Energy / Automotive News As Reported to 16 Feb 2023
OPEC daily basket price at US$82.95/bl, WTI Crude stood at $78.88/bl, Crude prices are softening
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for March was down $1.09, to $79.05 per barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude for March delivery was down $1.17, to $85.44.
The US is reportedly planing to sell another 26 million barrels from an unused allocation of the country’s emergency oil reserve
Gas Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), and IBM Japan, Ltd. jointly announced that they have built a demonstration system (the “System,” for CO2NNEX for e-methane, a digital platform for visualizing the amount of CO2 emissions across the value chain of e-methane (methane synthesized with the methanation technology) and transferring e-methane’s environmental value. CO2NNEX for e-methane is based on CO2NNEX, a digital platform being developed by MHI and IBM Japan for visualizing the CO2 supply chain. In conducting the PoC (Proof of Concept) of CO2NNEX for e-methane, the three partners will discuss and exchange views with the Japan Gas Association, Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd., Toho Gas Co., Ltd., and INPEX CORPORATION to identify effective ways to promote the use of e-methane and establish its environmental value.Using the System, this tripartite project aims to achieve the following: A system for managing the amount of CO2 emissions from its sources throughout the e-methane supply chain to provide the data of e-methane’s quantified environmental value to gas users; A shared platform that digitally connects e-methane production sites to markets for trading and transferring the environmental value of e-methane, which will be blended with natural gas in the pipeline. The three partners pursue this initiative, aiming to contribute to the transition to a net zero society, which requires practical solutions as currently studied, such as CO2 accounting methods for CCU (carbon dioxide capture and utilization), including methanation, and the application of the accounting methods for e-methane, a recycled-carbon fuel. Read More
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Environmental & Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. (MHIEC), a Group company of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), has received an order from the Owarihokubu Waste Disposal Association for building, operation, and maintenance of a new waste-to-energy plant. The association was established to consolidate waste treatment services of four municipalities in the northern Aichi region: Inuyama City, Konan City, Oguchi Town, and Fuso Town in Niwa County. The order calls for construction of an integrated waste-to-energy plant equipped with two stoker-type incinerators(Note1) collectively capable of processing 194 tons per day (tpd) in Konan City, to replace two superannuated plants in the association’s service area. The operation startup is scheduled for April 2028.
Consolidating the services of four municipalities, the new plant will replace two superannuated facilities: Inuyama Waste Disposal Center (capacity: 135 tpd; designed and built by MHI; located in Inuyama City and operated since 1983) and Konan-Niwa Waste Disposal Center (capacity: 150 tpd; located in Oguchi Town in Niwa County and operated since 1982). Under the DB+O(Note2) contract, MHIEC will also take charge of providing long-term operation and maintenance services of the new plant for a period of 20 years. The contract is valued at 33.15 billion yen (tax excluded). Read More
Enel Chairman Michele Crisostomo, Enel CEO Francesco Starace, the Italian Minister of the Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, the Director-General for Energy of the European Commission Ditte Juul Jørgensen, the President of the Region of Sicily Renato Schifani, and the Catania Municipality’s Special Commissioner – Prefect Piero Mattei visited the construction site of the 3Sun Gigafactory in Catania. 3Sun will become Europe’s largest solar panel factory by 2024, with an annual production capacity of 3 GW, and will leverage on an innovative, one-of-a-kind technology globally. The 3Sun Gigafactory expansion will increase the factory’s current annual production capacity of 200 MW to about 3 GW per year by initially developing photovoltaic modules using silicon heterojunction technology (HJT), which offers improved performance compared with conventional technologies. A ground-breaking technology called ‘Tandem’ will then be implemented, significantly outperforming the efficiency of today’s photovoltaic cells, delivering over 30% more efficiency and improving panel reliability at the same time. The expansion process, which began in April 2022 and is expected to be completed by 2024, will consist of two stages: an operational capacity of 400 MW will be available from September 2023, while full operational capacity will be reached by July 2024. ‘Tandem’ photovoltaic modules, on the other hand, will be produced starting from late 2025.
The investment is estimated to amount to approximately 600 million euros. Read More
SOWITEC group (SOWITEC), one of the leading developers of renewable energy projects in the wind and solar sectors, has signed contracts for the sale of three solar development projects in Mexico with a capacity totaling 570 MW to a major international utility. These projects are part of a portfolio with a total capacity of 1,000 MW, for the development of which SOWITEC has established a joint venture only in 2022. The three solar projects are already at an advanced development stage with secured land and all necessary environmental permits. Commissioning is expected to begin in 2025.
Frank Hummel, CEO of SOWITEC group: “We are pleased that Mexico is again developing positively as a large and important market for SOWITEC. It has proven absolutely right to hold on to the long-term intact market potential despite the difficult environment since 2018 and to consistently continue our activities there. We are also benefiting in particular from our long-standing contacts, which we have maintained intensively since we entered the market in 2008.” Read More
R.Power has raised €150 million (US$160.4 million) from the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund (3SIIF) to continue its long-term growth strategy.
The investment will see 3SIIF support R.Power’s plan to achieve 1GWp operating solar portfolio within the next two years across EU markets. The company is currently operating and constructing more than 500MWp of utility-scale solar PV plants in Poland and Portugal.
Also, R.Power https://rpower.solar/en/media/ will continue investing in its commercial and industrial solar PV business line Quanta Energy, and its engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC), operations and maintenance (O&M) business line Nomad Electric.
“The raised funds will help us accelerate the growth of the company in Poland as well as other markets in which we operate, such as Romania, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal,” said Przemek Pięta, co-founder and CEO of R.Power. Read More
Neste has established an Innovation Center in Singapore to strengthen its innovation and R&D capabilities globally. Asia has become an important market area for Neste and the new center provides good support to the company’s growth journey in the Asia-Pacific region. The opening of the Innovation Center was celebrated today.
“Innovation has enabled our transformation from a regional oil refiner towards global leadership in renewable and circular solutions. We are delighted to open the APAC Innovation Center, which creates a framework for world-class raw material research also in the Asia-Pacific and supports our growth in the region, driven by our expanding renewable products refinery in Singapore, start-up of which will take place by the end of the first quarter 2023. And equally important, the Innovation Center drives collaboration with our network in the Asia-Pacific region including academia, research institutions as well as industry players,” says Lars Peter Lindfors, Executive Vice President, Innovation at Neste.The Innovation Center with state-of-the-art laboratory equipment and advanced analytical and raw material research capabilities focuses on research around raw materials and the pretreatment processes. The Innovation Center is located in the Science Park II in the western part of Singapore, and has hired more than 20 researchers and professionals, so far. Read More
New research has revealed the top 10 cities in the UK with the highest utility bills – and London places top of the list.
Experts at Solar Panel Installation analysed the average cost of utility bills across the UK, including energy, gas, and water, to determine the areas which are paying the most and which will be the worst affected by the 20% rise in energy prices in April this year. Ranking first on the list of the cities with the highest utility bills is London. The capital of the UK has a total annual cost of £3,221.04, equating to £268.42 a month.
West Midlands city Coventry comes in second in the list with a staggering cost of £3,044.40 annually on utilities.
Third in the ranking is Leeds. The city has a monthly average utility bill of £242.36, making that an astounding annual total of £2,908.32.
Southern cities Bristol and Southampton take the fourth and fifth spots with an annual utility bill priced at £2,779.92 and £2,762.40, respectively.
Following behind is Derby ranking sixth with an average bill of £2,753.52 as well as Sheffield in the seventh spot with utilities costing £2,743.20 a year on average.
Plymouth takes the eighth spot in the list with an annual cost of £2,685 on utilities, while its neighbour Exeter places ninth facing a bill of £2,641.44.
Last on the list is Manchester with the tenth highest utility bill, costing an average of £2,604.48 each year.
On the other end of the scale, Portsmouth has the cheapest utility bills, with the average annual cost being £1,424.04. Read More
Prospex Energy PLC , the AIM quoted investment company focused on European gas and power projects, announced that the Operator of the Selva Malvezzi production concession in which Prospex has a 37% working interest, has signed a gas sales agreement (“GSA”) with BP Gas Marketing Limited (“BPGM”), an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of BP International Limited (“BPI”) under which BPGM will purchase the forecast gas production from the soon to be completed Podere Maiar-1 production facility in the Selva Malvezzi production concession located in the Po Valley Region of Italy. Po Valley Operations Pty Limited (“PVO”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Po Valley Energy Limited (ASX: PVE) is the Operator of the Selva Malvezzi production concession with 63% ownership interest and Prospex has the remaining 37% working interest.
Highlights
· 18-month GSA contract to commence on 1 April 2023 with potential to extend
· An estimated 37 million standard cubic metres of natural gas is expected to be supplied to BPGM under the contract
· Gas supply price will be linked to Italy’s “Heren PSV day ahead mid” price assessment
· The Joint Venture is fully funded to complete the Podere Maiar-1 production facility development and first gas is on track for early Q2 2023. Read More
National Grid was forced to spend more than £4bn to keep the lights on during 2022 following a surge in power prices and a jump in intermittent wind and solar power.
The company spent a record £4.2bn on balancing payments – taking actions such as importing power from abroad, ramping up gas stations, or turning off wind turbines, to make sure supply always matches demand.
The so-called “balancing costs” are ultimately added to consumers’ bills, on top of high energy costs which are fuelling a cost–of-living crisis.
The Nuclear Industry Association, which calculated the figures using data published by National Grid’s electricity system operator (ESO), said it was the first time annual balancing costs had shot past £4bn.
It argues the figures show the need for more stable sources of power, such as nuclear power stations. Read More
Climate change will be one of the major factors in healthcare over the next decades as people are forced from their homes into new countries, says a new study co-authored at Cambridge Judge Business School. The number of climate migrants is currently estimated at 1% of the world’s population and will rise to 19% by 2070, says the study in the journal Futures. The study is very timely: this week, UN Secretary General António Guterres warned in a speech that rising sea levels could bring a “mass exodus of entire populations on a biblical scale”.
The study’s co-authors include Shasha Lu, Associate Professor of Marketing at Cambridge Judge Business School, and Ahmed Khwaja, Professor of Marketing, Business & Public Enterprise at the Business School.Climate change will be one of the major factors in the evolution of healthcare over the next decades as people are forced from their homes and suffer ailments caused by extreme heat combined with stagnant air in urban areas, says a new study co-authored at Cambridge Judge Business School.
“An increase in temperature is not only the displacement of tens and hundreds of thousands of people to new countries,” said an expert interviewed for the study, which appears in the February issue of the academic journal Futures. Read More
According to Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries report,Nigeria’s oil production increased month-on-month by 1.9 per cent from 1.235 million barrels per day recorded in December 2022 to 1.258 mb/d per day in January 2023. The report also showed that on a year-on-year basis, the January output was a massive 10 percent drop from the 1.399 mb/d in January 2022. Angola produced 1.050 mb/d Read More
TC Energy Corporation today announced that its Board of Directors (Board) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.93 per common share for the quarter ending March 31, 2023, on the Company’s outstanding common shares. The common share dividend is payable on April 28, 2023, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 31, 2023. Read More
Brent contract for April reportedly hit $86.39 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose to $79.72 a barrel.
| Oil and Gas Blends | Units | Oil Price $ | change |
| Crude Oil (WTI) | USD/bbl | $78.89 | Up |
| Crude Oil (Brent) | USD/bbl | $85.59 | Up |
| Bonny Light | USD/bbl | $84.12 | Down |
| Saharan Blend | USD/bbl | $84.80 | Down |
| Natural Gas | USD/MMBtu | $2.52 | Down |
| OPEC basket 15/02/23 | USD/bbl | $82.95 | Down |
Renault and Nissan have announced a new long-term vision for India, increasing production and R&D activities, introducing electric vehicles, and transitioning to carbon-neutral manufacturing. From their base in Chennai, the companies will collaborate on six new production vehicles for domestic and international customers, including two new fully electric vehicles, uplifting the Renault-Nissan centre into an international export hub.
An initial investment of around $600m USD / ₹5300 crores INR is planned to support the new projects, which will see an up to 2,000 additional new jobs created at the Renault Nissan Technology & Business Centre in Chennai. At the same time, the RNAIPL factory will become carbon-neutral with a significant increase in renewable energy generation.
Following last week’s announcement of new high-value-creation operational projects for the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, the future for Renault and Nissan’s Indian operations was outlined today at an official ceremony in Chennai by Nissan’s Director, Chief Operating Officer, Representative Executive Officer and member of Alliance Board Ashwani Gupta, in the presence of Thiru M.K. Stalin, the Honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and alongside officials from the Tamil Nadu Government. Read More
Baker Hughes Rig Count
U.S. Rig Count is up 2 from last week to 761 with oil rigs up 10 to 609, gas rigs down 8 to 150 and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 2.
Canada Rig Count is up 1 from last week to 250, with oil rigs up 2 to 161, gas rigs down 1 to 89.
| Region | Period | Rig Count | Change from Prior |
| U.S.A | 10 February 2023 | 761 | +2 |
| Canada | 10 February 2023 | 250 | +1 |
| International | January 2023 | 901 | +1 |
OilandGasPress Energy Newsbites and Analysis Roundup | Compiled by: OGP Staff, Segun Cole @oilandgaspress.
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