Cuba announces new restrictions and a contingency plan as the energy crisis intensifies
Cuba has asked businesses and state-owned companies to reduce their air conditioning usage and generate more electricity using renewable sources, and also to take other conservation measures. This is as the communist government faces its worst energy crisis for decades. In a 16-page decret published on Tuesday, the new regulations give the top energy users in the public and private sectors three years to install sources of renewable energy capable of producing 50% or more of their electricity during daylight hours.
Japan's LNG Imports Slide to Lowest Since May 2016
Japanese imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in June fell to the lowest in more than two years as the country's utilities switched on more nuclear reactors that had been shut in the wake of the Fukushima atomic disaster in 2011.Japan has six reactors operating and three others have passed safety inspections and could be operating by October, allowing utilities to switch away from LNG. Spot prices for the fuel rose to three-and-a-half-year high in June.Japan…
Egypt's Siemens Power Plants to go online
Power plants built by Germany's Siemens in Egypt are set to go online in December this year and will reach full capacity in May 2018, the Egyptian prime minister's office said on Sunday. Egypt signed an 8 billion-euro ($8.9 billion) deal with Siemens in June 2015 that calls for three combined-cycle power plants with a capacity of 4,800 megawatts each, plus 12 wind farms, and is designed to boost the country's electricity generation by 50 percent. Some plants will go online in December with a combined capacity of 4…
South Africa Puts $15 mln in Nuclear Energy Preparation
South Africa says it has put aside 200 million rand ($15 million) in preparation for its nuclear energy program to ease pressure on growth caused by ongoing electricity shortages, the Treasury said on Wednesday. "National Treasury is working with the Department of Energy to consider the costs, benefits and risks of building additional nuclear power stations," treasury said in its medium term budget policy statement. Treasury had already injected 23 billion rand into ailing state power utility Eskom…
Brazil Offers Power Companies Deal on Generation Deficit Dispute
Brazil's government will present next week to companies operating hydro power plants a proposal to settle a growing legal battle that threatens to destabilize the regulated power market, Energy Minister Eduardo Braga said on Friday. Braga said the government will publish a provisional decree next week and then open a period of consultations to define the best way to address companies' complaints regarding generating deficits. Brasilia could offer companies…
Egypt Extends Med Gas Exploration Tender
Egypt has extended its tender for natural gas exploration in the Mediterranean Sea by two months with the addition of four new blocks, the state gas board said on Tuesday, as the country seeks to boost domestic energy production. The bidding period now runs to July 30 and will include 12 offshore concessions instead of eight, the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) said in an advertisement published in state-run Al Ahram newspaper. Egypt is going through its worst energy crisis in decades…
BP Inks $12 Bln Energy Deal in Egypt
British oil company BP (BP.L) finalised on Saturday a $12 billion deal with Egypt to develop 5 trillion cubic feet of gas resources and 55 million barrels of condensates in the West Nile Delta. The supply deal, signed at an international investment conference in the Sharm El-Sheikh resort, will help Egypt as it tackles its worst energy crisis in decades. Rising energy consumption and decreasing production have turned it from a net energy exporter to a net importer in the last few years and caused persistent blackouts.
GE delivers Gas Turbines to Egypt
General Electric Co has delivered a shipment of gas turbines to Egypt as part of a $1.9 billion deal to boost power capacity, and will invest $200 million in a planned economic zone near the Suez Canal, the firm said on Friday. The announcements were made at a conference where Egypt hopes to secure billions of dollars in investment after years of political turmoil, focusing on energy and the Suez Canal zone. GE says it generates about 30 percent of Egypt's…
BP, Partners Investing in Egypt Gas Deal
British oil company BP expects to invest around $12 billion with its partners as part of a finalised West Nile Delta concession deal to develop 5 trillion cubic feet of gas resources and 55 million barrels of condensates. The supply deal will help Egypt as it tackles its worst energy crisis in decades. Rising energy consumption and decreasing production have turned it from a net energy exporter to a net importer in the last few years and caused persistent blackouts.
Egypt Pays Down Foreign Energy Debt, Still Owes $3.1 bln
Egypt paid $2.1 billion of its debt to foreign energy companies, Oil Minister Sherif Ismail said on Wednesday, a move that could improve the investment climate and ease the country's worst energy crisis in decades. The payment was the third batch to energy firms in the past year, though the government still owes $3.1 billion, Ismail said in a statement. The statement did not identify the amounts specific companies would receive, but the foreign firms owed money by the Egyptian government include British majors BP and BG, the UAE's Dana Gas, and Italy's Eni.
Egypt Woos Investors for Coal-Fired Power Plants
Egypt is in talks with several big investors about building coal-fired power plants as it works to diversify its sources of generation amid the country's worst energy crisis in decades, the electricity minister said on Tuesday. Mohamed Shaker told a visiting delegation of American business executives that expanding the use of both coal and renewables such as wind and solar was key to the government's effort to end power cuts that regularly hit homes and shut down production lines last summer.
Egypt Signs $350 mln in Oil, Power Financing Deals with Saudi
Egypt signed $350 million worth of financing agreements with Saudi Arabia on Saturday aimed at upgrading its power grid and securing imports of petroleum products as it seeks to end its worst energy crisis in decades. Power cuts have become common in Egypt as the cash-strapped government struggles to supply enough gas to its power stations let alone upgrade a grid suffering from decades of neglect. The energy crunch has become a political hot potato in the Arab world's most populous country…
Greece, Egypt, Cyprus Urge Turkey to Quit Gas Search Off Island
The governments of Egypt, Greece and Cyprus urged Turkey on Wednesday to stop trying to chart gas deposits in areas of the east Mediterranean claimed by Cyprus, saying the work was illegal. Cyprus, a member of the European Union, is anxious to develop the gas reserves in its so-called exclusive economic zone -- an offshore region lying south of the island. Turkey does not recognise Cyprus, ethnically split between its Greek and Turkish Cypriot populations…
BG in Talks to Import Gas to Egypt from Cyprus
BG Egypt, a subsidiary of global energy company BG held talks on Tuesday to import natural gas from Cyprus, the company said on Wednesday. The talks in Nicosia between BG Egypt and Cyprus Hydrocarbons (CHC) revolve around using BG's infrastructure to import gas into the most populous Arab country, BG said in a statement. "The companies will conduct economic, technical and legal studies around the potential sale of the CHC's gas production," Toula Onoufriou, president of CHC, said in the statement.
Egypt Pays BG Group $350 mln for Gas
British gas producer BG Group said on Monday it had received $350 million from the Egyptian government following a commitment by Cairo to repay outstanding debts to the energy industry. The transaction reduces the energy company's receivables balance in Egypt to around $1.2 billion, BG Group added. "The company continues to investigate options for increasing the supply of gas," it said. The Arab world's most populous country is facing its worst energy crisis in decades as gas production declines and consumption rises.
Brazil Readies for Solar Energy, Companies Wary
Grappling with its worst energy crisis in more than a decade, Brazil is making its first big move to develop a local solar power industry that could help reduce its dependence on a battered hydro power system. In October, Brazil will hold an auction to negotiate energy to be produced exclusively by solar farms, the first ever of the kind in the South American country. Power companies have registered some 400 projects for the auction, but many remain wary…
Egypt Reaches Deal to Revise Gas Prices
Egypt has agreed to revise the price it pays to buy natural gas to be extracted by German oil and gas group RWE DEA, a move likely to mean higher prices for the state. Oil Minister Sherif Ismail said on Wednesday that state-run gas company EGAS had reached an agreement in principle with RWE DEA to modify its current Delta concession contract, the first step by the government to fulfil a pledge to provide more attractive terms to foreign firms needed to boost production.
