Energy News Beat

Germany is nearing a decision on what to do with the local units of Russian oil major Rosneft PJSC that the government seized two years ago after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

The future of the assets will be determined soon, a government official familiar with the matter told reporters Monday. The state-controlled Russian energy giant agreed with Germany earlier this year to try to find a buyer for its local subsidiaries, but a deadline to do so will expire in two months.

Two to three interested parties have started sounding out a possible investment, according to people familiar with the discussions. Talks about a potential purchase of Rosneft Deutschland and RN Refining & Marketing GmbH have already been held in Berlin, the people added, asking not to be named because the matter is private.

Spokespeople for the German economy ministry and Rosneft Deutschland declined to comment.

In September 2022, at the height of an energy crisis, Germany put Rosneft’s local units under temporary trusteeship, which has since been extended three times. The deal that closed in March allowed the company to find its own buyers for the entities while avoiding a nationalization. That option is not off the table, with parts of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition supporting such a move.

The Rosneft units have shares in three refineries in Germany, including the PCK Raffinerie GmbH in Schwedt near Berlin, which was cut off from Russian crude supplies two years ago.

German deputy economy minister Michael Kellner told reporters that the PCK refinery would not fall back under Russian control. He didn’t specify how far Rosneft’s negotiations had progressed with interested parties or whether he would prefer a Polish buyer for the shares.

“It’s important to me that we create an ownership structure so that we have the refinery on a secure footing in the long term,” Kellner said.

Source: Rigzone.com

Take the Survey at https://survey.energynewsbeat.com/

1031 Exchange E-Book

Crude Oil, LNG, Jet Fuel price quote

ENB Top News 
ENB
Energy Dashboard
ENB Podcast
ENB Substack

The post Germany Nears Decision on Fate of Seized Russian Oil Operations appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

Ed Miliband, the UK’s new Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, has outlined his priorities in a message to staff, which was posted on the UK government website.

“Our department will be at the heart of the new government’s agenda, leading one of the Prime Minister’s five national missions, to make Britain a clean energy superpower with zero carbon electricity by 2030, and accelerating our journey to net zero,” Miliband said in the message.

“The job of our department will be to deliver our mission so we can make the UK energy independent, bring down energy bills for good, create good jobs, and tackle the climate crisis,” he added.

“We will get started right away, and my priorities are – delivering our mission to boost energy independence and cutting bills through clean power by 2030; taking back control of our energy with Great British Energy; upgrading Britain’s homes and cutting fuel poverty through our Warm Homes Plan; standing up for consumers by reforming our energy system; creating good jobs in Britain’s industrial heartlands, including a just transition for the industries based in the North Sea; leading on international climate action, based on our domestic achievements,” Miliband continued.

Miliband highlighted in the message that the department will be “mission-driven … mobilizing citizens, businesses, trade unions, civil society and local government in a national effort, where everyone has a role”.

Miliband was appointed Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on July 5. The Secretary of State has overall responsibility for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, according to the government’s website. Claire Coutinho previously held this role from 2023 to 2024. Prior to that, Grant Shapps held the role in 2023.

In a statement posted on his X page on July 5, Miliband said, “it is a privilege and honor to have been appointed as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero”.

“This government has won a mandate to deliver a bold plan for energy independence, lower energy bills, good jobs and to tackle the climate crisis. That work begins now,” he added.

Sarah Jones was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and the Department for Business and Trade, on July 8. The minister is responsible for – geospatial plan and wider planning policy, grid, review of electricity market arrangements (REMA), oil and gas, COP and international climate policy, Net Zero Strategy, carbon budgets, international climate finance, multilateral negotiations (G7 and COP), carbon leakage, Ofgem (shared with the Minister for Energy Consumers and Affordability), the UK government site states.

In a statement posted on her X page on July 8, Jones said “such an honor to be appointed by the Prime Minister to be Minister of State for Industry and Decarbonization in @biztradegovuk and @energygovuk”.

“Lots to do,” Jones added.

A UK General Election took place on July 4. With all 650 seats declared, Labour won 411 seats, the UK Parliament website showed, highlighting that this was up 209 on Labour’s total from the previous UK election in 2019.

Industry body Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) congratulated Labour Party leader Keir Starmer on the UK General Election result in a release sent to Rigzone by the OEUK team. The organization also warned in the release, however, that “many of the industry’s skilled people and investors remain deeply concerned about Labour proposals for a further windfall tax on homegrown oil and gas production and to end new oil and gas licenses in UK waters”.

Rigzone has asked the Labour Party for comment on OEUK’s release. At the time of writing, the party has not yet responded to Rigzone’s request.

Source: Rigzone.com

Take the Survey at https://survey.energynewsbeat.com/

1031 Exchange E-Book

Crude Oil, LNG, Jet Fuel price quote

ENB Top News 
ENB
Energy Dashboard
ENB Podcast
ENB Substack

The post New UK Secretary of State for Energy Security Outlines Priorities appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

There’s a dark side to ‘The Next AI Trade’—at least for some landowners.

Powering up America and upgrading power grids for artificial intelligence data centers, onshoring trends, and the electrification of the economy will require thousands of miles of new transmission lines nationwide. Existing lines will be upgraded, but new lines will also be needed, resulting in the seizure of private property via eminent domain.

According to Fox 45 Baltimore, the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP) is a new plan to build a 70-mile 500,000-volt transmission line across three counties: Frederick, Baltimore, and Carroll. The line will connect a substation in southern Frederick County and supply the area with additional load capacity to handle surging power demand from AI data centers.

MPRP’s website explains that the new transmission lines will require the acquisition of private property through the use of an eminent domain, or government-mandated seizure to complete the construction.

“If PSEG and a property owner cannot agree on mutually acceptable value, PSEG may seek to use the power of eminent domain using the process set forth by the state of Maryland to acquire the necessary property rights,” the developer’s website states.

A local conservation group, The Valleys Planning Council, explained on Facebook that the new transmission system, which will tear up forests and farmland, is only being planned because lawmakers in Annapolis “do not allow new fossil fuel power stations, Maryland must import electricity from surrounding states.”

It’s becoming clear that the dark side of powering up America for AI data centers will be land grabs by the government through eminent domain.

In Maryland’s case, residents who do not comply with MPRP will see parts of their farms and forests snatched up for the infrastructure project.

However, the only reason the new transmission line plan exists is because of the so-called state managers in Annapolis, lawmakers, who are truly awful at their jobs. The genius in Annapolis waged war on fossil fuels and banned any new development of fossil fuel power plants at a time when power demand is rising.

So, instead of building clean NatGas power generation plants near the AI data centers, Maryland must import power from other states. Real efficient, eh?

In a recent report from ESG Legal Solutions, LLC, titled “Maryland’s Energy Crisis: The Critical Need to Boost In State Electricity Generation,” the authors state, “Maryland consumes about 40% more electricity than it generates.”

To sum up, the dark side of the next AI trade will involve land grabs of private property. That’s likely to happen in Maryland and elsewhere. But also, we have to point out that the only reason this is happening are the progressives in Annapolis who push green policies.

Sigh, for the Maryland residents who have to deal with progressives not rooted in reality.

Source: Zerohedge.com

Take the Survey at https://survey.energynewsbeat.com/

1031 Exchange E-Book

Crude Oil, LNG, Jet Fuel price quote

ENB Top News 
ENB
Energy Dashboard
ENB Podcast
ENB Substack

The post Dark Side Of ‘The Next AI Trade’: Seizing Private Property For Transmission Lines appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

About half the countries in the region are experiencing a rush in oil exploration that threatens the global drive to achieve net zero. But many argue that they have a right to enrich themselves in the same way the west has

His raised hands dirty with oil, the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – then in his first term – stood in front of the cameras with a broad smile on his face during the inauguration of Platform P50, located in Campos, Rio de Janeiro. Petrobras, a state-controlled national company, had discovered immense oil and gas deposits in the Atlantic Ocean’s depths.

“Today we are celebrating another independence,” said Lula. “We are witnessing a milestone that will mark a new era to Brazil’s development.”

That was 21 April 2006. Eighteen years later, amid fears for the impact on the climate crisis, a new oil rush is underway in Latin America and the Caribbean as the region is heading for a boom in exports of “black gold”.

At least 16 of the 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries are involved in about 50 major new oil and gas onshore and offshore projects.

Two new powerhouses, Brazil and Guyana, are expected to register two of the three largest increases in fossil fuel exports by 2035.

According to the latest report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), production in Latin America and the Caribbean, which stood at 8m barrels a day (mb/d) in 2022, will grow by 5.8 mb/d by 2028. With increased production in countries such as Brazil and Guyana and new projects all over the region, non-Opec countries are strengthening their foothold in the oil and gas market, playing a crucial role in the shifting geopolitics of oil and gas worldwide.

Even if the world market for fossil fuels starts shrinking by the end of the decade, countries like Brazil, Guyana, Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico and Suriname are betting on oil as a source of wealth, economic growth and development – despite its impact on the planet and thanks to the international community’s inertia in “transitioning away” from the oil era.

According to the latest report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), production in Latin America and the Caribbean, which stood at 8m barrels a day (mb/d) in 2022, will continue to grow above demand, adding 2 mb/d destined for export by 2030. With increased production across the region, non-Opec countries are strengthening their foothold in the oil and gas market, playing a crucial role in the shifting geopolitics of oil and gas worldwide.

Brazil and Guyana, are expected to register two of the three largest increases in fossil fuel exports by 2035. The region currently accounts for 15% of the world’s oil and gas resources and could increase its share if other historical producers transition away from the oil market, reducing their production and exports.

Brazil, which used to be a modest oil producer until the discovery of its pre-salt deposits in 2006, has become one of the top ten largest oil producers. More than 100 wells have been drilled, with production increasing from 41,000 barrels a day in 2010 to 2.2m a day last year, according to Petrobras.

Petrobras has identified new fields in the “equatorial margin” region, which stretches from Rio Grande do Norte to Amapá. It is also considering the extraction of fossil fuels at the mouth of the Amazon River, which the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) and environmental groups such as Greenpeace have spoken out against.

Petrobras is considering extracting fossil fuels at the mouth of the Amazon River, home to the Amazon Reef. Photograph: Greenpeace

Petrobras plans to invest $6bn from its own budget in exploring new deposits over the next five years, adding another 10bn barrels to its reserves – almost doubling its current capacity.

“You have oil in one place. Guyana is exploring, Suriname is exploring and Trinidad and Tobago are exploring. Will you stop exploring yours?” asked Brazilian Lula at a recent event in Rio de Janeiro organised by the Future Investment Initiative Institute (FII Institute) from Saudi Arabia.

In neighbouring Guyana, one of the poorest countries in Latin America, the economy has grown quickly since ExxonMobil discovered oil in 2015. GDP per capita is soaring, growing by 33% in 2023. It is expected to increase by 34% in 2024.

Ashni Singh, Guyana’s finance minister, says: “We’re using this period [of oil exploitation] to ensure Guyana’s long-term competitiveness, to secure long-term economic growth, and to invest in the things that matter most to improving the quality of people’s lives – and in particular, the most vulnerable.”

Part of a 152-mile gas pipeline in Guyana, where ExxonMobil discovered oil in 2015. Photograph: Keisha Scarville

Meanwhile, Suriname has become a “rising star” in the oil market with some big offshore discoveries, including new deposits in Block 58 by TotalEnergies and APA, estimated at 700m barrels, with the potential to transform the economy of South America’s smallest nation.

In addition to oil giants Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and even the environmentally exemplary Costa Rica have ambitions to expand their oil and gas industry. “We must carefully assess these resources,” said Costa Rica’s president, Rodrigo Chaves. “This is a multibillion-dollar industry. And, as a nation, we should discuss its potential.”

We have more than enough oil to destroy the climate many times over, and we have to reduce fossil fuel emissions

However, there is a danger in Latin America and the Caribbean investing heavily in fossil fuels while the oil demand is declining. According to the International Energy Agency, if the international community fulfils its promises and goals of “transitioning away” from oil and gas by expanding the space for renewable energies – as established at Cop28 in Dubai in December 2023 – there is a good chance that the oil market will peak at the end of the decade and gradually decline. According to the IEA, oil use is expected to fall by half by 2050, thanks to efficiency gains, transportation electrification and the use of cleaner fuels.

“Any new projects would face major commercial risks if the world is on track to deliver net zero emissions by 2050, as oil demand declines rapidly,” says the IEA in a report.

A crude oil shipping terminal, run by the state-operated company PDVSA, on Lake Maracaibo in Cabimas, Venezuela. Photograph: Rodrigo Abd/AP

Marcelo Mena, Chile’s former environment minister and the former director of the Climate Action Center at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (PUCV), says that the strategy of investing in oil is a mistake.

“We have more than enough oil to destroy the climate many times over, and we have to reduce fossil fuel emissions,” he says. “Fossil fuel demand, including oil production, is peaking and decreasing. Coal demand is down. Breakthroughs in electromobility and battery storage costs are making many regions in Latin America, including Brazil and Chile, approach cost parity with electric mobility. It’s a risky business to explore business models with expiration dates.”

The post ‘Will you stop exploring yours?’: Latin America forges ahead on new oil frontier appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

US LNG terminal operator Freeport LNG has shut down its three-train liquefaction and export plant in Texas due to Hurricane Beryl.

“We safely ramped down production at our liquefaction facility on Sunday, July 7, ahead of Hurricane Beryl making landfall,” a Freeport LNG spokeswoman told LNG Prime in an emailed statement on Monday.

“We intend to resume operations once it is safe to do so,” she said, adding that the “safety of our personnel and the community is Freeport LNG’s top priority”.

Hurricane Beryl made landfall near Matagorda, Texas early Monday morning local time with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kmh), according to the National Hurricane Center.

“Steady weakening is expected as the center moves inland, and Beryl is expected to weaken to a tropical storm later today and to a tropical depression on Tuesday,” it said.

Cheniere’s 15 mtpa Corpus Christi LNG export facility in also located in Texas, but the facility continues to produce LNG.

“Cheniere continues to monitor Beryl’s progress. Based on the storm’s projected path, our Corpus Christi Liquefaction (CCL) facility in Gregory, Texas has implemented its severe-weather preparedness plan. The facility is secure, and LNG production continues uninterrupted,” a spokeswoman for Cheniere said on Monday.

“All non-essential personnel have been released from work. Our Gulf Coast assets, including our CCL and Sabine Pass liquefaction facilities, have robust and proven severe-weather preparedness plans and procedures in place, as the safety of our people, community and environment is our top priority,” she said.

In May, Freeport LNG resumed operations at all of its three liquefaction trains.

Prior to that, the LNG terminal operator said on March 20 that only the third liquefaction train was operating.

Freeport LNG also used the outage to accelerate a debottlenecking project that will result in the installation of additional compressor capacity across the facility’s three liquefaction unit trains.

The debottlenecking project will increase Freeport LNG’s production capacity from an excess of 15 mtpa to just over 16.5 mtpa.

Freeport LNG’s spokeswoman previously said that the LNG terminal operator has completed the “vast majority of the work related to our debottlenecking project and are working to implement the benefits of those efforts”.

The spokeswoman said on Monday that Freeport LNG has “no further comment at this time”.

Besides the debottlenecking project, Freeport LNG’s planned train 4, which has received all regulatory approvals, would add an additional 25 percent LNG production capacity.

Of the 15 mtpa of Freeport LNG’s export capacity, 13.4 mtpa has been sold to Osaka Gas, Jera, BP, TotalEnergies, and SK E&S.

(Article updated to include a statement by Cheniere.)

Source: Lngprime.com

Take the Survey at https://survey.energynewsbeat.com/

1031 Exchange E-Book

Crude Oil, LNG, Jet Fuel price quote

ENB Top News 
ENB
Energy Dashboard
ENB Podcast
ENB Substack

The post Freeport LNG terminal in Texas shut down due to Hurricane Beryl appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

Biden’s betting big on his ‘net zero’ agenda as part of his misguided ideological climate-control vision, even as Americans get walloped.

The Biden administration doggedly has pursued a “net zero” climate-control policy since President Joe Biden’s first day in the Oval Office when he recommitted the country to the Paris Climate Accord. [emphasis, links added]

And as anyone who has shopped at grocery stores in the last three years will tell you, it’s been all downhill from there.

Biden has issued executive orders targeting future domestic oil and natural gas supplies, which will make chemicals more expensive to produce and purchase.

His agents at the Securities and Exchange Commission have proposed ESG reports to track carbon emissions from the farmer’s field to the family dinner table. And that’s just the start.

This misguided ideological climate agenda is designed to make fertilizers, tractors, trucks, heating and drying equipment, electricity, oil, gas, transportation, freezers, and food more expensive.

The higher price tag for each stage of food production, from field to fork, is a feature, not a bug of the Biden economy.

It is part and parcel of the Left’s concerted effort to make carbon energy more expensive and reduce consumption.

The European Union has tilted at these same quixotic windmills for decades, and its economies have been battered and bruised as a result.

Europe’s electric companies foisted their higher energy costs on consumers, and residential and industrial power prices promptly rose 131% and 59%, respectively, between January 2021 and January 2022.

Germany’s manufacturing and chemical industries were tagged with escalating cap-and-trade prices and taxes designed to curb emissions. They responded by spending hundreds of billions of dollars to leave Europe’s grid.

Several EU countries have even gone so far as to encourage private banks to withhold vital loans from farms deemed to emit too much greenhouse gas. Fewer farms, lower emissions — all part of the climate-control plan.

But fewer farms also means more expensive and less available food. People are already paying historically high prices at the local grocer.

As reported in April, a typical list of groceries costs 36.5% more today than it did in 2019, with the prices for eggs and sports drinks up more than 40%.

The price increases now have consumers spending more than 11% of their income on food — a peak not reached since 1991, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

And when the Euro-style climate controls envisioned by the Biden administration reach our farms, grocers, and restaurants, families in the United States will pay even more for even less.

To better appreciate the costs American farms and households should soon expect, the Buckeye Institute modeled the anticipated expenses for the “social cost of carbon emissions” on a typical corn farm.

Unsurprisingly, diesel fuel for trucks, tractors, and combines will be more expensive. The propane for powering grain dryers, heating barns, and commonly used nitrogen fertilizers will all cost more, too.

Once adopted, the Biden administration’s climate-control carbon pricing scheme will raise operating costs for farmers by at least $65,000 per year — a 34% spike.

And those price increases won’t stay down on the farm.

Here, as in Europe, farmers will pass their higher costs along to grocery stores, restaurants, and consumers still struggling to make ends meet while fending off inflation.

As the Buckeye Institute’s model warned, Biden’s new rules will make the food chain more expensive and raise an average four-person family’s household grocery bills by $1,330 annually, a 15% jump.

Some carbon-intensive foods such as processed cheese and beef could rise by as much as $9 per pound each, making $20 cheeseburgers a staple of the Biden administration’s net-zero policy menu.

But these price increases are not just the carnivore’s dilemma. Bananas will cost an extra 59%, strawberries will cost another 47%, and rice may soon cost everyone 56% more than it does today.

People looking for a better economic agenda and more affordable backyard barbecues this summer will not find them in the current president’s plan.

Biden has made his “net-zero” aspirations a firecracker feature of his economic vision for the country. Good luck paying for it, America.

Read more at Washington Examiner

Take the Survey at https://survey.energynewsbeat.com/

1031 Exchange E-Book

Crude Oil, LNG, Jet Fuel price quote

ENB Top News 
ENB
Energy Dashboard
ENB Podcast
ENB Substack

The post Biden’s Net Zero Plans Have Sent Prices Soaring. It’s Going To Get Worse appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

An NBC News item on lost solar energy unwittingly exposes the folly of big-government climate policies such as the Green New Deal.

An NBC News item on lost solar energy inadvertently exposes the folly of big government climate policies such as the Green New Deal, and building mandates. [emphasis, links added]

The report also exposes the extent to which the market does not actually support an electrification agenda.

Watch as correspondent Liz Kreutz explains curtailment, which is basically solar energy that is lost for lack of storage space or transmission capacity, and how people in California reacted to a reduction in government incentives for residential solar installation:

LIZ KREUTZ: In recent years the amount of renewable energy curtailed, most of it solar, has skyrocketed, both from oversupply and so-called congestion, when there’s more electricity than the transmission lines in some areas can handle. So far this year the state has already lost out on nearly 2.6 million megawatt hours of renewable electricity, more than enough to power all the households in San Francisco for a year. To solve the problem, Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration has been pushing to add more batteries to store that excess energy. And state regulators have taken a more controversial approach, drastically cutting financial incentives for homeowners looking to install solar.

ED MURRAY: Before we used to have people clamoring to put solar on.

KREUTZ: Ed Murray, who operates Aztec Solar outside Sacramento says the impact has been devastating for his business. He’s laid off ten employees over the last year.

MURRAY: We were left figuring out how- what do we do now.

KREUTZ: Since the changes, there’s been a 66% drop in residential solar installations and an estimated 17,000 green jobs lost statewide. To make it cost-effective, homeowners now need to install batteries in addition to solar panels. But that can cost an additional $10,000 to $20,000 or more. In a statement, Governor Newsom defended the state’s policies saying in part “No other state in America comes close to California’s solar production, and now we’re adding more batteries faster than ever to help capture that energy to use at night.”

Do you think California will be able to meet its 2045 clean energy goal?

MURRAY: Absolutely not. No way we’re going to get there without rooftop solar.

KREUTZ: New challenges casting a shadow on the path to a renewable future. Liz Kreutz, NBC News, Folsom, California. [bold added]

The “new challenges casting a shadow” on fulfillment of the green agenda are actually old and persistent. And they boil down to the market. Basic supply and demand.

People went along with the installation of solar panels so long as the government incentives flowed freely from California’s state coffers. People didn’t care or think about curtailed, aka lost power.

But once the taxpayer money dried up, they stopped buying solar panels, which rippled across the solar rent-seeking economy.

Furthermore, to maximize efficiency, they have to pony up an extra 10-20 thousand dollars, which in this economy might not be so accessible.

The report exposes that without appropriate storage capacity, the potential of solar power is not fully realized, as well as the folly of government mandates.

One imagines the disaster if something like the Green New Deal were to become the law of the land with its requisite mandates.

In hyping the green agenda, NBC News exposed its potential downfalls.

Read rest at NewsBusters

Take the Survey at https://survey.energynewsbeat.com/

1031 Exchange E-Book

Crude Oil, LNG, Jet Fuel price quote

ENB Top News 
ENB
Energy Dashboard
ENB Podcast
ENB Substack

The post NBC News Inadvertently Exposes California’s Taxpayer-Funded Solar Follies appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

The road to widespread EV adoption is proving to be bumpy, with several obstacles threatening to stall progress.

The electric vehicle revolution is encountering significant hurdles as consumers grapple with high costs, infrastructure challenges, and geopolitical tensions, potentially slowing the transition from traditional gas-powered cars, according to a report by Fast Company.

Fast Company reports the automotive industry has undergone a significant transformation with the push towards electric vehicles in recent years.

However, the road to widespread EV adoption is proving to be bumpy, with several obstacles threatening to stall progress.

One of the primary concerns for potential EV buyers is the cost. While a recent University of Michigan study suggests that there is rough price parity between EVs and gas-powered cars on a macro level, with EVs being more economical in some areas and gas cars in others, the upfront cost of electric vehicles remains a significant barrier for many consumers.

This situation is likely to worsen as the Biden administration has dramatically increased the tax rate on imported EVs from 27.5 percent to 102.5 percent this year, a move aimed at curbing the influx of cheaper Chinese-made vehicles into the U.S. market.

Infrastructure challenges also continue to plague the EV industry. According to recent research by Harvard Business School, one in five charging points across the United States are non-functional.

This lack of reliable charging infrastructure contributes to “range anxiety” among potential EV adopters, who worry about being stranded with a depleted battery.

Loren McDonald of industry analysts EVAdoption projects that the U.S. will need approximately 2.8 million charging stations by 2030 to meet forecast demand, highlighting the enormous scale of infrastructure development required.

Despite these lofty goals, the Biden administration has reportedly failed to produce even a single charging station with $7.5 billion allocated by Congress.

The global geopolitical landscape is adding another layer of complexity to the EV market.

Both the United States and the European Union have introduced import tariffs on Chinese-made vehicles, potentially impacting the availability and pricing of EVs.

While the EU’s tariffs are more modest at an average of 21 percent, the impact on the European market is expected to be less severe due to Chinese manufacturers’ existing healthy margins in the region.

Supply chain disruptions and varying global regulations are further complicating the EV landscape.

Aidan Rushby, CEO and founder of vehicle finance and insurance company Carmoola notes that “the industry faces broader issues such as supply chain disruptions and varying global regulations that could impact EV availability and pricing.”

The shortage of computer chips and batteries, crucial components for EVs, is particularly acute and affecting production capabilities.

Read rest at Breitbart

Take the Survey at https://survey.energynewsbeat.com/

1031 Exchange E-Book

Crude Oil, LNG, Jet Fuel price quote

ENB Top News 
ENB
Energy Dashboard
ENB Podcast
ENB Substack

The post Electric Vehicle Adoption Stalls Out As Americans Snub The Pricey Cars appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

Annual jet fuel consumption in the United States grew in 2023 for the third year in a row but remained below the pre-pandemic peak in 2019, suggesting U.S. aviation had not fully returned to normal operations in the third year after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. jet fuel consumption averaged 1.65 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2023, 5% below the pre-pandemic high in 2019. So far this year, airline passenger volumes have surpassed 2019 levels and are consistently higher than in 2023.

In 2020, less jet fuel was consumed in the United States than in any year since 1985 due to reductions in air travel caused by the outbreak of COVID-19. As travelers began flying again, labor supply constraints in the aviation sector and high fuel prices contributed to a slower recovery for jet fuel consumption than other liquid fuels. With labor and fuel price constraints largely resolved in 2023, jet fuel consumption increased more slowly than during the two previous years and remained below pre-pandemic levels because of less activity by foreign-based commercial carriers, declining freight activity, and improving fuel efficiency in the commercial fleet.

Jet fuel is used by three categories of users:

Commercial aviation, which includes passenger airlines and air freight companies
General aviation, which includes recreational flying and business aviation
Military and government aviation, which covers public sector users

We estimate commercial aviation typically accounts for around 85% of jet fuel consumed in the United States. General aviation accounts for around 8% of jet fuel consumption, and U.S. military and U.S. government consumers account for around 7% of jet fuel consumption.

Among the three, commercial jet fuel consumption was the most affected by pandemic-era travel reductions, falling 42% from 2019 to 2020. In 2023, commercial carriers consumed 8% less fuel than in 2019. General aviation users only consumed 11% less fuel in 2020 than in 2019. Military and government users were much less affected by travel restrictions; their jet fuel use only declined 7% from 2019 to 2020. Jet fuel consumption by both military and government and general aviation users recovered to pre-pandemic levels by 2021.

U.S. activity by foreign-based commercial passenger airlines continued to lag pre-pandemic activity in 2023 and was the major reason for less U.S. jet fuel consumption. In terms of available seat-miles, a measure of aircraft carrying capacity, foreign-based carriers offered 14% less capacity in 2023 than in 2019 for routes between the United States and international destinations. Over the same period, U.S.-based carriers increased their capacity for international routes by 2% and for domestic routes by 4%. Total available seat-miles for all routes were 2% less in 2023 than in 2019.

Declining air freight activity was another factor for slower growth in U.S. jet fuel consumption in 2023. Early in the pandemic, consumers spent less on services and more on goods, increasing jet fuel consumption by freight carriers. Air freight activity in terms of pounds transported increased by 12% from 2020 to 2021. Since then, freight activity from 2021 to 2023 declined 12% as supply chain constraints eased and spending on goods returned to typical levels, reducing jet fuel consumption by freight carriers.

The increasing fuel efficiency of newer airplanes has also limited U.S. jet fuel consumption. Commercial airlines continue to improve the fuel economy of their fleets to reduce operating costs. The average fuel economy of U.S. commercial carriers in terms of available seat-miles per gallon increased to 65.5 seat-miles per gallon in 2023 compared with 64.9 seat-miles per gallon in 2019. As aircraft manufacturers engineer and deliver more energy-efficient aircraft and engines into service, new aircraft, whether acquired to expand capacity or replace existing capacity, help to increase fuel efficiency in the commercial fleet.

Principal contributor: Alex de Keyserling

Source: Eia.gov

Take the Survey at https://survey.energynewsbeat.com/

1031 Exchange E-Book

Crude Oil, LNG, Jet Fuel price quote

ENB Top News 
ENB
Energy Dashboard
ENB Podcast
ENB Substack

The post U.S. jet fuel consumption in 2023 remained below the pre-pandemic high appeared first on Energy News Beat.

Energy News Beat

The amount of offshore wind generating capacity that is under construction or planned in the United States is in flux after two projects in New Jersey were canceled last year. Of the 7,200 megawatts (MW) of capacity reported in May in EIA’s latest Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory, projects totaling about 2,400 MW have been canceled since last December while others totaling 4,800 MW remain active in various stages of development.

Canceled
In late 2023, developer Orsted canceled the 2,400-MW Ocean Wind 1 and 2 projects in New Jersey, citing rising interest rates, high inflation, and supply chain delays.

Under construction
One offshore wind project is currently under construction, and another is awaiting commercial operation. Both projects are expected to begin operation in 2024. The 130-MW South Fork Wind project is awaiting commercial operation. It consists of 12 turbines located off the coast of Long Island, New York. The project began generating electricity in March but has yet to reach commercial operation, a stage when an operator formally declares a generating unit as on line and available for commercial dispatch. It is not unusual for electric generators to produce energy while they conduct tests for weeks or months ahead of the facility being placed into commercial operation.

The project under construction is the 800-MW Vineyard Wind 1 project located offshore of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, and it is partially built. Of the 62 turbines, 10 were in place as of this past February according to the project’s co-owner Avangrid. The complete project is expected to be on line by this fall.

Planned and going forward
Other projects are in various stages of planning and development.

Two projects have started building foundations to support offshore wind turbines. This past spring, developers Orsted and Eversource started building the vertical cylinders known as monopiles to support wind turbines at the 704-MW Revolution Wind project located offshore of Rhode Island. In May, Dominion Energy built the first monopile at the 1,265-MW Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) Commercial Project. The CVOW Commercial Project follows a 12-MW pilot that Dominion brought on line in 2021.

Although these projects have started foundational work, Revolution Wind and CVOW Commercial Project still show as pending regulatory approvals and not yet in construction because generators have latitude to decide when to label a project as in construction. In the Form 860M, some generators label a project as in construction when they start building components, but other generators can wait until the construction process is further along. Revolution Wind is expected on line in the fall of 2025, while Dominion Energy plans to start CVOW in early 2027.

The 924-MW Sunrise Wind project is one of two active projects that New York State awarded in February, and developers Orsted and Eversource expect to bring it on line in 2026. Equinor has yet to report to EIA the second active project, the 810-MW Empire Wind 1, as a planned project.

Planned and scaled down or on hold
Other projects in Maryland and Ohio, which developers still report as active, have faced some setbacks.

In January, Orsted withdrew from commitments to the Maryland Public Service Commission to build the Skipjack 1 and 2 projects, totaling 966 MW, but is still continuing with advanced development and permitting.

Late last year, the developer of the 20-MW Icebreaker Wind project on the Ohio coast of Lake Erie halted the project amid rising costs and loss of funding.

Principal contributor: Stephanie Tsao

Source: Eia.gov

Take the Survey at https://survey.energynewsbeat.com/

1031 Exchange E-Book

Crude Oil, LNG, Jet Fuel price quote

ENB Top News 
ENB
Energy Dashboard
ENB Podcast
ENB Substack

The post Cancellations reduce expected U.S. capacity of offshore wind facilities appeared first on Energy News Beat.