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Repsol Gets $440K Fine for Halting NEO’s Production at Flyndre Field
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has issued its highest-ever fine of $440,000 (£350,000) on Repsol North Sea (RNS) for behavior that led to a shut-in at the Flyndre field and hampered economic recovery of petroleum.The Fulmar facility in the Central North Sea, operated by RNS, ceased production in 2018, but continued to be used for the transportation of oil and gas by the Flyndre, Auk and Clyde fields.Auk and Clyde were owned and operated by Repsol Resources UK. Flyndre was owned and operated by TotalEnergies, before being taken over by NEO from July 2020.Before NEO took control of Flyndre, RNS told TotalEnergies that it intended to increase transportation charges through Fulmar and, when TotalEnergies questioned the hike, RNS issued a Termination Notice saying that the agreement would end on August 6.RNS refused TotalEnergies’ request for further talks and the provision of information and on August 6, the transportation agreement ended and, as a result the Fulmar facility – which was undergoing maintenance - did not reopen on August 8 as planned.Flyndre remained shut-in until August 13, when a temporary agreement was reached which allowed transport of oil and gas from Flyndre to resume.Long-term agreement was never reached, and the situation was only resolved when RNS took ownership of the Flyndre field in November 2021.The NSTA’s investigation – which was undertaken under the then MER UK Strategy - found that RNS failed to take the steps necessary to secure the maximum value of economically recoverable petroleum as required by the MER UK Strategy.It also found that RNS did not operate Fulmar in a way that facilitated the maximum value of economically recoverable petroleum from the region in which it was situated and failed to ensure that it was used by or for the benefit of others within the region.RNS applied undue pressure on TotalEnergies and NEO in renegotiating agreements which caused Flyndre to be shut-in for five days. They also set an unrealistic timetable, failed to provide timely information, did not justify the proposed rise in charges, and used the Termination Notice to pressurize negotiations and gain a commercial advantage, NSTA found.The company’s failure to collaborate and to demonstrate the required actions and behaviours under the MER UK Strategy could have a negative impact on investment in the North Sea so it has, therefore, been sanctioned accordingly, according to NSTA.“The North Sea needs to play a key role in progressing the energy transition and energy security in the UK and, in order to do that, operators must follow the Strategy and collaborate and cooperate with each other.“The NSTA will continue to work with industry to help operators meet the required standards of behaviour; and this action shows that we will not hesitate to take action when an operator falls short,” said Jane de Lozey, NSTA Director of Regulation.Separately, the NSTA has also fined ONE-Dyas $94,000 (£75,000) for failing to comply with a condition of its offshore licence.The company plugged and abandoned a well only sending an application for consent to do so on June 9, 2023 – two days after the work had been completed.
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ABL to Oversee Offshore Installation Works for Iberdrola’s German OW Farm
Energy and marine consultancy ABL, a subsidiary of ABL Group ASA, has been awarded a sizeable contract to provide marine warranty survey (MWS) services to support the offshore construction of Iberdrola’s 315 MW Windanker offshore wind farm, offshore Germany.Hamburg-based ABL Germany will provide MWS services to support the offshore transportation and installation (T&I) campaign relating to the foundations, inter-array cables and wind turbine generators (WTGs).Its scope of work includes the provision of expert technical review and approval of documents, operations and vessels relating to the warranted assets.ABL did not disclose the exact value of the contract, but the company defines a sizeable contract to be between $1 million and $3 million.The Windanker project is a major offshore wind farm in Germany located in the Baltic Sea, located about 25 kilometers offshore.It consists of 21 15MW offshore wind turbines, with a combined capacity of 315MW. The installation activities are scheduled for 2025 and 2026, with project commissioning expected by the end of 2026.“We are pleased to support Iberdrola in their construction of Germany’s all-important Windanker offshore wind farm. This follows on from ABL’s previous collaboration with Iberdrola in Germany on the Baltic Eagle project – reflecting our successful working relationship and the value we are able to bring to Germany’s growing offshore wind market,” said Reuben Segal, CEO of ABL Group.Iberdrola Gives Go-Ahead for Its Third Offshore Wind Farm in GermanyHavfram to Install Wind Turbines at Iberdrola’s Windanker ProjectVan Oord Gets Windanker Monopiles and Cables Installation Job
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Copper trades in narrow range with traders eyeing fresh catalyst
Copper costs edged up on Wednesday supported by a softer dollar but were restricted to a narrow range with market individuals considering more cues. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME). increased 0.2% to $9,021 per metric lot by 0349 GMT, while. the most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures. Exchange (SHFE) was almost flat at 73,870 yuan. ($ 10,180.12) a heap. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday released details. of his scheduled tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico, in which he. vowed to add an extra 10% tariff on all Chinese products. Rates fell previously in the week, but ultimately bounced. back, as the tariffs on China have actually up until now been less than. previously anticipated. The devil is very much in the information on all these. statements. It's all headlines and no information right now, stated. Guy Wolf, Global Head of Market Analytics at broker Marex. Helping to support costs on Wednesday was a softer dollar. which makes greenback-priced metals more affordable to holders of other. currencies. LME aluminium rose 0.1% to $2,614 a ton, nickel. edged up 0.2% at $16,020, tin dropped 2.6% to. $ 28,150, zinc increased 0.6% to $3,094.50 and lead. innovative 0.5% to $2,031. SHFE aluminium fell 0.4% to 20,520 yuan a lot,. nickel decreased 1.6% to 126,250 yuan, tin. dropped 3.2% to 234,710 yuan, while zinc increased 2% to. 25,610 yuan and lead increased 0.2% to 17,225 yuan. China's October industrial revenues narrowed their earlier. declines, assisted by a low base the previous year, official data. revealed on Wednesday, but headwinds on revenues stay stiff with. the economy still fighting weak demand and deflation pressures. Market individuals have actually been expecting China to launch. more stimulus measures to support the economy, which could increase. metal usage. For the leading stories in metals and other news, click. or
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Iron ore increases as firmer steel output offsets soft China information
Rates of iron ore futures edged greater for the 3rd straight session on Wednesday, as stronger steel production exceeded a raft of weaker financial information in top consumer China. The most-traded January iron ore agreement on China's Dalian Product Exchange (DCE) was up 0.38% at 786.5 yuan ($ 108.40) a metric load, since 0233 GMT. The benchmark December iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 0.48% greater at $103.05 a lot. Iron ore markets once again significant time above $100 with the boost in Chinese steel production supporting costs, Westpac analysts said in a note. China's steel output remains well above typical rates for this time of year, with production over the last 3 weeks up 9.5% versus the average for the very same duration in the last 3 years, Westpac stated, pointing out data from the China Iron and Steel Association. China is both the world's leading customer and producer of the metal. Still, the country's commercial revenues fell once again in October. Demand stays soft in the crisis-hit economy, with customer rates at a four-month low while commercial output continues to pattern downward and October brand-new home costs fell at their fastest rate in nine years. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities alerted that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's promise to enforce substantial tariffs on products from China would damage the economies of all involved, cause inflation to increase and harm task markets. Trump's plans concerning China remained unclear as he had previously pointed out enforcing tariffs of 60% or higher. However, on Monday, he just referred to an extra 10% tariff, above any additional tariffs, on all of their many items coming into the U.S. . Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE lost ground, with coking coal and coke down 2.04% and 1.22%,. respectively. Steel standards on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were. weaker. Rebar dipped 0.27%, hot-rolled coil. edged 0.2% lower, wire rod shed about 1.2% and. stainless steel dropped 1.14%.
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Gold sells tight range ahead of United States inflation information
Gold costs swept within a narrow variety on Wednesday as investors awaited crucial U.S. inflation information for insights into the prospective scale of a Federal Reserve rate cut next month. Area gold was stable at $2,635.56 per ounce, as of 0222 GMT, moving mostly within a slim $9 variety during the session. Bullion struck over one-week low on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures increased 0.6% to $2,635.80. There's the geopolitical component to all of this, which is to state that some selling pressure has actually emerged since of the ceasefire arrangement with Israel and Lebanon, stated Kyle Rodda, financial market analyst at Capital.com. U.S.-France brokered ceasefire in between Israel and Iran-backed group Hezbollah worked at 0200 GMT on Wednesday. Gold is typically considered a safe-haven financial investment during durations of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, including trade wars and other conflicts. In the long run, I believe Trump's trade-war may be positive for gold because of higher financial obligation loads and a touch of dedollarisation, Rodda included. Financiers digested a handful of financial data on Tuesday showing the economy remained on solid footing. Federal Reserve officials were divided on additional rate cuts at their conference previously this month, but accepted limit assistance on the future direction of U.S. financial policy. Markets presently sees a 63% opportunities of a 25-basis-point rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve in December, according to the CME group's FedWatch tool. Traders will closely monitor core PCE figures, preliminary out of work claims and GDP (first revision), set for release later on in the day. In other places, China's net gold imports via Hong Kong in October fell from September and were down 43% from the previous year, information showed. Area silver edged 0.1% lower to $30.39 per ounce, platinum was flat at $927.45 and palladium was down by 0.4% to $973.50.
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Putin to talk energy ties on check out to Kazakhstan, Kremlin states
Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss energy ties on a check out to Kazakhstan today, the Kremlin stated on Tuesday, a trip that comes in the middle of trade tensions with the Main Asian nation, which exports most of its oil through Russia. Kazakhstan, which has tried to distance itself from Moscow's. war in Ukraine, remains extremely depending on Russia for exporting. oil to Western partners and for imports of food, electricity and. fine-tuned oil items. Our countries are ... constructively working together in the oil. and gas sector, Putin composed in a short article Russia-- Kazakhstan:. a union demanded by life and seeking to the future for the. Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper and published on the Kremlin's. website late on Tuesday. Putin's post came after Kazakhstan's energy minister on. Monday stated his nation might greatly increase its petroleum. exports out of Turkey's port of Ceyhan, a move that would reduce. the share of streams it presently sends via Russia. Underscoring that more than 80% of Kazakhstan's oil is. exported to foreign markets through Russia, Putin, who begins. his see to Kazakhstan on Wednesday, stated he and President. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev always concentrate on a particular result in. their talks. Kremlin diplomacy aide Yuri Ushakov informed journalists on. Tuesday, without offering additional detail, that Putin and. Tokayev will sign a protocol on extending an agreement on oil. products to Kazakhstan. Putin also said in his post that Russia's state nuclear. corporation Rosatom - currently associated with some projects in. Kazakhstan - is ready for new large-scale jobs. In October, Kazakhstan, a country of 20 million, enacted. favour of building its very first nuclear power plant, under a. Tokayev-backed plan that faced public criticism and concerns. that Russia would be associated with the project. Putin's visit likewise comes amid agricultural trade stress. following a Russian restriction on imports of grain, fruit and other. farm products from Kazakhstan in October. Moscow enforced the ban after Kazakhstan refused to join. BRICS, the bloc of emerging economies which Putin wishes to develop. as an effective counterweight to the West in worldwide politics and. trade.
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How Trump's proposed tariffs may impact products and energy
Presidentelect Donald Trump on Monday promised tariffs on the United States' 3 biggest trading partners Canada, Mexico and China. The proposed tariffs would affect a wide range of markets, consisting of oil, natural gas, agriculture and production, potentially modifying longestablished trade patterns and supply chains. Here are products and energy sectors which may be affected: OIL Canada exported some $177.19 billion in energy items to the United States in 2023, according to government information. Unrefined imports from Canada comprise more than a fifth of all the oil that U.S. refineries process. About 70% of imported Canadian barrels go to Midwest U.S. refiners that provide a location that consists of Chicago and Detroit. Many of those Midwest refiners are set up to run much heavier oil and would either struggle to discover a direct replacement for Canadian oil or face paying a higher rate if that oil is subject to tariffs. That could drive up fuel expenses in the Midwest. The U.S. imported about 5.2 million barrels of crude and petroleum products daily (bpd) from Canada and Mexico in 2024, with more than 4 million bpd of that from Canada, data from the U.S. Department of Energy showed. In 2023, Canadian crude oil exports to the United States were above $110 billion, according to the Canada Energy Regulator. GAS The U.S. imported about 8.5 billion cubic feet daily ( bcfd) of natural gas throughout the very first 8 months of 2024 from Canada and Mexico, according to the latest information available from the EIA. Overall natural gas exports were about $6 billion in 2023, according to data from the Canada Energy Regulator. The majority of this year's gas imports - about 8.4 bcfd - came via pipelines from Canada. That compares to an annual average of 8.0 bcfd of gas imports from Canada in 2023 and approximately 7.6 bcfd over the past five years (2018-2022). The remaining approximately 0.1 bcfd of gas imports so far this year came from pipelines from Mexico, liquefied natural gas ( LNG) from Canada and Trinidad and Tobago, and compressed natural gas (CNG) from Canada. The U.S., meanwhile, exported about 20.8 bcfd of gas throughout the very first eight months of 2024, including about 2.7 bcfd going to Canada via pipeline, 6.4 bcfd going to Mexico by means of pipeline and approximately 11.7 bcfd going to different nations through LNG, according to the EIA. The worth of those U.S. gas exports during the very first eight months was around $11.0 billion, according to Reuters calculations utilizing the U.S. Henry Center benchmark as the area price of the gas. AGRICULTURE The U.S. imported $40.1 billion of Canadian farming items last year, making Canada the second-largest origin of U.S. agricultural imports behind Mexico, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The United States imported almost $3 billion of Canadian beef last year, $1.1 billion of pork and another $2 billion of live animals as part of an incorporated, cross-border animals producing and processing industry. Canada likewise supplies the United States with nearly half of its imports of veggie oils and lumber and other forest items. In 2023, the U.S. imported $45.4 billion of agricultural items from Mexico. About two-thirds of all U.S. veggie imports and half of fruit and nut imports originate from Mexico, according to the USDA: almost 90% of its avocados, as much as 35% of its orange juice, and 20% of its strawberries. U.S. imports of Mexican tequila and mezcal - both utilized for making mixed drinks, such as margaritas - amounted to $4.66 billion in 2023, up 160% given that 2019. Each year, Mexico exports more than 1 million cows across the border to become part of the U.S. beef supply. SUGAR The U.S. imported 521,000 short lots of sugar from Mexico in the 2023/24 season (Oct-Sept), under a bilateral trade deal that reduces the import taxes on sugar from Mexico. It was nearly 15%. of all U.S. sugar imports of 3.76 million brief loads in the last. season. POTASH The U.S. imported about 13 million lots of potash in 2015,. of which 85% originated from Canada, according to data from the USDA.
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Chevron sees California's fuel stock law raising prices for clients
Chevron said on Tuesday that California's just recently enacted legislation on oil refineries requiring to maintain minimum fuel stocks was flawed, according to a letter sent by the business to state Congress members. California, the most populous U.S. state, consistently experiences a few of the nation's greatest average gas costs, causing a frequently tense relationship between the state and oil business. It is geographically isolated from the U.S. Gulf Coast and Midwest refining centers, and need to produce all its own motor fuels or import them from Asia. In the letter from Andy Walz, president of Chevron's. Downstream, Midstream and Chemicals organization, he stated increasing. regulation on the validation of rate spikes are revenue. spikes was deceptive. On Oct. 14, California Guv Gavin Newsom signed into. impact ABX2-1, an expense created to avoid fuel supply shortages. in the state and provides regulators at the California Energy. Commission (CEC) higher control over oil refineries running. in the state. It enables the CEC to enforce refiners to maintain. minimum levels of fuel stocks, and manage required. refinery turn-arounds and upkeep in assessment with labor. and market stakeholders, so regarding minimize the effects of. maintenance-related production losses on fuel prices. If refineries stop working to comply with the requirements, they. might be fined a minimum of $100,000 per day for each day that. the noncompliance happens. We contend that implementing a necessary minimum stock. requirement will likely result in two unfavorable outcomes: an. increased frequency and duration of supply shortages, and a. irreversible increase in fuel prices for customers, Chevron's Walz. said in the letter. Both dangers extend beyond California, which must develop. the requirement for the legislature to proceed with caution, as. policies that raise prices for the state might likewise impact. neighbors in Arizona and Nevada. Guv Newsom's workplace did not instantly respond to a. request for comment.
Oil rates steady amid concentrate on Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, OPEC+ policy
Oil costs steadied in early trade on Wednesday, with markets examining the possible effect of a ceasefire offer in between Israel and Hezbollah, and ahead of Sunday's OPEC+ conference.
Brent crude futures fell 2 cents to $72.79 a barrel by 0114 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $68.73 a barrel, down 4 cents, or 0.1%.
Both standards settled lower on Tuesday after Israel agreed to a ceasefire handle Lebanon's Hezbollah.
A ceasefire in between Israel and Hezbollah will take effect on Wednesday after both sides accepted a contract brokered by the United States and France, U.S. President Joe Biden stated on Tuesday.
The accord cleared the method for an end to a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has actually killed thousands of individuals considering that it was fired up by the Gaza war last year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was prepared to implement a ceasefire handle Lebanon and would react. powerfully to any infraction by Hezbollah.
Market participants are evaluating whether the ceasefire. will be observed, stated Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS. Trading, a system of Nissan Securities.
We expect WTI to trade within the series of $65-$ 70 a. barrel, factoring in weather conditions during the Northern. Hemisphere's winter season, a potential boost in shale oil and gas. production under the inbound Donald Trump administration in the. U.S., and need trends in China, he said.
OPEC+, the Company of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. ( OPEC) and allies led by Russia, are discussing a further hold-up. to a planned oil output hike that was due to begin in January,. two sources from the producer group stated on Tuesday, ahead of a. conference on Dec. 1 to choose policy for early 2025.
The group pumps about half the world's oil and had actually prepared. to slowly roll back oil-production cuts with small increases. over many months in 2024 and 2025. However a slowdown in Chinese and. international demand, and increasing output outside the group, have put a. dampener on that strategy.
In the U.S., President-elect Donald Trump stated he would. impose a 25% tariff on all products entering the U.S. from. Mexico and Canada. Crude oil would not be exempt from the trade. charges, two sources familiar with the plan told Reuters on. Tuesday.
Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil stocks fell while fuel inventories. rose recently, market sources stated, pointing out API figures on. Tuesday.
Unrefined stocks fell by 5.94 million barrels in the week ended. Nov. 22, surpassing analysts' projection of a drop of about 600,000. barrels.
(source: Reuters)