Energy News Digest to 18th Feb. 2022. OPEC daily basket price stood at $94.03 a barrel, Thu, 17th Feb. 2022

European natural gas prices jumped after two days of declines as the U.S. rejected Russia’s claims that it was pulling back troops from the border with Ukraine.Russian gas flows into Europe entering Slovakia through Ukraine are expected to remain below normal levels


ENGIE and Infinium™, a supplier of technology for ultra low-carbon e-fuels, have unveiled a partnership under which they will together develop “Reuze” – a project to produce synthetic fuels in Dunkirk (northern France) for use in air and sea transport – two sectors which are difficult to decarbonise. Infinium’s exclusive technology will be used to produce these ultra low-carbon e-fuels: 300,000 tonnes of CO2 will be captured by ArcelorMittal from his steel production facilities and then combined with green hydrogen, produced by a 400 MW electrolyser installed by ENGIE, which will act on the project as global integrator. The project was chosen by the ADEME (France’s environment and energy management agency) in December 2021 to get financial support for its development. It is thought that it will represent more than €500 million worth of investment and is also being supported by the Dunkirk urban community, the Dunkirk Grand Port Maritime and the Hauts-de-France region. Read More


PetroNor E&P Limited announces that as from end of trading today, the shares in the Company have been suspended on Euronext Expand and are expected to be delisted as from 24 February 2022. The trading halt is necessary to facilitate the Scheme of Arrangement approved by the Supreme Court of Western Australia (“Court”) earlier today, pursuant to which all of the shares held by PetroNor shareholders will be transferred to PetroNor E&P ASA (“PetroNor Norway”) (“Scheme”). No further actions by shareholders are required for this exchange to take place. Shareholders will not be able to trade or otherwise dispose of their shares during the trading halt period. The shares of PetroNor Norway are expected to be listed and start trading on Oslo Børs on or about 28 February 2022. Read More


The International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Energy Forum (IEF) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) today hosted the 12th IEA-IEF-OPEC Symposium on Energy Outlooks. Held at the IEF Secretariat in Riyadh, the symposium reviewed the IEA’s and OPEC’s short-, medium- and long-term outlooks, which are compared in this year’s version of the IEF-RFF Outlooks Comparison Report. “Energy market outlooks were for decades the preserve of a small group of experts. But today, they have become a critical component of our understanding of the future for our climate,” said IEF Secretary General Joseph McMonigle. “Intensifying the open dialogue between producers and consumers, aligning outlooks and sharing perspectives, is vital to stabilizing global energy markets and supporting a just and orderly transition,” he added. Projections based on today’s policy settings from both the IEA and OPEC see global energy demand rising through 2045 for OPEC and 2050 for the IEA, the symposium heard. Significant uncertainties remain regarding policy and technological development, which will play important roles in shaping the pace of demand growth as well as the composition of the fuel mix. Read More


Oil and Gas PricesUnitsPrice $change
Crude Oil (WTI)USD/bbl$89.49Down
Crude Oil (Brent)USD/bbl$90.74Down
Bonny LightUSD/bbl$93.66Down
Natural GasUSD/MMBtu$4.43Down
OPEC basket 17/02/22USD/bbl$94.03Down
At press time 18th February 2022

CME Group announced changes to its management team structure to position the company for long-term success.

“CME Group has a proven history of evolving our business to meet changing market demands and opportunities,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry Duffy. “This is an exciting and dynamic time for financial markets. We are fortunate to have built a strong leadership team, each person with a track record of working successfully across our company. As we continue to transform our business, we are restructuring our management team to further sharpen our focus and enhance our ability to achieve our strategic priorities for our clients, shareholders and employees.” The new management team structure is detailed below, with all positions reporting to Duffy unless otherwise noted: Read More


Commenting on gold’s ability to perform despite concerns about a rate hike before the March FOMC meeting, Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy at Saxo Bank, said: “Gold, as expected given its resistance to weeks of rising yields, seems to be gathering the momentum I have been anticipating for a while now. ETF holdings have been picking up, sending a signal that asset managers have started to return to gold after being net sellers throughout 2021. In addition, several key technical levels have been broken. I still believe the first rate hike, no matter the timing, will be regarded as a positive for gold, as it will set the US economy on track for a sharp economic slowdown. The fed will hike until something brakes and the sooner they start, the sooner that the gold supportive point will be reached. I maintain my view that gold is increasingly bought as a hedge against the Fed failing to curb inflation (before a slowdown will force them to focus on stimulus), and besides a geopolitical bid, that’s the main other reason behind its ability to rally despite surging yields.” Read More


Markets continue to trade with a nervous tone, as it appears that the purported de-escalation in the Russia-Ukraine situation never really happened. After a very strong US January retail sales report and a fairly hawkish set of FOMC minutes, US rate expectations actually fell, showing how aggressively the market had adjusted rate expectations higher in recent weeks. Safe haven seeking is in evidence this morning as yields have dropped and the Japanese yen and especially gold have perked up again. Read More


First Hydrogen Corp. announced its’ subsidiary First Hydrogen Limited has entered into a Research and Collaboration Agreement for an initial 5-year period with the University of Cambridge (the “University”) in the United Kingdom. The collaboration with the University of Cambridge has as its centrepiece, the joint development of hydrogen related technologies to unlock the hydrogen economy with particular focus on the automotive industry, hydrogen production and fuel distribution industries. The University of Cambridge team will be led by Professor Seamus Higson of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, a world leading institution in energy transition and the department that first developed the hydrogen fuel cell, which was subsequently used in the Apollo moon missions. The initial project which First Hydrogen will be developing with the University is an AI software learning tool to harvest user and supplier information related to hydrogen usage to better inform hydrogen business cases and help direct the significant investments into hydrogen mobility and related infrastructure. Read More–>


iQSTEL has developed an electric vehicle (EV) division and developed its first product with its current client base in mind. iQSTEL has produced and shipped EV motorcycles at a manageable price point for its target market. To balance quality and price, iQSTEL brought their EV design to China and partnered with a local manufacturer. Harley Davidson recently separated its electric motorcycle division merging it into a SPAC with a Taiwanese motorcycle manufacturer. Prior to the SPAC deal, Harley Davidson had not brought an electric motorcycle to market at a price point that could establish market traction. Now with the Taiwanese manufacturing component, the electric motorcycle SPAC has attracted investment from “The Big Short” Investor Michael Burry. Read More


Beam-Global-Ribbon-Cutting-EV-ARC-Charging-hybrid-electric-street-sweeper-1

Beam Global, the leading provider of innovative sustainable technology for electric vehicle (EV) charging, outdoor media and energy security, today announced that the City of Los Angeles StreetsLA Division held an event demonstrating its new plug-in hybrid street sweepers and EV ARC™ sustainable EV charging systems at the StreetsLA North Hollywood Depot. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held February 15, 2022 to inaugurate the City’s Center for Green Innovation. Beam CEO Desmond Wheatley was present alongside Mayor Garcetti, Congressman Cardenas and City officials where the EV ARC™ powered the new plug-in hybrid street sweepers. Read More



RegionPeriodRig CountChange from Prior Count
U.S.A11th February 2022635+22
Canada11th February 2022219+1
InternationalJanuary 2022841+7

Beam Global

City of Lompoc in California has deployed two EV ARC™ solar-powered EV charging systems available for public use. The systems were partially funded by the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District’s Clean Air Grants for Infrastructure program and were purchased through the California Contract #1-18-61-16 which simplifies the procurement process and ensures best pricing. The City’s EV ARC™ systems are located at the Lompoc Valley Medical Center (LVMC) parking lot, located at 1515 East Ocean Ave, and fit in a standard parking space without reducing available parking. Each system has two charging plugs to provide public access to charge up to four EVs. Each EV ARC™ system generates and stores its own clean electricity and delivers that electricity to power EVs, day or night, and during inclement weather and power outages. The transportable but permanent units include the Emergency Power Panel option for first responder use during grid outages and shutdowns. Read More


Toyota

Toyota’s bid to save manual gearboxes when cars go electric: Japanese firm files patents for a transmission that allows for ‘simulated’ manual shifting. Images revealed on the BZ Forum – a community for Toyota BZ owners and enthusiasts – this week show eight patents showing different aspects of a ‘simulated’ manual gearbox system for an electric vehicle. The diagrams show a setup with a ‘fake’ gear stick and clutch pedal that, when combined with clever software, can control the amount of torque from an electric motor to replicate the sensation of a conventional transmission many UK drivers have grown up using. Read More


Toyota have made repeated adjustments to our production plans due to a parts shortage resulting from the spread of COVID-19, causing considerable inconvenience to our customers and other parties concerned. We would like to express our gratitude to everyone involved for their immense support in helping us maintain production. Our global production plan for March 2022 is expected to be around 950,000 units. We had initially factored in recovery from previous production cutbacks, but due to the impact of semiconductor shortages, we have adjusted our production plan by around 100,000 units globally. (Previous single / Full month record high: March 2012, approximately 870,000 units) The full-year production forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, is expected to be approximately 8.5 million units. Read More


IMF Executive Board Concludes the 2021 Article IV Consultations with the United Arab Emirates. The overall fiscal deficit is projected to narrow to 0.7 percent of GDP in 2021 and shift into a small surplus by 2024. These improvements reflect revenue gains from current and expected higher oil prices and stronger economic growth alongside modest fiscal reform efforts. Higher oil prices will also benefit the current account balance, which is projected to increase to 10 percent of GDP in 2021, in line with pre-crisis levels, and remain positive at around 8.5 percent of GDP in the medium-term. Strong reform efforts are underway with the ambitious UAE 2050 Strategy. Read More


PJSC LUKOIL announces completion of the transaction of buying a 9.99% interest in the Shah-Deniz gas project from PETRONAS. The transaction value is approximately $1.45 billion.Following the completion of the deal, LUKOIL increased its share in the project from 10% to 19.99%. Other parties to the project are bp (29.99%, operator), TPAO (19%), SOCAR (14.35%), NICO (10%) and SGC (6.67%).​ Read More


Equinor announced on 27 October 2021 a dividend per share of USD 0.18 for third quarter 2021. The NOK dividend per share is based on average USDNOK fixing rate from Norges Bank in the period plus/minus three business days from record date 14 February 2022, in total seven business days. Average Norges Bank fixing rate for this period was 8.8580. Third quarter 2021 dividend per share is consequently NOK 1.5944. On 25 February 2022, dividend will be paid to shareholders on Oslo Børs (Oslo Stock Exchange) and to holders of American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) on New York Stock Exchange. Read More


OilandGasPress Energy Newsbites and Analysis Roundup |Compiled by: OGP Staff, Segun Cole @oilandgaspress.

Disclaimer: News articles reported on OilAndGasPress are a reflection of what is published in the media. OilAndGasPress is not in a position to verify the accuracy of daily news articles. The materials provided are for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to provide tax, legal, or investment advice.

#FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM