Category Archives: Energy industry

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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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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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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Floating windfarms could be hosted off Cornwall and Wales, crown estate says

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Five ‘areas of search’ in the Celtic Sea could be developed and offered to businesses by 2023

Floating windfarms could be built off the coasts of Cornwall and Pembrokeshire after the Queen’s property manager identified a clutch of sites in the Celtic Sea that could host them.

The crown estate, which generates money for the Treasury and the royal family, has published five “areas of search” that will be narrowed into development plots to host wind power generation.

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Bulb boss Hayden Wood to step down from collapsed energy firm

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CEO and co-founder will leave at end of July, having still received £250,000 salary despite taxpayer bailout

The chief executive and co-founder of the collapsed energy firm Bulb will leave at the end of July, having continued to receive a six-figure salary while the firm was being propped up by billions in taxpayer loans.

Hayden Wood is leaving Britain’s seventh biggest energy supplier, which has about 1.5 million customers, as the government continues to seek a buyer to save Bulb.

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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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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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Africa must forgo gas exploration to avert climate disaster, warn experts

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Call comes after former UN climate envoy urged African countries to exploit their natural gas reserves

Africa must embrace renewable energy, and forgo exploration of its potentially lucrative gas deposits to stave off climate disaster and bring access to clean energy to the hundreds of millions who lack it, leading experts on the continent have said.

Their call came as the UN secretary general, António Guterres, warned that exploring for gas and oil anywhere in the world would be “delusional”.

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UK ramps up gas and oil exports to EU amid Russia’s war in Ukraine

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Britain’s goods exports to EU a record £16.4bn in April despite impact of Brexit

The UK has drastically increased the volume of natural gas being pumped to the EU amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, powering a record monthly rise in goods exports to the continent despite Brexit.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show EU goods exports rose for the third consecutive month to £16.4bn in April, the highest monthly level in current prices since comparable records began in 1997.

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Power firms must ‘up their game’ after Storm Arwen failures, says Ofgem

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Regulator berates network operators for ‘unacceptable’ time taken to restore power to thousands of homes

Power companies must “up their game” after thousands of households in Britain faced “appalling conditions” when they were left without power for more than a week after Storm Arwen hit last year, the industry watchdog has said.

Publishing its full report into the response of power distributors to the storm, Ofgem said they were underprepared and provided an “unacceptable service” to customers, with nearly 1m homes losing power and 4,000 of those cut off for longer than a week.

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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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Sunak U-turns on ‘energy profits levy’ in £15bn cost of living package

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Chancellor’s measures, including tax on oil and gas companies, criticised as too late and a ‘drop in the ocean’

Rishi Sunak bowed to months of pressure over the cost of living crisis with a £15bn package of support, part-funded by executing a remarkable U-turn to impose a windfall tax on energy companies.

Announcing the measures on Thursday, in a bruising week for the government, the chancellor said his “significant set of interventions” would help the poorest in society – with a one-off £650 payment for 8 million families on means-tested benefits, alongside an extra £200 for all energy bill payers that will not have to be repaid.

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Rishi Sunak to announce windfall tax on energy firms

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One-off levy to fund support package amid cost of living crisis which could include increase in benefits

Rishi Sunak will push the button on a controversial windfall tax on energy companies on Thursday, as he lays out measures to ease the pain of rising household bills.

The chancellor has confirmed speculation he will announce fresh support for Britons struggling with the cost of living crisis. The measures are expected to help the poorest households as rampant inflation pushes up the price of everything from food to fuel.

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Rishi Sunak reportedly considering windfall tax on electricity generators

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Levy could be extended beyond oil and gas producers to help households in cost of living crisis

Rishi Sunak is reportedly considering imposing a wider windfall tax on electricity generators, as well as on oil and gas producers, that could bring in billions of pounds to help households struggling with soaring food and energy costs.

The chancellor has instructed Treasury officials to work on plans for a potential tax on more than £10bn of excess profits made by electricity generators, including windfarm operators, according to sources cited by the Financial Times.

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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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UK should expect high fuel bills for at least 18 months, E.ON boss says

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Michael Lewis calls for substanstial government intervention to help people deal with costs

Consumers will have to cope with extraordinarily high fuel bills for at least another 18 months, the boss of Britain’s biggest energy supplier has said.

Michael Lewis, the chief executive of E.ON UK, called for “very substantial” government intervention to help people with escalating fuel bills, one of the biggest factors in the cost-of-living crisis.

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