Energy This Week
Oil prices cool after Israeli attacks avoid Iran’s energy sites
The oil market, which had waited with bated breath for the effect of Israel’s strikes on Iran, relaxed on Monday as it appeared energy facilities had mostly been avoided. Crude fell by 6 per cent on the day, Brent dropping from $76.05 to $71.42 per barrel, as the air attacks targeted missile and air defence sites. Nevertheless, the door remains open for further rounds of retaliation.
Oil prices had gained on Friday to end last week up about $2 per barrel, driven by concerns over supply disruptions in the Middle East. Chinese stimulus efforts helped drive a gain early in the week, with Saudi Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser saying his company was “fairly bullish” on China’s demand.
The International Energy Agency, though, still thinks there will be a “sizeable” market surplus next year, driven by strong production gains in the Americas. The World Bank says that commodity prices will drop to a five-year low next year, as an “oil glut ” offsets geopolitical risks. The bank noted that oil demand in China has “essentially flatlined” because of the increasing use of gas and electric vehicles. It thinks Brent crude will average $80 per barrel this year, $73 next year and $72 in 2026.
Dr Ashti’s achievements – and why it’s time for Kurdistan’s oil industry to move on
Dr Ashti Hawrami, first minister of natural resources for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, died on October 20 aged 76. He profoundly shaped the region’s oil industry and its economy and politics. Now, though, it’s time for Kurdistan to move on from his legacy.
Oil historian and long-term resident of Abu Dhabi, David Heard, has died aged 85, after an operation while being treated for cancer in Germany. Mr Heard’s wife, Frauke Heard-Bey, who survives him, is also a well-known historian of the region. Mr Heard came to Abu Dhabi in 1963 to work as a petroleum engineer in the emirate’s then-nascent oil industry and opted to stay.
Energy geopolitics and technology highlights at Saudi Arabia’s FII
Oman could become a leading player in Gulf sustainable financing, says a Ministry of Finance official. The Sultanate is reducing its dependence on petroleum earnings and building up a hydrogen industry. The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation concluded a co-operation agreement with Singapore for nuclear power during the visit of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed to the south-east Asian nation. Renewable energy is a crucial infrastructure investment focus in Dubai’s record $74 billion budget for 2025-2027.
Saudi Arabia’s Future Investment Initiative opened in Riyadh on Tuesday, with energy geopolitics a vital topic of discussion amid regional conflict. State oil company Saudi Aramco's venture capital fund Wa'ed has allocated $100 million to start-ups in artificial intelligence to help diversify the Saudi economy.
The UN warns that the dangers to shipping in the Red Sea threaten a predicted economic sharp rise in the West Asia region. Longer sea voyages to avoid the war zone raise costs and emissions, and affect oil and gas transit.
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Drilling technology company Enersol will invest $1.5 billion in the oilfield technology sector by the end of next year, says its chief investment officer. Enersol is a joint venture between Adnoc Drilling and Alpha Dhabi Holding. National Marine Dredging Company reported a 16 per cent gain in quarterly profit to $199 million, supported by operational expansion. And coal-to-solar Indian conglomerate Adani Group continues to expand, snapping up Orient Cement for $963 million.
Abu Dhabi’s Emsteel makes first green hydrogen-derived steel
Emsteel, the Abu Dhabi-based steel maker, announced on Monday the region’s first successful use of green hydrogen to produce steel with low carbon emissions. This could be crucial in decarbonising heavy industry.
Saudi Arabia is working on a carbon emissions compliance system, its Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told the FII. It will be phased in with a two- to three-year pilot phase, said the minister, noting “We learnt from everybody's problems and mistakes ”. Carbon offsets could become a trillion-dollar asset class by about 2037, as companies seek ways to reduce emissions that they cannot cut internally.
Graphene has just turned 20 years old . The material, discovered in Manchester in 2004, consisting of sheets of carbon a single atom thick, has many applications, including water desalination, electric cars, batteries, low-carbon concrete and others. Another new material, developed at the University of California, Berkeley, could significantly grow the efficiency of capturing carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere.
After a bad run, Tesla enjoyed a 12 per cent gain in its stock price last Wednesday, after it announced plans to produce long-awaited cheaper models by the middle of next year.
However, time is ticking on the goal of tripling renewables by 2030 – we may only get halfway there, writes Dr Nawal Al Hosany, permanent representative of the UAE to the International Renewable Agency.
America’s choice of leader will overshadow Azerbaijan climate confab
The US election casts its shadow over the Cop29 climate talks in Baku, which begin on November 11, less than a week after the polls close on the contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump. Mr Trump is expected to abandon much climate action if elected, while Ms Harris would continue ambitious plans for renewable energy, electric vehicles and other low-carbon policies.
The UN warns that the world is “teetering on a planetary tightrope ”, as we are on track for a potentially disastrous 3.1°C. of warming, far above the Paris Agreement’s target of no more than 1.5°C. More than half of heat-related deaths in Europe’s 2022 heatwave would not have happened without human-caused warming, says a study from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health. Women and the elderly were particularly exposed. Global warming also threatens the health of mothers and babies, a “blind spot ” for climate studies. Dangers come from extreme heat and lack of food and water.
Global warming will bring more extreme precipitation events. After the floods of April, Sharjah has approved a $109 million rainwater drainage system to guard against future torrential rains. A federal plan, announced on Friday, will build or expand dams across the Northern Emirates. The UAE, though, is also working on strategies to enhance rainfall at other times to diversify its water supply, explains Alya Al Mazroui, director of the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science.
No aliens – because of global warming?
It’s common to blame everything on climate change these days – and a new study suggests global warming may be responsible for our lack of alien companions. A study from the University of Rome and the Florida Institute of Technology suggests that industrial civilisations would heat up their host planets to intolerable levels within a thousand years.
And from the future to the past, the Abu Dhabi Museum of Natural History will explore the fossil creatures and landscapes of the emirate seven million years ago