Canadian regulator says Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline project has started
June 5 (Reuters) - British Columbia's Environmental Assessment Office has determined that work on the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission natural gas pipeline project has been substantially started, the provincial government said on Thursday.
The decision means a 2014 environmental assessment certificate for the project will remain in effect indefinitely, unless suspended or cancelled under the Environmental Assessment Act, the B.C. government said in a press release.
The 900-kilometre PRGT project will run from Hudson's Hope in northeastern B.C. to Lelu Island near Prince Rupert on Canada's Pacific Coast.
It was acquired from TC Energy (TRP.TO), opens new tab by the Nisga'a First Nation and the Western LNG in March 2024 to supply natural gas to the proposed 12 million tonneS per annum Ksi Lisims liquefied natural facility.
The 2014 environmental assessment certificate required that the project show substantial progress by November 25, 2024.
The B.C. Environmental Assessment Office launched a review process late last year to examine whether work had started, considering site inspections, documentation from PRGT and input from local First Nations.
The government statement said compliance and enforcement officers will continue to monitor the PRGT project throughout construction and operation to ensure it meets all environmental requirements.
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Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
US oil/gas rig count falls for 6th week to 2021 lows, Baker Hughes says
June 6 (Reuters) - U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for a sixth week in a row for the first time since September 2023, energy services firm Baker Hughes (BKR.O), opens new tab said in its closely followed report on Friday. The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by four to 559 in the week to June 6, the lowest since November 2021. , , Oil rigs fell by nine to 442 this week, while gas rigs rose by five to 114, Baker Hughes said. It said it has corrected oil and gas classifications for approximately eight to 10 rigs in the Marcellus and Utica basins, effective April 4. Total reported rig counts for all historical periods remain unchanged. Total rig counts in the Permian in West Texas and eastern New Mexico, the Eagle Ford in South Texas and in the state of Texas all fell this week to their lowest levels since November 2021. In Utah, meanwhile, the rig count fell this week to its lowest since February 2022. The oil and gas rig count declined by about 5% in 2024 and 20% in 2023 as lower U.S. oil and gas prices over the past couple of years prompted energy firms to focus more on boosting shareholder returns and paying down debt rather than increasing output. The independent exploration and production (E&P) companies tracked by U.S. financial services firm TD Cowen said they planned to cut capital expenditures by around 3% in 2025 from levels seen in 2024. That compares with roughly flat year-over-year spending in 2024, and increases of 27% in 2023, 40% in 2022 and 4% in 2021. Even though analysts forecast U.S. spot crude prices would decline for a third year in a row in 2025, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projected crude output would rise from a record 13.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024 to around 13.4 million bpd in 2025. On the gas side, the EIA projected an 88% increase in spot gas prices in 2025 would prompt producers to boost drilling activity this year after a 14% price drop in 2024 caused several energy firms to cut output for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic reduced demand for the fuel in 2020. The EIA projected gas output would rise to 104.9 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2025, up from 103.2 bcfd in 2024 and a record 103.6 bcfd in 2023.
The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
Death, violence and endless delay: Inside Africa's most troubled energy project
Campaigners have demanded the UK government pull its funding for a natural gas mega project in Mozambique – alleging that it breaches Britain's human rights and environmental obligations. The project in question is a $20 billion (£15bn) liquified natural gas (LNG) development located in the Cabo Delgado region of Mozambique. The project, called Mozambique LNG, has been halted since 2021 after violence from an Isis-backed group led to 183 contractors being trapped in a hotel for two days, with 10 people killed when apparently trying to escape, including British national Philip Mawer. In all, the ongoing insurgency in the area has resulted in an estimated 6,000 deaths since the conflict began in 2017, with some 600,000 people displaced. In a letter seen by The Independent, campaign group Oil Change International (OCI) argues that the violence and other issues over the protection of the project makes a potential $1.15bn investment by UK Export Finance, a department of the UK government untenable. Continuing to finance the project is also not compatible with environmental commitments made in 2021 to no longer finance fossil fuels abroad, OCI argues. A tale of violence, delay and legal action was never meant to be the story of Mozambique's foray into natural gas, after some 180 trillion cubic feet of gas was discovered off the country's coast in 2010. In 2016, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected 34 per cent GDP growth for Mozambique by 2021. However, actual economic growth was around 2.5 per cent. TotalEnergies, the French energy firm, is currently in the process of trying to re-start the project by the middle of this year. 'The security situation has improved," CEO Patrick Pouyanne told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Gas conference earlier this month. Pouyanne's ambitions received a big boost in March when the US Export-Import Bank re-approved financial support worth $4.7bn for the project, boosting TotalEnergies' hopes of restarting the project. But the future of Mozambique LNG remains up in the air, with the British export credit agency still considering whether to recommit to its $1.15bn pledge – having joining with 33 countries, including the US, to sign a pledge to end public finance for fossil fuel projects abroad while hosting the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in 2021. According to OCI campaigner Adam McGibbon, if the UK pulls out of the deal then the entire financial arrangement is expected to collapse. 'We know of at least one major bank involved in the deal that has said they will also pull out if the UK does,' he says. The legal letter sent by OCI argues that the funding of the LNG project in Mozambique goes against the UK's obligations under international law to promote human rights in business both domestically and abroad. The letter highlights the UN's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which state that companies and nations must ensure that human rights are respected in relation to business operations. A UK Export Finance spokesperson said: 'UK Export Finance is currently in talks with project sponsors and other lenders regarding the latest status of the LNG production project in Mozambique. 'We take reports of alleged human rights infringement extremely seriously and are looking further into the matters.' 'The Qatar of Africa' Observers at the time the gas was discovered off the coast of Mozambique suggested that the country – one of the world's poorest – could transform into the 'Qatar of Africa'. A number of massive projects aiming to ship the gas around the world in the form of LNG were soon proposed. TotalEnergies' Mozambique LNG project stands out for its sheer size, with the $20bn in financing a figure roughly the same size as Mozambique's entire GDP. The 65 trillion cubic feet of gas it was expected to deliver is the equivalent of six years of current EU gas demand. But in March 2021, the 'force majeure' declaration was made, which enables parties to renege on an agreement due to unforeseen external circumstances. It came after Islamist insurgents captured swathes of territory in the Cabo Delgado region, and at least 1,400 people were left killed or missing presumed dead. Earlier this year French authorities began investigating TotalEnergies over potential corporate manslaughter, after survivors and relatives of victims of the event accused the energy giant of failing to protect its workers. In a statement shared with The Independent, a spokesperson for TotalEnergies said that they will ' cooperate with this investigation', but that 'the company categorically rejects' the accusations. 'Mozambique LNG's teams provided emergency assistance and mobilised their resources to evacuate more than 2,500 people (civilians, employees, contractors, and subcontractors) from the site where the Mozambique LNG project is located at the time of the attacks,' the spokesperson said. But some say the need to resettle people so that the land can used for the project has aided recruitment for the insurgents. 'The local population is being deprived of jobs, in a scenario where pressure on land is increasing, where people are losing access to land, losing access to natural resources,' wrote local analyst Joao Feijo earlier this year. 'The discontent that is created here is very great and this kind of discontent is capitalised on by these violent groups. Many individuals joined this group because they had no other alternative,' he added. Signs of discontent can be found in villagers claiming that they have not been sufficiently compensated for giving up land that most rely on for subsistence farming, according to evidence collected by local NGO Justica Ambiental, after Mozambique LNG was given rights to 6,625 hectares of land to build its liquefaction terminal. 'We agreed that the company would take our areas, but when they took our areas – the forests and fields – and they didn't want to pay us, they denied it,' said Neto Agostino Paulo resident of Macala Village, in footage captured by Justica Ambiental in summer 2024. Fellow Macala villager Adija Momade Sumail Nkabwi said: 'The company came here to lie to us that they were going to compensate us for our property that they had occupied, leaving us with false expectations'. The spokesperson for TotalEnergies told The Independent that prior to the force majeure announcement, 89 per cent of compensation payments had been paid within six months of the signing of compensation agreements, and 66 per cent were paid within 90 days. 'The Force Majeure situation has prevented the full implementation of the relocation and compensation process and has slowed down the exercise,' they said. 'Drill baby, drill' For OCI's Adam McGibbon, the violence and displacement witnessed in Cabo Delgado is a 'classic example of the resource curse': The phenomenon where resource-rich countries with abundant natural resources ironically end up with a multitude of problems. Nigeria and Angola – both oil-rich countries plagued by corruption and inequality – are oft-cited examples of countries to have suffered this fate in Africa. At the same time, it has also been said that given the low living standards of countries like Mozambique, any opportunity to bring in billions of dollars of foreign investment is a good thing. Some, like former Irish President Mary Robinson, have argued that African nations should be allowed to extract natural gas to develop. But there are growing concerns that the economic benefits originally conceived in Mozambique LNG might not ever materialise, even if the project goes ahead as planned. For all the talk of ' Drill baby, drill ' coming from Donald Trump in the White House right now, the prospects of a major new LNG production terminal are much weaker than in 2020. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and subsequently shut off pipeline gas flows to Europe, planned new LNG facilities in the US and Qatar have driven up projections of global LNG capacity. An increase of nearly 50 per cent is currently on the horizon, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). This ' LNG glut ', as the IEA describes it, is exacerbated by renewables continually beating targets in Europe and Asia, as well as a global push for 'energy security' that did not exist in 2020, and which is making governments less inclined to rely on expensive liquefied gas imports for energy. 'If and when TotalEnergies' Mozambique LNG project gets off the ground, it will be adding further supply into a market characterised by oversupply and lacklustre demand,' says Simon Nicholas, from IEEFA, a think tank. 'This can hardly be a surprise: There is a long history in Sub-Saharan Africa of fossil fuel projects doing nothing to boost development in the host country.' If global gas markets are oversupplied, there is a risk that Mozambique LNG will become a 'stranded asset', which will plummet in value – or even become a liability for Mozambique. Even a 'moderate-paced transition' away from fossil fuels globally would lead to Mozambique seeing gas revenues of just 20 per cent of what they would be in a slow-paced transition, a report from the think tank Carbon Tracker has found. The authors described countries looking to exploit oil and gas assets for the first time as making a 'significant gamble'. 'Huge economic costs' TotalEnergies has also structured its LNG deals in a way that activists have warned is disadvantageous to Mozambique, with revenues Mozambique set to come in the mid-2030s and 2040s, think tank IISD has said. This means that if the project does not see out its lifespan, TotalEnergies and other partners will have seen an outsize share of profits so far, with Mozambique losing out. Mozambique also faces 'substantial economic risks' related to investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS), a separate report from Columbia University found last year. ISDS are lawsuits where foreign investors sue countries where they have invested if they believe the government has violated the terms of the agreement. Mozambique's international investment agreements allow foreign investors to bypass the national judicial system in such disputes, the report found, while 'stabilisation clauses' protect investments from unexpected regulatory changes or new fiscal rules, potentially preventing Mozambique enacting new legislation to transition away from fossil fuels. 'What they have basically done is said Mozambique cannot invest in climate action without paying huge economic costs,' says Daniel Ribeiro, a Mozambican activist with Justica Ambiental. Such an arrangement is likely to 'only amplify social tensions in Cabo Delgado,' if little money is seen to reach local people while a Western company makes large profits, warns Ribeiro. Given the insurgency, delays, and economic concerns, it might seem the simplest thing for Mozambique to do would be to try and pull out of the deal. However, the country has racked up government debts since gas was discovered, using expected future gas revenues as collateral for borrowing. But expectations have not matched reality. The year 2016 also saw a corruption scandal rock the country after it was found that members of the Mozambican Government had secretly taken out loans for themselves from London-based banks, using assurances of future LNG gas revenues to do so. A 2023 report from Debt Justice found that the Mozambican government has been paying back some of those loans. Mozambique's external national debt more than doubled between 2010 and 2018, according to CEICC data, while Friends of the Earth has warned that potential corruption arising from the 'mere promises of LNG development' may have already cost the country more than any actual profit the project could generate for the country over its lifetime. For Ribeiro, who lives in the Mozambican capital of Maputo, the priority for the country should be investing in renewables and climate change adaptation. 'My main message is that the cost of climate change is going to be far greater than any profits from Mozambique LNG, and that should be the priority,' he says. The country is considered one of the most climate-vulnerable on the continent, exposed to extreme weather concerns including cyclones, droughts and floods. Cyclone Kenneth, which hit Cabo Delgado in 2019, caused damage estimated at $300m. But the Trump administration has a different idea about what is good for the country. Weeks before confirming its $4.7bn loan for Mozambique LNG, the US government shut down the USAID-backed Power Africa programme's operations in the country – with an emphasis on renewable energy – which has been leading efforts to boost energy access, in a country where only 40 per cent of the country's population has access to electricity. 'Cycle of death' The push to resume the Mozambique LNG project also comes despite the fact that the Islamist insurgency very much remains a threat. While insurgents no longer control full towns and villages, they have become more agile, and have stepped up the number of road blocks in recent weeks, according to local media. 'There are still believed to be several insurgency units of hundred or so people, and they still have the ability to make attacks and destabilise the area,' says Ribeiro. 'And every time they suffer losses, they continue to be able to recruit. Why? Because we are still not dealing with the economic and social drivers of the problem,' he adds. The EU is currently funding Rwandan troops to help protect the region - but this arrangement is also under threat due to accusations Rwanda has been supporting rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as allegations that the Mozambican government is using units trained by the EU for protest suppression. For Marisa Lourenço, an independent risk analyst in Southern Africa, the threat of violence is 'definitely still there' in Cabo Delgado. She believes that while TotalEnergies will be able to securely lock down its site on the coast, it remains unclear if doing so is worth the money. 'TotalEnergies can secure the site. But is the infrastructure cost worth it? Will it recoup its sunken costs? Probably not. TotalEnergies rushed into taking on this project, and I think it regrets it,' she believe. For Mozambique, meanwhile, it remains clear for Ribeiro that the best option is for the country to pull out of the project. 'Pulling out will cause a whole host of problems in the short term, but it will help us emerge from this cycle of death,' he says. So long as the project continues, the Western world can turn a blind eye to what is happening in Mozambique, by imagining that it is financially supporting the country, believes Ribeiro. But if the project fails, then the country can focus on other development pathways that actually benefit the people. 'It's like a chronic condition that keeps flaring up, for which there is no cure' he says. 'Sometimes you just need to take the bullet.'
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
Albanese must tread a fine line when he meets Trump. He can't bow to him but he can't alienate the US either
Things were tense as John Gorton prepared to meet Lyndon Johnson at the White House in May 1968. In office just a few months, the Australian prime minister had criticised the US president for a lack of consultation over America's military plans for the Vietnam war in the lead up to the important visit. In a briefing note uncovered by the historian James Curran, Gorton was described to his hosts as having a crumpled nose 'like an ex-prize fighter'. Worse, Washington was warned that the Australian leader was a 'conclusion jumper' and lacked experience in foreign affairs. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Despite meetings at the White House and a visit to the famed LBJ ranch in Texas, Gorton left America feeling uneasy about his relationship with Johnson and how the trip would play to the domestic audience at home. Anthony Albanese could be forgiven for a similar feeling. The Labor leader is expected to have his first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Calgary, Canada. Since Trump emerged as the lightning rod third candidate in the federal election campaign, Albanese has struggled to get his counterpart on the phone to plead Australia's case for an exemption to the president's growing roster of trade tariffs. Albanese described the decision by Australia's most important ally as an act of economic self-harm and not the actions of a friend, but he also weaponised the spectre of Trump-style politics in his demolition of Peter Dutton on 3 May. Once in the room, Albanese is expected to talk up Australia's supply of rare earths and critical minerals as he fights for exemptions from the 50% tariff now applied to steel and aluminium imports, and Australia's inclusion in the 10% baseline rate Trump imposed back in April. China dominates global supplies of critical minerals, required for specialist manufacturing, and a reliable ally able to balance the ledger should be helpful for the US, especially in the event of a conflict with Beijing. Albanese said on Friday he was not prepared to give ground on one longstanding American gripe. He said any move to weaken a biosecurity ban on some beef imports from the US in exchange for more favourable tariff treatment was a non-starter. Bans have existed since a 2003 mad cow disease outbreak, with cattle raised in Canada and Mexico but slaughtered in the US still barred under 2019 rules. Other irritants include the decades-long fight by America's pharma companies to kill off Australia's Pharmaceuticals Benefits Scheme, and the news media bargaining code, viewed in the White House as unfairly targeting American social media companies. If a meeting between the two leaders is locked in over coming days, Albanese will undoubtedly be trying to avoid an ambush like those endured by Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office. Trump's treatment of then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in their infamous phone call back in January 2017 is still front of mind for Australian diplomats as well. Albanese said on Friday he would seek to continue cordial conversations with Trump, even if relations between the pair deteriorated. 'I deal with people, whoever they are, in the same respectful way. I expect respect back,' Albanese told ABC radio in Melbourne. 'I'm the prime minister of Australia. We don't have a subservient relationship to any nation. We're a sovereign nation that stands on our own two feet.' Albanese seems to have charmed the capricious commander-in-chief – so far, at least. Last month Trump said he had a very good relationship with his Australian counterpart, telling reporters on the White House lawn Albanese had been 'very, very nice' and 'very respectful' to him. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion In reality, the pair have little in common. A reality TV star turned politician, Trump lived a gilded lifestyle in Manhattan before entering politics, rolling around the city as a playboy property developer, married three times and courting tabloid reporters to boast about his exploits. A Democrat and donor to Hillary Clinton before joining the Republican party to run for president, Trump's loyalties are transactional at best. Albanese was raised by a single mother in public housing in Sydney. His mentor and father figure was the Labor great Tom Uren. A former prisoner of war and minister in the Whitlam and Hawke governments, Uren taught his protege the spirit of collectivism, caring for vulnerable people and using political power to improve people's lives. Recent meetings offer a diplomatic playbook. The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, used his Oval Office audience this week to paper over differences on foreign policy and the war in Ukraine, sitting back as Trump criticised his one-time ally in Tesla boss, Elon Musk, as well as Germany's former leader Angela Merkel in a 30-minute rant to waiting media. Having prepared for the meeting by speaking with other world leaders about how to handle Trump one on one, Merz presented him with a gold-framed birth certificate of his grandfather, Friedrich Trump, who migrated from Germany to the US in 1885. The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, a friend of Albanese, performed similarly well back in February, taking an invitation from King Charles III for a state visit to the UK and eventually securing a tariff exemption through agreement on framework for a new trade deal. The visit is expected to take place in Scotland, the country of Trump's mother's birth and where he is planning to open a luxury golf course. The stakes are high for Albanese. Tariffs aside, the US is Australia's key defence and security partner and the personal relationship with the president is usually a key test of Australian prime ministers on the world stage. While Trump is disliked by many Australian voters – 64% of respondents to the Lowy Institute's annual poll in April said they didn't have faith in him to act responsibly – Albanese needs Trump to stick to the Aukus nuclear submarines agreement and to pushback on China's expansionist approach to the Indo-Pacific region. The same poll found 80% strongly want the US alliance to stay in place, evidence of Albanese's delicate balancing act – don't bow to Trump, but don't lose the US either. A dressing-down from a US president, even one not beloved by Australians, would probably play badly for a prime minister showing signs of growing confidence on the world stage. Even if he managed a successful visit with LBJ back in 1968, John Gorton returned to Australia exhausted and downcast. He said Johnson was too demanding in private and had failed to give any security guarantees on the situation in Asia. Like Gorton before him, Albanese might do well to stroke Trump's ego, remain a diplomatic small target and make it home in one piece.
