Energiser Investments Share Discussion Threads

[waldron] 18/9/2020 17:46

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[waldron] 16/9/2020 18:26

EU president adds pressure on Merkel with Nord Stream criticism
Sep. 16, 2020 12:12 PM ET|About: Public Joint Stock Company ... (OGZPY)|By: Carl Surran, SA News Editor

The president of the European Union Commission directly calls into question the Gazprom-led (OTCPK:OGZPY) Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, adding to pressure on German Chancellor Merkel and potentially complicating the future of the project.

"To those that advocate closer ties with Russia, I say that the poisoning of Alexey Navalny with an advanced chemical agent is not a one off," Ursala von der Leyen said in her state of the union address. "This pattern is not changing, and no pipeline will change that."

The Kremlin says Nord Stream should not be linked to the case of Navalny, saying it has seen no proof that the opposition leader was poisoned in Russia with a nerve agent.

In a sign that Russia is determined to press on with the project, a Gazprom vessel reportedly has departed St. Petersburg for Mukran, the pipeline's supply base in Germany.

Gazprom's Nord Stream 2 partners are Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B), Germany's Uniper (OTC:UNPPY) and BASF (OTCQX:BASFY), Austria's OMV (OTCPK:OMVJF) and France's Engie (OTCPK:ENGIY).

[sarkasm] 16/9/2020 13:05

Engie Brasil to hold 2 auctions in Oct to contract renewable power
Brazilian solar park

September 16 (Renewables Now) - Brazilian utility Engie Brasil Energia SA (BMVF:EGIE3) plans to hold two energy auctions this year to contract renewable energy such as wind and solar power.

The dates for the auctions are October 13 and October 15. The Brazilian unit of France’s Engie SA (EPA:ENGI) did not disclose the specific amount of energy it seeks but stated that the new capacity will be used to meet demand in the Southeast and Midwest markets.

In the first auction, the company will award a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) starting from 2023. This tender is intended for companies with projects under development, construction or operation.

To participate in the second auction, which will contract power for five years beginning in 2022, companies have to be registered with the Brazilian Electric Power Commercialization Chamber (CCEE) as traders, generators, independent and self energy producers.

All the details can be found on the auctions website (

[sarkasm] 14/9/2020 15:08

BP Says Oil Demand Growth Era Over
by Bloomberg
|
Rakteem Katakey
|
Monday, September 14, 2020

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BP Says Oil Demand Growth Era Over
BP says the relentless growth of oil demand is over.

(Bloomberg) -- BP Plc said the relentless growth of oil demand is over, becoming the first supermajor to call the end of an era many thought would last another decade or more.

Oil consumption may never return to levels seen before the coronavirus crisis took hold, BP said in a report on Monday. Even its most bullish scenario sees demand no better than “broadly flat” for the next two decades as the energy transition shifts the world away from fossil fuels.

BP is making a profound break from orthodoxy. From the bosses of corporate energy giants to ministers from OPEC states, senior figures from the industry have insisted that oil consumption will see decades of growth. Time and again, they have described it as the only commodity that can satisfy the demands of an increasing global population and expanding middle class.

The U.K. giant is describing a different future, where oil’s supremacy is challenged, and ultimately fades. That explains why BP has taken the boldest steps so far among peers to align its business with the goals of the Paris climate accord. Just six months after taking the top job, Chief Executive Officer Bernard Looney said in August he’d shrink oil and gas output by 40% over the next decade and spend as much as $5 billion a year building one of the world’s largest renewable-power businesses.

That’s because he suspects oil use may already have peaked as a result of the pandemic, stricter government policies and changes in consumer behavior. BP’s energy outlook shows consumption slumping 50% by 2050 in one scenario, and by almost 80% in another. In a “business-as-usual” situation, demand would recover but then flatline near 100 million barrels a day for the next 20 years.

BP isn’t the only big oil company adapting its business to the energy transition. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total SE and others in Europe have announced similar pivots toward cleaner operations as customers, governments and investors increasingly call for change.
Three Possible Futures

BP’s report comes ahead of three days of online briefings starting Monday on its clean-energy and climate strategy. The study considers three scenarios, which aren’t predictions but nevertheless cover a wide range of possible outcomes over the next 30 years and form the basis of the new strategy Looney announced in August.

The “Rapid” approach sees new policy measures leading to a significant increase in carbon prices. The “Net Zero” course reinforces Rapid with big shifts in societal behavior, while the “Business-as-usual” projection assumes that government policies, technology and social preferences continue to evolve as they have in the recent past.

In the first two scenarios, oil demand falls as a result of the coronavirus, the report shows. “It subsequently recovers but never back to pre-Covid levels,” according to Spencer Dale, BP’s chief economist. “It brings forward the point at which oil demand peaks to 2019.”

That contrasts with what many others are forecasting. Russell Hardy, chief executive officer of trading giant Vitol Group, said on Monday that oil demand is poised for 10 years of growth before a steady decline. He predicts consumption will return to pre-virus levels by the end of next year.

BP’s outlook last year contained a scenario called “More energy,” which had oil demand growing steadily to about 130 million barrels a day in 2040. There’s no such scenario this time.

“Demand for oil falls over the next 30 years,” BP said in the report. “The scale and pace of this decline is driven by the increasing efficiency and electrification of road transportation.̶1;
Covid Impact

The pandemic shattered oil consumption this year as countries locked down to prevent infections from spreading. While demand has since improved, and crude prices with it, the public health crisis is still raging in many parts of the world and the outlook remains uncertain in the absence of a vaccine.

The impact, including lasting behavioral changes like increased working from home, will affect economic activity and prosperity in the developing world, and ultimately demand for liquid fuels, according to BP. That means it won’t be able to offset already falling consumption in developed countries.

Demand for liquid fuels is seen falling to less than 55 million barrels a day by 2050 in BP’s Rapid scenario, and to around 30 million a day in Net Zero. The drop is mostly in developed economies and in China. In India, other parts of Asia and Africa, demand remains broadly flat in the first scenario but slips below 2018 levels from the mid-2030s in the second.

Other points in the energy outlook:

The Rapid scenario has carbon emissions from energy use falling by around 70% by 2050, while they drop by more than 95% in Net Zero. Business-as-usual sees them peaking in the mid-2020s.
Demand for all primary energy -- the raw materials from which energy is derived -- increases by about 10% in Rapid and Net Zero in the period, and by around 25% in the third scenario.
In Rapid, non-fossil fuels account for the majority of global energy from the early 2040s.
Growth in China’s energy demand slows sharply relative to past trends, reaching a peak in the early 2030s in all three scenarios.
Renewable energy -- excluding hydro -- increases more than 10-fold in both Rapid and Net Zero, with its share in primary energy rising from 5% in 2018 to more than 40% by 2050 in Rapid and almost 60% in Net Zero.
Natural gas consumption is seen broadly unchanged to 2050 in Rapid and around 35% higher in business-as-usual. Demand falls by about 40% by 2050 in Net Zero.

[the grumpy old men] 14/9/2020 13:47

OPEC cuts 2020 oil demand forecast, trims 2021 outlook on pandemic fallout
Published Mon, Sep 14 20207:40 AM EDT
Sam Meredith
@smeredith19

Key Points

OPEC has downwardly revised its outlook for global oil demand to an average of 90.2 million barrels per day in 2020.

The report comes as energy market participants become increasingly concerned about a faltering economic recovery and stumbling fuel demand in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Looking ahead, OPEC said the negative impact on oil demand in Asia was expected to persist through the first six months of 2021.

[waldron] 14/9/2020 09:09

Germany won’t abandon its massive gas pipeline with Russia yet, analysts say

Published Mon, Sep 14 20202:22 AM EDT

Holly Ellyatt
@HollyEllyatt

Key Points

Germany has come under increasing pressure to pull the plug on its controversial giant gas pipeline project with Russia.

Experts say Berlin is unlikely to do so for now, however, given the fact the project is almost complete.

German and other major European companies are involved in constructing the pipeline.

[waldron] 11/9/2020 17:44

Brent Crude Oil NYMEX 40.09 +0.80%
Gasoline NYMEX 1.11 +1.81%
Natural Gas NYMEX 2.74 -1.97%
WTI 37.51 USD +0.70%

FTSE 100
6,032.09 +0.48%
Dow Jones
27,707.65 +0.63%
CAC 40
5,034.14 +0.20%
SBF 120
3,980.6 +0.13%
Euro STOXX 50
3,315.81 +0.00%
DAX
13,202.84 -0.05%
Ftse Mib
19,830.6 +0.05%



Eni
7.561 -0.35%



Total
32.515 -0.67%



Engie
11.775 -0.42%

Orange
9.496 -0.13%


Bp
262.05 -0.08%

Vodafone
110.22 +0.73%

Royal Dutch Shell A
1,083.4 -0.73%



Royal Dutch Shell B
1,032 -0.94%

Tullow Oil (TLW)
16.09 -0.60 (-3.59%)

[waldron] 10/9/2020 18:51

Why Europe still can't take risks with its supply of Russian gas

By Hanna Ziady, CNN Business

Updated 12:25 PM ET, Thu September 10, 2020

London (CNN Business)The future of a nearly complete gas pipeline that promises to strengthen Russia's grip on Europe's energy supply has been thrown into doubt following the poisoning of opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
The German government has not ruled out consequences for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as it moves to press the Kremlin for information about the poisoning, but analysts say that such a move would face multiple legal challenges and threaten Europe's cheapest supply of gas. Navalny is being treated in a Berlin hospital after being flown there from the Siberian city of Omsk.
Russia was the European Union's largest supplier of natural gas last year, accounting for 38% of imports, according to the European Commission. Restricting supply would raise prices for consumers across the European Union, experts say.
The European Union has been here before. The bloc pledged to cut its dependence on Russian gas after Moscow annexed part of Ukraine in 2014, but imports increased between 2016 and 2018 before falling slightly last year. Germany still imports more than half its natural gas from Russia, which is also the leading supplier of crude oil and coal to the European Union.

Who's standing up to Russia on Navalny poisoning? Not America
Who's standing up to Russia on Navalny poisoning? Not America
Russia has the largest natural gas reserves in the world and is the world's biggest gas exporter. The primary purpose of Nord Stream 2, which connects Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea, is to reduce the reliance on transit routes through Ukraine, which have been increasingly difficult to negotiate due to the armed conflict in that country.
The new Baltic pipeline will have the capacity to meet about one third of the European Union's future gas import requirements, according to the Nord Stream 2 website. Russian state-controlled gas giant Gazprom is the project's sole shareholder.
While Europe has several other sources of gas supply, including liquified natural gas (LNG) from the United States, "Russia is a very big one and a very competitive one, which is why people buy it," said James Henderson, director of the natural gas research program at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
Europe could decide to stop buying gas from Russia altogether, as Poland and Lithuania are trying to do, but prices would increase, Henderson added. Nord Stream 2 coming online next year as planned could reduce the cost of gas in Europe by about 25%, compared to a scenario where the project is abandoned, according to a Wood Mackenzie estimate.
"That would be good news for European gas consumers, obviously, but less welcome for companies seeking to export LNG from the US," said Wood Mackenzie's Americas vice chair, Ed Crooks.
Stacked pipes for Nord Stream 2 on the German island of Rügen, where ships are prepared for further construction of the pipeline.
Stacked pipes for Nord Stream 2 on the German island of Rügen, where ships are prepared for further construction of the pipeline.
Commercial interests at stake
The United States has already imposed sanctions on entities involved with Nord Stream 2, which it says is detrimental to the European Union's energy security.
It is concerned that the pipeline will bolster Russia's dominance in the European gas market, giving it undue influence in the region and squeezing out American LNG exporters.
Ukraine is also a key US ally and collects gas transit fees from Russia, leading to worries that the pipeline could destabilize the country and undermine the development of the gas market in Central and Eastern Europe.
A bipartisan bill introduced in the US Congress in June aims to expand sanctions on companies involved in the project, which is about 90% complete.
Germany, which has historically argued against the US position, could threaten sanctions on companies involved in Nord Stream 2 as a bargaining chip in the Navalny investigation, Henderson said, but doing so would have negative consequences for many European businesses.
America's liquefied natural gas boom may be on a collision course with climate change
America's liquefied natural gas boom may be on a collision course with climate change
Among them are two major German firms, the utility company Uniper and energy group Wintershall DEA, which have financed the pipeline. Other lenders include French utilities company Engie, Austrian industrial firm OMV (OMVJF) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA).
According to the German Eastern Business Association, European companies have already invested €5 billion ($5.9 billion) in the project and substantial damages claims could arise if there were any attempts to prevent it from being completed.
"Commercial interests may prove to be stronger than political interests on this particular front," said Carole Nakhle, CEO of London energy consultancy Crystol Energy.
It would also be politically difficult to sanction the pipeline, given that its backers have invested alongside Gazprom in an earlier pipeline project, Nord Stream, which is chaired by Germany's former chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
Russia would be hurt if Europe targets its energy trade. The European Union is its most important market and Gazprom has acted to retain market share by offering price discounts and more flexible contracts to many of its customers, Nakhle added.
"Gazprom's pipeline expansion plans, particularly Nord Stream 2, hinge upon such assumption of competitiveness as well as a strategic desire for more direct access to European core markets," she said. "However, other new pipelines into Europe, as well as the flexibility and competitive variable costs of LNG are likely to restrict the medium-term role of Russian gas."

Given the European Union's diversity of gas supply, energy security concerns are "overblown." But "it would be a dramatic move" to cancel the project," she said.
— John Defterios contributed reporting.

[waldron] 09/9/2020 15:11

OFF SHORE ENERGY


Offshore wind ENGIE Fabricom studying monopiles at mystery UK offshore wind farm
ENGIE Fabricom studying monopiles at mystery UK offshore wind farm

Project & Tenders

September 9, 2020, by Nadja Skopljak

ENGIE Fabricom has secured a contract to analyze the current performance and suitability of monopile foundations at an undisclosed offshore wind farm in the UK.

ENGIE Fabricom said it is carrying out cathodic protection and pH monitoring of the internal water within over 50 monopiles at a wind farm located on the east coast of England for “one of the UK’s largest offshore wind companies”.

Monitoring equipment is being lowered into each monopile’s foundation internal water, after which the measurements are analyzed.

The company will later issue a report outlining a series of recommendations to the client which will be underpinned by the DNV specification for cathodic protection.

In addition, ENGIE Fabricom will complete external foundation inspections, including boat landings, ladders, and platforms to investigate any potential structural or coating issues.

This will be conducted in tandem with the cathodic protection and pH monitoring works.

[misca2] 09/9/2020 06:34

Trump's Drilling Ban Bombshell Rocks Oil Industry
By Julianne Geiger - Sep 08, 2020, 5:00 PM CDT
Join Our Community

U.S. President Donald Trump shocked the oil industry today with a surprise announcement that he would extend the existing moratorium on oil drilling on parts of Florida’s, South Carolina’s, and Georgia’s coast, according to Politico.

The announcement was a complete surprise, according to Politico, even to congressional aides, lobbyists, and industry officials who have been working on this very issue.

The announcement is a complete shift from the White House’s previous stance, which sought to open up those areas to oil drilling, although most had expected the President to wait until after the election.

President Trump had declared his intention to open up those areas to drilling years ago, but Florida’s Governor Rick Scott at the time—a Republican—was a staunch opponent of the plan, citing his state’s strong tourism industry.

Rick Scott now serves as a Senator. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, also a Republican, is a fierce opponent to opening up these areas to oil drilling as well.

Back in 2018, Florida voters weren’t so sure how they felt about a ban on offshore oil drilling; 54% of voters were in favor of a ban, while 42% were against.

Florida’s 29 electoral votes will be hard fought for on the campaign trail this year as a critical swing state, and it appears that the White House views the battleground state as anti-coastal drilling.


According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) analysis of API polling data, however, the oil industry has strong support in key battleground states, with 93 percent of voters in critical states seeing it as important for the U.S. to produce enough energy to keep it from relying on foreign oil, while 92% believe that keeping oil and gasoline prices affordable is important. 82% of voters recognize the value that oil and gas have on their lives, and 73% believe that nat gas and oil will still be a significant part of America’s energy needs in 2040. What’s more, 63% believe that the nat gas and oil industries will be critical for helping the economy recover from the current pandemic.

For Florida specifically, nearly two-thirds of Florida voters—including a majority of Democrats, say they would be “more likely to vote for a candidate who supports access to oil and gas produced in the U.S.”

82% of Florida voters support continued investments in the oil industry, while 84% want to minimize harm to the environment.

The move may be just the ticket for the President, lying somewhere between protecting the treasured coast while still being seen as supportive of the overall industry.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

[maywillow] 06/9/2020 14:11

Suez’s Main Owners Must Remain French, Finance Minister Says

Francois de Beaupuy, Bloomberg News







Bertrand Camus, chief executive officer of Suez, pauses during the Euronext NV conference in Paris, France, on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. Euronext would be a “willing buyer” of Borsa Italiana if the London Stock Exchange put it up for sale, Euronext Chief Executive Officer Stephane Boujnah said.

Bertrand Camus, chief executive officer of Suez, pauses during the Euronext NV conference in Paris, France, on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. Euronext would be a “willing buyer” of Borsa Italiana if the London Stock Exchange put it up for sale, Euronext Chief Executive Officer Stephane Boujnah said. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) --

Water and waste-treatment company Suez SA, which is seeking to escape a takeover approach by French rival Veolia Environnement SA, must remain mostly owned by French interests if alternative bids arise, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.

Veolia offered last week to buy a 29.9% stake in Suez from Engie SA, the first step to a full takeover to create a utility giant that would have revenue of more than 40 billion euros ($47 billion) as global warming and pollution boost the need to recycle resources and treat hazardous products. Suez Chief Executive Officer Bertrand Camus has called the offer “particularly hostile.”

All potential offers “will be considered with the same fairness,” Le Maire said Sunday on Europe 1 radio and Cnews television. “Whatever the offer,” the government wants “a shareholdership that’s French in majority,” which is the case with Veolia, he said.

The French government, which owns 24% of Engie, will make the preservation of jobs at Suez and its French industrial footprint the top priority, Le Maire reiterated.

Asked about Veolia’s 15.5 euro-per-share offer for the Suez stake owned by Engie and its pledge to preserve French jobs, Le Maire said “any offer can always be improved.”

Engie Chairman Jean-Pierre Clamadieu has said Veolia’s 2.9 billion-euro offer for most of its stake in Suez is too low, and urged both parties to hold talks.

[sarkasm] 06/9/2020 08:53

Engie inks wind PPA with Air Liquide - report
Wind farm. Author: A W.

September 4 (Renewables Now) - France’s Engie SA (EPA:ENGI) has signed a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply wind power from its Spanish portfolio to industrial gases supplier Air Liquide SA (EPA:AI).

News agency Europa Press reports that the energy company will supply enough power to meet 15% of the buyer's demand in Spain.

The power supplied through this PPA, which will run starting in January of 2021, is equivalent to the annual consumption of 15,000 local homes. Engie will also help Air Liquide to avoid the annual emission of approximately 250,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2).

According to Alexandre Cosquer, a member of the executive committee of Engie's Global Energy Management business unit, this agreement follows a strategy to establishing long-term alliances with large industrial groups.