Top Energy/Automotive News As Reported, to Monday, 27th March, 2023
London, 27 March, 2023, (Oilandgaspress): Oil prices have risen substantially since the middle of 2021, initially fuelled by the global economic recovery from the pandemic and subsequently exacerbated by the supply disruptions triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which led prices to spike to around $120/bbl in April 2022. It is expected that average crude oil prices this year will remain below $100/bbl on average in 2023.
Audi honored 149 top-performing dealerships in the U.S. with the Magna Society Awards, a distinction for dealers who achieved excellent performance in 2022.
To earn Magna Society recognition, dealers must demonstrate an exceptional level of customer service as well as strong business performance. Among the recipients, 17 dealerships were distinguished as 2022 Audi Magna Society Elite winners, a special honor for superior achievement as the best of the best. The 2022 Audi Magna Society Elite winners: Read More
Hyundai Motor America donated $50,000 to the Banner Health Foundation to help build a Play Zone at Diamond Children’s Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona. The donation is part of Hyundai’s corporate social responsibility initiative, Hyundai Hope, and will assist in creating a dedicated play space for pediatric patients and their families. A ceremonial check was presented to the Banner Health Foundation in Scottsdale, Arizona. Read More
General Motors celebrated its top global suppliers during its annual Supplier of the Year event held in San Antonio, Texas. In total, 121 suppliers were recognized at the event, with 105 suppliers receiving a Supplier of the Year award, 14 suppliers receiving an Overdrive award and two suppliers receiving both Supplier of the Year and Overdrive awards. Collectively, the awarded suppliers represented 17 countries.
“We are thrilled to recognize these outstanding suppliers after yet another challenging year in the automotive industry,” said Jeff Morrison, GM vice president, Global Purchasing and Supply Chain. “They overcame countless obstacles and exemplified what it means to be resilient, resourceful and determined. Beyond that, these suppliers demonstrated their commitment to sustainable innovation and to driving advanced solutions in collaboration with the GM team.”
Each year, the Supplier of the Year and Overdrive award recipients are selected by a global, cross-functional GM team for their performance in business and cultural criteria, including quality, launch, supply chain, total enterprise cost, innovation and engineering, communication and transparency, and safety.
The Supplier of the Year award recognizes distinguished global suppliers that exceed GM’s requirements, in turn providing GM customers with innovative technologies and among the highest quality in the automotive industry.
The Overdrive award was first presented in 2012 and is a distinction reserved for suppliers who display outstanding achievement across the Global Purchasing and Supply Chain organization’s key priorities. These include sustainability, innovation, relationships, total enterprise cost, launch excellence and safety. Read More
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars unveiled Phantom Syntopia, an intricate, Haute Couture-inspired masterpiece created in collaboration with renowned Dutch fashion designer and Haute Couturière Iris van Herpen. Based on Phantom Extended – the ultimate blank canvas for personalisation – it is the most technically complex commission ever undertaken by the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective. Now, after four years of continuous development, this extraordinary and unique creation is complete; it will soon take its place in the private collection of discerning patrons of the brand.
Phantom Syntopia takes its name from Iris van Herpen’s landmark 2018 collection, designed on the principles of biomimicry in which art is inspired by patterns and shapes found in nature. Like the collection, which comprises a series of highly sculptural garments brought to life through movement, Phantom Syntopia seeks to represent the elusive, ethereal beauty of fluid motion in solid materials through its ‘Weaving Water’ theme.The ‘Weaving Water’ theme continues throughout the unique artwork in the Gallery, which runs the width of the Phantom’s fascia. Combining traditional Haute Couture techniques and innovative visual forms, this highly expressive work includes a further 85 petals, which were also attached by hand by Iris van Herpen’s team working at Goodwood, representing almost 60 hours’ painstaking work.
The design to be found on the picnic tables and the passenger panel just below the Gallery mirrors the Weaving Water artwork on the bonnet. The motif was achieved by combining multiple coats of paint and lacquer containing different quantities of glass particles. First, the surfaces were covered with a black paint mixed with 0.9% glass particles. Then the artisans applied the Weaving Water motif with a clear coat mixed with 1.4% of shimmer – an extraordinarily complex process that took over three weeks to complete. Before commencing the work, the Exterior Surface Centre team had spent four months perfecting the formula, running nine trials before identifying the ideal proportion of glass particles: across the entire car, precisely one tablespoon has been used. Read More
vast reservoirs of clean hydrogen gas.
In the beautiful West African country of Mali, a huge discovery has a town drawing a flammable gas from the earth that produces loads of electricity without CO2 emissions.
The town called Bourakébougou was prospected by Malian energy entrepreneur Aliou Diallo, who believed the mysterious gas which in the daytime shone with a blue color like sparkling ocean water, and at night like golden dust, could represent a fortune. In 2012, he recruited Chapman Petroleum to determine what the gas was. It was 98% hydrogen. Months later, Diallo’s firm Petroma had installed a pilot unit to turn the gas into electricity that produced water as an exhaust product, and transformed the village into one with reliable, plentiful electricity.
In the decade since, belief that a potential inexhaustible natural energy source that’s zero emissions saw scientists and energy companies fly into action, scouring academia and the world for more information on underground hydrogen reservoirs Read More
In 2012, he recruited Chapman Petroleum to determine what the gas was. It was 98% hydrogen. Months later, Diallo’s firm Petroma had installed a pilot unit to turn the gas into electricity that produced water as an exhaust product, and transformed the village into one with reliable, plentiful electricity. In the decade since, belief that a potential inexhaustible natural energy source that’s zero emissions saw scientists and energy companies fly into action, scouring academia and the world for more information on underground hydrogen reservoirs Read More
Toyo Seat Co., Ltd., Choshu Industry Co., Ltd., The Chugoku Electric Power Co.,Inc., and Mazda Motor Corporation have today concluded an offsite corporate power purchase agreement (PPA)(1) on solar power generation, a renewable source of energy, to help support the transition towards a carbon neutral society.
Under the PPA, Choshu Industry will serve as the electric power producer, with Choshu Industry and Mazda installing new solar power generation facilities on unused land in the Chugoku Region, using those facilities to generate electricity, which will then be sold to Chugoku Electric Power. Chugoku Electric Power will then supply this electricity to Toyo Seat and Mazda as a source of renewable energy.
This agreement represents the Chugoku Region’s first offsite corporate PPA involving more than one electric power consumer. From April this year, under the PPA, Chugoku Electric Power will commence, in stages, the supply of approximately 4,900 kW in renewable energy generated by solar panels to plants and other places of business belonging to Toyo Seat and Mazda. These arrangements are expected to reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 2,610 tons.
The arrangements described above will benefit from Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry subsidies(2) (2022) for the promotion of new solar power generation installations led by electric power consumers. The four parties to this agreement, as businesses involved in supplying and consuming electric power, remain committed to encouraging the further use of renewable energy in the Chugoku Region, aiming through such activities make to further contributions to the sustainable development of the local economy and the achievement of a carbon neutral society. Read More
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), in collaboration with Gakken Inc., has prepared and released an educational manga in English introducing MHI Group’s energy-related efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, toward achieving a decarbonized world. Titled “The Secrets of SDGs: Affordable and Clean Energy,” the publication, featuring color graphics and easy-to-read text, follows release of an original Japanese-language version in May 2022. Using a mix of visuals and data, the publication explains MHI Group’s various energy-related initiatives targeted at achieving decarbonization, including the Company’s innovative power generation technologies, carbon capture systems, etc. It explains how, through diverse efforts, MHI is helping to achieve SDG 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy – in order to address issues impacting the global energy situation today and into the future. The manga pages depict a visit to an MHI factory by two elementary school children, together with their teacher, after learning about the importance of energy. The young visitors are given explanations of how MHI’s huge gas turbines play a critical role in generating power, how developments in power generation today enable the use of hydrogen fuel that emits no CO2, etc. The story presents a vision of a sustainable world in the future. Going forward, MHI Group will continue to convey the importance of contributing to the SDGs to the young people who will be the generation of tomorrow. It will also continue to grow as a company that contributes to the realization of a sustainable world – for the benefit of our planet and everyone who inhabits it. Read More
Researchers create self-sensing metamaterial concrete that produces power.
A team of researchers has designed metamaterial concrete for the development of intelligent civil infrastructure systems.
A metamaterial is any material engineered to have a property that is elusive to naturally occurring materials. The research introduces the use of metamaterials in the creation of concrete, providing the option to alter its brittleness, flexibility, and shapeability to allow builders to use less of the material without sacrificing strength or longevity.
The material comprises reinforced “auxetic polymer lattices embedded in a conductive cement matrix”. According to the team, it induces contact-electrification between the layers when triggered mechanically, which is further enhanced by graphite powder, which serves as the electrode in the system.
Studies have shown that the material can compress up to 15 percent under pressure and produce 330 μW of power. Researchers claim the project delivers the first composite material that features properties of compressibility and energy harvesting capabilities.
→ Researchers hope that these smart structures will further autonomous driving. The material can power “chips embedded inside roads help self-driving cars navigate on highways when GPS signals are too weak or LIDAR is not working.” Read More
Wärtsilä’s successful and highly efficient Wärtsilä 31 diesel engine is being upgraded for higher power output than ever before. The upgraded version delivers an increased power to size ratio within the same physical footprint. The Wärtsilä 31 has the highest power per cylinder for engines of this bore size. Having fewer cylinders for the same power reduces the total cost of ownership, while maintenance costs are also lowered.
The Wärtsilä 31 was originally introduced in 2015 and was recognised by Guinness World Records as being the world’s most efficient 4-stroke diesel engine. In addition to its exceptionally high efficiency, the engine’s economic fuel consumption in turn results in lower levels of exhaust gas emissions.
“With this power upgrade we are delivering significant added value to our customers,” explained Lars Anderson, Director of Product Management at Wärtsilä. “The Wärtsilä 31 is already the best engine in its class, and this development widens its market advantage even further. By extending its performance, we are making a real contribution to greater sustainability and supporting our commitment to a decarbonised future.” The first deliveries of the upgraded engine are taking place during the first half of 2023. Already, seven higher power output Wärtsilä 31 engines have been contracted. Read More
| Oil and Gas Blends | Units | Oil Price $ | change |
| Crude Oil (WTI) | USD/bbl | $70.78 | Up |
| Crude Oil (Brent) | USD/bbl | $76.39 | Up |
| Bonny Light | USD/bbl | $73.87 | Down |
| Saharan Blend | USD/bbl | $73.23 | Down |
| Natural Gas | USD/MMBtu | $2.12 | Down |
| OPEC basket 24/03/23 | USD/bbl | $74.60 | Down |
County of Monterey announced Hyundai as its official and exclusive automotive partner at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The county also is welcoming Hyundai’s ‘N’ performance brand back as a sponsor of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) race weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The race weekend will be called the Motul Course de Monterey powered by Hyundai N and be held May 12 – 14, 2023. Hyundai will arrive at the legendary WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with six Hyundai Elantra N TCR race cars for the IMSA race. Spectators will be able to visit the expanded ‘Hyundai N Experience’ in the Fan Zone and be able to see the track-ready Elantra and Kona N models. The Hyundai IONIQ 5 EV and other N-line models will also be on display. Races will be broadcast on NBC Sports and live on Peacock.The Hyundai Elantra N will serve as the official pace car for races at the famous track and Hyundai Tucson Hybrid, Sonata Hybrid and Palisade models will be used as support vehicles Read More
Kurdistan’s crude oil exports from the Turkish port of Ceyhan continue to be shut in for a fourth day after the semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq and the federal government in Baghdad failed to reach an agreement during the weekend on the resumption of crude flows.
Officials from the federal Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government met on Sunday in Baghdad, but no breakthrough in talks has been achieved, sources with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg on Monday. If the crude oil exports, at around 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 400,000 bpd, do not resume soon, oil prices could go higher amid lower global supply. Read More
Baker Hughes Rig Count
U.S. Rig Count is up 4 from last week to 758 with oil rigs up 4 to 593, gas rigs unchanged at 162 and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 3.
Canada Rig Count is down 42 from last week to 165, with oil rigs down 36 to 86, gas rigs down 6 to 79.
| Region | Period | Rig Count | Change from Prior |
| U.S.A | 24 March 2023 | 758 | +4 |
| Canada | 24 March 2023 | 165 | -42 |
| International | February 2023 | 915 | +14 |
OilandGasPress Energy Newsbites and Analysis Roundup | Compiled by: OGP Staff, Segun Cole @oilandgaspress.
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