All posts tagged: natural gas

German Far-Right AfD Party Official Meets With Putin Adviser, Gazprom Boss

German Far-Right AfD Party Official Meets With Putin Adviser, Gazprom Boss

Published by Sam Flores

BERLIN, June 4 (Reuters) – A senior member of Germany’s far-right Alternative for ⁠Germany (AfD) ⁠met one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ⁠top advisers as well as the head of energy group Gazprom and called for a ​reopening of the Nord Stream gas pipeline. Markus Frohnmaier, the AfD’s parliamentary foreign policy spokesperson, is attending Putin’s showpiece economic conference in St Petersburg, ‌defying warnings from Germany’s foreign ministry, ‌which said it “explicitly advised the AfD against these trips”. In posts on the social media platform X, Frohnmaier said he had met ⁠Gazprom CEO Alexei ⁠Miller and Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, on Wednesday. Dmitriev, ​Miller and Gazprom are all subject to Western sanctions imposed over Russia’s war in Ukraine. Frohnmaier, who has called repeatedly for Germany to engage with Russia to resume energy supplies, said the meeting with Miller focused on the pipeline and a full resumption of Russian gas deliveries to ​Germany.  “Germany is caught in a severe economic downward spiral, and a key driver of this is the high …

Third Qatari LNG Tanker Heads Through Hormuz to China, Data Shows

Third Qatari LNG Tanker Heads Through Hormuz to China, Data Shows

Published by Sam Flores

LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) – A ⁠Third ⁠Qatari liquefied natural gas ⁠tanker is transiting the Strait of Hormuz and heading ​to China, ship-tracking data showed on Friday, as a Qatari negotiating team ‌arrived in Tehran to ‌try to help secure a deal to end the war ⁠with Iran. As ⁠shipments through the waterway continue to be erratic, this third ​transit of a Qatari LNG tanker is taking place nearly two weeks after a first such cargo passed through the strait under an Iran-Pakistan ​arrangement. The vessel, Al Sahla, with a capacity of 211,842 cubic metres, ⁠left Ras ⁠Laffan and is expected ⁠to ​arrive at China’s Tianjin LNG terminal on June 14, according to LSEG ​shipping data. The previous ⁠two Qatari LNG tankers to make it through the Strait of Hormuz since U.S.-Israeli airstrikes unleashed the Iran war at the end of February were sold by Qatar to Pakistan under a government-to-government ⁠deal, according to two people familiar with the matter. The people said ⁠Iran approved the shipment to help build confidence between Qatar and Pakistan, …

The looming crisis putting Europe’s energy security at risk  – POLITICO

The looming crisis putting Europe’s energy security at risk  – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

With a smaller proportion of oil and gas supplies likely to be compliant, less availability means there’s a real risk this looming crisis will affect energy affordability for households and businesses alike. Remember, these rules have nothing to do with lowering levels of methane, which the legislation does not demand until 2030, but are about adhering to measurement, reporting, certification and verification standards for which neither the European Commission nor member states have done the work to establish in time for implementation.    With a smaller proportion of oil and gas supplies likely to be compliant, less availability means there’s a real risk this looming crisis will affect energy affordability for households and businesses alike.    Consumers will ultimately bear the burden through anticipated higher gas and/or fuel prices; Wood Mackenzie say gasoline and diesel prices could increase by 24 percent and 16 percent respectively. The Commission knows this but appears unwilling to make the necessary changes to reduce the cost burden on its citizens.  High energy costs would further damage the competitiveness of Europe’s energy intensive industries like steel, chemicals and manufacturing — leading the bloc further down …

Putin’s trolls are weakening Merz to boost Russia-friendly far right – POLITICO

Putin’s trolls are weakening Merz to boost Russia-friendly far right – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

“In my view, it’s a tactically astute move to bring Gerhard Schröder — who, after all, still enjoys considerable popularity in Germany — back into the picture, as if to say, ‘If you want, we can negotiate,’” said Georg Maier, the SPD interior minister of the eastern state of Thuringia. “It’s basically a lie, because if you actually wanted to negotiate, you wouldn’t need Gerhard Schröder for that. But of course, the impression meant to be created is that the [German] government wants this war and wants to sell weapons, wants to expand NATO’s influence — and this disinformation is working.” The AfD too says it’s ready to talk to Russia given what it portays as Merz’s refusal to do so. This week AfD leader Alice Weidel suggested Ukraine, not Russia, poses a threat to Germany, and said her party was willing to talk peace with Putin. “We consider Ukraine’s conduct of the war to be absolutely disastrous, posing an immense security risk to Germany,” she said in Berlin. “A German government led by the …

Musk’s xAI is running nearly 50 gas turbines unchecked at its Mississippi data center

Musk’s xAI is running nearly 50 gas turbines unchecked at its Mississippi data center

Published by skeptic

Elon Musk’s xAI is running nearly 50 natural gas turbines at its Mississippi data center, power plants that the state is currently not regulating thanks to a loophole. The power plants are considered “mobile” by the state of Mississippi because they are sitting on flatbed trailers, thus allowing them to dodge to air pollution regulations for one year. The NAACP, which has filed a lawsuit on behalf of residents in the area, says the unchecked emissions from the turbines is worsening air quality in an already polluted region. This week, it asked the court for an injunction against xAI. At issue is the “mobile” nature of the turbines. The Southern Environmental Law Center, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the NAACP, says the turbines are being operated in violation of federal law, which says that power plants mounted on a trailer can still be considered stationary and subject to air pollution regulations. XAI has been granted permits for 15 of its turbines. A Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce press release previously said that “about …

How the EU’s mega energy crisis plan will — and won’t — help – POLITICO

How the EU’s mega energy crisis plan will — and won’t — help – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Coordination is also an issue. While groups are regularly convened to discuss supply issues, most real coordination takes place bilaterally between the Commission and countries, according to two energy officials involved in such discussions. It’s no surprise one energy minister in a meeting earlier this month went so far as to call for a WhatsApp group to share information about supplies, and that the EU is looking into reviving a controversial effort to coordinate gas purchases. Earlier this week, the Netherlands went out on its own, launching emergency measures and announcing an additional release of oil stocks — bypassing the EU’s own glacial effort to coordinate the release. The draft of Wednesday’s proposals still broadly hews to the line set out by the EU executive as the war got going, focusing on providing better incentives for the green transition, including reduced grid tariffs and murky commitments to mobilize green funding. But these provisions have proved controversial, too, with some countries, especially in the rich North, arguing that expanding subsidies risks distorting the EU’s single market …

How the Iran war set Beijing up for global clean energy dominance – POLITICO

How the Iran war set Beijing up for global clean energy dominance – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Thailand imports solar panels from China but also Sweden and elsewhere, he said. Ultimately, Nitithanprapas said Thailand wants to create domestic production using foreign direct investment so it doesn’t have to rely on any particular country. That’s a common view in much of Southeast Asia, where the creation of local solar manufacturing and EV plants won’t happen overnight. “In the short term, most countries don’t have a viable alternative to Chinese clean-tech supply chains,” said Vicky Janita, an analyst at Rystad Energy.  Even if they were to buy more supplies from countries like India, which has grown its solar panel manufacturing capacity, those producers still rely heavily on China for wafers and other parts of the supply chain, she said. That doesn’t mean they aren’t also trying different strategies to reduce that dependence and build their economies. Many countries in Southeast Asia have welcomed Chinese investment in domestic production, through both carrots, such as tax breaks, or sticks, such as Indonesia’s export ban on raw nickel. Similarly, Brazil is imposing tariffs on EVs, forcing Chinese …

War threatens to wreak havoc with the global economy, IMF warns – POLITICO

War threatens to wreak havoc with the global economy, IMF warns – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The same factors could push global inflation above 6 percent next year, it cautioned. Finance ministers and central bank governors from around the world are set to talk about little else at the IMF-World Bank spring meetings this week in Washington, D.C., and the IMF’s numbers — like many from private-sector forecasters — make clear how serious the risks of a protracted major conflict are. Hoping against hope To be sure, the IMF’s baseline forecast still clings to the hope that things will return to normal by the middle of the year, leaving little more than a small dent in an economy that has performed more strongly over the last year than was widely feared when U.S. President Donald Trump launched his trade war against the rest of the world. Under this central case scenario, growth would be 3.1 percent this year, only 0.2 percentage points less than the IMF thought in January. In 2027, it would be 3.2 percent, unchanged from the January forecast. But under a severe scenario, with lengthy disruption to shipping …