Energy This Week: Middle East heat needs electricity, Gulf boosts gas investments, & Pompeii of trilobites
Middle East must keep up with electricity demand to stay cool
Rising heat in the Middle East brings more electricity demand for cooling – and some countries are struggling to cope. More investment in generation, higher levels of energy efficiency, greater deployment of renewable energy, reforming subsidies and designing cities differently are all parts of the solution.
An intense heatwave has struck Egypt and other parts of the wider region, and this summer is likely to be the hottest globally on record. With the country suffering power cuts of up to three hours daily due to gas shortages, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has told citizens, “I renew the government's apology. We are fully aware of the extent of Egyptian families' suffering from the problem of electricity outages.”
But Egyptians on social media have heavily criticised the government’s performance.
Cairo residents complain the mass felling of trees had worsened the urban heat and pollution, while small business owners object to government requirements to close early to save electricity.
?
Gulf boosting gas investments in face of 'fragile equilibrium'
The Egyptian government also blamed a technical malfunction in “gasfields in neighbouring countries”, meaning Israel, which was exporting 800 million cubic feet of gas daily to Egypt before the war.
The partners in Israel’s largest field, Leviathan, plan to invest up to $500 million to boost capacity, after receiving government approvals for more exports. US oil major Chevron operates the field in collaboration with a number of Israeli companies.
Gas is getting on better in Gulf countries. Saudi Aramco has awarded $25 billion of contracts to expand its domestic gas infrastructure, as it develops the huge unconventional Jafurah gas resource, and it announced seven oil and gas discoveries in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province.
The kingdom aims to replace oil in power generation with gas and renewable sources. Aramco also signed a non-binding agreement with Sempra of the US to buy 5 million tonnes per year of liquefied natural gas, and to take a 25 per cent stake in the second phase of the Port Arthur LNG development in Texas.
Adnoc, too, is expanding its LNG business. Adnoc Logistics and Services has agreed with two South Korean shipyards to build $2.5 billion worth of LNG carriers, which will support the parent company’s expanded LNG exports from 2028. Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, has endorsed Adnoc’s plans to boost its trading operations.
The International Gas Union sees a “fragile equilibrium” in global gas markets after two years of turmoil sparked by the significant reduction of Russian sales to Europe. The LNG landscape is increasingly diverse, but for now supplies remain relatively tight and vulnerable to disruption, with some older plants running out of feed gas.
?
?
Oil prices continue good run as inflation cools
Brent crude gained more than $1 per barrel last week, before falling back on Monday. It finished the week at $86.41 per barrel, for a monthly gain of more than 6 per cent.
The US Federal Reserve is likely to make only one rate cut this year, but US data on Friday suggested that inflation was easing.
Oil revenues are flowing into GCC sovereign wealth funds, with the main investors from the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia accounting for more than half the global sovereign investments in the first half of the year. Sovereign wealth funds put $9.7 billion into sustainable deals, more than the $7.2 billion spent in the hydrocarbon sector.
Petrol prices in the UAE will drop by nearly 5 per cent in July, reflecting global market trends, while diesel increases slightly. This is despite crude prices gaining in June, and strong jet fuel driving demand in the US summer season.
Iraq remains heavily dependent on oil revenues 20 years after the US-led invasion. The National takes a deep look into the corrupt banking system that cycles the petrodollars back into the Iraqi economy.
?
领英推荐
Egypt signs mega-hydrogen deals
Despite its gas and electricity problems, Egypt had better news on the hydrogen front. On Sunday, it signed four green ammonia agreements worth up to $33 billion. Partners in the various consortiums included Abu Dhabi’s Masdar, BP, German and local companies. The projects will use renewable energy around the Suez Canal area to make green hydrogen and convert it to ammonia, a clean fuel and fertiliser.
A “change makers majlis” in Abu Dhabi in November will explore the potential for artificial intelligence to increase electricity use versus reducing emissions. The event will be just ahead of the start of Cop29 in Baku. New AI operations could consume as much electricity as the whole of Canada by 2030.
Adnoc is “on track” to meet its 2030 sustainability goals, the corporation’s chief sustainability officer, Ibrahim Al Zu’bi, told The National.
Key targets include cutting greenhouse gas emissions 25 per cent by 2030, limiting freshwater use to 0.5 per cent of its total water consumption, and increasing carbon capture capacity to 10 million tonnes annually.
Saudi Aramco will buy 10 per cent in the powertrain joint venture of Renault and Chinese car maker Geely, based on a valuation for the unit of $7.9 billion.
Aramco is interested in lower-carbon and more efficient internal combustion engines.
Electric vehicles, though, gained ground as Tesla recorded higher-than-expected deliveries in the second quarter, taking its shares up 9 per cent.
?
Politics and mystery deaths in Europe’s green push
The UK’s Labour Party, expected to win Thursday’s coming election, intends to use green policies to support economic growth. The party’s manifesto promises ￡7.3 billion for areas including green steel, carbon capture, green hydrogen and gigafactories for electric car batteries.
However, problems have surfaced at a major European battery site. Police in Sweden are investigating three separate deaths of workers at Northvolt’s battery factory.
The three men, aged 19, 33, and 59, were found dead at their homes this year, and forensic examinations have so far not identified the cause of the deaths.
?
How a warming world affects Arctic falcons and tropical fish
UAE scientists are studying the impact of climate change in the Arctic, one of the world’s fastest-warming regions, on gyrfalcons, the biggest falcon species.
The research is being carried out by the Mohamed bin Zayed Raptor Conservation Fund, in partnership with the US’s The Peregrine Fund. The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund will provide $500,000 annually in a $1.5 million partnership to support young environmentalists. Meanwhile researchers at New York University Abu Dhabi have explained why warming waters are making fish smaller.
The UAE’s coastal lagoons, key habitats for wildlife, generate tens of millions of dirhams annually from ecotourism. They are also major sites of natural carbon sequestration. And the environment minister of the Maldives, an island country vulnerable to rising sea-levels, said on the sidelines of the Global Sustainability Forum in Abu Dhabi that faster access to “loss and damage” funds committed at Cop28 last year was crucial for his country.
A London-based scientist has demonstrated lab-grown leather – a way to make luxury goods without harming animals or contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.
?
‘Pompeii’ of trilobite fossils found in Morocco
The trilobites, extinct marine creatures resembling large woodlice, are among the world’s most recognisable fossils.
They are exceptionally useful for illustrating evolution and for dating rocks of the Lower Palaeozoic era, which source much of the Mena region’s giant gas reserves.
Now, exceptional “Pompeii-like” fossils of the creatures, entombed in an ancient volcanic ash-flow, have been found in Morocco’s High Atlas, revealing for the first time details of their soft tissues.