Category Archives: Oil and gas companies

Energy price inflation: how the UK and EU could fight it

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What can be done about rising prices – and would nationalising gas and electricity firms help?

Governments across Europe have been funding relief measures to help people with energy and petrol bills. The UK announced a £15bn package in May, largely in the form of cash payments to households, while EU member states are estimated to have spent €280bn (£243m) over the past year on everything from subsidies and price caps to one-off payments. But bills for households and businesses are reaching unsustainable levels, with further increases expected next year, sharpening the debate over whether ministers should be intervening directly in energy markets to help bring prices down.

As Russia threatens to further reduce gas supplies, politicians in Italy, Spain, Greece and the Czech Republic are among those pushing for coordinated action. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Monday Brussels was considering measures to be adopted by the 27 member states. What are the options?

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European gas shortages likely to last several winters, says Shell chief

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Warning raises prospect of continued rationing, as Total boss says Europe has to plan for future without Russian supplies

Gas shortages across Europe are likely to last for several winters to come, the chief executive of Shell has said, raising the prospect of continued energy rationing as governments across the continent push to develop alternative supplies.

Cuts to the supply of Russian gas since the invasion of Ukraine have plunged European countries into a devastating energy crisis, driving up wholesale prices to leave consumers facing huge bills and the highest rates of inflation since the 1980s.

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Oil firm Rockhopper wins £210m payout after being banned from drilling

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Italian government ordered to compensate UK firm after exploration forbidden within 12 miles of coast

A corporate tribunal has ordered the Italian government to pay more than £210m to the UK oil company Rockhopper as compensation for an offshore oil drilling ban.

Rockhopper’s case was launched after the Italian government banned oil exploration and production within a 12 mile-limit off Italy’s coast in 2015, scotching the company’s planned Ombrina Mare oilfield.

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Anglo-French oil firm threatens Amazon reserve for isolated Indigenous people

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Perenco sues Peru government for repeal of law that offers recognition to proposed Napo-Tigre reserve

Isolated Peruvian tribes face a threat to their existence from a push to scrap a planned Indigenous reserve led by an Anglo-French oil company, Indigenous groups say.

The firm, Perenco, whose slogan is “Oil remains an adventure”, filed an injunction in May for the repeal of a law offering preliminary government recognition to a proposed Napo-Tigre reserve. The first hearing is scheduled on 7 September.

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Power station owner Uniper posts £10bn loss as gas shortages bite

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German energy firm, which operates many UK power stations, has been bailed out by federal government

The owner of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire has posted a €12bn (£10bn) loss weeks after agreeing a bailout package with the German government, in a set of results that signal the deepening energy crisis across Europe.

Uniper received a €15bn lifeline from the German state in return for a 30% equity stake in a deal agreed in July.

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Oil prices hit lowest level since Ukraine invasion on China growth fears

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Chinese recovery from lockdowns shows signs of fizzling out as central bank cuts interest rates

Global oil prices have dropped amid concerns over weaker growth in the Chinese economy caused by repeated Covid lockdowns and a downturn in the property sector.

A barrel of Brent crude fell by about 5% to below $94 (£78) on Monday, hitting the joint lowest levels since the Russian invasion of Ukraine as traders reacted to weaker figures from the world’s second-largest economy.

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Australia should abandon goal to limit global heating to 1.5C, says gas company eyeing Beetaloo Basin

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Tamboran Resources, which received $7.5m to explore Beetaloo Basin, argues target may hinder ‘climate improving’ gas projects

A gas company with interests in the Beetaloo Basin is calling on the federal government to rewrite its climate change legislation to abandon the “unattainable” objective of trying to limit global heating to 1.5C.

The call comes despite Australia being a signatory to the Paris agreement that aims to limit global warming to well below 2C – and preferably to 1.5C – compared to pre-industrial levels.

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Revealed: BP’s ‘greenwashing’ social media ads as anger over fuel costs rose

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Oil company spent £800,000 on social media influence ads after Labour proposed windfall tax

BP has spent more than £800,000 on social media influence ads in the UK this year that champion the company’s investments in green energy, it can be revealed.

On Tuesday, BP announced a 14-year high profit of £7bn for the second quarter of this year. In the previous eight days, the company paid about £570,000 to Facebook and Instagram for influence ads that reached tens of millions of viewers in the UK.

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EU urges member states to slash gas use by 15% to counter ‘Russian blackmail’

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Call for voluntary cut until March 2023 with binding reduction targets possible when Moscow ‘likely’ halts supplies

The European Union’s executive body has urged member states to slash their gas consumption by 15%, as it warned that a complete shutdown of Russian supplies was “likely”.

The EU has been scrambling to wean itself off Russian gas since the invasion of Ukraine, but is alarmed about a potential energy crisis this winter.

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Gas giant Chevron falls further behind on carbon capture targets for Gorgon gasfield

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While scale of shortfall is uncertain, conservationists claim admission is proof the project isn’t working

Gas giant Chevron has fallen even further behind on targets to capture and store CO2 at its mega gas project in Western Australian, but has refused to say by how much.

The company also confirmed on Friday it had bought and surrendered 5.23m tonnes of CO2 offsets to make up for the failure to meet its 2021 target at its CCS project at the offshore Gorgon gasfield in Western Australia.

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Europe could face energy rationing as ‘really tough winter’ looms, Shell boss warns

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Ben van Beurden says Ukraine war fallout means big rise in bills and possible need to ration supplies

European consumers could face the prospect of energy rationing this winter as costs continue to soar amid the risk of Russia cutting off gas supplies, Shell’s chief executive has said.

“It will be a really tough winter in Europe,” said Ben van Beurden, speaking at the Aurora spring conference in Oxford on Thursday. “We will all face very significant escalation in energy prices. In the worst case, Europe will need to ration its energy consumption.”

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Concerns that India is ‘back door’ into Europe for Russian oil

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Volume of Russian crude bought and then exported by India suggests some of it may end up in European petrol stations

The huge blue and red hull of the SCF Primorye came into port at Vadinar, western Gujarat, India, earlier this month. The 84,000-tonne oil tanker, built in 2009 and sailing under the Liberian flag, had arrived from the port at Ust-Luga, a settlement in Russia near the border with Estonia.

Until 2017, the Vadinar oil refinery was controlled by Essar – the Indian owner of the Stanlow refinery in Ellesmere Port. Since then a consortium including the sanctioned Russian state-owned oil firm Rosneft and the commodities trader Trafigura, which holds a 24.5% stake, have owned Nayara Energy, which runs the refinery.

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British Gas owner signs deal with Norway firm for extra UK supplies

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Centrica says Equinor will deliver enough gas for next three years to heat 4.5m extra homes

The British Gas owner, Centrica, has signed a major supply deal with the Norwegian state oil company, Equinor, as ministers scramble to secure domestic energy supplies.

Equinor has agreed to deliver an additional 1bn cubic metres of gas supplies to the company for each of the next three years, enough to heat an additional 4.5m UK homes.

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Biden calls on US oil refiners to raise gas and diesel production to tackle prices

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President notes that companies’ profits have tripled during time of war and calls for ‘immediate action’

Joe Biden on Wednesday called on US oil refiners to produce more gasoline and diesel, saying their profits have tripled during a time of war between Russia and Ukraine as Americans struggle with record high prices at the pump.

“The crunch that families are facing deserves immediate action,” the president wrote in a letter to major oil refiners. “Your companies need to work with my Administration to bring forward concrete, near-term solutions that address the crisis.”

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Russia cuts gas supplies to Netherlands and firms in Denmark and Germany

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Gazprom raises stakes in sanctions war after EU move to embargo most Russian oil imports and companies miss deadline to pay in roubles

Russia has further cut off gas supplies to Europe, after state energy giant Gazprom turned off the taps to a top Dutch trader and halted flows to some companies in Denmark and Germany.

The intensification of the economic battle on Tuesday over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine follows the EU’s overnight decision to place an embargo on most Russian oil imports as part of its financial sanctions against the Kremlin.

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Could a cartel of large energy consumers cut oil and gas prices?

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Italy’s PM Mario Draghi suggests big consumers club together to limit how much is paid and raises idea of EU gas price cap

Energy prices are skyrocketing as the world confronts the economic ramifications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, supply chain bottlenecks and the lingering effects of Covid-19 lockdowns. But Italy’s prime minister, Mario Draghi, has a plan.

The celebrated former European Central Bank president recently broached the idea of creating a “cartel” of oil consumers at a meeting with Joe Biden. Just as the biggest oil-producing nations club together through Opec to agree annual oil production quotas, Draghi has suggested big energy consumers join forces to increase their bargaining power.

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Loophole could let North Sea oil and gas giants slash UK windfall tax bill

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Critics warn chancellor Rishi Sunak will raise only a fraction of planned £5bn if firms offset new investment against profits

North Sea oil and gas companies that already benefit from huge tax breaks could use fresh rules to slash how much they pay under a new windfall tax announced by Rishi Sunak as part of his £15bn cost of living package, according to a thinktank.

The chancellor risks raising a fraction of the £5bn he expects from the complex scheme – which allows the cost of new investments to be offset against profits – should oil and gas companies take the opportunity to dramatically reduce their contribution to the exchequer, said the left of centre Common Wealth.

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Consultant who ditched Shell: ‘take a look at yourselves in the mirror’

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Caroline Dennett says she has been flooded with support after decision that has cost ‘around 60%-70% of my business’

Caroline Dennett’s eye was caught by a placard with two stark words: “insiders wanted”. The safety consultant was watching a video of Extinction Rebellion climate protesters who had glued themselves inside Shell’s headquarters in April and were encouraging employees to jump ship to aid its cause.

This week Dennett, who runs the independent agency Clout, released a bombshell video severing ties with Shell after an 11-year business relationship. She emailed 1,400 Shell employees and accused the £177bn behemoth of causing “extreme harms” to the environment and having a “disregard for climate change risks”.

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José Ramos-Horta accuses Alexander Downer of ‘distorting’ issues around 2004 Timor-Leste bugging

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Exclusive: President of south-east Asian nation says Australia used cover of ‘supposedly altruistic foreign aid program’ to spy on behalf of oil companies

The president of Timor-Leste, José Ramos-Horta, has accused former foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer of “avoiding and distorting” the issues around the 2004 bugging scandal, saying recent comments ignored the fact that Australia had spied “on behalf of oil companies and using the cover of Australia’s supposedly altruistic foreign aid program”.

On Thursday, Downer appeared on the ABC’s Q&A program and was questioned about the 2004 Australian Secret Intelligence Service mission to bug Timor-Leste’s government during sensitive talks to carve up oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea.

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Shell consultant quits, accusing firm of ‘extreme harms’ to environment

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Caroline Dennett tells staff in video she made decision because of ‘double-talk on climate’

A senior safety consultant has quit working with Shell after 11 years, accusing the fossil fuel producer in a bombshell public video of causing “extreme harms” to the environment.

Caroline Dennett claimed Shell had a “disregard for climate change risks” and urged others in the oil and gas industry to “walk away while there’s still time”.

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