US Arrests Turk for Alleged Sanctions Violations
U.S. authorities have arrested a Turkish man who they allege was trying to violate sanctions by transporting oil from Venezuela, the Justice Department said on Monday.The U.S. reimposed sanctions on the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA in June after what it said was the failure of President Nicolas Maduro to return to talks with the political opposition and commit to fair elections.In a statement, the Justice Department said 37-year-old Taskin Torlak had "allegedly conspired to illegally sell Venezuelan oil…
EUROPE GAS - Prices edge up on weaker winds, correction after falling
Dutch and British wholesale prices for gas rose on Friday morning due to a weaker wind production. Meanwhile, the Slovak government-owned gas purchaser SPP denied a report that an agreement was nearing to replace Russian gas by Azerbaijan gas. LSEG data show that the benchmark front-month contract at the Dutch TTF hub, which now rolls over to December, was 1,02 euros higher, at 39,67 euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh), by 1002 GMT. The Q1 contract for 2025 was 0.81 euros higher, at 39.81 Euro/MWh. Other contracts fell, but the British contract for this weekend was 0.75 cents higher at 98.50 cents per therm.
Minister says Turkey regional gas hub will be operational by 2025
The Turkish Energy Minister said that Turkey and Russia are currently in talks to reach a deal for a hub in Istanbul. This hub could start operating in 2025.The Turkish government, which announced its intention to become a hub for gas by increasing imports and exports is currently negotiating deals with both producers and consumers.In an interview published by the Turkish newspaper Milliyet on Friday, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar stated that "we have established a strong infrastructure"…
Climate Investment Funds Board backs $1 billion Turkey grid upgrade project
Climate Investment Funds, a multilateral lender, has announced that it will provide an initial investment of $1 billion to support a plan to upgrade Turkey’s electricity grid to handle more renewable energy. The CIF board approved a $70million investment from its Renewable Energy Integration Investment Platform (REI), with the goal of attracting an additional $790million to expand and upgrade transmission infrastructure, and $330million for technology. The plan developed in conjunction with the…
TerraPower has held informal discussions with Turkey and other countries about small reactors
TerraPower, the Bill Gates backed company that is looking to build small modules reactors for nuclear power, has held informal discussions with several countries in Europe including Turkey. A company spokesperson confirmed this on Thursday. In an earlier report, it was reported that Turkey has been drafting a new law to encourage the construction of SMRs as a complement to plans to build nuclear power plants. TerraPower's spokesperson responded to a question by saying that they had "had informal conversations" with many European countries including some Turkish stakeholders…
Shell sales increase in Q3 vs TotalEnergies due to higher Asian LNG prices
LONDON, October 31 - Analysts and traders say that higher production and sales of liquefied gas in Asia helped Shell to outperform TotalEnergies in the third quarter. However, group profits for both companies were affected by a drop in oil refining. Shell's quarterly profit of $6 billion beat forecasts by 12 percent, while TotalEnergies reported a profit of $4.1 billion that was slightly below expectations. Shell and TotalEnergies both reported quarterly profits that were down 70% and 82%, respectively. Their oil refining businesses and their chemicals businesses also suffered losses.
Gazprom raises its 2024 investment program by 4%, to $16,9 billion
Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, announced on Tuesday that it had increased its investment programme for 2024 by around 4%. The previous program was approved in December and consisted of 1.57 trillion Russian roubles. This has now been raised to 1.64 trillion Russian roubles (16.85 billion dollars). Gazprom reported that both domestic and export gas supplies were increasing, which allowed the company to increase its estimates of sales proceeds this year by 6% over its previous forecast. Gazprom…
Turkey plans to quadruple its wind and solar power capacity by 2035
Alparslan Bayraktar, the Energy Minister of Turkey, said that $108 billion in public and private investments will be needed to quadruple Turkey's wind and solar power generation capacity to 120,000MW by 2035.Bayraktar, speaking at a conference to announce Turkey's roadmap on renewable energy resources, said that the first tender conditions for this year's renewable energy resource area will be announced next Monday.Bayraktar stated that the energy ministry is working to change current regulations…
EU Energy Ministers Discuss Ukraine Energy Crisis and Russian LNG
Officials said that EU energy ministers met on Tuesday in Luxembourg to discuss the rising Russian LNG imports into the EU, Ukraine's energy shortages before winter and how to equalize energy prices among member states. In June, the EU approved a 14th set of sanctions including a ban of transhipments of Russian Gas as of March of next year. However, it did not impose a complete ban. Belgium and the Netherlands saw a dramatic increase in imports since then. In a Monday letter, France and nine…
Document shows EU countries want more transparency about Russian gas imports
In a letter to the European Commission on Monday, a group of EU member states including France and the Baltic States asked for tighter reporting requirements across the EU on Russian LNG imports. In June, the EU approved a 14th set of sanctions that included a prohibition on the trans-shipment of Russian LNG in its ports. Moscow has used European ports for transshipment onto other vessels bound for Asia. Imports of Russian LNG were not banned. Several EU countries continue to receive Russian pipeline gas via Ukraine and Turkey.
Turkish Ship to Start Oil Search Off Somalia This Month
Turkey's Energy Ministry announced on Thursday that a Turkish seismic research ship plans to arrive at the end October off the coasts of Somalia and begin searching for natural gas and oil after the two countries agreed on cooperation in energy. The agreement of March envisaged oil production and exploration, and Turkish Petroleum was granted licenses to operate in three areas within the Somali Seas. The ship Oruc Reis is exploring areas that cover? The ship Oruc Reis will explore areas covering?
Research group: China has invested over $100 billion in cleantech overseas since 2023.
According to the Australian Climate Energy Finance group, Chinese companies have invested more than $100 billion in clean energy projects since 2023. They do this in order to avoid tariffs on imports from the U.S. CEF's research revealed that China was the largest producer and exporter in the world of solar panels, lithium-ion batteries, and electric vehicles. Its investment, innovation, and manufacturing capabilities led the world by "an astonishing margin", the report said. It accounts for 32.5% global electric vehicle exports and 24.1% lithium batteries, and 78.1% solar panels.
Turkey's Botas talks to Iran's National Gas Company for long-term supply
The Turkish energy company Botas announced on Wednesday that they had been in talks with Iran's National Natural Gas Company NIGC about a long-term supply from Iran of natural gas to Turkey. Turkey consumes more than 50 billion cubic meters of gas each year. The country currently imports LNG from different suppliers and relies on a mixture of pipeline gas imported from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran. The long-term contracts that govern the supply of Iranian Gas to Turkey, which amounts to 10 billion cubic meters of gas per annum, expires in 2026.
TotalEnergies signs LNG supply agreement with South Korea's Hyundai Chemical
TotalEnergies, a French oil giant, announced on Tuesday that it had signed an agreement with HD Hyundai Chemical, a South Korean company, to supply liquefied gas from 2027-2033. Total has now signed six LNG contracts this year. Total will deliver 4.65 million tonnes of LNG to China, Turkey and Singapore by the middle of 2030s. Gas that will supply an industrial site of Hyundai Chemical in South Korea will be partially indexed to Brent crude oil prices and partially to Henry Hub, US natural gas benchmark.
Hungary: EU is not doing enough to reduce Russian gas dependency
Hungary's chief energy security official on Wednesday criticised the European Union for failing to provide enough support in order to help smaller countries, which are landlocked, move away from Russian gas. Csaba Maresvari, Hungary’s deputy state secretary of energy security, said at the Gastech Conference in Houston that landlocked, smaller states like Hungary need more funding to reduce their reliance on Russian Gas. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hungary and some of its neighbours are under increasing pressure to diversify away from Russian energy.
Turkey's Botas buys 1.6 billion cubic meters of LNG from TotalEnergies over a 10-year period
Alparslan Bayraktar, the Turkish Energy Minister announced on Wednesday that Turkish state-owned energy company Botas had signed a 10-year contract to import LNG from French oil giant TotalEnergies starting in 2027. Bayraktar announced the deal on the social media platform X. The contract, signed at the GasTech conference, Houston, is for the annual delivery of 1.6 Billion cubic meters of LNG. The majority of Turkey's gas is imported from Russia, Iran, and Azerbaijan. However, the country has been working to diversify their long-term supply, as several contracts are due to expire next year.
US sanctions 400 additional targets for helping Russia's war efforts
The State Department announced that the United States imposed sanctions Friday on more than 400 individuals and entities for supporting Russia's military effort in Ukraine. This included Chinese firms, which U.S. officials believed were helping Moscow skirt Western sanctions while building up its military. Washington has warned Beijing repeatedly over its support of Russia's defence industrial base. It has also issued hundreds sanctions to limit Moscow's capability to exploit certain technologies in military applications.
US sanctions 400 additional targets for helping Russia's war efforts
The State Department announced that the United States imposed sanctions Friday on more than 400 individuals and entities for supporting Russia's military effort in Ukraine. This included Chinese firms, which U.S. officials believed were helping Moscow skirt Western sanctions while building up its military. Washington has warned Beijing repeatedly over its support of Russia's defence industrial base. It has also issued hundreds sanctions to limit Moscow's capability to exploit certain technologies in military applications.
Freeport LNG Targets Year End for Full Operations After Fire
Freeport LNG, one of the largest operators of liquefied natural gas export plants in the United States,on Tuesday said last week's fire damage to its Texas plant would keep it fully offline until September with only partial operation through to the year end.Natural gas prices slumped in the United States and soared in Europe on the lengthier shutdown as the Quintana, Texas, facility produces roughly 20% of U.S. LNG exports and has been a major supplier to Europe, which has sought to move away…
UAE Interested in Turkish Energy Investments
The United Arab Emirates is eyeing investments in Turkey's energy sector, ports and railways, Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said on Friday.Speaking at a joint press conference with Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Istanbul, Al Nahyan said the UAE was especially interested in renewable energy investments in Turkey.(Reuters - Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
