Energy/Automotive News| WTI Crude $73.17/bbl, Brent $78.95/bbl, Opec $79.17/bbl
London, 16 January 2024, (Oilandgaspress): – Oil prices mixed as tanker companies halt ships heading to Red Sea as continued tensions in the Middle East lead to more tanker diversions. Attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the US-UK strikes on military targets in Yemen in response are seen as likely to create a major disruption to oil supply sooner or later.
FIAT Professional Ducato, for the sixteenth time in a row, readers of the trade magazine “Promobil” have voted the successful model as the “Best Motorhome Base Vehicle of the year”. The annual readers’ choice of the German magazine has represented an important reference point for the trends in the leisure vehicles field for more than a quarter of a century. The Recreational Vehicle sector is a long-lasting and strategic business for FIAT Professional and base vehicles for motorhomes make up a significant proportion of the total production of the Fiat Ducato. The prestigious award for “Best Motorhome Base Vehicle 2024” impressively confirms the trust customers have in FIAT
Professional Ducato as their ideal leisure companion. Promobil readers could choose from 270 motorhome series divided in 10 different categories, and a total of 23 vehicles were nominated as base vehicle. The cornerstone of the Ducato’s successes is the strategy of designing the vehicle as a platform for extensions right from the development stage. It’s rational and professional when it’s time for business, but flexible and eclectic for recreational use. Since some years now the Ducato, on top of offering motorhome travelers great comfort, can be equipped with additional electronic driver assistance systems (ADAS). These include Emergency Brake Assist, Lane Keeping Assist, Traffic Sign Recognition, Driver Drowsiness Alert, and Intelligent Speed Assist. The FIAT Professional Ducato has been manufacturing at the Atessa plant in Val di Sangro (near Pescara, Italy) since more than 40 years. Read full article
Citroën Racing unveils an exciting new livery for the C3 Rally2 as it prepares to target more success around the world in 2024. The design highlights the new Citroën brand identity that was first revealed in 2022. The C3 Rally2 now proudly displays the oval logo on its sides and roof, and the designers have also played on the clean lines of the famous two chevrons to make them stand out from their frame; giving the car a dynamic look whichever angle it is viewed from. The red colour scheme meanwhile confirms the sporting DNA of Citroën Racings and its illustrious history in rallying. Read full article
The President of Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), Mr Toshihiro Suzuki announced two major investments in the state of Gujarat. In the first one, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd has reached an understanding* with the State of Gujarat for construction of a new automobile production plant. This new plant in Gujarat is aimed to start operation in FY2028-29. In the future, the annual production capacity is expected to become 1 million units with total investment amount of 350 billion rupees (excluding land acquisition cost). The details of location and the models to be produced will be shared in due course.
Maruti Suzuki also announced the establishment of a fourth production line in its wholly owned subsidiary Suzuki Motor Gujarat Private Limited (“SMG”) by investing 32 billion rupees, in view of increasing production of electric vehicles in the future. The fourth line is expected to start operation from FY2026-27. With the completion of the fourth line, annual production capacity of SMG will increase from the current 750,000 units to 1 million units. Combined with the new plant in Gujarat, the total annual production capacity in the State of Gujarat will be 2 million units.
Maruti Suzuki plans to secure a production capacity of approximately 4 million units in India by FY2030-31 to prepare for future expansion of automobile market in India. The new plant in Kharkhoda, Haryana which is planned to start operation in 2025, the new plant in Gujarat and the fourth production line of SMG will help achieve the milestone of 4 million. Read full article
China has announced a fresh target for its fast-growing new-energy vehicle (NEV) industry, with a document from the State Council, China’s cabinet, stating that yearly NEV sales will account for 45 percent of the total by 2027. Older internal combustion engine (ICE) buses, cars and trucks will be largely phased out.
It is a bold Chinese plan in the eyes of industry observers outside China to shore up the country’s manufacturing competitiveness and go green on the road. The target of 45 percent won’t be difficult to achieve as young Chinese consumers – Generation Z and millennials – increasingly think it is environmentally friendly and fashionable to own a pure electric car or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. The country has leapfrogged conventional vehicle powerhouses such as Japan, the UK and the US in assembling NEVs. This is primarily due to Chinese policymakers’ vision and determination to promote green e-mobility by cutting carbon dioxide emissions to mitigate global climate change. By rapidly developing NEVs, China will also import less oil and other fossil fuels, which will benefit the country’s energy security. In 2023, China exported 1.203 million NEVs, up 77.6 percent year-on-year, the CAAM reported. Read full article
Tesla and Volvo announced last week that they were suspending some of their production in Europe due to a shortage of components caused by shipping being re-routed away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal because of the threat of attack from Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen. Read full article
Embraer’s Agricultural Aviation Division delivered 65 Ipanema airplanes in 2023, an increase of 18% compared to the previous year. As a result, in December, the company reached the milestone of 1,600 units produced and delivered over the aircraft’s five decades of uninterrupted production.
Since the launch of the new version of the EMB-203 model in 2020, the company has seen continuous growth in sales and plans to increase production to 70 planes this year.
“Agribusiness has a significant positive impact on Brazil’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and we are very pleased to see how the Ipanema has contributed to the sector’s high productivity, efficiency, and sustainability,” says Sany Onofre, Manager of Embraer’s Ipanema Program.
As the leader in the Brazilian aerial applications market, the Ipanema brings innovations and improvements that increase robustness with low operating costs and carbon emissions. The Ipanema is the only agricultural airplane certified and produced in series to fly on ethanol, a renewable energy source that provides increased power to the aircraft’s engine. Read full article
Vestas introduces low-emission steel offering for wind turbines
Recognising the environmental impact of steel and iron components, Vestas has established a partnership with ArcelorMittal to launch a low-emission steel offering that significantly reduces lifetime carbon dioxide emissions from the production of wind turbine towers. This is yet another initiative where Vestas continues to execute on its sustainability strategy which also includes addressing the materials, we use to make wind turbines.
The low-emission steel is produced using 100% steel scrab which is melted in an electric arc furnace powered by 100% wind energy at the ArcelorMittal steel mill, Industeel Charleroi, in Belgium. The steel slabs are then transformed into heavy plates used for the manufacture of wind turbine towers, at ArcelorMittal’s heavy plate mill in Gijon, Spain. These heavy plates made with low-emission steel are initially suitable for the entire onshore wind turbine towers and the top section of offshore wind turbine towers. The low-emission heavy plate steel has an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), certified by an independent party, detailing the complete environmental footprint of the product, and allowing easier comparison between products.
By utilising low-emission steel in the top two sections of an offshore tower, this emission reduction would translate to approximately 25% reduction of emission compared to a tower made from steel made via conventional steelmaking route. For an entire onshore tower, the CO2 reduction is at least 52%.
Steel and iron constitute 80-90% of a wind turbine’s material mass, and approximately 50% of a turbine’s total lifecycle emissions. With the partnership with ArcelorMittal, Vestas takes an important step forward to reduce CO2 emissions occurred in its supply chain and can achieve a 66% decrease in emission intensity per kg steel compared with steel produced via the conventional steelmaking route.
Even though the low emission steel is not yet a standard offering from Vestas, the first project utilizing low-emission steel will be the Baltic Power Offshore Wind Project off the coast of Poland. During 2025, Vestas will start the construction of the offshore wind farm, expected to generate up to up to 1.2 GW and ultimately supply clean electricity to more than 1,5 million households in Poland. Vestas will supply, install, and commission 76 V236-15.0 MW wind turbines for the Baltic Power Offshore Wind Project. The top section of 52 towers out of the 76 will be made with low-emission steel. Read More
Hydro joins the First Movers Coalition’s new “green” supplier database to enable the world’s most ambitious companies to take climate action
The First Suppliers Hub, a tool for companies moving from climate commitment to action, was launched at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 16. Hydro has qualified as a supplier of its pioneering low-carbon aluminium, as one of the few companies in the world providing aluminium with a carbon footprint of less than one-fourth of the global industry average. Hydro is in Davos this week to engage in discussions about how to change the way materials are produced. For Hydro, a key initiative to accelerate the green transition is its participation in the First Movers Coalition (FMC). FMC is a coalition of companies using their purchasing power to decarbonize heavy emitting sectors, representing 30 percent of global emissions, led by the WEF and the US government. Hydro announced its first FMC partnership with Volvo Group to accelerate net zero transportation at COP28 in Dubai. Taking the next step, Hydro is proud to be featured as a supplier in FMC’s First Suppliers Hub. This is a global database of suppliers and their projects of innovative and emerging technologies, aimed to simplify the process for organizations as they move from climate commitments to action. Read More
Effective February 1, 2024, Carlos Zarlenga will replace Mark Stewart to leverage further improvements in Stellantis’ performance in North America and unleash the iconic American brands portfolio potential in close cooperation with their CEOs.
Carlos Zarlenga is a seasoned leader with more than a decade of automotive experience in EMEA, Asia Pacific and Latin America, together with a strong financial background. Since he joined Stellantis in 2022 as President of Stellantis Mexico, he has delivered a year-on-year improvement in sales performance, market share and AOI, leading to the best profit level ever recorded in Mexico.
Carlos Zarlenga graduated from Universidad de Belgrano – Buenos Aires, Argentina. Read More
Toyota Motor Corporation expresses its sincere apologies to all stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, and dealers, for the inconvenience and concern that it has caused as a result of the procedural irregularities committed by Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. (Daihatsu).
Daihatsu received a rectification order regarding procedural irregularities from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism today. Toyota will fully support Daihatsu not only in reviewing its certification operations but also in making fundamental changes in its corporate culture and management so that Daihatsu can once again be trusted and chosen as a company of choice.
Going forward, we will work with Daihatsu to carefully respond to the concerns of our customers, suppliers, and dealers in a courteous and polite manner. In addition, we will report on measures for revitalization and transformation to prevent recurrence and on the rectification order in about one month. Read More
Africa Oil Corp. announce that the Company repurchased a total of 522,000 Africa Oil common shares during the period of January 11, 2024 to January 12, 2024 under the previously announced share buyback program.
The launch of Africa Oil’s normal course issuer bid (share buyback) program, announced by the Company on December 4, 2023, is being implemented in accordance with the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR) and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2016/1052 (Safe Harbour Regulation) and the applicable rules and policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”), Nasdaq Stockholm, and applicable Canadian and Swedish securities laws. During the period dated January 11, 2024 to January 12, 2024, the Company repurchased 192,000 Africa Oil common shares on the TSX and/or alternative Canadian trading systems. The repurchases were carried out by Scotia Capital Inc. on behalf of the Company. During the same period, the Company repurchased 330,000 Africa Oil common shares on Nasdaq Stockholm, and these repurchases were carried out by Pareto Securities on behalf of the Company. All common shares repurchased by Africa Oil under the share buyback program will be cancelled. Read More
Reference is made to the mandatory cash offer by BW Group Limited (the “Offeror”) to acquire all remaining shares in BW Energy Limited for a price of NOK 27.00 per share (the “Offer”), announced in the stock exchange announcement on 13 December 2023, and the announcement of the preliminary results of the Offer published on 14 January 2024.
The Offeror is a close associate to a primary insider in the Company (the primary insider is the chairman of the board of directors of the Company). The Offeror is therefore pursuant to the disclosure requirements in article 19 of the Regulation EU 596/2014 (the EU Market Abuse Regulation) and section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act required to disclose transactions made in securities in the Company. This includes disclosing acceptances received in the Offer on an ongoing basis. Read More
| Oil and Gas Blends | Units | Oil Price US$/bbl | Change |
| Crude Oil (WTI) | USD/bbl | $73.17 | Up |
| Crude Oil (Brent) | USD/bbl | $78.95 | Up |
| Bonny Light | USD/bbl | $78.48 | Down |
| Saharan Blend | USD/bbl | $79.15 | Down |
| Natural Gas | USD/MMBtu | $3.03 | Down |
| OPEC basket 15/01/24 | USD/bbl | $79.17 | Down |
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OilandGasPress Energy Newsbites and Analysis Roundup | Compiled by: OGP Staff, Segun Cole @oilandgaspress.
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