Urgent action needed for UK to hit net zero goals: CCC
The UK increased the rate of reduction in its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2023, but "urgent action" is needed if the country is to hit its targets in 2030 and beyond, the independent advisory Climate Change Committee (CCC) found today.
The report assessed the UK's progress towards its net zero goals against policy set out by the previous Conservative government. The new Labour government, which has been in power since 5 July, has already set the scene for a stronger decarbonisation agenda. But it "will have to act fast to hit the country's commitments", the CCC said. The committee tracked progress on 28 key indicators. Of the 22 that have a benchmark or target, just five are assessed as "on track".
The UK's GHG emissions stood at 393mn t/CO2 equivalent (CO2e) in 2023, down by 5.4pc, or 22mn t/CO2e, on the year, provisional data show. This estimate excludes contributions from international aviation and shipping, as these are not included in the UK's 2030 target of a 68pc cut in GHG emissions, from a 1990 baseline.
The UK's GHG emissions including the country's share of international aviation and shipping were 423.3mn t/CO2e in 2023, preliminary data show, 49.5pc lower than in 1990. The drop in GHGs has largely been driven by the decrease in coal-fired power generation over that time span.
Although progress has been made, the previous administration "signalled a slowing of pace and reversed or delayed key policies", the CCC noted. The reduction in GHG emissions in 2023 is "roughly in line with the annual pace of change needed" to hit the 2030 target, but the average annual rate over the previous seven years is "insufficient", the committee added. The UK's 2030 emissions reduction goal is the first in line with reaching net zero by 2050.
The new government has placed strong focus on decarbonising electricity in its first days in office, but this is "not enough on its own", CCC acting chief executive James Richardson said. The average annual rate of GHG reduction outside the electricity supply sector over the previous seven years was 6.3mn t/CO2e, but this will need to more than double to 2030 if the UK is to meet its targets, the CCC found.
The committee found that in order to reach targets, "annual offshore wind installations must increase by at least three times, onshore wind installations will need to double and solar installations must increase by five times" by 2030, while oil and gas use should be "rapidly" reduced. The CCC also recommended that around 10pc of UK homes will need to be heated by a heat pump by 2030, in comparison to approximately 1pc today. And the market share of new electric cars needs to increase to "nearly 100pc" by 2030, from a current share of 16.5pc.
Labour pledged in its manifesto to restore the 2030 phase-out date for sales of new gasoline or diesel-fuelled cars, while it has set ambitious targets for renewable energy installations and pledged zero-carbon power by 2030. It has also committed to no new oil, gas or coal licences.
Related news posts
Australia’s Santos delays FID on Dorado oil field
Australia’s Santos delays FID on Dorado oil field
Sydney, 18 July (Argus) — Australian independent Santos will now target a 2025 final investment decision (FID) on its 80pc-owned Dorado oil project in Western Australia (WA), after deferring it in 2022 and last year indicating a 2024 decision. Dorado's 10pc stakeholder Australian independent Carnarvon Energy said the joint venture (JV) will evaluate a lower capital expenditure (capex) option by reducing capacity below the previously guided 75,000-100,000 b/d and phasing development wells, targeting front-end engineering and design re-entry later in 2024 "once the JV secures the best option vessel or hull". Carnarvon said overall capex prior to the first oil from the offshore field will now be below its previous guidance of $2bn. Dorado JV's other shareholder is Taiwan's state-owned CPC with 10pc. Santos reported higher April-June oil and gas output than the previous quarter on 18 July, with production from the 7.8mn t/yr Gladstone LNG (GLNG) in Queensland state up on a year earlier. It produced 22.2mn bl of oil equivalent (boe), up by 2pc from 21.8mn boe during January-March because of the return of WA's Devil Creek gas plant following a maintenance shutdown, as well as higher liquids production following cyclone-related disconnections during January-March. But output was 3pc below the year-earlier figure of 22.8mn boe. GLNG is on track to swap 18PJ (480mn m³) of gas into the domestic market over April-September 2024, Santos said, with the project maintaining its guidance of around 6mn t of LNG shipped for the year to 31 December. Production at the 6.9mn t/yr ExxonMobil-operated PNG LNG in Papua New Guinea (PNG) was down on January-March with natural decline at the Hides field, partially offset by high compression reliability from the Santos-operated Gobe and Kutubu fields. Finalisation of drilling and completion of operations activities at PNG LNG's Angore C1 and C2 wells has been achieved with both wells perforated for production. Angore project teams are now starting tie-in execution with production of 350mn ft³/d (10mn m³/d) expected during October-December. The $4.6bn Barossa backfill project in the Timor Sea is 77pc complete, Santos said, with pipeline testing completed in June and on track for its first gas in July-September 2025 within its cost guidance. Santos' 1.7mn t/yr Moomba carbon capture and storage project in South Australia is mechanically complete and on track to raise injection of Cooper basin gas plant carbon dioxide during July-December. Santos maintained its 2024 production guidance of 84mn-90mn boe and will release its half-year results on 21 August. By Tom Major Santos results Apr-Jun '24 Jan-Mar '24 Apr-Jun '23 y-o-y % ± q-o-q % ± Volumes ('000 t) GLNG (100pc) 1,338 1,649 1,263 6 -19 Darwin LNG (100pc) 0 0 134 100 0 PNG LNG (100pc) 2,001 2,009 2,065 -3 0 Santos' equity share of LNG sales 1,264 1,352 1,333 -5 -7 Financial LNG sales revenue ($mn) 762 901 838 -9 -15 Total sales revenue ($mn) 1,313 1,398 1,336 -2 -6 LNG average realised price ($/mn Btu) 11 13 12 -4 -10 Oil price ($/bl) 89 89 83 7 0 Source: Santos Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Climate finance goal is top priority: Cop 29 president
Climate finance goal is top priority: Cop 29 president
London, 17 July (Argus) — Addressing and aiming to finalise a new climate finance goal will be the "centrepiece" of the UN Cop 29 climate summit, the event's president, Mukhtar Babayev said today. Cop 29 is scheduled to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 11-22 November. Babayev — officially Cop president-designate until the summit begins — is the country's ecology and natural resources minister. The Cop 29 presidency's "top negotiating priority is agreeing a fair and ambitious" new climate finance goal — known as the new collective quantified goal (NCQG) — Babayev wrote in a letter to countries and other stakeholders. He had previously been clear that finance will be a key topic at Cop 29. The NCQG represents the next stage of the $100bn/yr of climate finance that developed countries agreed to deliver to developing countries over 2020-25. But much is still up for discussion and must be finalised at Cop 29, including the amounts involved and timeframe. Babayev noted "disagreements", flagging that "the politically complex issues will not be solved by negotiators alone". The Cop 29 presidency has appointed Egyptian environment minister Yasmine Fouad and Danish climate minister Dan Jorgensen to lead consultations on the NCQG, Babayev said today. Announcements on ministerial pairs for other issues are expected in September, he said. "Adopting the NCQG will be a pivotal moment for whether parties can make progress on the means of implementation and support, and the Paris Agreement more broadly", Babayev said. Climate finance needs a "substantial increase", and the presidency "will spare no efforts to act as a bridge between the developed and developing nations", he added. Babayev also called for more financial pledges to the loss and damage fund , which countries agreed at Cop 27 to establish, to address the unavoidable effects of climate change in vulnerable countries. He encouraged all countries to submit national climate plans — known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) — aligned with the Paris agreement, which seeks to limit the rise in global temperature to "well below" 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and preferably to 1.5°C. "The Cop 29 presidency will lead by example", Babayev said. Azerbaijan and its "Troika" partners, Cop 28 host the UAE and Cop 30 host Brazil, are working on 1.5°C-aligned NDCs, he said. The Article 6 mechanism of the Paris agreement, which relates to international carbon trading, will also be a priority at Cop 29, Babayev said. The presidency "is committed to finalising the operationalisation of Article 6 this year", he added. Cop 28 ended without a deal on Article 6, but "in recent months… there was clear will to advance work" on the topic, Babayev said. By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
TotalEnergies agrees to sell stake in Nigeria SPDC JV
TotalEnergies agrees to sell stake in Nigeria SPDC JV
London, 17 July (Argus) — TotalEnergies has agreed to sell its 10pc stake in Nigeria's SPDC onshore oil and gas joint venture to Africa-focused independent Chappal Energies for $860mn. Other partners in the SPDC joint venture comprise operator Shell with a 30pc interest, state-owned NNPC with 55pc and Italy's Eni with 5pc. Shell agreed to sell its stake in the joint venture to a consortium of five companies for up to $2.4bn in January. That deal remains subject to a due diligence process by regulators. The joint venture's assets include around 50 producing oil and gas fields across 18 licences. TotalEnergies will transfer its 10pc interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 of the licences to Chappal. These licences mainly produce oil and netted TotalEnergies around 14,000 b/d of oil equivalent last year. The other three licences — OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77 — mainly produce gas and account for 40pc of supply to the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) joint venture, in which TotalEnergies has a 15pc stake. TotalEnergies will also transfer its 10pc stake in these licences to Chappal but it will retain "full economic interest" in them, it said. The divestment "allows us to focus our onshore Nigeria presence solely on the integrated gas value chain and is designed to ensure the continuity of feed gas supply to Nigeria LNG in the future", said TotalEnergies' exploration and production president Nicolas Terraz. Chappal specialises in taking over and operating mature fields. It agreed a deal in November last year to acquire Norwegian firm Equinor's stake in Nigeria's OML 128 block, a transaction that was finally approved earlier this month . The company said last month that it is contemplating issuing a bond to raise up to $450mn to help it finance acquisitions. By Jon Mainwaring Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
China’s CNOOC gets record gas results from Bohai well
China’s CNOOC gets record gas results from Bohai well
Singapore, 17 July (Argus) — Chinese state-controlled oil firm CNOOC has achieved what it described as record gas production results from a test well at its Longkou 7-1 (LK7-1) oil and gas field in the eastern region of China's Bohai Sea. The LK7-1-1 exploration well could produce almost 1mn m³/d of natural gas and about 210m³/d (1,320 b/d) of crude oil, the company said on 15 July. The former set a record for natural gas tested productivity in the Bohai Sea, according to CNOOC. China produced 123.6bn m³ of natural gas in January-June, up by 6pc from a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS). The country produced 4.15mn b/d of crude in 2023, NBS data showed. The potential output adds to CNOOC's reserves and production in the Bohai Sea, which stood at 1.97mn b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d) and 599,847 boe/d as of the end of 2023, according to CNOOC. The region represents 29pc of the company's total reserves and approximately 32pc of its production. CNOOC, along with other state-controlled firms like PetroChina and Sinopec, dominates China's domestic oil and gas production. CNOOC has also separately started production at an oilfield offshore China. The Wushi 23-5 oilfield development project — located in the Beibu Gulf of the South China Sea — is expected to produce light crude, and achieve peak production of 18,100 boe/d in 2026. "The project will realise full-process recovery and utilisation of the associated gas through integrated natural gas treatment," the company said on 1 July. CNOOC in November 2023 started production at its Bozhong 19-6 condensate gas field in the Bohai bay. The gas field is currently producing an estimated 37,500 boe/d, exceeding an initial expectation of peak production of about 37,000 boe/d, the company said on 11 July. CNOOC in March 2023 discovered the Bozhong 26-6 field with over 100mn t of oil equivalent reserves, also in the Bohai Sea. By Joey Chan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Business intelligence reports
Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.
Learn more