Norway

QatarEnergy announced on Tuesday that it would halt production of aluminium due to the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. Natural gas prices have soared since Monday, when the state-owned company halted production of liquefied gas following Iranian drone attacks against its Ras Laffan facility. QatarEnergy holds 51% of the shares in Qatar Aluminum Manufacturing Co, one of the shareholders in the 648,000-metric-ton per year Qatalum smelter alongside Norway's Norsk Hydro. QatarEnergy holds 51% in Qatar Aluminum ?Manufacturing Co, one of the shareholders in the 648,000-metric-ton-per-year Qatalum smelter alongside Norway's Norsk Hydro. IMPLICATIONS FOR ALUMINIUM PRODUCTION ?ARE UNCLEAR Hydro confirmed...

The Norwegian parliament rejected on Thursday a proposal that would have blocked Equinor from supplying electricity to its Hammerfest LNG plant via the region's electrical grid. This allowed for 'ongoing' development to continue. The Socialist Party, which had previously supported the LNG plant plan, withdrew their support, calling it "in fact unlawful". The opposition proposal was supported by 48 parliamentarians, while 54 members voted against it. The government approved a connection in 2023 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the plant located on Melkoeya Island off Hammerfest, and?extend the lifetime of the plant. Critics claim that connecting the "currently gas-driven"...

Next week, business and political leaders will be attending the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos to test their vision of a global economic order based on rules. The expected appearance of U.S. president Donald 'Trump' in the Swiss resort shows the difference between his agenda, and the consensus-driven approach taken by the?the?WEF. This organization has been criticized for years as a talk shop for the rich. His "America First' policy has resulted in trade tariffs as punishment, military interventions in Venezuela, a threat to take over Greenland with force, and the U.S. retreating from international cooperation on climate...

Next week, business and political leaders will be attending the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos to test their?vision for a global economic order based on rules. The expected appearance of U.S. president Donald Trump in the Swiss mountain resort highlights the difference between his agenda, and the consensus-driven approach taken by the WEF. It has been criticized for years that the WEF is just a rich people's talking shop. His "America First' policy has resulted in trade tariffs as punishment, military interventions in Venezuela, threats to take over Greenland and a retreat by the U.S. from international cooperation...

A U.S. court will on Monday consider the request of Danish?energy firm Orsted to obtain an injunction to stop?the Trump Administration's decision?to halt its $5 billion Revolution Wind project near Rhode Island. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the company by several offshore wind companies, as well as states. They are seeking to reverse the Interior Department's suspension of five 'offshore wind leases' that it had imposed in December over what they called national security concerns. Under U.S. president Donald Trump's?view that wind turbines are ugly, expensive, and inefficient, offshore wind developers have seen their multi-billion dollar plans repeatedly...

TotalEnergies announced on Monday that it would merge its British North Sea oil assets with NEO NEXT Energy. This is a partnership between Spain’s Repsol, and HitecVision. Total said that it would take a 47.5% share in the renamed NEO NEXT+ as a trade for its assets. The company made the announcement in a Monday statement. Repsol will have a 23.625% stake in the venture while HitecVision holds the remaining 28.875%. The statement stated that NEO NEXT+ will have a production capacity of over 250,000 barrels oil equivalent per day by 2026. This deal is part of a recent trend...

Orsted, the Danish offshore wind company, said that it has no plans to acquire the renewables division of Equinor. Equinor is its second largest shareholder and had proposed closer ties with Orsted. Equinor is a Norwegian oil and gas group that also produces renewable energy. It took a 10% share in Orsted in October last year, and invested close to $1 billion into the company. Last week, it said that offshore wind needed consolidation. Orsted shares are down 85% since their peak in 2021, due to rising costs, disruptions of the supply chain, and challenges in the United States, where...

As early quarter results show businesses adapting to President Donald Trump's new tariffs, the outlook for European corporate health is slightly better, according to the latest earnings estimates released on Tuesday. According to data from LSEG, European companies will report an average growth of 0.4% for their third quarter earnings. This is higher than the 0.2% analysts expected just a week earlier. This would still be the lowest quarterly performance since the beginning of 2024. Early Results Beat Analyst Expectations So far, 96 companies in the index have reported their earnings. Of these, 56.3% exceeded analyst expectations. Volvo Cars is...

The Maeil Business Newspaper reported on Thursday that Brian Kemp, governor of Georgia in the U.S., will meet with South Korean leaders of business this week. This includes executives from Hyundai and LG Energy Solution. Kemp's trip comes after U.S. Immigration authorities raided in September the construction site of an under-construction battery plant in Georgia owned jointly by Hyundai Motor, LGES and LGE. After a week-long negotiation between South Korea, the United States and South Korea, hundreds of South Koreans were arrested on suspicion of working without visas. The local public relations agency that handled Kemp's visit refused to comment....

The Green Party of Norway played a key role in Monday's re-election. It secured 4.7% of votes and ensured that Labour and its allies had 87 seats in Parliament - two extra than required to have a majority. The Greens have a number of energy-related policy proposals. Here's a breakdown of their main ideas, the potential impact they could have, and whether or not it is likely that these will be implemented: What do they want to do? The Greens are calling for an immediate halt to new petroleum exploration and a phase-out of existing activities by 2040. They also...

The general elections in Norway on September 8 and 9 are expected to be close between the centre-left block led by the Labour Party and the centre-right group dominated by the Progress Party. Inequality and taxation are two of the key issues that will determine the outcome. The result could also have an impact on the energy and power supply to Europe, and the management and control of Norway's massive sovereign fund. What's at stake? Labour, led by Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, is seeking to extend its reign after returning to government in 2021. This follows eight years of...

Shell, Equinor, and TotalEnergies announced on Monday that the first volumes of CO2 have been injected into and stored in Norway's Northern Lights Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project, marking the beginning of operations. Companies said that the CO2 was being stored in a 2,600 meter reservoir (8,530 feet) below seabed. This marks a significant milestone for CCS. In a press release, Anders Opedal said that the industry of carbon capture transport and storage is scalable. The facility is a part of the heavily-subventioned Longship carbon storage and capture project in Norway, which aims to commercialise CCS to reduce CO2...

Norsk Hydro announced on Thursday that its 'Qatalum' aluminium smelter, located in Qatar, would halt the curtailment begun last week. Production will be maintained at around 60% of capacity with reduced natural gas supplies. Qatalum - which has an annual smelting capability of 648,000 tons - began a controlled shut down on March 3, after it was informed that the gas supply would be cut off. QatarEnergy, a state-owned company, announced the day before that it would halt?LNG output after Iranian drones attacked its facilities. Hydro released a statement saying that Qatalum had decided to stop further curtailment after receiving...

On Wednesday, copper prices recovered from two sessions of losses due to better than expected private factory data from China, the top metals consumer. The aluminium price rose to its highest level in more than a month, on the back of supply concerns resulting from the escalating conflict in the Middle East. This region is a major producer of this metal. The benchmark three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange rose 1.5%, to $13,150 per metric ton at 1030 GMT. LME copper has fallen 3% in the last two sessions due to fears that the Mideast conflict will hinder...

Rare Earths Norway announced on Tuesday that the estimate of mineral resources in a mine under development by Europe's largest project for rare earths has increased by 81% from?the previous evaluation two years ago. The development of Fen in southern Norway, the company's rare earth project, would help the continent to reduce its dependence on the dominant producer China. According to a WSP statement, the project contains 15.9 million metric tonnes of total rare earth oxide in indicated and implied resources. It added that the new estimate is based on additional exploration drilling done last year, and compares to 8,8...

The estimate of mineral resources at the?mine that Rare Earths Norway is developing, Europe's biggest rare earth project has increased by?81% from the last evalution two years ago, the privately owned firm announced on Tuesday. The Fen project, which is being developed by the company, would help Europe to reduce its dependence on China as the dominant producer of rare earths. According to a WSP statement, the project has?a total rare earth oxide of 15.9 million metric tonnes in indicated and inferred resource,' It added that the 'new estimate' reflects additional exploration drilling which took place in 2018 and compares...

Greenland's prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen responded "no thanks", on Sunday, to the idea of U.S. President Donald 'Trump' to send a hospital boat to Greenland. Trump has said repeatedly that he wants to takeover this territory. Trump announced on social media on Saturday that he is working with Jeff Landry, the Louisiana Governor and special envoy for Greenland to send a hospital boat to Greenland. "President Trump’s idea to send an American?hospital boat here to Greenland was noted. We do have a free public healthcare system. Nielsen said in a Facebook post that it was a "deliberate choice". Nielsen said...

A source familiar with the situation said that Canada was considering sending a small contingent of troops to Greenland in order to take part in NATO exercises. The first to report the news were CBC News and Globe and Mail. Source: Military officials have "presented" plans for the operation to government, and are "awaiting a decision by Prime Minister Mark Carney," said the source. The source requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the issue. Carney's office declined to comment. Carney is challenged by the threats of U.S. president Donald Trump to annex Canada. He wants to be on...

Donald Trump, the U.S. president, has linked his desire to seize control of Greenland with his failure to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. He said he was no longer thinking "purely of Peace", as the row on the Arctic island threatened to reignite the trade war between Europe and the U.S. Trump is intensifying his efforts to take over Greenland, which belongs to NATO member Denmark. He has threatened punitive tariffs against countries that stand in his path and prompted the European Union (EU) to consider retaliatory measures. The dispute threatens to bring down the NATO alliance, which has been...

A report released by the U.N. Human Rights Office Thursday revealed that over 1,000 civilians died when a paramilitary group from Sudan took control of a famine stricken displacement camp in Sudan's Darfur. About a third were executed summarily. According to a U.N. Report, for months before the April 11-13 attack, the Rapid Support Forces had blocked the entry of food and other supplies into the Zamzam Camp in Sudan's western Darfur region, which houses nearly half a milllion people who have been displaced by the civil war. The U.N. reported that the RSF had attacked civilians during the takeover....

Smackover Lithium, the joint venture between Standard Lithium and Equinor announced on Tuesday that it had attracted more than $1 billion of financing interest for its southwest Arkansas Lithium project. Three export credit agencies including EXIM, Export Finance Norway and Export Finance Sweden have expressed interest in providing debt financing to the project. Standard Lithium's U.S. listed shares rose 5% during premarket trading. The joint venture seeks up to $1.1billion in senior secured debt for the majority of the $1.45billion cost of constructing the first phase of the project. Export credit agencies would provide loans and guarantees, while commercial banks...

Norsk Hydro, a Norwegian aluminium manufacturer, reported a 18.6% drop in its third-quarter core profits on Friday. The fall was attributed to lower alumina and Norwegian crown prices, partially offset by increased production volume. The adjusted earnings before taxes, depreciation, and amortization fell from 7.4 billion crowns to 6.0 billion crowns between July-September of last year. According to a consensus compiled by the company, analysts had on average expected it to report an operating profit of 6,36 billion crowns. Return of U.S. Tariffs Aluminium prices have risen to record levels, causing American consumers to pay more and changing global supply...

A spokesperson from Norges Bank Investment Management, the fund's operator said that Eramet, a French mining company, was excluded from its portfolio due to ethical reasons. According to data from the fund, as of 30 June, it held a stake in Eramet valued at $6.8 millions. Eramet didn't immediately respond to a comment request. The Council on Ethics of the fund, which is its ethics watchdog, recommended the divestment due to Eramet’s participation in Indonesia’s PT Weda Bay Nickel, where Eramet is the operator of mine. The Council on Ethics recommended that Eramet SA should be excluded. "There is an...

Norsk Hydro, a Norwegian aluminium manufacturer, cut its capital expenditure guidance for 2025 by 1.5 billion crowns (roughly $147.5 million), and frozen external white-collar employment on Tuesday amid volatile input prices and uncertain demand. Tariffs imposed by the United States on aluminum have disrupted trade and driven physical market premiums up to record levels, increasing cost pressures and changing global supply lines. Hydro Extrusions plans to reduce more than 100 jobs by 2025. Prioritizing operational efficiency and cost reduction, the division will focus on cutting costs. "We have not yet seen major changes in our business operations due to tariffs...