Category Archives: Gas

African nations expected to make case for big rise in fossil fuel output

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Exclusive: leaders expected to say at Cop27 they need accesss to their oil and gas reserves despite effect on global heating

Leaders of African countries are likely to use the next UN climate summit in November to push for massive new investment in fossil fuels in Africa, according to documents seen by the Guardian.

New exploration for gas, and the exploitation of Africa’s vast reserves of oil, would make it close to impossible for the world to limit global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

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Australian wholesale energy prices in June quarter tripled from last year, market operator says

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Aemo executive says need for renewables is ‘urgent’ as failing coal-fired power plants and global gas costs cause prices to surge

Wholesale electricity and gas prices tripled in Australia’s main grid in the June quarter compared with a year ago, as failing coal-fired power plants and soaring global gas costs combined to create “unprecedented” market disruptions, the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) said.

Aemo’s quarterly market dynamics report found average spot prices for electricity in the national electricity market, which serves eastern Australia, averaged $264 per megawatt-hour across the quarter. That’s more than double the previous high of $130 in the first quarter of 2019 amid droughts and heatwaves, and a little more than three times the average price in the June quarter of 2021, which was $85.

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German cities impose cold showers and turn off lights amid Russian gas crisis

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Hanover is first large city to impose energy-saving measures and Berlin switches off monument spotlights

Cities in Germany are switching off spotlights on public monuments, turning off fountains, and imposing cold showers on municipal swimming pools and sports halls, as the country races to reduce its energy consumption in the face of a looming Russian gas crisis.

Hanover in north-west Germany on Wednesday became the first large city to announce energy-saving measures, including turning off hot water in the showers and bathrooms of city-run buildings and leisure centres.

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Germany accuses Russia of ‘power play’ as gas pipeline supply drops by half

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State-run Gazprom reduces flow through Nord Stream 1 to around 20% of its capacity

Germany has accused Moscow of engaging in “power play” over energy exports, as Russian state-run Gazprom further throttled gas supplies into Europe.

As announced two days earlier, the energy giant on Wednesday reduced the gas flow through Nord Stream 1 to 33m cubic metres a day – about 20% of the pipeline’s total capacity and half the amount it has been delivering since resuming service last week after 10 days of maintenance work.

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How does the EU plan to cut gas usage by 15% this winter?

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Industry to feel pinch first after all countries in bloc except Hungary agreed to voluntary reduction

The EU has agreed to cut its gas consumption by 15% in an attempt to stave off a winter crisis triggered by a sharp reduction or total shutdown of Russian gas supplies to the bloc.

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EU agrees plan to ration gas use over Russia supply fears

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Despite most energy ministers backing the scheme the EU was forced to water down proposals

The EU has been forced to water down its plan to ration gas this winter in an attempt to avoid an energy crisis generated by further Russian cuts to supply.

Energy ministers from the 27 member states, except Hungary, backed a voluntary 15% reduction in gas usage over the winter, a target that could become mandatory if the Kremlin ordered a complete shutdown of gas to Europe.

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Russia’s Gazprom to make drastic cut to Europe’s gas supply from Wednesday

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State-controlled energy company says it is halting a turbine due to the ‘technical condition of the engine’

The Russian state-controlled energy company Gazprom has announced a drastic cut to gas deliveries through its main pipeline to Europe from Wednesday.

The Russian gas export monopoly said it was halting the operation of one of the last two operating turbines due to the “technical condition of the engine”, cutting daily gas deliveries via the Nord Stream pipeline to 33m cubic metres a day – about 20% of the pipeline’s capacity.

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Natural gas prices rising in US, dampening hopes for lower inflation

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High price of natural gas increases costs for other products including steel, cement and glass

The price of natural gas in the US has risen by nearly half in the past month, as drought and the war in Ukraine continue to bite and millions of Americans turn up their air conditioners in a heatwave.

Natural-gas futures jumped 48% this month, including 10% on Wednesday, to $8.007 per million British thermal units (btu). The rise has come as other energy costs, including oil, have begun to drop from their June peaks.

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Victoria demands AEMO maintain minimum gas storage levels as supplies dwindle

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Gas supplies at the Iona storage facility have fallen due to high demand amid the state’s price cap

The national market operator needs to implement “immediate measures” that address the state’s gas shortage crisis, Victoria’s energy minister says.

Lily D’Ambrosio said the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) must establish a viable plan to control gas supply levels at national storage facilities after it was revealed that the Iona facility near Port Campbell recently dropped to record lows.

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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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Germany worries about gas rationing as supply from Russia halted

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Temporary closure of Nord Stream 1 prompts fears for private consumers as well as industry

Germans are fretting about the coming winter freeze even while Europe sweats in record temperatures, amid uncertainty over whether a complete stopping of Russian gas deliveries would force energy rationing on private households as well as industry.

Germany, which has managed to reduce its reliance on Russian gas from 55% to about 35% of its demand since the start of the Ukraine war, is still heavily reliant on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which closed down for 10 days from 11 July due to scheduled maintenance works.

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Costs of Ukraine war pose tests for European leaders – and things may get worse

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Analysis: Vladimir Putin claims time is on his side, but he will have only one shot at making a gas cutoff count

Desperate efforts in Italy to prevent the fall of Mario Draghi’s government are only the latest political firestorm in Europe tied to Vladimir Putin’s tests of the west’s powers of endurance. Draghi’s foreign minister, Luigi di Maio, suggested it will be Putin who celebrated the fall of another western government if Draghi does not survive a confidence vote in parliament on Wednesday.

“A boat without a rudder goes adrift,” said Ferruccio Resta, the president of the Conference of Italian University Rectors – a metaphor that could apply, to Putin’s satisfaction, to much of Europe as governments come under growing pressure over the perceived domestic cost of the war in Ukraine.

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Russia’s Gazprom tells European buyers it cannot guarantee gas supplies

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Force majeure declared in letter to customers concerns supplies via Nord Stream 1 pipeline, says source

Russia’s Gazprom has told customers in Europe it cannot guarantee gas supplies because of “extraordinary” circumstances, according to a letter seen by Reuters, upping the ante in an economic tit-for-tat with the west over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Dated 14 July, the letter from the Russian state gas monopoly said it was declaring force majeure on supplies, starting from 14 June.

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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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Why is the euro doing so badly against the dollar?

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Analysis: Investors often turn to US currency in times of uncertainty and there are plenty of reasons for them to be jittery

It is two decades since the euro was last trading below $1.00 (£0.84) against the US dollar. Now the single currency is once again teetering on the brink of parity.

There are a host of reasons why, although the prompt for the most recent slide in the currency has been the fear Europe faces an energy crunch this winter.

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Germany braces for ‘nightmare’ of Russia turning off gas for good

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Ministers fear flow may never restart as annual maintenance work soon begins on Nord Stream 1 pipeline

Germany is bracing itself for a potentially permanent halt to the flow of Russian gas from Monday when maintenance work begins on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that brings the fuel to Europe’s largest economy via the Baltic Sea.

The work on the 759-mile (1,220km) pipeline is an annual event and requires the gas taps to be closed for 10 to 14 days. But never before in the pipeline’s decade-long history has Germany seriously been asking whether the flow will begin again.

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Germany to reactivate coal power plants as Russia curbs gas flow

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Parliament approves measures to use mothballed sites to produce electricity and preserve gas supplies

Germany’s two houses of parliament have passed emergency legislation to reactivate mothballed coal-fired power plants in order to support electricity generation amid fears of gas shortages as Russia curbs capacity.

The move has been described as “painful but necessary” by the government’s environmentalist economics minister, Robert Habeck. It has the backing of leading Greens in the coalition government, who argue it is needed as a short-term crisis management tool.

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Ukrainian diaspora urges Trudeau not to return turbine to Russia

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Moscow says equipment, which was being repaired in Canada, was crucial to restore gas supplies to Germany

Canada’s Ukrainian community has urged the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to refuse to compromise the country’s sanctions against Russia in order to return a turbine that Moscow says is critical for supplying natural gas to Germany.

Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom cut the capacity along the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to just 40% of usual levels last month, citing the delayed return of equipment being serviced by Germany’s Siemens Energy in Canada.

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Norway halts strike that threatened gas supplies to Britain

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Norwegian government intervenes in pay row because of ‘great social consequences for whole of Europe’

The Norwegian government has stepped in to end a strike that had threatened supplies of gas to Britain.

The labour dispute had shut down oil and gasfields and was expected to cut Norway’s gas supplies by almost 60% by the weekend.

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