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OPEC source tells Reuters bigger cuts a likely option

Energy News Beat

Oil Price

An OPEC+ source told Reuters on Monday that the expanded cartel is considering bigger oil output cuts during its November 30 meeting, which was originally delayed for four days over a production quota dispute between OPEC leaders and African nations.

Source: Reuters

The unnamed OPEC+ source told Reuters he expected an option for a “collective further reduction” in oil production during the next meeting. The source’s comments echo similar comments made earlier in November suggesting that additional cuts would be considered. Last week, analysts increasingly chimed in to predict either an extension of the existing 1 million-barrel-per-day voluntary cuts or additional cuts to support prices which have fallen from highs of close to $100 per barrel in September to barely holding down $80 currently.

Late last week, reports emerged that OPEC+ was making progress in talks with its African producers over their oil output quotas next year after Angola and Nigeria requested a higher production ceiling next year. Both countries took a cut in their quotas at the June 2023 meeting of OPEC+ as they had consistently failed to pump to their quotas.

At the same time, for next year, the UAE is set to increase exports of its flagship Murban crude grade after negotiating a higher production quota in the OPEC+ deal. For years, the UAE has argued it should be allowed to pump more than its current OPEC+ quota as it is raising its production capacity.

At the June meeting, the UAE won an upward revision of its quota that will take its production up by 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 3.219 million bpd for 2024.Earlier on Monday, the OPEC General Secretariat slammed the International Energy Agency (IEA) for its “moment of truth” report on the oil and gas industry released last week. The IEA suggested that the world now has a stark choice between oil and gas and worsening climate change. OPEC criticized the agency for vilifying the industry and ignoring cost and energy security issues.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

 

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OPEC Slams IEA Over “Moment Of Truth” For Oil

Energy News Beat

By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

Days after the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that the oil and gas industry faces “a moment of truth” in choosing between fueling climate change and becoming a part of the solution, OPEC criticized the agency for vilifying the industry and for playing down energy security and affordability.

Last week, the IEA published a report saying that a “moment of truth” is coming for the oil and gas industry as most companies are watching the energy transition from the sidelines, with oil and gas producers accounting for only 1% of total clean energy investment globally.  

“Producers must choose between contributing to a deepening climate crisis or becoming part of the solution by embracing the shift to clean energy,” the IEA said.

Commenting on the report, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais said in a statement on Monday,

“It is ironic that the IEA, an agency that has repeatedly shifted its narratives and forecasts on a regular basis in recent years, now addresses the oil and gas industry and says that this is a ‘moment of truth’.”

“The manner in which the IEA has unfortunately used its social media platforms in recent days to criticize and instruct the oil and gas industry is undiplomatic to say the least. OPEC itself is not an organization that would prescribe to others what they should do,” Al Ghais said.

OPEC also criticized the agency for describing carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) an “illusion”.

Al Ghais concluded: “We do see a ‘moment of truth’ ahead. We need to understand that all countries have their own orderly energy transition pathways, we need an assurance that all voices are heard, not just a select few, and we need to ensure that energy transitions enable economic growth, enhance social mobility, boost energy access, and reduce emissions at the same time.”

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Can ERCOT show the way to faster and cheaper grid interconnection?

Energy News Beat

In a landmark decision, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in July ordered transmission providers to revise their interconnection rules to help ease a massive backlog of requests by generators and energy storage developers for permission to connect to the grid.

While the new requirements are viewed as a major improvement, the Department of Energy and others are already looking at possible next steps for improving interconnection processes, including “connect and manage,” the interconnection process used by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

In her concurrence to FERC’s interconnection rule, Commissioner Allison Clements pointed to connect and manage as a potential template for interconnecting energy-only resources. It was also the focus of Beyond FERC Order 2023: Considerations on Deep Interconnection Reform, a white paper released in August by Tyler Norris, a doctoral student at Duke University and former vice president of development at Cypress Creek Renewables.

Connect and manage is “certainly worth exploring” in any future interconnection action at FERC, Karin Herzfeld, senior transmission counsel to the agency’s acting Chairman Willie Phillips, said at a Nov. 2 meeting hosted by WIRES, a trade group for utilities, grid operators and other companies in the transmission sector.

What is connect and manage?

ERCOT is the only U.S. grid operator to use connect and manage. The Texas grid operator focuses its interconnection request studies on what local upgrades are needed for a project to connect to the grid. In contrast to the rest of the U.S., it doesn’t examine the possible need for broader network upgrades. ERCOT manages any grid bottlenecks caused by a new generator through market redispatch and curtailment.

With roughly 85 GW in peak load, ERCOT is a mid-sized grid operator, but in the last two years leads all U.S. grid operators and transmission providers in interconnecting generation to the grid.

ERCOT brought 14.2 GW online in 2021 and 2022 while in the PJM Interconnection, the largest U.S. grid operator, 5.6 GW started operating during those two years, according to data from S&P Global.

ERCOT brings the most generation online in 2021 and 2022

Annual capacity additions by region in MW.

ERCOT’s approach allows generators to interconnect much more quickly, efficiently and at minimal cost compared with the rest of the United States, according to Norris. Using congestion data, the grid operator relies on a transmission planning process to identify needed transmission upgrades, he said.

In ERCOT, interconnection customers take studies conducted by the grid operator and use them to assess their curtailment risk, according to Norris.

“And then they decide whether or not to proceed, and if they do, they’ll bear that [curtailment] risk,” Norris said. “And of course, we’re seeing many generators deciding they can take that risk.”

In 2022, ERCOT curtailed about 9% of utility-scale solar generation and 5% of wind generation, Norris said in his white paper.

Besides not requiring costly grid upgrades, which can kill planned projects, ERCOT’s interconnection process is faster than elsewhere.

ERCOT’s interconnection process can be finished in one to two years, according to Frank Swigonski, Pine Gate Renewables’ director of market design.

“We’re big fans of connect and manage,” he said, adding that interconnection issues are the company’s “number one project killer.”

It takes roughly 3.5 years to complete ERCOT’s interconnection process and bring a project online, compared to six or more years in other regions, with PJM and the Southwest Power Pool the longest, according to Mario Hayden, Enel North America director of transmission.

“In ERCOT, it’s been fairly plug and play,” he said.

Enel has 3.3 GW of wind and solar capacity in ERCOT, plus 520 MW of energy storage that can provide 780 MWh before recharging. It is building 1.8 GW of solar and 823 MW/1,234 MWh of utility-scale storage in ERCOT, which covers most of Texas.

Invest and connect

Outside ERCOT, transmission owners and grid operators use an “invest and connect” interconnection framework. They generally study interconnection requests for “network resource interconnection service,” or NRIS, to see whether broad transmission upgrades are needed under stressed conditions to reliably bring planned power plants and storage facilities online at full capacity. Generators then pay for any needed network upgrades, which are made before they connect to the grid.

The process has grown longer and more expensive, according to a June report by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The average interconnection costs for projects in PJM’s interconnection queue jumped eightfold to $240/kW in the 2020 to 2022 period from $29/kW in the previous two years, Berkeley Lab researchers said in a January report.

The pace of the interconnection process has resource adequacy implications, according to Swigonski. In PJM, for example, the interconnection process has been so bogged down, it would be difficult for generators to respond to price signals in its capacity market, he said.

“If you were to try to start building a new power plant today [based on rising capacity prices,] you’re looking at at least five years before the power plant is going to become operational,” Swigonski said.

Lessons from ERCOT

ERCOT offers lessons for interconnection reform elsewhere in the United States, according to Norris.

“ERCOT’s interconnection performance suggests that less restrictive study approaches and greater use of real-time congestion management could enable more efficient use of limited transmission capacity,” he said. “The goal is to figure out how to improve energy-only and fast-track options and to depend less on the interconnection study process to identify and fund network upgrades.”

Given ERCOT’s attributes — it’s an energy-only, single-state market without broad cost allocation for interconnection costs — it would be difficult to directly transfer the Texas framework to other markets, according to Enel’s Hayden.

One potential option is to enhance FERC’s requirement that transmission providers offer “energy resource interconnection service,” or ERIS, for energy-only resources that doesn’t require full deliverability under stressed grid conditions, Norris said. If a project qualifies for ERIS, its potential grid upgrade costs could be significantly lower than if its developer sought NRIS interconnection, he said. The generator, however, faces curtailment risks.

In her concurrence to FERC’s interconnection rule, Clements said ERCOT could provide a template for ERIS interconnection. Streamlining ERIS interconnection assessment could allow transmission providers to focus their study resources on a smaller number of requests seeking NRIS, she said.

Some reform options include studying clustered interconnection requests in two steps: first ERIS requests, followed by NRIS requests, according to Norris’s white paper. And instead of studying ERIS requests using power flows, transmission providers could study them using “security constrained economic dispatch,” which could identify whether curtailment could handle grid constraints caused by the project, he said.

Overall, if energy-only and other fast-track interconnection options become more attractive, that could reduce the volume of projects seeking NRIS, improving the efficiency and success rate of the interconnection study process broadly, Norris said.

Operational, planning concerns

However, the connect and manage approach raises operational and planning issues, according to Casey Cathey, SPP senior director for grid asset utilization.

On the operation side, markets, which would be used to manage the “connect and manage” resources, cannot assess operating issues such as voltage stability, transient stability, short circuit challenges and critical clearing time challenges, Cathey said.

“When you talk about the concept of connect and manage, there’s this whole area of electrical engineering that still needs to be addressed,” he said.

Also, connect and manage would need to be coupled with transmission planning reforms that assess future transmission needs to make sure grid planners are “looking at the robust transmission solutions associated with what’s necessary to best process all these [generator interconnection] requests,” Cathey said.

Generally, the goal of connect and manage is to more quickly add power supplies to the grid, Cathey said. But if grid operators aren’t identifying transmission upgrades during the generator interconnection process, and ultimately more transmission is needed, power plant owners may face significant curtailment until more transmission is built, which can take years, according to Cathey.

“Then the question is, what have we really done?” he said.

Source: Utilitydive.com

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Reliability v. sustainability: Inside the debate over the EPA’s proposed carbon rules

Energy News Beat

Electric reliability has been a hot topic lately — from congressional hearings to regulatory agencies and at the regional transmission organizations that run the electric grid in much of the country.

The American electric grid is undergoing a major change, prodded by state and federal decarbonization policies, market forces pushing cheaper and cleaner forms of electricity and aging power infrastructure.

That’s run up against electric transmission constraints, big delays in getting new wires built and massive backlogs in getting new, mostly renewable projects connected to the grid. Grid operators, in particular, are worried about the pace of the change, arguing fossil plant retirements are accelerating too quickly to ensure there are enough new resources to replace them.

Into that tumult the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year dropped a proposal to again attempt to regulate carbon from power plants, which are responsible for about a quarter of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Since they were rolled out in May, the proposed rules have been a lightning rod for congressional Republicans and drawn fire from competitive electric generators as well as concern from federal and state energy regulators and grid operators that the regulations go too far, too fast.

But the EPA and clean energy proponents say the time frames are workable and crucial to cutting carbon emissions while allowing time for compliance and the flexibility needed to keep the lights on during the transition.

What is the EPA proposing?

EPA’s draft rule creates different emissions targets for gas and coal plants depending on their planned retirement date and capacity factors, a measure of how much power a plant produces over time relative to how much it could have produced at full operation.

“We have committed ourselves to designing and implementing regulations to serve the public’s dual needs of healthful air quality and reliable and affordable electricity,” said Joseph Goffman, a principal deputy administrator at EPA, at a Nov. 9 FERC technical conference on electric reliability. “These emissions are helping fuel an escalating climate crisis that is already having devastating impacts on Americans across the country.”

The general approach, according to Carrie Jenks, executive director of Harvard Law School’s environmental and energy law program, is to require coal and gas units that don’t plan to retire in the near term and are operating at higher capacity factors to undertake more rigorous carbon reductions.

“If you’re operating a lot, and a lot throughout the year and really frequently, then you have to do more to reduce your emissions from those plants. But if you’re operating either as a peaker or intermediate, meaning not all the time, then there’s different options that are available for those plants,” Jenks said at a media briefing organized by Energy Innovation, a non-partisan energy and climate policy think tank.

For example, for a coal plant that intends to operate beyond 2040, EPA is proposing that the facility will need to capture 90% of its carbon emissions by 2030.

For a plant that will retire by 2040, its emissions rate is based on co-firing with natural gas at a rate of 40%. A coal unit that plans to retire by 2035 could agree to operate at 20% capacity and not be bound by any new carbon restrictions, Jenks said. If it’s retiring before 2032, it can operate as is.

“2030 is really the decision point for units for how they plan to operate going forward,” Jenks said, noting the exact thresholds and parameters could change in response to comments EPA receives. There are similar requirements for gas plants (though they differ slightly for new and existing plants) to either blend with hydrogen to reduce emissions or capture emissions depending on whether they are baseload (above 50% capacity factor) or so-called “peaker plants,” which fire on during periods of high demand.

However, EPA’s reliance on carbon capture and storage as well as hydrogen blending have drawn lots of criticism, mainly because both sets of technologies are relatively in their infancy and have yet to be deployed at any kind of scale.

Anthony Campbell, president and CEO at East Kentucky Power Cooperative, speaking on behalf of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, said EPA’s rule “is unlawful and unworkable” at the FERC technical conference. Campbell said that under the proposed rule, plans are due to EPA by 2026, making it impossible for plant operators to make compliance decisions given the uncertainty surrounding carbon capture and hydrogen production.

“They will be forced into either retirement of essential, dispatchable coal units or curtailment of those units to capacity factors below 20% by 2032 and complete retirement by 2035,” Campbell said. “The disorderly retirement and elimination of baseload generation will leave the electricity grid with a significant deficit of dispatchable generation that cannot be replaced by intermittent resources, especially during a time of economic growth.”

‘The arithmetic doesn’t work’

Electric reliability debates can get complex. But FERC Commissioner Mark Christie, a former Virginia utility regulator, said at the Nov. 9 technical conference on reliability that the fundamental problem facing the U.S. electric grid is as simple as two lines on a chart. One is the demand for power.

“That line’s going up,” Christie said. “It may go up astronomically if ‘electrify everything’ takes place — you electrify the transportation sector, you electrify the home heating sector.”

The other line is supply of power.

“And that line ain’t going up, or it’s certainly not going up nearly as rapidly,” he said. “The arithmetic doesn’t work. And that’s the fundamental issue.”

According to the Clean Energy States Alliance, a coalition of state energy agencies, 23 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have 100% clean energy goals. Along with federal policy like the landmark Inflation Reduction Act, and market conditions, utilities, many of which have their own decarbonization goals, are being prodded into retiring older coal and gas plants.

(At a recent FERC meeting, Christie warned that two of the nation’s largest regional transmission operators, MISO and PJM, are “basically hemorrhaging dispatchable resources.”)

 PJM, which coordinates the flow of electricity from power generators to utility companies in 13 states and the District of Columbia, is facing complaints about how it ensures it will have enough capacity to keep the electricity flowing during a winter storm or summer heat wave. (Photo by fhm/Getty Images)

Jim Robb, president and CEO of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation — which, for the first time, has started listing “energy policy” as a reliability risk — told the commissioners at the reliability conference that the expansion of so-called inverter-based resources like wind, solar and batteries introduce new variability into grid management, especially as they become bigger parts of the power mix.

“This is a country that hasn’t proven its ability to develop infrastructure to support that,” Robb said. “We’re going to need to figure out how to get transmission built, we’re going to have to figure out how to speed the development of new resources onto the grid and importantly we need to figure out how to retain the stuff that we have to meet any of these policy objectives.”

Goffman, the EPA official, said the agency is committed to continuing engagement with regulators and grid operators “over the coming weeks and months so that we can ensure we arrive at a final rule for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that is effective, workable, and fully compatible with maintaining reliable and affordable electricity.”

‘The grid can absolutely be reliable’

Ric O’Connell, executive director of GridLab, which he called a public interest organization that provides technical expertise on the electric grid to policy makers, told the FERC conference that the EPA rules and ensuring reliability are compatible.

“The grid can absolutely be reliable under the proposed EPA rules but we’ll need to plan and take action,” he said, adding that the rules codify “what’s already happening due to economic and policy forces.” He noted that 2 terawatts (2 million megawatts) of power resources, mostly wind, solar and battery resources, are stuck in interconnection queues across the country.

In a media briefing hosted by Energy Innovation, O’Connell said there’s “an enormous wealth of academic and industry literature” that shows the path to cutting carbon from the power sector drastically over the next decade.

“We do that through a very simple playbook. It’s deploy wind, solar and batteries over the next decade,” he said. Couple that with keeping carbon-free sources like hydropower and nuclear plants online and use existing gas fleets at low levels to provide the crucial balancing services large amounts of renewables will require, O’Connell added.

He noted that the United Kingdom has gone from 71% coal power in 1990 to less than 1% this year and that California and New England’s electric grids are already largely coal free. Even Texas, he noted, “is well on its way to looking like this as well.” He noted that MISO’s projections envision a similar grid, with natural gas plants running at very low capacity factors by 2040.

“Can we run our grid without coal? The simple answer is yes,” he said.

Source: Penncapital-star.com

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NOG Announces Bolt-on Acquisitions; Expands Northern Delaware Position and Enters Ohio Utica Shale in Appalachia

Energy News Beat

MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NYSE: NOG) (“NOG” or “Company”) today announced two acquisition transactions.

“After closing, our Permian lands will approach ~40,000 net acres and definitively become our most active and largest basin in terms of activity and production”

NORTHERN DELAWARE BASIN TRANSACTION

NOG has entered into a definitive agreement with a private party to acquire non-operated interests across ~3,000 net acres located primarily in Lea and Eddy Counties, New Mexico. NOG owns existing interests in approximately 90% of the leasehold. Current production is ~2,800 Boe per day (2-stream, ~67% oil). NOG expects 2024 production to average ~2,500 Boe per day (2-stream, ~67% oil) but expects significant future growth on the assets, with average production of >3,500 Boe per day for 2025 through 2030. Capital expenditures on the assets are expected to be in the range of $25 – $30 million to be incurred in 2024, with similar expected levels annually through 2027.

The acquired assets include 13.0 net producing wells, 1.0 net well in process and an estimated 26.3 net undeveloped locations, representing approximately 13.5 years of inventory at sustaining capital levels. The undeveloped assets are of extremely high quality, with an average pre-tax PV-10 breakeven of less than $45 per barrel. Mewbourne Oil is the largest operator, controlling approximately 80% of the assets.

The effective date for the transaction is November 1, 2023. NOG has placed a $17.1 million deposit for the acquisition with the balance of the funding to occur at closing, which is expected in the first quarter of 2024, subject to the satisfaction of typical closing conditions.

APPALACHIAN BASIN TRANSACTION

NOG has entered into a definitive agreement with a separate private party to acquire non-operated interests in Jefferson, Harrison, Belmont, and Monroe Counties, Ohio. The primary target zone is the Point Pleasant/Utica Shale.

Current production is approximately 23 MMcfe per day (~3,800 Boe per day, ~100% gas) and NOG expects average production in 2024 at slightly higher levels. NOG expects to incur approximately $14 million of capital expenditures on the assets in 2023 (which may be included in whole, or in part, as a portion of the initial closing settlement, depending on timing), and $8 million of capital expenditures in 2024.

The acquired properties include approximately 0.8 net producing wells and 1.7 net wells-in-process. Substantially all the assets are operated by Ascent Resources, one of the top Utica producers in Ohio.

The effective date for the transaction is November 1, 2023, with an expected close in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to the satisfaction of typical closing conditions.

MANAGEMENT COMMENTS

“These transactions demonstrate our continued ability to successfully acquire high quality assets in the core of their respective basins, with best-in-class operating parties,” commented Nick O’Grady, Chief Executive Officer of NOG. “We expect the assets to be accretive in 2024 and to accelerate further in future years. We are also pleased to expand our Appalachian presence into some of the best parts of the Ohio Utica Shale as we continue to grow our natural gas portfolio in the region over time. Notably, at the current pricing strip, we still expect to reach our ~1x leverage ratio target in 2024 and cash generating assets such as these should add to dividend capacity over time.”

“After closing, our Permian lands will approach ~40,000 net acres and definitively become our most active and largest basin in terms of activity and production,” commented Adam Dirlam, NOG’s President. “Our focus remains on low-breakeven, resilient inventory that works in nearly any price environment, and these assets deliver in spades. On the Appalachian front, we are acquiring assets in the core of the Utica under one of the most prolific operators, with a focus on near-term development. As we continue to build data in the area, there is significant potential for longer term expansion.”

ADVISORS

Citi served as financial advisor to NOG for the Delaware Basin transaction.

TPH&Co, the energy business of Perella Weinberg Partners, served as financial advisor to the Delaware Basin seller.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as NOG’s legal advisor for the Delaware Basin transaction. Steptoe & Johnson is serving as NOG’s legal advisor for the Utica transaction.

ABOUT NOG

NOG is a real asset company with a primary strategy of acquiring and investing in non-operated minority working and mineral interests in the premier hydrocarbon producing basins within the contiguous United States. More information about NOG can be found at www.northernoil.com.

SAFE HARBOR

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”). All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this release regarding NOG’s financial position, common stock dividends, production, cash flows, capital expenditures, business strategy, plans and objectives of management for future operations and industry conditions are forward-looking statements. When used in this release, forward-looking statements are generally accompanied by terms or phrases such as “estimate,” “project,” “predict,” “believe,” “expect,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “target,” “could,” “plan,” “intend,” “seek,” “goal,” “will,” “should,” “may” or other words and similar expressions that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. Items contemplating or making assumptions about actual or potential future sales, market size, collaborations, and trends or operating results also constitute such forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and important factors (many of which are beyond NOG’s control) that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements, including the following: changes in crude oil and natural gas prices, the pace of drilling and completions activity on NOG’s properties and properties pending acquisition, NOG’s ability to acquire additional development opportunities, changes in NOG’s reserves estimates or the value thereof, general economic or industry conditions, nationally and/or in the communities in which NOG conducts business, changes in the interest rate environment, legislation or regulatory requirements, conditions of the securities markets, NOG’s ability to consummate any pending acquisition transactions (including the transactions described herein), other risks and uncertainties related to the closing of pending acquisition transactions (including the transactions described herein), NOG’s ability to raise or access capital, changes in accounting principles, policies or guidelines, financial or political instability, acts of war or terrorism, and other economic, competitive, governmental, regulatory and technical factors affecting NOG’s operations, products, services and prices.

NOG has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations and assumptions about future events. While management considers these expectations and assumptions to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, regulatory, and other risks, contingencies, and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond NOG’s control. NOG does not undertake any duty to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by the federal securities laws.

Source: Businesswire.com

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French court opens case against teens over beheading of teacher

Energy News Beat

Six teenagers have gone on trial behind closed doors in connection with the beheading of French history teacher Samuel Paty.

The murder, which shocked the country, took place in 2020 after the teacher had shown his pupils caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in a class on freedom of expression.

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‘Muslims targeted’ in wake of French teacher’s killing

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France: Killed teacher’s pupils handed over to judge amid probe

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‘We are not afraid’: France rallies after teacher beheaded

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Police arrest nine after teacher beheaded in Paris suburb

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Paty, 47, was killed outside his school in a Paris suburb by Abdoullakh Anzorov, an 18-year-old assailant of Chechen origin, who was shot dead by police soon afterwards.

The six youths cannot be identified due to their age. They entered court on Monday wearing hoodies to hide their faces.

Five of the six, who were 14 to 15 years old at the time, face up to 2.5 years in prison for criminal conspiracy with intent to cause violence. They are accused of identifying the teacher to the killer in exchange for money.

The other defendant, a girl who was 13 at the time, allegedly told her parents that Paty had asked Muslim pupils to leave the room before showing the caricatures. However, she was not in the class at the time.

During questioning, the teenagers swore that at most they thought Paty would be “flagged up on social media”, “humiliated” or maybe “roughed up”, but they never imagined “it would go as far as murder”.

“He is consumed with regret and is very fearful of the confrontation with Paty’s family,” Antoine Ory, lawyer for one of the accused, said on Monday before the hearing started.

Paty’s sister Mickaelle said in a statement through lawyer Louis Cailliez that her brother would still be alive without a “fatal association of small cowardices, big lies”.

“The role of the minors was fundamental in the sequence of events that led to his assassination,” a lawyer for Paty’s family said.

The hearings, due to last until December 8, will be held behind closed doors. Eight adults are also accused and will appear before a special criminal court.

Last month, almost two years to the day of Paty’s killing, a 20-year-old man fatally stabbed teacher Dominique Bernard and gravely wounded two other people in an attack at a school in northern France.

Like Anzorov, Bernard’s suspected killer Mohammed Moguchkov also hailed from Russia’s mainly Muslim North Caucasus region.

Anzorov targeted Paty after messages spread on social media that the teacher had shown his class the cartoons. They had originally featured in the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015, triggering a deadly attack by gunmen.

The teacher was killed in 2020 outside his school in Paris, after sharing cartoons of Prophet Muhammad in class.

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While America Pursues Renewables, Worldwide Expansion Is Underway for Nuclear Generated Electricity

Energy News Beat

Sweden, China, India, Russia, and others are changing from occasional electricity from renewables to fossil-free electricity from nuclear that is continuous and uninterruptible.

American political leaders such as President Joe Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom continue “to dream the impossible dream” that intermittent electricity from wind and solar can run the world while countries such as Sweden, China, India, and Russia are changing from occasional electricity by renewables to electricity from nuclear that is continuous, uninterruptible, and fossil-free.

With regards to reliable electricity, Sweden has said their electricity policy goal is “changed from 100% renewable to 100% fossil-free”. The Swedish government unveiled a roadmap which envisages the construction of new nuclear generating capacity equivalent to at least two large-scale reactors by 2035. Sweden plans ‘massive’ expansion of new nuclear generated electricity by 2045.

The Swedish agreement also said necessary regulations should be developed to create the conditions for the construction and operation of small modular reactors (SMRs) to service smaller communities. In addition, the permitting process for nuclear power plants must be shortened.

Elsewhere, about 60 nuclear power reactors are currently being constructed in 15 countries, notably China, India, and Russia. Together, China and Russia account for 70 percent of new nuclear plants.

America continues its pursuit of reducing crude oil usage, in favor of wind and solar generated electricity. In addition, the “American renewables dream“ would mean sacrificing an estimated 6,000 useful products that rely on by-products manufactured from crude oil – products that range from asphalt for highways to fertilizers, cosmetics, synthetic rubber, medicines and medical devices, cleaning products, plastics, so many more.

Without fuels and without products now based on crude oil, we would be unable to operate the international and military airports that now accommodate a large number of the  more than 20,000 commercial aircraft  and a large number of the more than 50,000 military aircraft, as well as many of the more than50,000 merchant ships.

Without the fuels and products now based on oil, the world would see the elimination of all militaries and space programs as the world reverts to the pre-1800’s when civilization existed without oil!

The billions who live on this planet without the benefits of those products made from the petrochemicals manufactured from crude oil have provided are also the poorest, sickest, and most vulnerable humans on the planet.

For any electricity generation method, whether it’s coal, natural gas, hydroelectric, nuclear, wind turbines, or solar panels, the most reliable are those that can generate continuous and uninterruptible electricity year-round to support hospitals, industry, militaries, electronics, and communications.

The nameplate rated capacity of renewables is very misleading as the generated electricity is intermittent and unreliable. Wind facilities only generate their stated output about 30-40 percent of the time.  Solar units typically only kick in 25 percent of their purported “capacity factor.” That means backup electricity  from coal, natural gas, and nuclear generating plants must be provided for the other 60-75 percent of the time that wind and solar are napping.

To the electrical engineer, the available wind and solar farms operational data shows that, it is not possible for wind and solar electricity to ever displace dispatchable, reliable generation of continuous uninterruptable electricity supplying the base load demand. In this regard, the proposal by some policymakers to replace major coal, natural gas, hydro, and nuclear power stations with a fleet of nameplate rated wind and solar farms that are dormant most of the time is not technically achievable, thus “they dream the impossible dream”.

Further, the minerals and components of renewable electricity from wind and solar are typically garnered overseas in developing countries, chiefly in China, Africa, and Latin America. What this means is that it will be on the backs of poor Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics to provide the low-cost, cheap labor that will drive a “Green revolution” – to include any potential child and slave labor as well as extensive environmental degradation to “their” country, as discussed in detail in the Pulitzer Prize Nominated book “Clean Energy Exploitations – Helping Citizens Understand the Environmental and Humanity Abuses That Support Clean Energy”.

As for the environmental credentials of “clean electricity”, governmental leaders need to look at the trail of environmental and human damage from the beginning to the end of the life of batteries, turbines, and solar panels. The cleanliness of “clean” electricity is one of the Big Lies of our time. Wind and solar electricity are not cheap or energy-efficient, after considering the energy required for mining, transporting, processing, construction, and disposal of the hardware at the end of the line.

Then we have the oxymoron situation, where policymakers are not yet cognizant that everything that “needs” electricity is made with the oil derivatives manufactured from crude oil, from the light bulb to the iPhone, defibrillator, etc., etc.! Thus, renewables are not displacing the need for crude oil.

Policymakers need to have a plan to be able to support the materialistic demands of the eight billion on this globe for all the products, infrastructures, and electricity that exist today that did not exist a few hundred years ago. Efforts to cease the use of crude oil, without a planned replacement, could be the greatest threat to civilization’s demands of the eight billion on this planet.

The so-called fossil fuel industry enables people to live lives of ease and comfort that were inconceivable for the masses before the 1800’s. The products and fuels manufactured from crude oil are the basis of modern life, providing thousands of products that are ubiquitous in modern society. These include items that we use practically every minute of the day from putting on our makeup and cleaning our teeth to undergoing medical treatment. Imagine the pharmaceutical industry without petrochemical products.

If we want to deliver continuous, uninterruptible, and emission-free electricity at scale, and at a low cost for millions of electricity consumers, to support the materialistic demands that did not exist a few short centuries ago, that pace will have to move to a warp speed timeline, like that in Sweden, China, India, and Russia with their focus on electricity from nuclear generation.

Source: Heartland.org

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The post While America Pursues Renewables, Worldwide Expansion Is Underway for Nuclear Generated Electricity appeared first on Energy News Beat.

 

Lorries line up at Poland-Ukraine border as truckers expand blockade

Energy News Beat

News|transport

Polish truckers and farmers have started a blockade of one of the busiest border crossings with Ukraine, expanding a protest against what they say is unfair competition from Ukraine and demanding more government support.

The Polish truckers and farmers began an around-the-clock blockade of the southeastern Medyka crossing on Monday.

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Poland charges 16 after dismantling Russian spy ring

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Poland’s pro-EU opposition parties reach coalition agreement

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‘Ideologically anti-populist’: Poland votes for a new future

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Ukraine claims key southern foothold, appeals for more military aid

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Medyka is the fourth border point Polish workers have blocked since November 6, stranding thousands of lorries for days in kilometres-long lines.

The Polish truckers said they are losing out to Ukrainian companies, which offer cheaper prices and are transporting goods within the European Union rather than just between the bloc and Ukraine.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EU lifted permit requirements for Ukrainian truckers entering the bloc and for EU truckers entering Ukraine.

‘No intention of giving up’

The Polish truckers are demanding the EU reintroduce the old permit system, offering exemptions for the transport only of humanitarian and military supplies.

They also want empty trucks from the EU to be excluded from an electronic queueing system in Ukraine and measures to stop Belarusian and Russian hauliers from setting up companies in Poland to get around sanctions.

Polish farmers joining the blockade are pressuring their government to extend support to help them cope with low grain prices.

Tomasz Borkowski, leader of a Polish transporters union, said the workers are committed to maintaining the blockade until their demands are met.

“I would like to end this protest as soon as possible because it is as burdensome for us as for everyone around us,” Borkowski said.

“We have no intention of giving up, and we will stand until we get our terms.”

Long waits

Protesters said only two trucks were being allowed to pass through the Medyka border crossing per hour with exemptions made for humanitarian aid and war supplies.

This has led to a 127-hour wait for trucks to cross at Medyka, one of just eight road border crossings with Ukraine, according to data from the Polish border guard.

Ukraine said the protest is damaging its fragile wartime economy by hampering exports and stopping supplies of essentials like motor vehicle gas from entering the country.

With Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, a key export route before the war, virtually blocked by Russia, Ukrainian businesses rely on roads and railways to reroute exports and imports.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Infrastructure estimated that an average of 40,000 to 50,000 trucks had been crossing the border with Poland per month via eight existing crossings, twice as many as before the war. Most of the goods are carried by Ukraine’s transport fleet.

Polish truckers and farmers are staging an around-the-clock blockade of the southeastern Medyka crossing.

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The post Lorries line up at Poland-Ukraine border as truckers expand blockade appeared first on Energy News Beat.

 

US says Somali pirates likely behind attempted tanker seizure near Yemen

Energy News Beat

News|Houthis

The United States has said that a group of attackers who tried to seize an Israel-linked cargo ship over the weekend were probably Somali pirates rather than Houthi fighters from nearby Yemen.

Speaking on Monday, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder noted that the US has not ruled out a Houthi connection to the attempted hijacking by five armed men over the weekend.

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US Navy thwarts seizure of Israel-linked cargo ship

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Analysis: Can the US and Israel stop the Houthis from seizing more ships?

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US considers redesignating Houthis as ‘terror’ group after ship seizure

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“We’re continuing to assess, but initial indications that these five individuals are Somali,” said Ryder.

“Clearly a piracy-related incident,” he added.

US Navy forces thwarted the capture of the tanker Central Park over the weekend after it was boarded by armed men, who were captured after the US warship Mason arrived on the scene.

The attempted hijacking comes at a time when Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have carried out a series of raids on ships in the region, and the US said ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled territory in the direction of US ships shortly after the attack.

The Houthis have consolidated control over large swathes of northern Yemen and emerged as a growing force in the region after a yearslong war with the country’s government and a coalition of forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

While fighting in Yemen has become more subdued over the last year, the Houthis have launched several attacks on Israel amid ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Missile and drone attacks launched towards Israel have largely failed, but the group has seized commercial ships in the Red Sea that they say have connections to Israel.

Following one such seizure earlier this month, the US said that it was considering redesignating the Houthis as a “terrorist” organisation.

The Pentagon has said that the ballistic missiles fired over the weekend were launched in the general direction of the US ships, but that they fell into the ocean about 19km (10 nautical miles) away from the vessels and did not result in any injuries.

Yemen’s government in Aden placed blame on the Houthis for the attack, but the group did not acknowledge either the missile launch or the attempted vessel seizure.

The Central Park is managed by Zodiac Maritime Ltd, a London-headquartered international ship management firm, owned by Israel’s Ofer family.

The Pentagon has said that the attempted hijacking was likely the work of Somali pirates rather than Houthi fighters.

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The post US says Somali pirates likely behind attempted tanker seizure near Yemen appeared first on Energy News Beat.

 

Iran Sees Its Oil Production Rising to 3.6 Million Barrels per Day by March 2024

Energy News Beat

Iran expects its oil production to rise to 3.6 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the current Iranian year in March 2024, from around 3.3 million bpd now, Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Owji has said.

The minister talked about Iranian oil production during a visit by Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi to the headquarters of the Ministry of Oil, Iranian media reported.

Iran has recently signed six contracts for the development of oil and gas fields in the past months, including deals to develop joint fields in the west of Karun, such as Azadegan and Yaran. The total value of the contracts is $14.5 billion, according to the minister.

Earlier this month, Owji said that Iran’s oil production has jumped by 50% percent since the current administration came into office two years ago.

Iran’s oil production was 2.2 million bpd in August 2021 and has now increased to 3.3 million bpd. Output is further set to rise to 3.6 million bpd by the end of this winter.

This summer, Iran’s oil production and exports were estimated to have soared to the highest level since the U.S. sanctions were imposed in 2018.

Some analysts have attributed Iran’s higher oil sales abroad despite the current sanctions to the U.S. not looking to clamp down too much on the exports as it looks to keep oil markets well supplied.

However, Iranian exports could come under pressure as the United States signaled earlier this month that it would tighten the sanctions on Iran’s oil industry.

The U.S. will tighten sanctions on Iran’s oil industry amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, aiming to bring exports down by more than 1 million bpd, White House energy security adviser Amos Hochstein told Bloomberg.

“We are going to enforce those sanctions,” Hochstein said. “Those numbers will come down.”

Source: Oilprice.com

Source: Cfact.org

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The post Iran Sees Its Oil Production Rising to 3.6 Million Barrels per Day by March 2024 appeared first on Energy News Beat.

 

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Pecos Country Operating, LLC is a privately owned oil and gas exploration and production company headquartered in Fort Worth. We own and operate wells across the South Central United States with our predominant means of production coming out of West and North Texas.

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