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Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Equinor slams Trump administration's halt to major US offshore wind project
By Nora Buli and Nerijus Adomaitis OSLO (Reuters) -Equinor on Wednesday said it believes the decision of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to halt the construction of a multi-billion dollar offshore wind power project is unlawful and that the group may take legal action. In a blow to the nascent U.S. offshore wind industry, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on April 16 the Biden administration had failed to conduct enough environmental analysis before approving the Empire Wind development in New York state. Equinor on Wednesday said the project was about 30% complete at the time it was halted. The group has spent some $2.5 billion so far, with further exposure including guarantees and termination fees of $1.5 billion–$2.0 billion before taking into account tax and other potential reductions and limitations, it said. Burgum's announcement this month sent shockwaves through the industry, raising concerns that fully permitted developments are not safe. "We have invested in Empire Wind after obtaining all necessary approvals, and the order to halt work now is unprecedented and in our view unlawful," Equinor CEO Anders Opedal said in a statement. "This is a question of the rights and obligations granted under legally issued permits, and security of investments based on valid approvals," he added. Equinor, majority-owned by the Norwegian state, won a federal lease for the project's site off the Atlantic coast under Trump's previous administration in 2017. However, on the first day of his second term, Trump ordered a review of offshore wind permitting and leasing, though the fully permitted projects had been seen by analysts as safe. One of the world's top offshore wind developers, Germany's RWE, last week said it had stopped work on its U.S. projects for the time being in light of moves against the industry by the Trump administration. Equinor is now seeking to engage directly with the U.S. administration to clarify the matter and is considering its legal options, the company said. With a planned installed capacity of 810 megawatts, the project could generate enough electricity to power 500,000 homes a year and was expected to begin operating in 2027. Equinor on Wednesday reported a stronger-than-expected rise in its first-quarter operating profit, boosted by a jump in European gas prices.
Zawya
04-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Europe Gas: Prices hit 6-months lows on China trade tariff retaliation
Dutch and British gas prices plunged to their lowest in over six months on Friday afternoon in line with sharp declines in oil and stock markets after China announced retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, fanning global recession fears. The Dutch front-month contract was down 3.62 euros, or 9% at 35.86 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) or $11.63/mmBtu, by 1158 GMT, LSEG data showed. Earlier the contract fell to 35.25 euros/MWh, the lowest since Sept. 23, 2024. The British front-month contract was down 8.26 pence at 87.51 pence per therm. The British day-ahead contract was down 8.28 pence at 87.50 p/therm. Prices were already down in the morning but the fall accelerated after China announced additional tariffs of 34% on U.S. goods. This saw stock markets extend losses incurred in earlier trading, while oil prices were headed to their lowest close since the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in 2021. Whole markets were collapsing and nothing was trading based on fundamentals, a trader said, adding it was not even clear whether gas was included in the Chinese tariffs. The markets were now showing "a massive re-calibration of where we see global growth", or rather the opposite, another trader added. Major energy intensive industries may change future plans which could impact the amount of energy they need in the future, consultancy Auxilione said in a morning note referring to the initial U.S. announcement of global tariffs. "Companies were already publicly discussing potential shut downs and reductions in output in response to the tariff announcement," they added. The drop in European gas prices likely also reflected expectations of greater supply due to relatively higher tariffs on Chinese exports potentially diverting more LNG to Europe, said Daniel Hynes, senior commodities strategist at ANZ. "Risks of weaker demand in China are also higher," he added. Lower LNG demand in Asia in 2025 versus 2024 could have significant implications for Europe, despite its wider storage injection gap this year, analysts at Rabobank said in a note. "With weak Asian LNG demand, Europe's gas benchmark price could drop to the low EUR 30s in 2025," they added, but maintained their forecast for prices in the low EUR 40s for now. In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract was down 2.71 euros at 63.35 euros a metric ton, after briefly hitting 62.69 euros/t, its lowest level since November. (Reporting by Nora Buli, Editing by Susanna Twidale)
Zawya
21-02-2025
- Business
- Zawya
UK presents plans for subsidy reform to speed up green energy projects
The British government on Friday presented plans for reforms of its flagship Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme to remove planning barriers and bring green energy projects, especially offshore wind farms, online faster. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said it is proposing to relax the eligibility criteria on planning consent for fixed-bottom offshore wind and to increase the CfD contract term beyond the current 15 years. CfDs are government-backed price guarantees for developers for the electricity produced. It also wants to change the way budgets for offshore wind are set and published, including allowing the government to view bid information in anonymised form. The UK last year awarded CfD contracts to a record number of projects totalling 9.6 gigawatts (GW), most of it for offshore wind. A new, seventh round (AR7) is planned for later this year, while the government has also introduced a scheme to support the domestic renewable energy industry. "Our bold new reforms will give developers the certainty they need to build clean energy in the UK, supporting our mission to become a clean energy superpower and bring down bills for good," Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said. The UK already has 30.7 GW of offshore wind either installed or committed, with a further 7.2 GW of capacity consented, compared with a targeted capacity of 43-50 GW to meet its clean power by 2030, the ministry said. The latest plans also propose enabling CfD support for onshore wind projects looking to increase capacity, so-called repowering. The government, as a temporary measure, also wants to remove the ability of generators with existing CfDs to enter surrendered capacity from previous allocations rounds into AR7. Stakeholders are invited to consult on the reforms to the CfD until March 21, with a government response expected ahead of the AR7 round, the DESNZ said. (Reporting by Nora Buli; editing by David Evans)
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Equinor shares fall despite Q4 profit beat, rising output
By Nora Buli and Nerijus Adomaitis LONDON/OSLO (Reuters) -Equinor reported a smaller than expected fall in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday and joined many rivals in promising higher oil and gas output while scaling back renewables, but its shares fell amid some disappointment over shareholder payouts. The Norwegian oil and gas producer said its adjusted earnings before tax for October-December fell to $7.90 billion from $8.56 billion a year earlier. That beat the $7.71 billion expected in a poll of 24 analysts compiled by Equinor. Equinor's Oslo-listed shares closed down 4.1%, underperforming a 0.3% rise for Europe's oil and gas index. Year-to-date, the shares are up 0.4%, lagging a 6% gain in European petroleum stocks. Jefferies analyst Giacomo Romeo said Equinor's planned payout to shareholders in 2025 was lower than expected, while spending cuts on renewables were anticipated. The ordinary cash dividend for the fourth quarter was raised to $0.37 per share from $0.35 in the third. Including share buybacks, Equinor plans to return to shareholders a total of $9 billion this year. Chief Executive Anders Opedal told Reuters the capital distribution was "competitive". "Equinor is well positioned for further growth and competitive shareholder returns ... Our oil and gas production outlook is increased to more than 10% growth from 2024 to 2027," he said. In 2030, the company expects to produce around 2.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in oil and gas, up from the previous plan of 2 million, Equinor said in a statement. At the same time, the company scaled back plans for renewable energy capacity expansion, in line with European peers Shell and BP. "Inflation, interest rates, supply chain issues and regulatory uncertainty reduce the pace of energy transition ... We adapt to these realities, both phasing and prioritising investments to maximize returns, Opedal told an investor presentation. The company reduced its 2030 target for renewable energy capacity to between 10-12 gigawatts from 12-16 gigawatts previously, and scrapped plans to spend more than 50% of its gross capital on renewables and low-carbon solutions by 2030. It also reduced organic capital spending plans for 2025 to $13 billion, down from guidance of $14 billion to $15 billion a year ago. "The result of the above change appears to be a business that has moderated the pace of its transition, which should in theory mean more robust cash flows over time," RBC Capital Markets analyst Biraj Borkhataria said in a note to clients. In 2025, Equinor's plans to increase oil and gas production by 4% from 2024, as new fields are set to come on stream. Kjetil Hove, Equinor's head of Norwegian operations, told Reuters he expected the Johan Sverdrup oilfield, the largest in Europe, to produce at around 720,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025, close to the levels in 2023-2024. Its Troll gas field, which hit a record output last year, was also expected to continue producing at elevated levels this year, he added. Equinor in 2022 overtook Russia's Gazprom as Europe's biggest supplier of natural gas when Moscow's invasion of Ukraine upended decades-long energy ties. Norway now meets around one-third of the continent's demand.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Norway's wealth fund sticks to investments in renewables despite market setbacks
By Nora Buli OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's $1.8 trillion wealth fund, the world's largest, remains committed to investments in renewable assets despite recent market setbacks and will seek opportunities in both the listed and private markets, a senior fund official said on Thursday. Renewable energy assets have significantly underperformed in the market in 2024, with some previous investor favourites such as Danish offshore wind developer Orsted taking big hits to their valuations. The fund's own investments in unlisted renewable energy infrastructure, which includes stakes in offshore wind farms with Orsted and in Spanish utility Iberdrola's renewables portfolio, posted on Wednesday a negative return of -10% for 2024. Despite the negative returns recently, the fund remains committed to renewables, saying it makes sense in the long-term. "We think that's smart also for a very, very long-term investor ... All of our investments are dependent on an orderly energy transition," Harald von Heyden, the fund's global head of energy and infrastructure told a conference in Oslo. "You can probably buy renewable assets much cheaper now if you buy them as shares," he added. Meanwhile, the volatility in the private market was smaller, and being active in both the public and in the private markets should offer some good deals going forward, he added. The fund plans to do this and has recently restructured to merge its unlisted and listed renewable energy investment teams. Since 2020, the fund is allowed by the Norwegian parliament to invest in unlisted renewable projects, as long as they are in Europe or in the United States. "It's been a slow start. We've held back. We've not been sure that we've been in the right place in (the) cycle," von Heyden said, but added the fund was seeing more opportunities now, while the team has grown from 15 to 20 people. The fund sees offshore wind as still the best strategic target, as it is Europe-based and offers a large series of partners. "But we also want to do deals in the other renewable energy infrastructure technologies. And enabling technologies such as grid and storage," von Heyden said. Sign in to access your portfolio
