Technical:
British Gas invested £2 m in New Energy Consultin
British Gas has announced that it will allocate an additional £2 million to a consulting centre funded by the British Gas Energy Trust to help those struggling with the cost of living. The British Gas Energy Trust is an independent charity, funded entirely by British Gas, and in addition to grants that directly help consumers, it works with and provides funding for other funding and energy advice projects across the UK.
There will be 23 UK advisory centers (such as Sunderland Citizens (Citizens advice Sunderland), Glasgow (Money Matters Glasgow), funded by the British Gas Trust (British Gas Energy Trust) and Cardiff (Riverside Cardiff)). These charities help consumers provide money advice, get benefits, help resolve billing disputes, energy support and help apply for grants. They have managed the debt for 24,000 people and earned an additional £16 million for those seeking advice, while writing off a total worth of £7 million in debt. An additional £2 million in funding will add to the impact, with 35,000 people expected to visit the centre this year.
Independent research from the Sustainable Energy Center showed that more than three-quarters (78 percent) of the households supported by these institutions were able to plan their household bills and other expenses ahead of time. More than two-thirds (68 percent) said their support had helped them earn additional income, and 72 percent said their financial position had improved since receiving the support.
Patrick CEO Chris O'Shea said, " We are proud to be a responsible business and want to do everything we can to help consumers who are struggling with the cost of living."A large part of this is to make sure that we have direct grants and funding to consumers who are really trying to provide a much-needed emergency bailout. Consulting centres supported by the British Gas Energy Trust play a vital role in ensuring that people receive long-term help, and this combination of immediate and long-term assistance is very effective in achieving sustainable change. We are very proud of the work done by the British Gas Energy Trust."Helen Charlton, chairman of the British Gas Energy Trust, commented:" The impact of the high energy bills and the cost of living crisis is harsh and far-reaching. So, as a charity, we have decided to fund £1 million for further advice, help and support to fund our research and modeling shows the areas most needed for projects. We believe that this step is right to take at a time when the people we serve face a serious, serious and likely ongoing crisis. We are very grateful to Chris O'shea) and British Gas (British Gas) to redouble our efforts and make a greater impact at this critical moment."The British Gas Energy Trust provides advice and support services to all consumers each year, offering £1.8 million in debt relief, emergency fuel vouchers and boiler replacement grants last year, plus £3.6 million to charities providing advice and financial support.
Since the Trust was launched in 2004, more than £85 million has been invested to help more than 500,000 people manage their energy costs. This year, the UK Gas Energy Support Fund has also set up a £6 million investment to counter the cost of living crisis. Through the fund, thousands of British gas clients have received between £250 and £750 in grants to help pay their energy bills. More than one-third of the recipients receive disability benefits, many of which were family —— with 30% single parents, and a quarter had children under the age of 5.
News:
High oil prices have forced Mr.Biden to pursue close relations with Saudi Arabia
Before becoming president, Biden promised to make Saudi Arabia pay for killing Jamal Hasuj, but high oil prices forced him to change that position.
Between punishing Russia's invasion of Ukraine and punishing Saudi Arabia for the killing of Khashoggi, the issue of ideological energy policy is already painfully clear.
In the long run, if the US manages to shed demand for oil imports, it will be easier to align energy policy with foreign policy.
Running for the Democratic presidential nomination, Mr.Biden said he would make the Saudis "pay" for the killing of Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi.
He explained: " I want to make it very clear that we are not actually selling them more weapons. We have to make them pay and make them untouchables."Facing the global oil industry, President Biden has had to learn some very painful lessons.
One lesson is that the major oil exporters, the ——, such as Russia and Saudi Arabia, have great power due to the world's continued dependence on oil.
This dependence complicates the Biden administration's efforts to punish Russia's invasion of Ukraine by stopping importing Russian oil and oil products. As I warned in a February article, Russia is the main oil supplier for America, such a move by —— even though many people think this is the right thing that —— could push oil prices above $100 a barrel. We certainly know now that this is what happened then.
The impact of Russia's sudden halt of imports on U. S. refineries was the main reason for the surge this year. Moreover, there are many countries that will still buy Russian oil, so it doesn't necessarily hurt Russia. They may sell less oil, but for much higher prices than before.
The Saudi Arabian National Oil Corporation (Saudi Aramco) is the world's largest oil producer.
This gives Saudi Arabia huge pricing power in the global oil and gas markets. When Saudi Arabia decides to change its oil production, it can greatly affect the market.
When Opec and Russia agree, their joint actions could lead to tumbling oil prices (for example, 2014-2015), or quickly push oil prices to triple digits.
That is the problem with an idealized energy policy. Only under two conditions can you make a country like Saudi Arabia (or Russia) a pariah. First, they have to rely heavily on oil revenues to finance the government. This condition is true.
But the second point is that the world must be able to do very well without importing oil from these countries. This is not true. An idealistic energy policy has led President Biden to refer to Saudi Arabia as a "pariah," but in the real world, soaring energy prices have forced him to take a more pragmatic stance.
At the real heart of the problem lies this. President Biden probably felt as about Saudi Arabia as he felt when he made these remarks. But consumers are extremely sensitive to fuel prices. Saudi Arabia has the capacity to influence these countries.
America's energy transition is not yet ignoring the world oil market without serious consequences. The consequences could be high oil prices, or even oil shortages. This is a prescription for losing the election, and therefore has the ability to continue to influence the direction of U. S. energy policy.
In the long run, the solution to this dilemma is to eliminate the world's dependence on oil imports. Only then will Saudi Arabia's economic influence over the world weaken.
Service:
The blockage of Dutch Nord Stream turbines in transit has increased gas prices
Dutch gas prices rose on Friday after further delays in turbine replacement of the Nord Stream-1 pipeline from Russia and Germany raised its gas storage target, however, UK gas prices fell due to weak demand.
The benchmark Dutch near-month gas contract rose 10.75 euros to 163.25 euros / MWH, breaking the October intraday high, while the next-day delivery rose 10.50 euros to 161 euros / MWH to 0903 GMT.
"Blocking of transport turbines, coupled with Germany's higher storage targets, means further increases in spot demand," said a European gas trader."
A turbine that Moscow said had reduced the gas sent by the Nord Stream-1 pipeline to Europe was blocked in Germany because Russia has not yet approved it to ship it back, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The turbine, normally operating at the Russian Portovaya compressor station, had previously been undergoing repairs in Canada, but was flown back to Cologne, Germany on July 17 by the logistics company Challenge Group. It is not clear when the turbine will recover, and it could take days or even weeks, people familiar with the matter said.
After 10 days on maintenance, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline resumed operation on Thursday, but maintained 40% capacity. There have been concerns that Russia could stop supply altogether in response to Western sanctions imposed on it over its war with Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Germany unveiled new energy conservation measures on Thursday and raised its gas reserve target amid fears that persistently low gas supplies in Russia could lead to winter shortages. Germany's target now is to reach 85 percent of its gas storage facilities by October 1 and 95 percent, up from 90 percent of previous targets, the 150 ministry said in a statement.
The trader said: " The news pushed up prices because while people snapped up the spot market, they eventually pushed up the curve.”
On the other hand, UK gas prices fell on Friday as temperatures eased after the heat wave and wind power was expected to increase.
By 0903 GMT, the UK intraday contract TRGBNBPWKD fell 20 p to 275 p per temperature, while the previous contract fell 0.25 p to 285 p per temperature.
Gas supply is less than about 14 million cubic meters, according to National Grid.
Britain's peak wind power generation is expected to be 1.8 GW on Friday and will rise to 11.6 GW on Saturday, generating 19.9 GW in total, according to Elexon data.
In the European carbon emissions market, the benchmark contract CFI2Zc1 rose 0.37 euros to 78.50 euros per tonne.
Equipment:
Five-year EPC spending on offshore oil and gas will reach $276 billion
Evaluation of offshore oil and gas engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) activities in the first half of 2022 was mixed, with high expectations for the influx of offshore EPC contracts, encouraged by the average Brent crude price of $70 / barrel in 2021 and $107 / barrel in the first half of 2022.
However, despite an increase in E & Ps 'early participation in the supply chain and a steady increase in the number of projects before approval, optimism about the bumper year has weakened, and Westwood's 2022 offshore EPC contract award value is currently estimated at $68 billion, $1.8 billion lower than our January 2022 forecast.
The drop was due to a delay in project approval, as some operators modified project economies due to supply chain inflationary pressures (those on undersea equipment and production platforms could be between 10% and 15%).
Moreover, the rapid expansion of supply chains is a challenge after being forced to scale down during the pandemic. This caused limited participants in some EPC tenders, causing operators to continuously extend the bid deadline or re-bid projects to increase competition and force project approval delays.
Final investment decisions and EPC grants for some major projects were delayed until the first half of 2022, including Equinor's Rosebank development in the UK, TotalEnergies's camia-golfinho project in Angola and the Preowei Field in Nigeria, CNPC's Block B project in Vietnam, and CNPC's Bestari project.
While the delayed projects are expected to be approved in the next 18 months, Shell's Linnorm and Aker Energy Pecan projects in Ghana have been shelved indefinitely because Shell is exploring alternative development concepts for its Linnorm field and Aker Energy is seeking potential farm partners to gain a stake in Pecan over uncertainty about the complexity of future Western sanctions on Russian operators.
In the Americas, Shell is working with Equinor to complete and update its development plans for its recently acquired US Gulf of Mexico Sparta oil field, formerly known as the North Platte Oil Field. However, the company did not announce a development schedule after TotalEnergies abandoned the development plan and dropped about 60% of its shares in the field earlier this year.
In Suriname, following the Block 58 Krabdagu discovery in February 2022, TotalEnergies and block partner Apache chose to prioritize existing Block 58 discovery and explore further ahead of previously announced in-block development plans, the development of which is not expected to begin until 2024.
That said, offshore oil and gas contract activity related to the EPC has been active in the first half of 2022, with an estimated contract value of about $26 billion, tripling from the first half of 2021. The spending consists of 123 underwater oil tree units, eight floating production systems (four new, two renovated, two upgrades / redeployments), 52 fixed platforms, more than 1,000 miles of undersea umbilical cables, risers, pipelines, and more than 1,000 miles of pipelines.
Major projects approved in the first half of 2022 include ExxonMobil's Yellowtail development project in Guyana, LLOG's Leon Castile Field in the US, Shell's Crux project in Australia, Equinor's Haltenbanken East project in Norway, ADNOC's Umm Shaif-Long-Term Development Phase I project, and Saudi Aramco's Zuluf Incremental project.
Looking ahead to the second half of 2022, Westwood expects offshore epc-related contracts to total to $42 billion, including 138 underwater oil tree units, 15 FPS units, 119 stationary platforms, more than 2,400 miles of SURF and 2,175 miles of pipelines. Notably, as Petrochina continues to invest in its Abu Safah, mania, Safaniya and Zuluf projects, these fields have acquired 50 platform jackets in the first half of 2022 and expects 60% of the upper platforms awarded in the second half of 2022. Other key contracts during 2H 2022 include Shell's Gato do Mato in Brazil, NOA Fulla and Wisting projects in Aker BP, Phase I in QatarEnergy, and Woodside Energy's Trion project in Mexico.
However, due to BHP's recent oil and gas portfolio merger with Woodside Energy, Trion's FID could be delayed until beyond 2022, as the operator aims to have a full understanding of its inherited BHP assets.
After a turbulent period o
f 2020-21, including the COVID-19 (Covid-1 9) pandemic, falling oil demand and falling oil prices, the offshore oil and gas industry is the best option to make a series of investments to make up for limited spending in the past few years.
The U. S. Energy Information Agency forecasts Brent crude to average $104 in 2022 and $94 in 2023, setting the tone for the rising cycle.
Offshore EPC spending is expected to reach $276 bn on oil and gas demand in the forecast period from 2022 to 2022, up 71% from the previous five years, according to Westwood data.
Asia, the Middle East and Latin America will dominate spending. In West Africa, undeveloped natural gas reserves are expected to attract investment during the forecast period, as Europe urgently seeks alternative natural gas supplies to replace Russian feedstocks.
