Telecoms entrepreneur says continent’s people should be allowed to use their vast reserves
One of Africa’s richest entrepreneurs, the telecoms billionaire Mo Ibrahim, has criticised developed countries for seeking to dissuade African nations from exploiting their vast reserves of gas.
Ibrahim told the Guardian in an interview: “We need a balanced and a fair policy for everybody. Gas can be useful to our transition … [Those who say otherwise] are hypocrites.”
Continue reading...Economy in focus: America has a love affair with cars – but soaring prices are causing a rift. In the midwest, Adam Gabbatt asks voters what they think
The Henry Ford museum, in Dearborn, Michigan, is a tribute to America’s obsession with the motor vehicle.
The sprawling complex, set across 12 acres, is home to early examples of the Ford Model T, the mass-produced, affordable vehicle that set the US on the path of a car-dominant culture, as well as other era-defining vehicles right up to today.
Continue reading...Unions accuse resource minister Madeline King of signing ‘dud deal’ with multinational gas companies
Labor is ratcheting up pressure on the gas industry as it contemplates a workable policy mechanism to lower prices.
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, on Tuesday night ruled out intervening in the market with price caps after the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, confirmed the government was revisiting the problem of gas prices given soaring energy costs are driving domestic inflation and punching a hole in household budgets.
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Continue reading...Russia is suspected to have carried out explosions to put pressure on western energy supplies
Liz Truss has said a series of explosions that severely damaged Russia’s undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines were an act of sabotage.
In a joint report delivered to the United Nations last week, the Danish and Swedish governments have claimed that the leaks in the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which can carry gas to Germany, were caused by blasts equivalent to the power of “several hundred kilograms of explosive”.
Continue reading...Experts suggest maintenance robots may have planted bombs, as concern grows over methane buildup
Denmark and Sweden have said leaks from the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea were caused by blasts equivalent to the power of “several hundred kilograms of explosive”.
The conclusions were made in a joint report by Denmark and Sweden which was delivered to the United Nations. The UN environment programme said on Friday the ruptures are likely to have led to the biggest single release of climate-damaging methane ever recorded.
Continue reading...Agreement raises concerns transition to lower emissions energy sector will be harder and more expensive
Energy user groups have condemned the Albanese government’s agreement with gas exporters saying it will lock in high prices that will force businesses to close, hurt households and hobble the transition of the electricity sector off fossil fuels.
The resource minister, Madeleine King, on Thursday said the government had signed a new agreement with the big gas exporters from eastern Australia that would ensure there was sufficient supplies to meet local demand.
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Continue reading...As Norway steps up seabed security, experts say underwater cables carrying world’s internet traffic are also at risk
Nato countries are scrambling to improve security of highly vulnerable undersea pipelines and communications cables after the apparent Nord Stream attack in the Baltic Sea underlines the west’s extreme vulnerability.
Four gas leaks on two Nord Stream pipelines have now been reported after blasts were detected on Monday. According to several reports citing European officials, Russian vessels were seen in the vicinity of the Nord Stream I and II pipelines where they were damaged, but an examination of the damage may not be possible for weeks for safety reasons, and no proof of Moscow’s involvement has been presented.
Continue reading...‘Colossal amount’ of leaked methane, twice initial estimates, is equivalent to third of Denmark’s annual CO2 emissions or 1.3m cars
Scientists fear methane erupting from the burst Nord Stream pipelines into the Baltic Sea could be one of the worst natural gas leaks ever and pose significant climate risks.
Neither of the two breached Nord Stream pipelines, which run between Russia and Germany, was operational, but both contained natural gas. This mostly consists of methane – a greenhouse gas that is the biggest cause of climate heating after carbon dioxide.
Continue reading...German authorities have ‘no clarity’ as they try to establish if Russian-owned undersea gas line has leak
Authorities in Germany are trying to establish what caused a sudden drop in pressure in the defunct Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, with a spokesperson for its operator saying it could have been a leak.
The pipeline has been one of the flashpoints in an escalating energy war between Europe and Moscow since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February that has pummelled western economies and sent gas prices soaring.
Continue reading...Ex-chair of Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation says hydrogen plant, gas facility and proposed urea plant are all threats to cultural sites
Traditional custodians fighting to protect ancient rock art on the Burrup peninsula have raised concerns that construction work has begun at multiple sites despite the federal government ordering a cultural heritage assessment of the area.
The peninsula in northern Western Australia is home to industrial operations including of the country’s largest gas producer Woodside, the Yara Pilbara ammonia plant and a proposed urea plant by Indian company Perdaman.
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Continue reading...Energy secretary considers bypassing local planning rules as backbenchers voice opposition
Ministers face a furious backlash from Conservative MPs after overturning a manifesto pledge to pause fracking until it is proved safe, and then indicating drilling could be imposed without local support.
Outlining a return to shale gas extraction in England after three years, Jacob Rees-Mogg dismissed worries about earthquakes caused by the practice as “hysteria”, claiming this was often down to a lack of scientific understanding.
Continue reading...Gas company’s approval set aside after Justice Mordecai Bromberg found the regulator did not consult properly with traditional owners
Tiwi Islanders have won a landmark case against drilling for gas by Santos in their traditional waters after complaining that the company failed to consult them about the impact of the project.
On Wednesday, judge Mordecai Bromberg set aside approval for the drilling, part of Santos’s $4.7bn Barossa project and gave Santos two weeks to shut down and remove its rig from the sea north of Melville Island.
Continue reading...The Karish maritime reservoir, part of which is claimed by Lebanon, is estimated to hold 2-3tn cubic feet of natural gas
Israel is preparing to connect a disputed Mediterranean gas field to its national gas network, a development helping the country cement its new role as a supplier to Europe at the risk of inflaming tensions with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
The Israeli energy ministry said last week that it would conduct tests on the rig and natural transmission system in the Karish maritime reservoir, part of which is claimed by neighbouring Lebanon. The work is expected to begin on Tuesday, and London-listed company Energean, which has licensed the field, has said that it is “on track to deliver [the] first gas from the Karish development project within weeks.”
Continue reading...Sale will come at a loss but distance company from both environmental controversy and Russian oligarch
Origin Energy will sell its stake in its Beetaloo Basin gas project at a loss and review all its other exploration permits in a move that will distance it from an environmental controversy and end its association with sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.
Chief executive Frank Calabria said gas remained “a core part of our business” but getting out of gas exploration would free up money to “grow cleaner energy and customer solutions, and deliver reliable energy through the transition”.
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Continue reading...EU countries’ efforts to avoid big shortages likely to ‘successfully solve’ Russian cuts, says bank
European countries can withstand Russia’s gas cuts this winter as supply headaches may have been “successfully solved”, according to analysis by a leading US bank.
Goldman Sachs said the price of gas was likely to more than halve this winter as efforts by EU countries’ to avoid big shortages this winter prove effective.
Continue reading...Countries that import large volumes fear Kremlin would respond by halting all gas flows, plunging them into recession
EU energy ministers have clashed over a plan to put a price cap on Russian gas, casting doubt on whether the measure will go ahead.
Speaking after emergency talks in Brussels in response to surging gas and electricity prices, the EU’s energy commissioner, Kadri Simson, said “nothing is decided” on proposals to curb Russia’s income.
Continue reading...Talks expected to be complex, with some member states strongly against proposed price cap on Russian gas
EU energy ministers will gather for emergency talks in Brussels on Friday to thrash out common measures in an effort to counter a gas and electricity price crisis that threatens to make energy bills unaffordable for households and businesses and tip Europe into recession.
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has set out a five-point plan, which includes a price cap on Russian gas that is likely to draw strong opposition from some member states.
Continue reading...BEIS has been sitting on report delivered in early July into possible effect of fracking in UK
Liz Truss must publish a recently completed review on fracking in the UK, green campaigners have urged, amid expectations the new prime minister will lift the moratorium on shale gas drilling immediately.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has been sitting on a report delivered in early July by the British Geological Survey into the possible effects of fracking in the UK, including the danger of Earth tremors.
Continue reading...Northern Territory party conference passes string of motions urging a ban on fracking and an end to gas industry subsidies
Grassroots Northern Territory Labor members passed a string of motions on the weekend calling for a ban on fracking in the Beetaloo Basin and an end to gas industry subsidies, putting themselves at odds with both the territory and federal Labor governments.
The previous federal Coalition government helped speed up gas exploration in the resource-rich Beetaloo Basin, about 500km south-east of Darwin, by handing tens of millions of dollars to fracking companies to incentivise exploration.
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Continue reading...Kremlin blames western sanctions for failure to deliver gas through Nord Stream 1 pipeline
Russia will not resume in full its gas supplies to Europe until the west lifts its sanctions against Moscow, the Kremlin said, as concerns over Russian gas supplies continued to drive up energy prices.
Speaking to journalists on Monday, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesperson, blamed sanctions “introduced against our country by western countries including Germany and the UK” for Russia’s failure to deliver gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
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