ADNOC Moves Ahead With Huge LNG Export Project in UAE

Energy News Beat

Abu Dhabi’s national oil company ADNOC has taken the final investment decision to move forward with the Ruwais LNG project, which will more than double the existing LNG production capacity in the United Arab Emirates.

ADNOC took on Wednesday the FID for the Ruwais LNG project, which will consist of two 4.8 million metric tons per annum (mmtpa) LNG liquefaction trains with a total capacity of 9.6 mmtpa. This would more than double ADNOC’s existing UAE LNG production capacity to around 15 mmtpa, as the company builds its international LNG portfolio.

The project, located in Al Ruwais Industrial City in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi, will be the first LNG export facility in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to run on clean power, making it one of the world’s lowest-carbon intensity LNG plants, ADNOC says.

The UAE state energy giant also awarded on Wednesday an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract for the project valued at approximately $5.5 billion (20.2 billion UAE dirhams).

ADNOC has been betting big on LNG in recent months, seeking to expand its domestic production and export capacity and buying minority stakes in LNG projects overseas, including in the United States.

Last month, ADNOC bought an 11.7% stake in Phase 1 of NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG export project in Texas, announcing its first strategic investment in the U.S.

Rio Grande LNG near Brownsville, Texas, is the first U.S. LNG project offering expected emissions reduction of more than 90% through its proposed carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, ADNOC noted.

ADNOC has also signed a 20-year LNG offtake agreement from Rio Grande LNG Train 4 with NextDecade.

The Abu Dhabi group also announced last month the acquisition of a 10% interest in an LNG project offshore Mozambique as it continues to expand its international natural gas operations.

Source: Oilprice.com

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Unthinkable: The Nuclearization of Iran

Energy News Beat

Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War, Iran has used the distraction to significantly expand their nuclear capabilities, which when breakout occurs will fundamentally alter geopolitical risks. Recent events have accelerated Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, and security analysts need to take seriously that this will occur as the likelihood increases every day. The failures of the past four administrations have made this issue acute when, and the West now has little time to respond to this crisis. The death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash disrupted the plans of hardliners who saw him as a successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Raisi was a 63-year-old protégé of Khamenei and considered a leading candidate to succeed the 85-year-old Supreme Leader, although this was not certain in Iran’s opaque political landscape. Raisi’s rise to the presidency was part of a broader consolidation of power by hardliners. His death now leaves a vacuum, potentially opening the field for other factions or figures. While Khamenei has not endorsed a successor, Raisi and Khamenei’s son Mojtaba were frequently mentioned as potential candidates. Raisi’s death has led the regime, essentially Khamenei, to consider the desperate need for Iran to have nuclear weapons so it can survive and spread the revolution.

In addition, the tit-for-tat that occurred between Israel and Iran has led the latter to reconsider the speed in acquiring a nuclear weapon. According Kamal Kharrazi, an adviser to the Supreme Leader, Iran may “consider building” a nuclear weapon if its existence is threatened by Israel. Despite Khamenei’s early 2000s fatwa banning nuclear weapons as “haram” (an obvious lie by the Supreme Leader), ongoing regional conflicts and threats could alter Iran’s public stance. Iran has enriched uranium up to 60% purity, close to the 90% needed for weapons-grade material, and the country has sufficient material for two nuclear weapons. Iran has also purchased 300 tons of uranium from Niger. The shadow war between Iran and Israel intensified in April 2024 when confrontations occurred, including missile and drone attacks following strikes on Iranian targets by Israel, leading to further escalation in the region. On June 5, the member states of the 35-nation Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voted to censureIran’s violations. Of those, twenty states voted in favor of the censure while two states China and Russia opposed and 12 abstained.

Failures to Contain Iran

The failure to contain Iran starts with a failure to understand Iranian foreign policy. Americans tend to have an idealistic foreign policy rooted in their particular Manicheanism stemming from both Puritan theology and its secular Wilsonian version. On the other hand, Europeans either devoted to the national interest (France, Italy) or modern left-wing ideological frameworks (Britain, Germany, Nordic countries). Iran is juxtaposed to these in that it is focused on exporting the revolution, not just regional hegemony. Because they want to export the revolution, they often work with extremist proxy groups to push their agenda. That “octopus” approach is difficult for Western governments to handle due to their lack of strategic vision based on their myopic foreign policies.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), particularly its Quds Force, has played a significant role in Iran’s foreign policy by sponsoring non-state armed groups across the region. Originally deployed abroad during the Iran-Iraq War, the IRGC developed ties with militant groups in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinian territories, providing them with training, weapons, money, and military advice. These groups form part of an “axis of resistance” against the West and Israel, aligning with Tehran’s strategic interests of protecting and exporting the revolution. The Quds Force, as the IRGC’s external operations branch, has been implicated in numerous historical attacks and interventions:

Hezbollah, backed by Iran, has been involved in attacks on US and French forces in Beirut and is linked to the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Argentina.
In Iraq, the Quds Force supported Shiite militias against US forces post-2003 invasion, and in Syria, it aided President Bashar al-Assad during the civil war (2011-present).
The IRGC also supports the Houthi rebels in Yemen against a Saudi-led coalition, and the Houthis regularly disrupt supply chains by attacking maritime vessels in the area.
Following the rise of the Islamic State, the IRGC expanded its presence in Iraq and Syria to combat the group, cooperating indirectly with US forces. However, tensions resurfaced, leading to the U.S. killing of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020.

In recent conflicts, the IRGC has supported Palestinian groups like Hamas in their attacks on Israel. In 2024, the IRGC directly attacked Israel with drones and missiles, claiming retaliation for an alleged Israeli strike on its embassy in Syria. This escalation has heightened fears of broader conflict in the Middle East and shown that the West will respond with limited action to deter their attacks.

Except for the brilliant utilization of the Stuxnet cyberattack, the primary Western tool for containing the nuclearization of Iran has been sanctions. However, sanctions are essentially useless in preventing nuclearization. The academic literature has found that sanctions only work between 30-40% of the time, but they always fail to prevent war. When looking at 170 cases of sanctions from World War I to the early 2000s in one study, the researchers found that overall success was 30%, with success going up to 50% when sanctions were designed to achieve modest goals. A Center for New American Security report looked at 24 cases of post-9/11 sanctions, and there was only a success rate of 38%. That CNAS report argues that sanctions on Iran did have some positive effects by bringing them to the negotiating table for the JCPOA, but Iran was able to ignore provisions of that treaty whenever they wanted. Also, the treaty essentially allowed Iran to gain access to nuclear weapons, it only slightly delayed them.

Geopolitical Implications of Iran’s Nuclearization

Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon would have profound security implications, potentially leading to regional arms races, heightened instability, threats to Israel, undermining of the global non-proliferation regime, increased support for non-state actors, and broader geopolitical and economic consequences.

Middle East Volatility: The Middle East is already a volatile region with ongoing conflicts and geopolitical rivalries. The introduction of nuclear weapons could exacerbate these tensions and lead to increased instability, with a higher risk of nuclear confrontations or accidents.
Nonproliferation Failures: Iran’s acquisition of a nuclear weapon could trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Other countries in the region, such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt, might seek to develop or acquire their own nuclear arsenals in response, increasing regional instability. Relatedly, this would undermine the global non-proliferation regime, particularly the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which would weaken international norms against nuclear proliferation and embolden other countries to pursue nuclear weapons outside the Middle East as well.
Destruction of Israel: Iran has a contentious relationship with Israel, and its leaders have made hostile statements towards the country. Israel views a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat, which could lead to preemptive military actions to prevent Iran from developing or using such weapons. As part of Iran’s foreign policy, the revolutionary country support for various non-state actors, terrorist, and militant groups in the region, such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and others. There is a legitimate concern that a nuclear-armed Iran might provide these groups with greater support or even nuclear materials, significantly increasing the threat posed by these groups.
Disruptions to Oil and Supply Chains: Heightened tensions and potential conflict in the Middle East could disrupt global oil supplies, leading to economic repercussions worldwide. Additionally, Iran could threaten supply chains more easily as countries like the United States would have fewer retaliatory capabilities unless they are willing to risk nuclear war. International sanctions and countermeasures against Iran could have broad economic repercussions, affecting global markets and trade.
Deterrence and Increased Likelihood of War: Iran’s nuclear weapons would affect global security dynamics is significant ways as the US and its allies might respond with increased military presence in the region, heightened surveillance, and more robust defense systems, raising the risk of military clashes. Western government would need to alter their defense postures, and countries would need to invest more in missile defense systems, conventional military capabilities, and strategic alliances to counterbalance Iran’s nuclear threat. All of this would significantly increase the likelihood of more direct confrontation.

Why This Matters

Nothing in this description should be new to security professionals and intelligence analysts as it is basic geopolitical analysis, but there are two major reasons as to why this issue matters. First, few analysts are really focusing on the increased likelihood of Iran gaining nuclear capabilities over the short term. There are a myriad of major geopolitical issues occurring, and most analysts (public and private) have started overlooking Iran’s nuclear program. For example, almost all Israeli analysts are focusing on the war and the country’s intelligence agencies have put Iran on the backburner. The same goes with private intelligence groups that are focusing on issues like China’s potential invasion of Taiwan, Russia’s war in Ukraine, Israel’s war against Hamas, elections happening globally, etc. Second, drawing the direct and relevant impacts to one’s clients will require significant analytic work, and therefore, analytic groups should already start preparing for this eventuality. They need to ask how even more volatility in the Middle East will harm their companies, how increased terrorism will pose incidental (or direct) risks, how proliferation will change markets, etc. This will include the need to look at primary, secondary, and tertiary impacts and implications.

Iran is on the precipice of being a nuclear power. Is your client, principal, or corporation prepared for that inevitability?

Source: Linkedin.com

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Chinese EV Stocks Tank on Tariff Drama

Energy News Beat
Stocks of leading electric vehicle manufacturers are selling off after Turkey imposed 40% tariffs on EV imports from the Middle Kingdom.
Ample government support in the form of incentives and subsidies has given Chinese EV makers an edge over other automakers.
From July, the European Union is set to impose additional tariffs of up to 25% on imports of China-made electric vehicles.

Last week, the CEO of BYD Company Ltd (OTCBB: BYDDY) Wang Chuanfu scoffed at Western nations adopting a protectionist stance against China’s clean energy sector, suggesting they are “afraid” of Chinese EVs,  “If you are not strong enough, they will not be afraid of you,” he declared. Well, it’s probably China’s turn to be afraid. Stocks of leading electric vehicle manufacturers are selling off after Turkey imposed 40% tariffs on EV imports from the Middle Kingdom. NIO Inc. (NYSE:NIO) was down 5.6% in Tuesday’s intraday session; XPeng Inc.(NASDAQ:XPEV) lost 5.1%, Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI) fell 2.7% while BYD Company Ltd (OTCBB: BYDDY) gained 1.4%. All four stocks have 8cratered in double-digits over the past 12 months with NIO having returned -46.8%, XPEV -23.7%, LI -39.1% and BYDDY -12.2%.

The additional tariff will be set at a minimum of $7,000 per vehicle, and go into effect from July 7, a presidential decision published in the country’s Official Gazette has revealed. Like many of its Western peers, Istanbul is worried about the influx of cheaper Chinese EVs, with the tariff meant to protect its domestic automakers. From July, the European Union is set to impose additional tariffs of up to 25% on imports of China-made electric vehicles, and on top of this President Biden announced a hike in tariffs on a variety of Chinese imports, with the tax rate on imported Chinese EVs rising to 102.5% this year, up from 27.5% previously.“American workers can outwork and outcompete anyone as long as the competition is fair. But for too long, it hasn’t been fair. For years, the Chinese government has poured state money into Chinese companies … it’s not competition, it’s cheating,” Biden said after unveiling the tariffs.

The tariff storm that has hit China’s EV sector was probably expected. In China, many of the most popular EVs–including BYD’s Seagull–sell for around $12,000–and some budget models cost less than the average e-bike. The Seagull would likely cost ~$25,000 in the U.S. if BYD was allowed to sell it here; in contrast, Tesla Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) popular Model 3 starts at $40,630 and goes up to $54,630 depending on the trim and options. To be fair, some of China’s huge competitive advantage in the EV arena can be chalked up to a healthy dose of ‘cheating’ as Biden put it, including abuses of intellectual property and currency manipulations. However, ample government support in the form of incentives and subsidies has probably played an even bigger role. Back in March, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that she intends to warn Beijing that its national underwriting for energy and other companies is creating oversupply and distorting global markets when she pays the country an official visit.

I intend to talk to the Chinese when I visit about overcapacity in some of these industries, and make sure that they understand the undesirable impact that this is having–flooding the market with cheap goods- -on the United States, but also in many of our closest allies, Yellen said in a speech in Norcross, Georgia.

That said, some analysts have argued that China is so far ahead in the game that these tariffs will do little to slow down its momentum.

But the Chinese manufacturers are so efficient, are so ahead of the curve, that tariffs like this – I don’t think will impact too much the pricing here. They will still be more competitive than their EU counterparts,” Anthony Sassine, senior investment strategist at KraneShares, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Tuesday.

Whether Chinese EVs will continue to dominate global markets after these tariffs take effect remains to be seen. However, EV manufacturers in general can take some comfort in predictions that their vehicles could start going mainstream sooner rather than later. To wit, Gartner has predicted that EVs will be cheaper to produce than ICE vehicles of the same size in three short years, thanks in large part to improvements in manufacturing methods with production costs dropping faster than battery costs.

New OEM incumbents want to heavily redefine the status quo in automotive. They brought new innovations that simplify production costs such as centralized vehicle architecture or the introduction of gigacastings that help reduce manufacturing cost and assembly time, which legacy automakers had no choice to adopt to survive,” Pedro Pacheco, vice president of research at Gartner, has said.

Source: Oilprice.com

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DOE Selects 2 Projects to Turn Previous Nuclear Weapons Testing Land into Solar Energy Generation Sites

Energy News Beat

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the first proposed projects selected under the Department’s Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative, an effort to repurpose parts of DOE-owned lands that were previously used in the nation’s nuclear weapons program into sites of clean-energy generation.

The initiative also supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government approach to leveraging federal properties to support the buildout of utility-scale clean energy projects.

The DOE will enter into lease negotiations with two solar energy developers for carbon-free electricity generation projects within the 890-square-mile Idaho National Laboratory (INL) site to produce 400 MW of solar power, enough to power 70,000 homes.

In total:

NorthRenew Energy Partners proposes installing photovoltaics and battery storage on approximately 2,000 acres of land at the INL site to produce more than 300 MW of carbon-free electricity.
Spitfire proposes to install photovoltaics and battery storage on approximately 500 acres of land at the INL site to produce 100 MW of carbon-free electricity.

As part of the Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative, the DOE has issued requests for qualifications (RFQs) to lease land at four additional sites: the Hanford site in Washington, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico, the Nevada National Security Site in Nevada, and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

The DOE intends to open subsequent RFQs for the INL site to solicit additional generation-ready clean energy projects for the land remaining available at the site. The DOE will also continue to engage and partner with industry, Tribal nations, communities, stakeholders, regulators, and others to implement a process for further development of clean energy projects on DOE land.

Source: Energytech.com

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British Gas offers half price electricity

Energy News Beat

British Gas has introduced PeakSave Green Flex events, offering customers more chances to save on energy bills and support a greener grid this summer.

During these events, which occur when there is plenty of renewable energy available, customers can get half price electricity.

These events will last for one to two hours and customers will be notified either the day before or on the morning of the event.

All PeakSave customers are eligible and must opt in to participate.

British Gas will use its own forecasting to schedule the events to test potential savings and grid impact.

Both new and existing PeakSave customers can benefit from the discount, which will be credited to their energy bills.

There is no requirement to change usual activities, but more savings can be achieved by doing energy-intensive tasks during these events.

Additionally, all PeakSave customers will continue to enjoy half price electricity every Sunday without needing to opt in.

So far, British Gas has paid more than £11 million to over 600,000 customers, resulting in savings of 326 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and shifting 11,799MWh of electricity to Sundays.

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Russian ally to become ‘strategic partner’ of US

Energy News Beat

The US and Armenia have announced that they intend to elevate their bilateral relations to the level of “strategic partnership,” with Washington helping Yerevan with trade, military matters, its judicial system and democracy.

The landlocked Caucasus country has long been a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance led by Russia. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, however, froze Yerevan’s membership in CSTO after blaming Russia for not stopping Azerbaijan from reclaiming the long-disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Russian peacekeepers had been deployed to the region in 2020, after Azerbaijan reclaimed parts of Nagorno-Karabakh in a conflict with the local Armenian militia. Pashinyan himself recognized Baku’s sovereignty over the region and argued that its loss had long been inevitable.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan hosted US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia James O’Brien in Yerevan on Tuesday. A joint statement issued on the occasion “noted Armenia’s aspirations for closer cooperation with Euro-Atlantic institutions and the West.”

“The United States and Armenia reaffirmed their commitment to shared democratic values and to the goal of an Armenia that is democratic, prosperous, and peaceful,” the communique declared.

Relations between the two countries should be upgraded in the coming year, O’Brien and Mirzoyan said. Both sides will continue to expand commercial and trade ties, along with “increasing cooperation on sanctions and export controls.”

The US will offer “commercial solutions in nuclear energy and renewables” to promote Armenia’s “food security and energy independence,” according to the communique.

Washington has also promised to continue Armenia’s “defense transformation” through a long-standing partnership with the Kansas National Guard, while helping Armenian police “increase accountability and sustainability.”

Yerevan acknowledged “significant US contributions to Armenia’s justice sector reform efforts,” while the US said it would continue supporting Armenian “efforts aimed at fostering judicial impartiality, integrity and independence,” as well as institutions “focused on preventing and combating corruption and transnational organized crime.”

The US likewise pledged more funding for “a robust civil society and independent media environment” in Armenia.

Pashinyan’s government has also made overtures to France for military technology and reportedly offered his country as a possible destination for asylum-seekers turned away by the UK.

Last month, O’Brien visited Armenia’s neighbor Georgia in an effort to stop the government in Tbilisi from adopting a “foreign agents” law. His threats of sanctions and withholding funding for “supporting democracy” were ultimately unsuccessful.

Source: Rt.com

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Oil Steadies as Traders Await Fed Interest Rate Decision

Energy News Beat

Oil prices steadied as traders await Wednesday’s interest-rate decision from the Federal Reserve to gauge the economy’s strength and the trajectory of oil demand.

West Texas Intermediate swung between gains and losses before ending the session near $78 a barrel. Crude had rallied almost 3% on Monday as traders decided to “buy the dip” following a decision by OPEC+ to restore some supply this year. The initial selloff prompted the group to clarify it could pause or reverse production changes if needed.

“After recent declines, oil prices have room to recover in the short term,” Morgan Stanley analysts including Martijn Rats and Charlotte Firkins said in a note. “Nevertheless, inventories are currently higher than we expected some time ago, and on current trends, supply/demand balances will likely weaken after the third quarter.”

Traders are watching for a Federal Reserve interest-rate decision due on Wednesday. A robust economy and still-high inflation in the US have seen investors pare bets that the central bank’s pivot will happen anytime soon. The resulting strength in the dollar has added pressure to prices.

Oil has trended lower since early April on concerns about soft demand and swelling supply from outside of OPEC. Output from Russia last month stayed above a level the country had pledged to the OPEC+ alliance, even as it made the deepest cuts in more than a year.

In the US, signs of robust supplies continue. Crude output is expected to swell by 310,000 barrels a day this year to a record above 13.2 million barrels a day, about 40,000 barrels a day more than projected in May, according to a monthly Energy Information Administration report Tuesday.

OPEC maintained its forecasts for strengthening demand in the second half on continued economic growth in China and other emerging economies, the organization said in a monthly report. The International Energy Agency will release its monthly report on Wednesday.

Prices:

WTI for July delivery rose 0.2% to settle at $77.90 a barrel in New York.
Brent for August settlement advanced 0.4% to settle at $81.92 a barrel.

Source: Rigzone.com

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Fyodor Lukyanov: Here’s what the results of the European Parliament elections tell us

Energy News Beat

MEPs don’t call the shots, so any real change in the bloc will emerge from domestic upheavals

The European Parliament elections have shaken up the political space but won’t bring revolutionary changes at EU level. Despite the success of Euroskeptic forces in a number of countries, the composition of the representative body has not seriously changed. The main jobs in the bloc’s institutions will, as always, be distributed between the mainstream – the conservatives (EPP), socialists (S&D) and liberals (Renew).

The main conclusion is that in the two largest EU countries – France and Germany – the ruling forces no longer enjoy popular support. Macron decided not to delay but to try to reverse the trend immediately, by calling elections with a three-week campaign. Berlin’s right-wing opposition – the CDU/CSU – also called for new elections, but this is highly unlikely.

Macron is taking a risk, but he is counting on the fact that citizens tend to vote differently in European than in national elections. In the first case, voting is an opportunity to express dissatisfaction with the authorities without risking anything, because the daily life of a European does not depend on what deputies in Brussels and Strasbourg do.

The second is to elect those who will form the government and on whom, therefore, their pockets depend. In national elections, it’s the managerial experience of the candidates that counts, and so-called populists usually don’t have these skills. As a result, the outcome of national elections is usually more favorable to the mainstream. This was the case under normal and stable conditions, but now we can only dream of those.

Macron put the Ukrainian issue at the center of his campaign for the European Parliament (to the point of promising direct intervention in the fighting). This didn’t mobilize voters. In Germany, the subject also played an important role, although it wasn’t central. The CDU, which was very successful, is even more pro-Ukrainian than the Social Democrats. However, the success of the Alternative for Germany and Sarah Wagenknecht’s new party shows that this line also has its opponents – both forces oppose arming Ukraine.

Will this demonstration of skepticism by a significant part of the electorate towards involvement in the Ukrainian conflict affect the policies of the EU and its individual members? We dare say that it will not. Firstly, the modern European establishment (we are talking about large countries, in smaller countries the situation is more flexible) perceives the signals of the electorate in a peculiar way. Not in the sense that it is necessary to change course, but in the sense that (a) they have not done enough to explain the necessity of such a policy and that, (b), they have not prevented hostile (Russian) influence. So, it is not necessary to change direction, but to continue on the same course, but with redoubled efforts.

There is, however, one important nuance. Both in France and (especially) in Germany, the so-called far-right parties are still virtually isolated; they cannot participate in normal coalition politics. The common accusation is that they play the role of Putin’s ‘fifth column.’ However, the degree of their support is already such that it will not be possible to marginalize these forces indefinitely. In Germany, as commenters note, the issue will soon become a question – it is time either to ban the AfD party as “extremist” or to start treating it as an ordinary political force. So far, they are leaning towards the former, but no decision has been made. “Normalization” of these parties, as the example of Giorgia Meloni in Italy shows, may move them towards a mainstream agenda. But such an outcome is not guaranteed, it depends on a critical mass.

There is really no alternative to Western Europe’s current foreign-policy course – too much credibility has been placed on it. And the senior comrade across the ocean also backs the current course. So, they must persevere. Fluctuations are possible, but they are linked (as in the US if Trump becomes president) not to a revision of the fundamentals but to the paralysis of the system in the event of a breakthrough to real power by non-systemic forces. If, for example, Le Pen’s National Movement wins the French elections and takes over government, the ‘cohabitation’ will turn into a series of squabbles at the highest managerial level. It would be difficult to take any decisions. In other words, the alternative to current politics is not a different politics, but rather the dysfunction of any politics.

Western European politics is changing in structure, but not yet in substance. Most likely, it can only change as a result of breakdowns and upheavals that can be expected but cannot be predicted.

This article was first published by Profile.ru, translated and edited by the RT team

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Delegations from 200 cities invited to BRICS forum – Moscow

Energy News Beat

Representatives from more than 200 cities around the world have been invited to take part in the BRICS International Municipal Forum, scheduled for August in Moscow, authorities in the Russian capital have said.

Over 5,000 participants from 126 countries and 89 Russian jurisdictions are expected to attend the event on August 27-78, with some 700 speakers at various panels and receptions, the organizers said at a press conference on Tuesday evening.

“We count on the participation of all constituent entities of the Russian Federation and our foreign partners, while we are sending out mailings to more than 200 cities in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America,” Sergey Cheremin, head of Moscow’s department of foreign trade and international relations, told TASS.

The forum will be held at the Ekspocentr convention hall near the Krasnaya Presnya park in Moscow, Cheremin said. 

According to Cheremin, the program will include discussions about municipal infrastructure, sustainability of urban development, and effective resource management. Special attention will be paid to education, healthcare, culture, tourism and sports. 

“Moscow can offer participants of all events its invaluable experience in infrastructure development, which has turned Moscow into one of the most developed cities in the world,” Cheremin said. “We will definitely touch upon issues of innovation, attracting talented specialists and maintaining the competitiveness of megacities,” he added.

Chairman of the Moscow City Duma, Alexey Shaposhnikov, announced plans to sign a joint declaration with BRICS capitals and major cities.

A significant number of major corporations have confirmed their participation in the upcoming forum, with both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) meetings in the works, said Mikhail Sverdlov, head of the BRICS+ Business Communications Foundation. 

 

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Germany’s Uniper terminates Russian gas supply deals

Energy News Beat

German state-owned energy firm Uniper has decided on Wednesday to terminate its long-term Russian gas supply contracts, officially ending its long-term gas supply relationship with Russia’s state-owned Gazprom.

According to a statement by Uniper, the decision was made possible after an arbitration tribunal on June 7 awarded the company the right to terminate the contracts and awarded it an amount of more than 13 billion euros ($13.96 billion) in damages for the gas volumes not supplied by Gazprom Export, a unit of Gazprom, since mid-2022.

“Although only limited gas volumes had been delivered since June 2022 and no gas volumes since the end of August 2022, the long-term gas supply contracts between the two companies were still legally in force and individual contracts would have continued to exist until the mid-2030s,” it said.

After Uniper suffered “substantial losses” due to the Russian gas supply restrictions, the company initiated arbitration proceedings against Gazprom Export at the end of 2022.

The option of dispute resolution via an arbitration tribunal was contractually agreed and had in the past in respect of other disputes been invoked repeatedly by both sides, Uniper said.

The tribunal, seated in Stockholm, ruled in accordance with Swiss law. The arbitration ruling is legally binding and final, it said.

“From June 2022, Gazprom Export initially supplied less natural gas to Germany and then none, although such supplies to this day are not sanctioned by the EU,” Uniper said.

Uniper had to procure gas for its customers by other means, in some cases at “extremely high market prices, which at times led to additional costs for Uniper in the hundreds of millions of euros every day,” it said.

The company said it was only able to bear these additional costs with state support.

Uniper’s insolvency was averted with the stabilization agreement in December 2022 and the entry of the federal government as the main shareholder in Uniper.

Germany agreed to buy Fortum’s stake in gas and LNG importer, Uniper, to stabilize the firm and prevent an energy shortage.

Uniper and its partners developed Germany’s first FSRU-based LNG import facility in Wilhelmshaven.

German LNG terminal operator Deutsche Energy Terminal operates this facility and the Brunsbüttel terminal, as well as the Stade-FSRU terminal which is expected to receive its first cargo in the second half of this year, and the upcoming second Wilhelmshaven facility.

“Our termination of the contracts with Gazprom Export is the latest in a series of consistent decisions over the last three years,” Michael Lewis, CEO of Uniper said in the statement.

“During this time, Uniper has written off its share in the financing of the Nordstream 2 pipeline, its stake in the Russian subsidiary Unipro, and allowed its coal supply contracts with Russia to expire,” he said.

“Since then, Uniper has worked hard to diversify its gas business and is now well positioned with its global LNG portfolio and pipeline gas supplies from various regions,” Lewis said.

 

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