International
Equinor has said it has "tripled" its UK ambitions for blue hydrogen production with CCS to 1.8 GW, potentially meeting half of the UK’s 5 GW target by 2030. Separately, the company signed an MoU with US Steel to examine hydrogen and CCS in the Appalachian Basin.
Norway’s Aker Solutions and AF Gruppen have launched plans to merge their offshore decommissioning operations with the goal of creating a “leading global player” for recycling offshore assets.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has said it will align lending policy with the Paris Agreement from the end of 2022, signalling an expected boost to lending to renewables projects, but may also keep the door open for investments in gas grids and gas-to-power projects.
Africa
Ghana – Italian energy major Eni and trading house Vitol have been dealt a blow after a High Court in Ghana ruled that the pair must pay 30% of revenues from the offshore Sankofa field into an escrow account.
Nigeria – The country’s House and Senate have passed the long-delayed petroleum industry bill aimed at overhauling the petrostate’s oil and gas industry to attract and expedite upstream spending.
South Africa – Sasol’s proposed sale of a 30% stake in the Rompco gas pipeline to a consortium headed by compatriot investment firm Reatile Group has been scuppered after the pipeline’s existing shareholders exercised pre-emptive rights to acquire the stake.
Asia Pacific
China – Qatar Petroleum has gobbled up more of China’s booming demand after signing a 10-year LNG sales and purchase agreement with Anglo-Dutch major Shell, which will deliver the volumes into various terminals in China.
Australasia
Australia – Australia’s earnings from LNG exports are forecast to increase from an estimated USD 24 billion in 2020–21 to AUD 49 billion in 2021–22, as oil-linked contract prices rise sharply, the country’s energy ministry said in a recent quarterly report.
Australia's largest power producer AGL Energy has announced it will spin off its retail, supply, storage and trading business to a new company under the name AGL Australia.
The Chevron-led 15.6 mtpa Gorgon LNG export plant looks set to be filled for decades after project partners went ahead with a USD 4 billion investment in the J-IC project, which will enhance gas recovery from offshore fields feeding the plant.
Europe
UK – BP’s protracted quest to sell its stake in the Shearwater field in the North Sea has taken another twist after Shell exercised its pre-emptive right to the 27.5% stake, one month after PE-backed Tailwind Energy announced plans to buy the stake.
North America
Canada – Pieridae Energy is assessing options for its Goldboro LNG project, the company has said, with the announcement coming after Pieridae failed to meet its June FID deadline on the 10 mtpa plant in Nova Scotia.
US – President Joe Biden has successfully negotiated a deal between a bipartisan group of Senators through which Democrats and Republicans will support plans to invest USD 1.2 trillion over the next eight years to upgrade America’s infrastructure.
The FERC has said it is unable to determine how much gas infrastructure projects will impact global warming, after chairman Richard Glick said climate change impacts must be accounted for in the watchdog’s environmental assessments.
Saudi Aramco has walked away from a proposed deal to take a 25% stake of Sempra’s proposed Port Arthur LNG plant and 5 mtpa of supply, the head of Sempra’s LNG business, Justin Bird, confirmed last week.
The Supreme Court has ruled that pipeline developer PennEast may use eminent domain laws to seize land to build its USD 1 billion PennEast pipeline project from the State of New Jersey.
LNG player Tellurian said last week that its wholly-owned subsidiary Driftwood LNG has exercised a long-term lease option with the Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District on the 477 acre site in Louisiana.
Lobbyists for ExxonMobil have been filmed telling reporters that a carbon tax is “not going to happen”, after outlining ways in which the company acted to curtail key aspects of President Biden’s infrastructure package to limit the impact on the US energy transition.
Top US gas producer EQT has announced targets to reach net-zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2025.
South Asia
Pakistan – Saudi-based International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation – part of the Islamic Development Bank – has once again come to Pakistan’s aid after agreeing to loan Islamabad USD 4.5 billion to fund imports of essential commodities including LNG.
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