealed on Tuesday that the LNG vessels scheduled to load at two recently sanctioned Russian export facilities are expected to deliver their cargo mainly to Europe, but also to Asia. The U.S. imposed the most extensive sanctions to date on Friday, targeting Russia's oil revenues and gas revenues. This was done to give Kyiv's new team and Donald Trump leverage to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine. Washington has designated two LNG terminals in Portovaya, Vysotsk, and their operators, Gazprom Portovaya SPG and Cryogas Vysotsk, respectively, for sanctions relating to the LNG industry.
US natgas flow to Freeport LNG Export Plant in Texas reduced – LSEG data
According to data provided by financial firm LSEG, the amount of natural gases flowing to Freeport LNG’s Texas export plant was on course to reach a new one-month record low on Monday. Freeport LNG has one of the highest levels of attention in the world, as the start-up and shutdown of its operation can cause huge price swings on global gas markets. U.S. Gas Futures have turned negative in part due to the reduction in Freeport, after rising about 10% earlier in session to a 2-year high. The price of gas futures in Europe at the Title Transfer Facility benchmark (TTF) was up 4%. Gas prices in the U.S.
Ukraine's DTEK purchases 200MW energy storage system in bid to reduce outages
DTEK, Ukraine's largest energy private company, announced on Monday that it would purchase storage systems from Fluence Energy with a total capacity of up to 200 megawatts. The storage systems will be used as backup for six power plants. Ukraine faces an energy crisis following Russia's intensified bombardment of its energy sector. This has caused blackouts across the country and knocked out half the country’s generating capacity. DTEK anticipates that the power storage facilities, which are located at different sites in Ukraine, will be operational by October, before the harsh winter.
Egypt rushes solar energy to catch up as gas prices soar
Egypt, with its few clouds, vast deserts, and well-developed electrical grid, has everything it needs to expand solar energy generation. It is only now that Egypt has begun to take advantage of these resources, as the price of imported natural gas has risen. Last year, a sharp drop in gas production and a growing demand caught the authorities by surprise. This led to rolling blackouts during the hot summer. Ahmed Mortada is the head of energy for the multilateral lender European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Egypt. Analysts estimate that Egypt will have to spend millions more by 2025 on LNG imports.
The Moldovan President visits the area affected by blackouts and blames Russia's Gazprom
On Thursday, the Moldovan president Maia Sandu visited areas that were experiencing rolling power outages and blamed Russian Gas giant Gazprom. The energy crisis in the pro-Russian enclave of Transdniestria is a result of this. Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson in Moscow, said that Moldova and Ukraine are responsible for the power and heating shortages. The foreign minister of Finland met with officials in both government-controlled Moldova and the separatist enclave and pledged to help both sides achieve a settlement. Transdniestria has been receiving Russian gas for over 30 years.
EUROPE GAS prices in tight range due to strong LNG flow and warmer weather forecast
The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas traded in a narrow band on Thursday morning. Market participants expect further declines due to forecasts of warmer weather and high flows of LNG. LSEG data shows that the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF Hub was down 0.50 euro at 44.90 Euro per megawatt hour, or $13.80 /mmBtu by 0919 GMT. The Dutch March contract is down by 0.54 Euros at 45.46 euro/MWh. The month-ahead contract in Britain rose by 0.15 pence, to 113.5 p/therm. The prices have fallen over the past week, after reaching a 14-month peak above 50 euros/MWh in early January.
Zelenskiy and Sandu, the Moldovan energy minister, discuss Ukrainian coal as a way to ease Transdniestria's energy crisis
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Moldovan president Maia Sandu discussed the use of Ukrainian coal to ease energy shortages that have plagued Moldova's Transdniestria separatist region. Transdniestria has relied for many years on Russian gas supplies. The flow of gas through Ukraine to the region was halted by Ukraine on January 1, after it refused to renew a contract allowing transit through its territory. Zelenskiy, after speaking with Sandu about the crisis by phone, said that he was "ready to help Moldova with coal supplies".
Equinor extends Norway LNG Outage by 10 Days
Equinor announced in a Wednesday regulatory filing that it has extended the outage of its Hammerfest LNG facility in Arctic Northern Norway by 10 more days, to January 19, as they continue to repair a faulty compressor. The Hammerfest plant (also known as Melkoeya LNG) has the ability to deliver approximately 6.5 billion cubic meters of gas each year. This is enough to provide about 6.5 millions European homes and accounts for about 5% of Norwegian gas exports. On Jan. 2, the company reported that an outage had occurred in a compressor which re-injects the CO2 removed from the gas stream into the ground.
Prices for gas in Europe are mixed due to the Norwegian gas outage and forecast warmer weather.
The Dutch and British wholesale prices of gas were mixed on Wednesday morning as a supply interruption in Norway reduced availability, but milder temperatures predicted towards the end the month should increase the availability. LSEG data indicated that the benchmark front-month contract for the Dutch TTF hub had increased by 1.15 euros to 47.50 Euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh) or $14.37 /mmbtu at 0912 GMT. The Dutch March contract is down by 0.03 euros at 47.40 Euros/MWh. The month-ahead contract in Britain fell by 1.2 pence, to 117.7p/therm. Gassco, a Norwegian company, updated its plans for the Kollsnes plant late Tuesday night.
