Energy This Week

https://www.thenationalnews.com/newsletters/energy-this-week

Oil prices slip on Israel-Iran attack reports

After reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had told the US he would not attack Iran’s oil or nuclear facilities, oil prices slumped almost 5 per cent on Tuesday morning. Brent crude closed at $74.73 per barrel. But the threat of further attacks and retaliation remains.

Prices were also weighed down by Opec’s decision to downgrade its forecast of global oil demand growth for a third month in a row, although it remains well above consensus estimates. However, the Vienna organisation pointed to hopes that last month’s stimulus package in China would boost its economy and oil consumption. Meanwhile, the Paris-based International Energy Agency said the oil market is headed for a “sizeable” oil supply surplus next year in the absence of a major disruption.

Last week, oil prices had achieved a second consecutive weekly increase over the danger to Middle East energy facilities, and higher petrol needs in the US following repairs after Hurricane Milton hit Florida.

Subsidy cuts, including for fuel and electricity, have sent Egyptian inflation soaring, to an annualised 26.4 per cent in September.

US hurricanes signal West needs to think harder about internal climate migration

After two disastrous hurricanes strike the southern US, the West needs to prepare for more migration driven by climate change – movement within, more than from without. A climate tipping-point could turn the Amazon rainforest into scrub, and global wildlife has dropped 73 per cent over the past five decades.

Scientists in Newcastle have succeeded in breeding more heat-tolerant coral, but the improvement was only modest. Last month, near “total bleaching” of corals was found along the UAE coast from Abu Dhabi to Umm Al Quwain. This occurs when seawater temperatures exceed the corals’ tolerable maximum, and they can die if it is prolonged.

‘Out of tricks’ as investors dump Tesla

The value of Earth observations by satellites could reach $3.8 trillion by 2030, with utilities, oil and gas, mining and climate monitoring key beneficiaries. Forecasting output from new solar and wind sites is one major application. And vaccines could help plants resist new pests and diseases, to which climate change exposes them.

The electric vehicle industry continues to grow strongly, but is becoming increasingly competitive. Tesla revealed its Cybercab autonomous taxi on Friday, but the market was unimpressed and the company’s shares dropped almost 9 per cent. “Elon Musk has run out of tricks … consumers and investors are now seeing through this marketing exercise that is full of empty promises,” an investor told The National.

‘Eye of the Storm’ highlights UAE climate talks

A new documentary, Eye of the Storm, depicts how the UAE Consensus at last year’s Cop28 climate talks in Dubai was reached. Dr Sultan Al Jaber, President of Cop28, and Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, says this year’s Cop29 in Azerbaijan must “provide the means” to put these ambitions into practice. Climate change is the highest-ranked priority for Middle East executives surveyed by Deloitte, ahead of concerns over the economy and geopolitics.

Investment in renewable energy must triple to $1.5 trillion per year by 2030 to meet the goal of tripling overall renewable capacity, said the Abu Dhabi-based International Renewable Energy Agency. Britain held an investment summit on Monday, with money for green projects a main aim. The government said more than ￡24 billion ($31.4 billion) of environmentally-friendly spending had already been secured, or about 2 per cent of the 2030 global goal.