China sharply reacts to Arctic LNG-2 sanctions, labels U.S. ‘interfering third party’

Energy News Beat

China has officially responded to the United States’ imposition of sanctions on the Russian project Arctic LNG-2, reports Reuters.

It is reported that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the country’s participation in the Russian project for the production of liquefied natural gas, Arctic LNG-2, should not be the subject of any interference or restrictions by third parties.

Mao Ning, an official spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, added that economic cooperation between China and Russia is in line with the mutual interests of both countries and “should not be interfered with or restricted by any third party.”

“China has always opposed unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction without the basis of international law,” added Ning.

U.S. sanctions against Arctic LNG-2

On November 2, the Arctic LNG-2 project was included in the U.S. sanctions list concerning Russia’s production and export capabilities in the energy sector.

According to Jeffrey Payette, the Assistant Secretary of State for Energy, Washington aims to “kill” this Russian project.

Recently, Bloomberg reported that the start of gas deliveries from the advanced Russian Arctic LNG-2 would be delayed after the company declared force majeure due to U.S. sanctions.

Reuters also reported that Chinese state-owned oil companies CNPC and CNOOC had requested the U.S. government to be exempted from sanctions on the Russian Arctic LNG-2 project.

Today, it was announced that the Japanese company Mitsui & Co recalled all its employees from the Arctic LNG-2 project for the development of liquefied natural gas.

Source: Msn.com

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2023 Energy Literacy In Review – OpEd

Energy News Beat

A: Airlines that would be grounded, and airports that would be closed, without a replacement for the crude oil that makes the fuels, that politicians want to rid the world of.

BBillions on this planet that exist because of all the products and various fuels made from crude oil that were not around before the 1800’s.

C: Climate policies that favor wind turbines and solar panels that only generate occasional electricity but CANNOT make any products.

D: Death spiral imposed on the auto industry to only manufacture EVs just for the elites to drive a vehicle.

E: Elephant in the Room is that the ruling class, powerful elite, and media, avoid energy literacy conversations as the end of crude oil that is manufactured into all the products and transportation fuels that built the world to eight billion, would be the end of civilization as “unreliable electricity” from breezes and sunshine cannot manufacture anything.

F: Fossil fuels manufacture everything for the 8 billion on this planet, i.e., products, and transportation fuels.

G: Give me a Break, as John Stossel often says about the very few parents, teachers, students, politicians, and those in the media, have any clues or understanding about the basis of the products in our daily lives!

H: Humanity abuses that support “clean energy” and the lack of transparency to the environmental degradation and humanity atrocities occurring in developing countries mining for those exotic minerals and metals to support the “green” movement.

I: Inventories of unsold EV’s continue to grow.

J: Jumping out of an airplane with a parachute without a plan to identify the replacement for the oil derivatives manufactured from crude oil that are the basis of products, travel, and communications for the 8 billion on this planet.

K: Knowledge that renewable energy is only intermittent electricity generated from unreliable breezes and sunshine, as wind turbines and solar panels cannot manufacture anything for the 8 billion on this planet.

L: Life expectancy continues to increase from the products made from oil derivatives manufactured from crude oil.

M: Materialistic society that we’ve become over the last 200 years, and the world has populated from 1 to 8 billion because of all the products and different fuels for planes, ships, trucks, cars, military, and the space programs that did not exist before the 1800’s.

N: No parts or components can be made from “just electricity” from wind turbines, solar panels, nuclear, and hydro, and for all the mining equipment used to extract the metals and minerals to build clean “electricity” as they are all made with the oil derivatives manufactured from crude oil!

O: Only occasional electricity from wind turbines and solar panels, but no products for humanity.

P: Parts and components for wind turbines, solar panels, nuclear, and hydro, and for all the mining equipment used to extract the metals and minerals to build clean “electricity” are made with the oil derivatives manufactured from crude oil!

Q: Quality of life that began after the 1800’s with the development of more than 6,000 products made from the oil derivatives manufactured from oil.

R: Ridding the world of crude oil usage, i.e., jumping out of an airplane without a parachute, while there is NO plan to identify the replacement for the oil derivatives that are the basis of everything.

S: Shockingly, very few parents, teachers, students, politicians, and those in the media, have any clues or understanding about the basis of the products in our daily lives!

T: Truck and automobile components and parts that CANNOT be made by wind turbines or solar panels.

U: Usage of crude oil is NOT for the generation of electricity, but to manufacture derivatives and fuels which are the ingredients of everything needed by economies and lifestyles to exist and prosper, i.e., all products that did not exist pre-1800’s

V: Vehicles that are 100% comprised of parts and components made from the oil derivatives manufactured from crude oil..

W: Weather related fatalities have virtually disappeared with all the products and medications available today that are made with oil derivatives from crude oil that were not available a few centuries ago.

X: Xylenes, along with the primary chemicals of ammonia, methanol, ethylene, propylene, benzene, and toluene, all of which are manufactured from crude oil, but cannot be made by wind turbines or solar panels.

Y: Yet the state of California, the 4th largest economy in the world, but with only 0.5% of the world’s population believes it can change the world environment at the expense of those living in the State.

Z: Zero products being made from wind turbines and solar panels.

Happy Holidays and a Safe and Prosperous New Year to one and all

Source: Eurasiareview.com

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Pakistan court restores jailed ex-PM Imran Khan’s party election symbol

Energy News Beat

A court in Pakistan has ruled that former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party can contest elections using its cricket bat logo – a relief for the jailed opposition leader in advance of national elections.

The High Court in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Tuesday suspended last week’s order by the Election Commission of Pakistan, barring Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party from using its election symbol.

“The election commission’s ruling against PTI, in which its election symbol, the cricket bat, was unjustly revoked through an illegal order, has been suspended,” said PTI lawyer Syed Ali Zafar.

“It has been further directed that our symbol be reinstated,” he said.

In a nation where the adult literacy rate is just 58 percent, according to World Bank data, election symbols are vital campaign tools for differentiating candidates on ballot papers.

The election commission said it made the move because of the party’s failure to hold internal elections in accordance with its constitution.

But the PTI said the move was another jab to prevent Khan – a former cricket star – from contesting the election, scheduled on February 8.

Khan, who enjoys support from a vast number of Pakistanis, was removed as prime minister last year after falling out with Pakistan’s powerful military leaders.

He is currently in prison and faces numerous cases, including the charge that he leaked classified state documents – a crime that carries a prison term of up to 14 years or even the death penalty.

Since Khan’s arrest earlier this year, PTI has faced a heavy crackdown by the government, with many party figures either jailed or “forced” to leave the party allegedly under the pressure of the military.

On Friday, PTI said it had filed Khan’s nomination papers for him to contest the general election.

But the nomination may be challenged based on the electoral commission having disqualified him from office over a corruption conviction earlier this year.

Khan’s party claimed the election body’s move was aimed at preventing him from contesting the February 8 polls.

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Echoes of a Lost Gaza

Energy News Beat

Documentary director Mariam Shahin has been making films about Gaza for more than 30 years. She produced a documentary for Al Jazeera English in 2009, which told the stories of six sets of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip whom she had followed for four years. When she moved to Gaza in 2005, she felt a powerful sense of optimism after the Israeli withdrawal. But by 2009, war had badly damaged its infrastructure, neighbourhoods, businesses and communities – and that optimism had evaporated.

In the middle of the current war, Mariam looks back at these stories and reflects on the wasted potential, lost hope and devastated lives after 16 years of blockade, poverty and conflict.

 Filmmaker Mariam Shahin looks back at how a blockade and wars in Gaza have reduced the hopes of its people to dust.

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Indians sent back by France over trafficking concerns: What we know

Energy News Beat

A plane carrying suspected victims of human trafficking was rerouted to India while on its way to Nicaragua after being detained in France. It has now landed in Mumbai.

While no evidence of trafficking was found, the inquiry gave way to concerns of undocumented immigration that are still being investigated by French authorities.

Here is what we know about the flight’s tumultuous journey over the past few days.

What happened to the plane suspected of human trafficking in France?

The plane was an Airbus A340 operated by Romania-based Legend Airlines. The aircraft, carrying 303 Indian passengers, departed from Fujairah International Airport in Dubai and was en route to Nicaragua in Central America.
On Thursday afternoon, it stopped to refuel at Vatry Airport, about 150km (95 miles) east of Paris. French police used the opportunity to intervene after an anonymous tip that some of its passengers may be victims of trafficking.
The aircraft remained grounded in France for four days for legal deliberations. The reception hall at Vatry Airport was transformed into a waiting area. Passengers were given individual beds while they awaited a decision on where they would travel next, local officials in the eastern Marne region of France said on Friday.
A French court ruled that authorities did not have the legal authority to detain several of the passengers further, and the plane was cleared to leave by French prosecutors on Sunday.
The Airbus A340 then departed with 276 of the Indian passengers on Monday and landed in Mumbai early on Tuesday. It is unclear why the plane diverted to Mumbai instead of resuming its journey to Nicaragua. The remaining 27 passengers on the original flight remained in France.
In a post on X, the Indian embassy expressed thanks to French officials for the “quick resolution of the situation enabling Indian passengers to return home”.

Why was the plane detained in France?

A makeshift courtroom was set up at the airport where emergency judicial hearings were carried out for two days into the conditions and purposes of the trip by a unit specializing in organised crime.

Consular officials from the Indian embassy in Paris were also on site.

Twenty-five of the passengers, including five minors, requested asylum in the country while two passengers were detained based on suspicions of trafficking before being released. They have also reportedly requested asylum.

“We cannot keep foreigners in a waiting area for more than 96 hours. Beyond that, it is the liberty and custody judge who must rule on their fate,” Francois Procureur, the head of the Chalons-en-Champagne Bar Association, told local television on Saturday.

Once it received clearance, the plane left Vatry Airport.

What evidence of human trafficking was found?

No concrete evidence was found, but French authorities said they are continuing to investigate potential breaches of immigration laws.

The passengers were likely Indian workers in the United Arab Emirates intending to use Nicaragua as a gateway to the United States or Canada, a source close to the inquiry told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.

Liliana Bakayoko, a lawyer for Legend Airlines, denied that the company had any role in human trafficking or “committed any infraction”.

An unnamed “partner” company was responsible for verifying the identification documents of each passenger, according to Bakayoko.

The passengers were Indian and included many children, including 11 unaccompanied minors and a 21-month-old.

They were “frustrated” after spending several nights at the airport, said Patrick Jaloux, the head of civil protection in the Marne region.

The 15 crew members of the Legend Airlines flight were also questioned and released.

Procureur said the hearings were “unprecedented”.

“I’m surprised at how things unfolded in the waiting area,” Procureur told BFM television. “People should have been informed of their rights, and clearly, that was not the case.”

Why Nicaragua and what happens to the passengers now?

The US has designated Nicaragua as a country that has done the least to prevent human trafficking. It is both a source and a major transit route for undocumented people looking to enter the US.

While no human trafficking has been confirmed yet among the passengers on the plane, Genevieve Colas, coordinator at the French nonprofit Secours Catholique-Caritas told AFP the release of the plane had “surprised” her. “What if they really are victims of people trafficking?” she asked. “Then it wouldn’t be right to just let them take off to another country.” Secours Catholique-Caritas works with displaced people and migrants in multiple countries around the world.

In Mumbai, Indian authorities are expected to question the returned passengers about their plans because several elements of the case are still unclear.

From October 2022 to September, nearly 97,000 Indians were stopped while trying to enter the US illegally. That’s a fivefold increase from 2019-2020.

A makeshift courtroom was set up in a French airport to investigate human trafficking concerns.

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Deadly Christmas in Syria’s Idlib after Russian attack kills five in family

Energy News Beat

Idlib, Syria ــ A couple and three of their children were killed in Russian air raids targeting a house in a farm near the town of Armenaz in western Idlib on Monday evening, according to the Syrian Civil Defence.

Another child, the sole survivor, was injured.

“We live in this small region of Syria as legitimate targets to satisfy the criminal instincts of both Russia and the Assad regime,” said Walid Ahmed Murad, 32, who lost his sister, her husband, and their children in the Alata farm air raid. He was referring to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Murad told Al Jazeera that his sister Fatima and her husband Anas had fled Aleppo six years ago after the Assad regime took control, only to return to their hometown in Jabal Zawiya in Idlib countryside before moving to the farm three days ago for job opportunities in sheep farming.

“They were very happy to find work that could help them live under their difficult economic conditions,” Murad said. The three children who died — Amina, Khalid, and Mohammed —”were among the kindest children you could meet, and I will miss them forever,” he said. Hamza, his sister’s fourth child and the only one still alive, is in critical condition.

Earlier in the day, another civilian was killed, and five others were injured, including three children, in a missile attack by Syrian regime forces on civilian homes, a rural school, public facilities and agricultural lands in the city of Sarmin in eastern Idlib.

The Syrian Civil Defence, a volunteer emergency rescue group also known as the White Helmets, said that since the beginning of 2023 until December 17, their teams have responded to 1,232 attacks by Syrian regime forces, Russian forces, and their allied militias.

These attacks resulted in the death of 161 people, including 46 children and 23 women, while 681 people were injured, of which 214 were children and 95 were women.

Idlib, the last province controlled by opposition fighters in Syria, is governed by a March 5, 2020 ceasefire agreement between Turkey and Russia. However, this agreement is occasionally violated by Syrian government forces and Russia.

“Today’s massacre is evidence that Russia can never be on the side of peace and a party that brings security to Syrians. The international community must put an end to Russian terrorism that transcends borders,” said Nada al-Rashid, a board member of the Syrian Civil Defence.

Al-Rashid told Al Jazeera that villages in eastern and southern Idlib are systematically targeted by regime forces, undermining stability in the region and imposing a state of terror and fear, leading to displacement waves.

“The continued massacres by the Assad regime and Russia against Syrians increase the danger of living in dozens of cities and towns, imposing a reality of continuous suffering, especially in the harsh winter that ravages camps lacking the basic necessities of life, weak infrastructure, and a clear decline in humanitarian response,” al-Rashid said.

While much of the world marks Christmas and prepares for the New Year, these celebrations are absent for the people of northwest Syria due to continuous bombing and the deteriorating economic situation in an area with a population of 4.5 million, including 1.9 million living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, according to the latest statistics from United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

“Russia celebrates Christmas in its criminal way by killing children and women in Idlib,” said Obadah al-Daher, 21, a displaced civilian from Maarat al-Numan city living in the town of al-Dana town near the Syria-Turkey border.

Al-Daher enters his fourth year today away from his land and home after leaving them at the beginning of 2020 following a military campaign led by the Syrian regime, supported by Russia and Iranian militias.

The campaign resulted in the control of Maarat al-Numan city and its countryside, leading to the displacement of most residents to northern Idlib.

“With the beginning of each year, we hope to return to our homes and for the Assad regime and Russia to be held accountable for the crimes they committed and continue to against us,” al-Daher said.

A couple and their three children were killed; a fourth child is in critical condition.

 

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US should withdraw new Arctic territory claims – zoologist – The real question is why is the Biden Adminstration claiming the land?

Energy News Beat

Washington and other parties must refrain from competing over the area in order to protect the ocean, Rick Steiner has said

The US should stop trying to unilaterally expand its continental shelf, particularly in the Arctic, and should instead work with other countries on protecting the environment in the area, University of Alaska zoologist Rick Steiner told RIA Novosti in an interview published on Wednesday.

His comments came after the administration of US President Joe Biden officially published maps last week that detail an expanded American continental shelf in the Arctic Sea, the Atlantic, the Bering Sea, the Pacific Ocean, two sections in the Gulf of Mexico, and near the Mariana Islands.

In total, Washington has unilaterally claimed sovereignty of approximately 1 million square kilometers of seabed, with the biggest gains in the Arctic – a region rich in minerals and energy resources.

The US State Department has insisted that the new borders proposed by Washington will not create territorial disputes with Russia, but will require settlement with Canada and Japan.

However, Steiner claimed that the US is “walking on thin ice” by making unilateral claims in the Arctic, since it has not ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Instead of racing for resources in the polar region, the zoologist insisted that all countries should unite to “fully and forever protect the Arctic Ocean” and withdraw their claims to an expanded continental shelf.

Washington’s refusal to ratify UNCLOS also means there is practically no chance that its proposed new borders will ever be internationally recognized, Chas Freeman, a veteran US diplomat and former US assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, told RIA.

The only solution would be to negotiate an agreement with countries that already have claims over the areas, such as Russia, Canada, and other members of the Arctic Council, according to Freeman.

“Even if the Americans were not involved in a proxy war with Russia and an economic war with China, getting them to agree to these unilateral actions would be borderline impossible,” the former diplomat said. He also argued it is “difficult to understand” how US claims to an expanded shelf in the Arctic are consistent with its objections to similar claims from countries such as China.

Moscow, meanwhile, has condemned Washington’s unilateral claims as “unacceptable.” The head of the State Duma Committee on the Arctic, Nikolay Kharitonov, warned that US attempts to expand its territory could increase tensions in the Arctic.

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Shell’s Prelude FLNG to ship first cargo after maintenance

Energy News Beat

Shell’s huge Prelude FLNG located offshore Western Australia has welcomed its first LNG tanker since August this year when it started scheduled maintenance, according to shipping data.

The UK-based LNG giant shut down the FLNG in August for maintenance saying it will take “several months” to complete it.

Shell said in November it extended the turnaround due to additional scopes of work.

Earlier this month, several reports said that Prelude’s turnaround had been completed but Shell did not confirm the completion of maintenance.

According to its AIS data, the 174,000-cbm LNG carrier, Orion Bohemia, has arrived at the FLNG on Wednesday and was on Thursday morning still moored at the floating producer.

Shell declined to comment on whether this 2022-built Shell-chartered LNG carrier would load the first LNG cargo since the completion of Prelude FLNG’s maintenance.

“We don’t have any updates on Prelude for now,” a Shell spokesperson told LNG Prime.

The 488-meter-long and 74-meter-wide FLNG shipped its first cargo in June 2019 after several start-up delays.

It can produce 3.6 mtpa of LNG, 1.3 mtpa of condensate, and 0.4 mtpa of LPG.

Shell operates the floating facility with a 67.5 percent stake. Japan’s Inpex holds a 17.5 percent stake, South Korea’s Kogas has 10 percent, and Taiwan’s CPC holds 5 percent.

In September last year, Shell resumed cargo loading operations at Prelude after it reached an agreement with unions representing Prelude FLNG workers to end a long strike.

After that, Shell closed the unit in December of the same year due to a fire and resumed shipments in January.

Shell again temporarily suspended production on the FLNG on May 10 due to a trip and resumed production two days after that.

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Western ‘mistakes’ are giving rise to trade alternatives – Lavrov

Energy News Beat

There is significant enthusiasm for a new transport link between Russia and India, Moscow’s top diplomat has said

A decline in Western economic clout means it is natural for emerging economic powers to develop new trade infrastructure to meet their growing needs, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

The diplomat was speaking in Moscow on Wednesday at a joint press conference with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Among the topics the pair discussed earlier in the day was the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a freight project set to link Russia and India.

When asked by a journalist whether the INSTC would get a “second wind” after Jaishankar’s visit, Lavrov said it doesn’t need one.

“This project was met with much enthusiasm in all nations, on which its implementation depends. And it will certainly be implemented in the near future,” the minister insisted.

Jaishankar said the INSTC is not only for India’s benefit, stressing: “I think it is in the interest of the global economy that this corridor progresses. We will certainly give it the highest priority.”

The proposed route combines rail, road, and sea transport and connects Russia and India via Iran and Azerbaijan, serving as an alternative to the Suez Canal. More than a dozen nations that stand to benefit from the INSTC are stakeholders in the project. Key participants launched an effort to identify bottlenecks in 2014 and have been developing infrastructure to address them.

The question regarding the INSTC came after Maksim Oreshkin, a senior economic adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, argued this week that the US was “cannibalizing” its allies in Europe while Western economies lose their significance compared to the Global South.

Western nations have imposed various restrictions on Russian international trade over the Ukraine conflict. Moscow perceives the measures as acts of US hybrid economic warfare against competition.

Lavrov claimed Western nations have damaged their own position with “mistakes and numerous unacceptable methods,” as they attempt to “stall the objective historical progress.” Jaishankar agreed that changes are inevitable, adding that Russia and India are aligned in their belief in a multipolar world.

“Politics will have to change. The global order will have to change. The international economy will have to change,” Jaishankar predicted.

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Gazprom reveals huge increase in exports to China

Energy News Beat

Russia is expected to exceed contracted amounts by delivering up to 23.2 billion cubic meters of gas

Russia’s exports of natural gas to China are expected to see a year-on-year increase of as much as 50% in 2023, Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller said during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

Gas supplies to the South Asian nation this year will exceed contract obligations and reach 23.2 billion cubic meters, according to Miller, who added that in 2022 the exports had totalled 15.5 billion cubic meters.

Gazprom set a new record last week for daily gas supplies to China through the Power of Siberia mega pipeline, according to Miller. The energy giant has reported records for daily exports nine times since the beginning of 2023.

Miller also said that gas supplies to Russia’s leading trading partner will further grow and are forecast to hit 38 billion cubic meters in 2025.

Gazprom supplies natural gas to China under a long-term contract sealed with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The Power of Siberia is part of a $400 billion, 30-year agreement between Gazprom and CNPC clinched in 2014.

Russia’s gas exports to China are projected to grow to 100 billion cubic meters annually, taking into account the transit gas pipeline through Mongolia.

Sales of Russian gas to the EU have dwindled due to Ukraine-related sanctions and the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, previously Russia’s key gas route to the region. However, Gazprom has successfully redirected its energy trade towards Asia, with China emerging as its largest importer.

According to Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexander Novak, China accounts for 50% of Russia’s energy exports, while the share purchased by India is approaching 40%.

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