US Coast guard restricts lower Mississippi drafts
The US Coast Guard (USGC) set new towing and draft restrictions for the lower Mississippi River on 31 August, as water levels continue to decline.
For southbound traffic from Tiptonville, Tennessee, to near Greenville, Mississippi, barge drafts must remain under 10.5ft and no more than six barges wide, according to the USGC. From Greenville to Tunica, Mississippi, southbound barge drafts must be under 10ft. Boats can tow six barges wide, but no more than four of those barges can be loaded.
Northbound movement from Tunica to Tiptonville must keep drafts below 10ft and cannot be more than six barges wide and no more than four barges loaded.
These new restrictions arrived five days after the previous draft restriction issued by the USGC.
Memphis, Tennessee, water levels fell below the low water threshold of -5ft over the holiday weekend, at nearly -6ft as of 3 September according to the National Weather Service (NWS). As many as six other points on the lower Mississippi River are at their low water thresholds with others expected to reach their thresholds this week.
Low water has already spurred an increase in southbound tariff values, which will likely be exacerbated as US crop harvests progress.
The next 48hrs in the Memphis area is forecast to receive no rain, while the southern half of Mississippi and most of Louisiana may see 0.5-2 inches of rainfall, according to NWS.
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Roadblocks across Colombia cut LPG supply
Roadblocks across Colombia cut LPG supply
Bogota, 5 September (Argus) — Colombia's LPG shortages are worsening as a fourth day of protests and roadblocks over higher diesel prices are limiting production and distribution. Protesters have completely blocked roads to processing plants in the key Cusiana and Cupiagua fields, preventing trucks from moving supply. Those two fields along with the Ty Gas processing plant handle 41pc of the country's LPG supply, LPG association (Agremgas) director Sara Velez told Argus . Colombia uses about 60,000 metric tonnes (t)/month of LPG. The Cusiana plant that produces about 15,000t/month of LPG is flaring 100t/d of LPG that cannot be transported, Velez said. "If Cusiana is unable to move out the LPG, it may force it to shut in, affecting natural gas as well," Velez said. Blockades are also preventing LPG produced at the 250,000 b/d Barrancabermeja and the 200,000 b/d Cartagena refineries from reaching distributors. The refineries produce 24pc of the country's LPG supply, equivalent to 14,400t/month. Adding to troubles, multiple rebel attacks have put sections of the country's 220,000 b/d Cano Limon-Covenas and the 120,000 b/d Bicentenario crude pipelines out of service for repairs, restricting crude supply to the refineries. The smaller LPG field of Capacho controlled by Canadian oil company Parex shut in 5,000 b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d), or about 10pc of its Colombian output. That reduced LPG supplies to the Arauca department, the LPG association added. The departments of Caqueta, Cundinamarca and Valle del Cauca have inventories for four days. Another 28 departments have LPG inventory for one or two days. Velez has called on the government to create a safe corridor to help LPG reach consumers. The LPG shortage is also affecting industries. Fenavi, the country's poultry association, consumes 42mn kg/yr of LPG, which is equivalent to state-controlled Ecopetrol's monthly LPG production. The LPG is used to warm the poultry, but the association also said that blockades have also cut supplies of feed and could put the chickens at risk of starvation. The country produces 1.8mn tonnes/yr of chickens and 1.6bn eggs/yr. In Colombia 1.2mn families already still cook with wood, and the current shortage will likely increase that number. By Diana Delgado Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Poland seeks to accelerate decarbonisation
Poland seeks to accelerate decarbonisation
Warsaw, 5 September (Argus) — The Polish climate ministry has released for consultation its draft plan to increase investment in renewable energy and accelerate the country's exit from coal. The share of coal — including lignite — in Poland's total electricity generation would fall to 22pc by 2030, from about 61pc in 2023, according to the ministry's ambitious decarbonisation scenario, due to be published for public consultation this week. In this scenario, the share of renewables would rise to 56pc by 2030 from 23pc last year, the ministry said. The decarbonisation scenario is included in the draft of Poland's national energy and climate plan (NECP), which it intends to notify to the European Commission this month. NECPs are EU member states' national planning documents defining their decarbonisation targets and allowing the commission to monitor overall EU climate policies. The scenario is more ambitious than in an earlier Polish NECP, which it shared with the commission in March. The earlier plan indicated that renewables' share in the electricity sector will rise to 50.1pc by 2030. An acceleration of decarbonisation and more ambitious investments in renewables will eventually lead to lower electricity prices and increase the competitiveness of the Polish economy, the climate ministry said. The share of coal in Poland's power mix has declined sharply this year because of a surge in solar and wind power generation. Hard coal accounted for about 41pc of total Polish electricity generation in January-July, compared with 46pc over the same period last year, according to data from grid operator PSE. The feasibility of several coal-fired power plants will decrease from 2026, when the country's current capacity payment support mechanism ends and eligibility for another payment scheme is yet to be decided. Tomasz Stepien Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Libya's NOC issues sulphur sales tender
Libya's NOC issues sulphur sales tender
London, 5 September (Argus) — Libyan state-owned sulphur producer NOC issued a spot tender offering an 8,000t +/- 10pc granular sulphur cargo for September lifting. The tender is for tonnes loading at Mellitah port on 22-24 September, closing on Monday 9 September at 12:00 local time (10:00 GMT), with bids to remain valid until 10 September. Libyan sulphur is often delivered to end-users in Egypt, given the proximity of the two countries and consequent freight advantage. That said, Egyptian consumers have been comfortable with stock levels in recent weeks with supply sourced primarily from Russia at a lower price compared with Libyan tonnes and Mediterranean sulphur. By Jasmine Antunes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Asia's coal phaseout needs emissions disclosures: IEEFA
Asia's coal phaseout needs emissions disclosures: IEEFA
Singapore, 5 September (Argus) — The phasedown of Asian coal-powered plants requires stricter emissions disclosures, which will in turn reduce investment, said speakers at an Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) conference this week. One of the biggest short-term challenges for coal-fired abatement is that the coal price has halved from about $240/t to about $130/t right now, said energy finance analyst at IEEFA, Ghee Peh, on 3 September at the IEEFA Energy Finance 2024conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The greater shift towards renewable energy means that demand for coal-fired power is falling, but coal plants are still profitable and coal prices will eventually rebound as new supply is limited. "So what we can do as a larger group is to continue to pressure the financing side," said Peh. This can be done by encouraging greater emissions disclosure, which will then influence investors' decisions, he added. "The good news is that in Asia, Singapore, Hong Kong are moving towards disclosures by next year on Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, so investors will know how much a company emits, and that will contribute to a very decisive investor response," said Peh, adding that local regulators should put the onus on companies to disclose their emissions as soon as possible. Coal-mine methane emissions Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases (GHGs) and coal mining is one of the biggest sources of methane emissions. Just over 40mn t of coal-mine methane (CMM) was released into the atmosphere in 2022, according to IEA data, representing more than 10pc of total methane emissions from human activity. The EU approved a regulation on 27 May that requires the measuring, reporting and verifying of methane emissions from coal, oil and fossil gas exploration and production, distribution and underground storage, including LNG. It also establishes equivalence of methane monitoring, reporting and verification measures from 1 January 2027, and EU importers by mid-2030 have to demonstrate that the methane intensity of the production of crude, natural gas and coal imported to the EU is below maximum methane intensity values. It is therefore important to address CMM as this affects countries in Asia, said independent global energy think tank Ember's CMM programme director Eleanor Whittle. At the moment, none of the 10 biggest exporting countries to the EU meet its standards. But CMM emissions are rarely ever reported or even properly measured, she added, and measuring CMM could even double companies' reported emissions. "We did research that found that in Australia, a shift to company-led emissions reporting — but without verification — meant that overnight, hundreds of thousands [of tonnes] of carbon dioxide equivalent in the form of methane were erased, but without any mitigation or change in coal mining," said Whittle. This shows that even without improvements in the framework methane measurement and verification frameworks, policy shifts like these can still have a profound impact on short-term warming, she said. By Prethika Nair Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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