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Thursday 29 February 2024

UKOG pushes ahead with share plan to raise money for Loxley gas site. DrillOrDrop reports that UK Oil & Gas has revived a bid to reorganise its share capital, needed to raise money for future projects, including planning conditions on the Loxley gas site near Dunsfold in Surrey.

UK gives £600m backing to Jim Ratcliffe’s ‘carbon bomb’ petrochemical plant. The Guardian reports the UK government is providing a €700m (£600m) guarantee for the billionaire Jim Ratcliffe to build the biggest petrochemical plant in Europe in 30 years that will turbocharge plastic production. The plant, Project One, in the Belgian city of Antwerp will bring plastic production to Europe on an unprecedented scale, the paper reports.

Blowing the budget: Why the Third Carbon Budget’s ‘surplus’ emissions are so important. Business Green reports the government must resist the temptation to cynically weaken the UK’s world-leading climate targets

Wednesday 28 February 2024

Government warned against loosening future targets on emissions cuts. DrillOrDrop report on warning from the government’s climate advisor against carrying forwards emissions cuts to a future carbon budget.

Tuesday 27 February 2024

New drilling plans at West Newton. Big changes announced to plans for drilling for oil and gas at West Newton in East Yorkshire, DrillOrDrop reports. Update which confirms the lack of progress was because of lack of money at the operator, Rathlin Energy.

Monday 26 February 2024

Perenco confirms “potential” decommissioning of Wytch Farm by 2037. DrillOrDrop report on plans to decommission one well by 2027 and the remaining wells potentially by 2037.

Sunday 25 February 2024

Sunak stands with net zero and climate conspiracy group at farming protest. The Observer reports Rishi Sunak attended a protest alongside a group which has posted conspiracy theories about climate change, and which campaigns against net zero.

Saturday 24 February 2024

Spending doubles at Cuadrilla but no plans for future “substantive expenditure”. DrillOrDrop report on interim accounts for Cuadrilla’s owner, the Australian mining group, A J Lucas.

UK set to miss near, long term emissions targets, DNV predicts. Reuters reports predictions by the Norwegian risk manager, DNV, that Britain is set to miss its decarbonisation targets for 2030 and its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by the middle of the century.

Friday 23 February 2024

‘We are worried about timescales slipping’: MPs warn looming election risks derailing government green policies. Business Green reports comments by the environment audit committee that the government could run out of parliamentary time for several key, delayed pieces of net zero policy ahead of the general election.

Thursday 22 February 2024

Britain to exit Energy Charter Treaty over failure to align with net zero. Reuters reports that Britain will follow other European countries in leaving an international treaty which has been criticised for blocking efforts to fight climate change because its protection of energy investments extends to fossil fuels.

Wednesday 21 February 2024

Conservative peer Lord Deben intervenes in High Court legal challenge against government climate plans. DrillOrDrop report on court claims that the government has breached the Climate Change Act over lack of detail in its net zero plans.

Removing UK climate protesters’ defence ‘could erode right to trial by jury’. The Guardian reports the court of appeal was told that a UK government attempt to remove one of the last remaining defences for climate protesters would be a slippery slope to the erosion of the constitutional right to trial by jury.

Oil giant fined just $780,000 after ‘one of world’s biggest ever’ methane leaks. The Independent reports a leak in Kazakhstan was comparable to that of driving more than 717,000 petrol cars for a year.

Tuesday 20 February 2024

Government at High Court over claims that its climate action plan is inadequate. DrillOrDrop preview of court case by three allegations accusing the government of a weak and inadequate climate plan. PA report

Critics Say Barclays’ New Restrictions on Financing Oil and Gas Projects Are Too Limited and Too Late. DeSmog reports that despite progress pivoting away from fossil fuel lending, the lion’s share of Barclays oil and gas lending isn’t covered under the new rules.

Europe’s green taxes risk destroying jobs and industry, Sir Jim Ratcliffe warns. The Telegraph reports comments by the Ineos owner that Europe’s green taxes are driving away investment and risk destroying its E1 trillion chemicals industry.

COP28 president urges countries to set plans for fossil fuel transition. Reuters reports the United Arab Emirates, host of last year’s COP28 climate summit, called on governments to take action in transitioning away from fossil fuels.

Friday 16 February 2024

Kazakhstan: Methane mega-leak went on for months. BBC News reports that one of the worst methane leaks ever recorded took place last year at a remote well in Kazakhstan.

Thursday 15 February 2024

Misson shale gas well decommissioned. DrillOrDrop report on decommissioning of the Misson well, which has been mothballed for more than four years.

Is Barclays really moving away from fossil fuels? Energy Monitor reports that Barclays decision to no longer finance new oil and gas fields is positive news for the environment but it comes with major caveats.

Zero plans for public onshore windfarms submitted last year in England. The Guardian reports no new proposals for general use windfarms were submitted for planning permission in England last year.

British Gas profits surge tenfold as energy bill rules relaxed. The Telegraph reports that British Gas profits surged after the industry watchdog relaxed restrictions on how much energy companies could make from their bills.

Wednesday 14 February 2024

More exploration time for Europa in Scarborough licence. DrillOrDrop report that Europa has been given more time to explore for gas in a licence in North Yorkshire.

World risks missing climate targets because of surging Asian gas demand. The Telegraph reports that surging Asian demand for gas means the world will miss its climate targets despite Western countries spending billions on the shift to net zero.

Thursday 8 February 2024

Keir Starmer: Labour ditches £28bn green investment pledge . bBC News reports Labour is ditching its policy of spending £28bn a year on its green investment plan, in a major U-turn. Sources insist the plan, which includes creating a publicly-owned green power company, is not being dropped altogether. But Labour will no longer commit to investing £28bn a year to deliver it.

Circumstances have changed, our ambitions have not. That’s what you need to know now about our green plan. Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, writing in the Guardian, say no one expected the Tories to crash the economy like they did. Building a greener Britain means being honest about this, they say.

Britain’s first hydrogen plant to be built at oil refinery. The Telegraph reports the new factory will convert gases generated by Stanlow into hydrogen.

Wednesday 7 February 2024

Campaigners to send “A message to you, Rishi” about Biscathorpe. Lincolnshire World reports a new campaign video has been launched by a group of dedicated volunteers aiming to stop oil drilling in their beloved village.

Starmer to announce scaling back of £28bn green investment plan. The Guardian reports that Keir Starmer will announce on Thursday that he is scaling back Labour’s £28bn green investment programme, in his biggest policy U-turn since becoming party leader.

Joe Biden just did the rarest thing in US politics: he stood up to the oil industry. The Guardian has an opinion piece from Bill McKibben in which he comments on the Biden administration suspending new permits for gas terminals.

Tuesday 6 February 2024

Ryedale gas licences lapse and former fracking firm changes hands again. DrillOrDrop reports that licences to produce gas in the Ryedale area of North Yorkshire have lapsed and the operator, Third Energy, has been acquired by a geothermal group, CeraPhi.

UJO farm-in for Oklahoma drilling project. Union Jack Oil announces it has signed a farm-in agreement with Reach Oil & Gas Company Inc to acquire a 45% working interest in a well planned to be drilled during the second quarter of 2024 to test the West Bowlegs Prospect and in an area of associated interest, located in Seminole County, Oklahoma.

Labour should proclaim its £28bn green plan from the rooftops. The Telegraph reports Starmer should not shy away from trying to lift the UK out of its bad equilibrium because the US and China have already pulled far ahead in global arms race for 21st century economic supremacy.

EU calls for 90 percent emissions cut by 2040. Politico reports that the EU executive’s recommendation comes as the bloc’s green policies are facing a growing backlash.

New Liz Truss Faction ‘Pops’ With Climate Science Denial and Fossil Fuel Ties. DeSmog reports on the launch of Liz Truss’s Popular Conservatism faction of the Conservative with attacks on net zero targets and environmental bodies, using the playbook established by libertarian lobby groups.

BP CEO calls for pragmatism on green aims as profits halve. The Guardian reports BP’s new chief executive has claimed he can stick to the green goals set by his predecessor without risking shareholder returns by adopting a “more pragmatic” approach.

Monday 5 February 2024

Minister consulted BP over incentives to maximise oil production, FoI reveals. The Guardian reports that the energy and climate minister Graham Stuart asked BP about the incentives required to “maximise” extraction of oil and gas from the North Sea, documents released under freedom of information rules have revealed.

Friday 2 February 2024