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Azerbaijan says upkeep at suspended Shah Deniz gas platform to last up until Jan. 19
The Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company (AGSC) said on Wednesday that unexpected upkeep at the Shah Deniz Alfa gas platform was expected to last till Jan. 19. The suspension is anticipated to cut gas flows to Europe by 8.5. million cubic metres per day, the company said on its website. BP said on Jan. 10 it had actually suspended the work of the. platform, one of two at Azerbaijan's biggest gas field,. after finding a technical problem at the subsea gas condensate. export line between the platform and the Sangachal terminal. According to BP, Alpha represents about 40% of Shah. Deniz's output, with the remaining production originating from the. Bravo platform, which continues to operate and export gas. Tamam Bayatli, a representative for BP, informed Reuters on. Wednesday the business was working to deal with the technical. concern. We are still focused on resolving the technical issue in. the subsea condensate line. We will provide updates when the. problem is resolved and normal operations resume, she said. Azerbaijan exports gas to 12 countries, consisting of 10. in Europe.
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New york city City claim against Exxon, BP, Shell over environment modification dismissed
A judge has dismissed New York City's lawsuit declaring that Exxon Mobil, BP and Shell were accountable for misinforming the public about their items, and their commitment to renewable energy and battling climate modification. In a decision on Tuesday, state Supreme Court Justice Anar Patel in Manhattan declined the city's argument that the oil business must have informed climate-conscious residents that fossil fuels cause climate change due to the fact that this information was openly understood. Patel also found no proof that the companies conducted greenwashing projects, including declarations about clean energy and alternative energy sources, so they might offer more nonrenewable fuel source products in the city. A spokesperson for the city's law department had no immediate comment on Wednesday. The lawsuit began in April 2021, after a federal appeals court declined to hold Exxon, BP, Shell and two other oil companies accountable to pay the city's costs for addressing harm triggered by international warming. Many U.S. state and city governments have sued oil business to help pay for and be more upcoming about climate change.
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In first take a look at 2026, OPEC anticipates continuous oil need growth
OPEC forecast on Wednesday world oil demand in 2026 will increase at a similar rate to this year, while reducing its figure for 2024 for a 6th time, following financial weakness in China, the world's biggest importer of oil. The 2026 projection remains in line with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' view oil use will rise for the next twenty years, in contrast to the West's International Energy Firm that predicts it will peak this decade as the world shifts to cleaner energy. OPEC, in a month-to-month report, stated need will increase by 1.43 million barrels each day in 2026, a comparable rate to the development of 1.45 million bpd anticipated this year. The 2026 prediction is OPEC's first in its regular monthly report. Transport fuels are set to drive 2026 oil demand growth, with flight expected to see continued expansion, as both worldwide and domestic traffic continues to increase, OPEC stated in the report. A table in the report put 2024 demand development at 1.5 million bpd, compared with 1.61 million bpd listed in last month's. report, amounting to a sixth consecutive cut in the 2024. projection. In July 2024, OPEC anticipated world demand would increase by. 2.25 million bpd in 2024. OPEC's view as needed is at the upper end of industry. projections. Earlier on Wednesday, the IEA forecast slower world. oil need growth in 2025 of 1.05 million bpd.
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Aramco's lithium job appealing however not yet industrial, minister says
Saudi Arabian state oil giant Aramco's project to extract lithium is appealing, however not yet commercially practical, the kingdom's mining minister told Reuters on Wednesday. Aramco has partnered with the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) for the pilot, Bandar Alkhorayef said. Lithium Infinity, also known as Lihytech, a start-up launched out of KAUST, is leading the extraction job with cooperation from Saudi mining business Ma'aden and Aramco. Lithium is an essential component in the batteries of electric cars, laptops, and mobile phones. Reuters previously reported that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates' nationwide oil business prepared to draw out the mineral from oil overflows. Alkhorayef likewise confirmed that Saudi Arabian mining company Manara Minerals was taking a look at investing in Pakistan's Reko Diq mine, stating that the Saudi Advancement Fund could contribute over $100 million to Pakistan's mining infrastructure. Part of what we are looking at is how we can assist Pakistan also in some infrastructure, Alkhorayef stated in an interview on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Online Forum in Riyadh. Without that facilities the economics of the offer are not attractive, so through the Saudi Advancement Fund we are thinking about how we can finance it. Manara, a joint venture in between state-controlled miner Ma'aden and the $925 billion Public Investment Fund ( PIF), was established as part of the kingdom's efforts to diversify its economy far from oil, including by purchasing minority stakes in assets overseas. Executives from Manara went to Pakistan in May in 2015 for discuss buying a stake in the Reko Diq mine, considered one of the world's biggest underdeveloped copper-gold locations by worldwide mining company Barrick Gold, which owns the project jointly with Pakistan.
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Brazilian meatpacker JBS states net-zero emissions promise was 'never a guarantee'
The world's largest meatpacker, JBS, became in 2021 the very first of its peers to devote to cutting or balancing out all its emissions by 2040, and to ending prohibited deforestation throughout its long supply chain that starts in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. It used terms such as dedication and pledge, and a. slogan that anything less is not an alternative, to explain its. plan on calls with financiers about a sustainable bond issue and. in marketing materials, consisting of for its beef. Nearly four years later on, Jason Weller, worldwide chief. sustainability officer at the business in which the Batista. family is the biggest investor, informed Reuters in an unusual interview. that its emissions goal was simply an aspiration. It was never ever a promise that JBS was going to make this. occur, Weller said about the net-zero emissions pledge. He also stated JBS can not manage how farms. operate, although they are motivating voluntary change. The. business had pledged in 2021 to end unlawful Amazon logging. by its livestock suppliers by 2025. In a written statement to Reuters after the interview, JBS. said: Our climate aspirations have actually not altered. Any assertion. otherwise is completely false. Reuters found that investors have achieved little in holding. JBS to its promises in the last five years, with no investor. proposals being put forward about the environment, couple of ballot. versus the Batistas on any problem and barely any concerns about. sustainability on earnings calls. Earnings are skyrocketing on strong meat need, assisting drive JBS'. Sao Paulo-listed stock last month to a record high. Logging by livestock farmers is pushing the Amazon closer to. a tipping point at which the world's biggest rainforest will. gradually stop locking away climate-warming co2. Brazilian cattle ranchers are responsible for 80% of present. Amazon logging, according to scientists. The trouble of decreasing the ecological damage related. to JBS and other farming business could weaken President. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as he prepares to host global climate. talks in November. Oil majors Shell and BP are also among international business to have. softened their environment promises. There are far too couple of investors utilizing their shareholder. impact to engage with this concern, stated Vemund Olsen, a. senior analyst for sustainable financial investments at Norway-based. Storebrand Possession Management, which sold its JBS stock in 2017. It's a problem to which the whole market needs to discover. typical solutions, and which also requires improved regulation. and enforcement of legislation in nations like Brazil.. In October, Brazil's environmental protection agency fined. cattle ranches and meatpackers, including JBS, for raising or purchasing. livestock on unlawfully deforested Amazon land. SUPPLY CHAIN DIFFICULTY Ecological activists have actually calculated that 97% of JBS'. emissions originate from greenhouse gases launched through. logging, biodiversity loss and pollution. In emissions accounting, these are called emissions from. modifications in land usage. JBS has actually called these computations flawed. While JBS reports indirect emissions throughout its supply. chain, it leaves out emissions connected to modifications in land usage. There is not an approved format today on how to determine. land-use-change emissions for which we have self-confidence, Weller. stated. JBS rather focuses on emissions from its own operations,. consisting of slaughterhouses. Other global business, including packaged food business Mars. and grain traders Archer Daniels Midland and Bunge, have actually started. divulging change-of-land-use emissions. We do not have the capability to mandate or require a modification on. farms, nor do we have the capability to mandate and alter how our. clients use our products, Weller said. Because of these limits, he said JBS had absolutely no operational,. contractual or legal control of its supply chain. The executive, however, added that regardless of not having any. mandate, we're acting upon our supply chain, investing, and. driving genuine modification. LITTLE PRESSURE Morningstar Sustainalytics, an independent sustainability. ratings firm, places JBS in the 95th percentile among the. companies it evaluates, with a severe-risk score connected to. its environmental efficiency. Reuters found in interviews with investors and reviews of. company filings that the fast-growing company faced little bit. pressure even as evidence installed that it was on track to miss. sustainability targets. The business's 20 biggest financiers decreased demands to discuss. the business even as demands from European companies to stop. logging mounted. Morningstar information revealed that 17 funds identified as. sustainable hold JBS stock. All decreased to discuss their. engagement with the company or their investment reasoning, or. did not react to requests for remark. Weller said JBS is committed to improving transparency and. engagement with investors on sustainability. The ability of personal financiers to affect the business is. already restricted as the Batistas hold practically half of the. company's stock. Another 21% is owned by Brazilian advancement. bank BNDES, which has sided with management in votes. Non-public advice to investors in 2015 from proxy consultant. Glass Lewis showed JBS scored low on climate threat mitigation and. board accountability, while proxy consultant ISS likewise raised. concerns over management and egregious governance practices in. the context of corruption.. During the broad anti-corruption investigation referred to as. Operation Automobile Wash, which began in 2014 and included companies. throughout Latin America, a court banned siblings Wesley and Joesley. Batista from holding management positions. It came after they confessed bribing approximately 2,000. Brazilian regulators, government authorities and politicians,. including a previous president, over a span of ten years. Last April, the Batista brothers rejoined JBS's board. following an investor vote.
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Congo jails 3 Chinese people in unlawful mining crackdown
A Congolese court has sentenced three Chinese residents to 7 years in jail after they were apprehended in possession of gold bars and $400,000 in money and condemned of illegal activities linked to the artisanal mining sector. The trio are the very first Chinese nationals to stand trial given that Democratic Republic of Congo launched its newest push to crack down on the unlicensed extraction of the numerous precious and strategic minerals buried in its conflict-torn east. This is an instructional trial that must typically work as a wake-up call to all Chinese nationals who think they can leave China, show up in Kitutu, Kibe, Lugushwa, Kamituga or Mwenga and behave as if they remained in their own room, without even paying the hotel costs, said Christian Wanduma, an attorney representing local neighborhoods in the trial. The judge in a court in Bukavu, the capital of eastern South Kivu province, found the accuseds guilty on Tuesday of money-laundering, prohibited purchase and ownership of mineral substances, and other charges. In addition to the jail sentence, the judge purchased them to pay a great equivalent to $600,000, and completely prohibited them from Congo once their sentences are served. He acquitted them of charges consisting of fraud and unlawful mineral extraction for absence of proof. The offenders had pleaded guilty to four of the 7 charges against them, but said throughout the trial that they had not understood they were breaking Congolese law before they were detained on Jan. 4. Their attorneys said they would appeal the ruling. Congo has struggled to stop unlicensed companies and regional armed groups exploiting its abundant reserves of cobalt, copper, gold and other minerals. Protesters required to the streets of Bukavu last week after Chinese men arrested on suspicion of illegal mining in a. different case were released. Our minerals are being plundered by companies that are. mainly Chinese-owned and our individuals remain in severe poverty,. the roads are really shabby, we have difficulty accessing. drinking water, health care, education, electricity,. work, civil society leader Nene Bintu stated at the. presentation. This situation has actually gone on for too long and need to end now. In 2021, the authorities prohibited six small Chinese-owned. mining business, who it accused of running illegally.
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Kashmir's saffron growers explore indoor farming as climate pressures install
Tucked in a valley below the snowcapped Himalayas of the Indian Kashmir area is the town of Pampore, famous for its farms that grow the world's most expensive spice the redhued saffron. This is where the majority of saffron is farmed in India, the world's second-largest producer behind Iran of the spice, which expenses up to 325,000 rupees ($ 3,800) a kg (2.2 pounds) since it is so labour-intensive to harvest. Come October, the crocus plants begin to bloom, covering the fields with intense purple flowers from which strands of fragrant red saffron are chosen by hand, to be utilized in foods such as paella, and in scents and fabric dyes. I am happy to cultivate this crop, stated Nisar Ahmad Malik, as he collected flowers from his ancestral field. However, while Malik has actually stuck to traditional farming, citing the rich colour, fragrance and scent of his produce through the years, some agrarian professionals have been experimenting with indoor cultivation of the crop as global warming fears increase. About 90% of India's saffron is produced in Kashmir, of which a bulk is grown in Pampore, however the town is under hazard of quick urbanisation, according to the Indian Council of Scientific & & Industrial Research (CSIR). Experts say rising temperature levels and erratic rainfall posture a. danger to saffron production, which has actually dropped from 8 metric lots. in the fiscal year 2010-11 to 2.6 metric lots in 2023-24, the. federal government informed parliament in February, including that. efforts were being made to enhance production. One such programme is a project to help grow the plant. indoors in a regulated environment in tubes consisting of wetness. and crucial nutrients, which Dr. Bashir Ilahi at state-run. Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences said has. revealed good outcomes. Growing saffron in a regulated environment shows. temperature resistance and significantly reduces the danger of. crop failure, stated Ilahi, standing in his laboratory in between. stacks of crates including tubes of the purple flower. Ilahi and other local experts have been helping farmers with. presentations on how to grow the crocus plant indoors. It is a fantastic development, stated Abdul Majeed, president. of Kashmir's Saffron Growers Association, some of whose members,. consisting of Majeed, have been cultivating the crop indoors for a. couple of years. Manzoor Ahmad Mir, a saffron grower, advised more state. support. The federal government should promote indoor saffron cultivation on. a much bigger scale as environment modification is impacting the whole. world, and Kashmir is no exception, Mir stated.
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Germany has enough gas for winter, storage operators say
Germany has adequate gas in storage to cover demand over the existing 2024/25 winter season season, in spite of the end of Russian gas exports to central Europe on Jan. 1, storage operators' group INES said on Thursday. Regardless of the complete loss of gas transportation through Ukraine, a gas scarcity is no longer expected, INES said in a statement. It added the target for storage caverns to be a minimum of 30%. complete by Feb. 1 will be fulfilled. Must medium-to-warm temperature levels continue until the end of. March, the filling levels, which are presently at 71%, would. sink to 48% of total capacity, INES stated. In the case of extremely winter in the coming months,. nevertheless, the stocks might strike 24% by the end of winter in. March, INES said. Boosting underground storage was among Germany's main. reactions to being primarily cut off from Russian pipeline gas. because the war in Ukraine started in 2022. Since the start of this year, practically all other European. Union countries have actually also stopped receiving Russian gas. Germany has likewise increased its purchases of seaborne,. melted gas (LNG), and cut intake. The nation's storage facilities can hold 23 billion cubic. metres, equivalent to over a quarter of yearly national. intake last year. Wanting to the warmer summertime, the German storage. centers might be totally refilled for the 2025/26 season under. any situation, INES said, although it said financial rewards. must be increased to motivate companies to book storage. The 16 members of the lobby consist of the Astora company. within the SEFE group, VNG Gasspeicher, Uniper, and. RWE, and together represent around 25% of European. Union gas caverns.
Kenya turns to the UAE for railway funds after China cut financing
Kenya has actually begun conversations with the United Arab Emirates to secure funding to finish a regional railway, President William Ruto stated, after China cut facilities funding to the task.
The railway connecting the Kenyan port of Mombasa with landlocked neighbours, as part of China's Belt and Road Effort, ended in the Rift Valley in 2019, 468 kilometres ( 290 miles) short of the border with Uganda, after Beijing withdrew support.
We are checking out a partnership arrangement with the United Arab Emirates to extend the Requirement Gauge Railway to link Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan, Ruto stated on X late on Tuesday, after fulfilling UAE officials in Abu Dhabi.
Both sides will perform a feasibility study on the extension of the train, he stated, due to its capability to foster regional integration and promote trade.
Ruto's office did not respond to Reuters' request for more information.
Ruto, who took over in September 2022, has actually pursued more detailed ties with the UAE, and Kenya is likewise finalising a $1.5 billion industrial loan from the UAE for budget plan support.
The East African nation and the UAE signed a thorough financial partnership agreement on Tuesday, intending to boost trade volumes by eliminating barriers, streamlining custom-mades processes and promoting investments.
Kenya is going to be an entrance for sure for East Africa, Thani Al Zeyoudi, the UAE's minister of trade, informed Reuters on Tuesday.
Trade in between Kenya and the UAE has more than folded the last decade, Ruto's workplace stated. The UAE is the 6th greatest export market for Kenyan products, and its second most significant source of imports.
The worth of the trade stood at 445 billion shillings ($ 3.44 billion) in 2023, with the UAE purchasing agricultural items, while Kenya gets petroleum items, equipment and chemicals.
The UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Emirates National Oil Business were among three Gulf companies Ruto's. federal government selected in 2023 to supply Kenya with oil on longer. credit terms, in a shift from an open tender system.
(source: Reuters)