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If the world acts decisively to limit global warming to 2°C by 2050, the scale of change will revolutionise the energy industry. Progressive electrification will squeeze the most polluting hydrocarbons out of the energy mix, nearly eliminating their markets. Oil demand will shrink, and with it, so will the power of major oil producers. Gas demand will remain resilient, but business models will need to evolve. Ann-Louise Hittle, vice president, Macro Oils, at global natural resources consultancy Wood Mackenzie, said: “Our Accelerated Energy Transition Scenario – AET-2 – gives an ...

Significantly colder-than-normal temperatures in the Lower 48 states in late January through mid-February resulted in increased heating demand for natural gas in the United States, despite an otherwise warmer-than-normal winter. As a result, the winter had larger-than-average winter natural gas withdrawals. Before the cold snap, winter temperatures had been relatively mild, but a combination of increased heating demand, record liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pipeline exports, and decreased natural gas production contributed to the withdrawal activity during February. Working natural gas in storage in the Lower 48 states as of ...

Germany’s 2021 wheat crop of all types is expected to increase by 2.2% on the year to 22.63 million tonnes, the country’s association of farm cooperatives said in its second harvest estimate on Friday. The DRV association forecast Germany’s 2021 winter rapeseed crop will rise 1.6% from last summer’s crop to 3.57 million tonnes. This was up from its first harvest forecast in March, when the association had forecast a wheat crop of 22.34 million tonnes and a winter rapeseed crop of 3.48 million tonnes. Germany’s weather has been “fundamentally ...

China’s economy surged 18.3% in the first quarter from a year earlier, a record rate of growth that reflected the recovery from a deep coronavirus-induced trough in early 2020 and the continued momentum of the world’s second largest economy. The rate of gross domestic product growth in the first three months of 2021 was sharply higher than the 6.5% year-over-year growth recorded in the final quarter of 2020, though it fell short of the 19.2% growth expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. Analysts had anticipated GDP growth ...

Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng on Thursday called for solid work on fiscal and tax priorities, urging efforts to establish a modern fiscal and tax system. The Chinese economy is realizing a recovery growth, and this is a hard-won result, said Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. He made the remarks at a seminar on the modern fiscal and tax system. As the country still faces uncertainties in economic growth, efforts should be made to analyze ...

The euro zone economy will recover at a much weaker rate this quarter than expected only a month ago, according to a Reuters poll of economists who cited a slower vaccine rollout as the biggest risk over the next three months. Britain and the United States have successfully inoculated large swathes of their populations but the euro zone vaccine rollouts, already riddled with problems, have hit more trouble recently just as infection rates rise. While the April 12-15 Reuters survey showed the bloc was set to emerge from a double-dip ...

China’s major economic indicators continued to show robust growth momentum in March, according to official data Friday, helping the world’s second-largest economy report its fastest year-on-year growth on record in the first quarter. Industrial production, investment and consumer spending all posted double-digit percentage growth in March, though the growth rates were generally lower than those during the January-February period, which were measured against the historically low base comparison from a year ago, when the initial coronavirus outbreak paralyzed economic activity in the country. Industrial output rose 14.1% in March compared ...

The U.S. economy is set to take off as more Americans are vaccinated, the virus gets under control and consumers become more comfortable engaging in economic activity, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Friday. “I think the economy is ready to rip,” Waller said during an interview with CNBC. Waller said he expects the U.S. economy to grow by 6.5% this year, for inflation to rise by about 2.5% and for the unemployment rate to drop to about 5% by year end. The U.S. central bank slashed interest rates ...

Angolan crude output remained largely stable in March, averaging 1.138 million b/d, the country’s energy regulator, Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis, or ANPG, said April 15. The OPEC member pumped 35,285,177 barrels or 1,138,232 b/d last month compared to 31,843,763 barrels or 1,137,277 b/d in February, data showed. Angolan crude output has recently fallen to multidecade lows because of technical and operational problems at some fields, aggravated by a lack of upstream investment and incentives. But ANPG also said there was a rebound in drilling and exploration work ...

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s first foreign exchange report due this week could see several U.S. trading partners labeled as currency manipulators. The designation is based on three broad criteria here A $20 billion-plus trade surplus with the United States, a current account surplus exceeding 2% of GDP and currency intervention exceeding 2% of gross domestic product. The criteria led the Trump administration to label Switzerland and Vietnam as currency manipulators in December. Whether Yellen takes as aggressive an approach as her predecessor in scolding trading partners is unclear. This time ...

Maersk Drilling has been awarded a one-well contract from PC Gabon Upstream S.A. (PCGUSA), a subsidiary of PETRONAS, for the provision of a deepwater drillship rig. The 7th generation drillship Maersk Viking will be employed to drill an ultra-deepwater exploration well at approximately 2,100 m water depth in Block F13 offshore Gabon. PETRONAS is a global energy and solutions partner and ranked amongst the largest corporations in the Fortune Global 500®. The firm one-well contract with PCGUSA is expected to commence in Q3 2021, in direct continuation of the rig’s ...

Seably, the global digital marketplace for bespoke maritime training is delighted to announce a new partnership with Marine Insight, the premier online destination for maritime information, training, and education worldwide. Through this partnership, Marine Insight and Seably will create exclusive specialised material that will be available in the marketplace for Seably subscribers from April 2021. Marine Insight is well known for its conscious effort to go way beyond the ship’s technical and non-technical issues, thus providing an inside view of aspects not generally visible to those outside the maritime world. ...

Consumers sentiment in the U.S. continued to rise in early April on improving economic and job situation amid progress on vaccination, support from fiscal policy and easing of virus-related restrictions. The preliminary estimate of the index of consumer sentiment compiled by the University of Michigan came in at 86.5 in April, up from 84.9 in March. The reading misses expectations from economists polled by The Wall Street Journal, who forecast the indicator to increase to 89.0. The rise in sentiment was driven entirely by an improvement of current economic conditions, ...

German utility Uniper announced on Wednesday plans to establish a German national hub for hydrogen in Wilhelmshaven which will have an import terminal for green ammonia. The “Green Wilhelmshaven” terminal will feature an ammonia cracker for producing green hydrogen and will also be connected to the planned hydrogen network, Uniper said in a statement. A 410MW electrolysis plant is also proposed for the Wilhelmshaven site, which in combination with the import terminal would be capable of supplying around 295,000 tonnes/year of hydrogen – or 10% of the demand expected for ...

Japan’s post-crisis response to January’s energy shortages is expected to help reduce volatility in electricity and natural gas markets in Asia, not just next winter but also over the longer term, as governments around the world seek to insulate energy systems from increasingly disruptive weather patterns. While weather phenomena, ranging from Australian wildfires to Taiwan’s drought, that impact energy systems are not unusual, their frequency and magnitude is expected to intensify as climate change accelerates, pushing market participants to brace for more volatility in fuel demand and supply. Policymakers and ...