Shell Singapore eyes solar farm near Bukom refinery
Shell and Singapore government agency JTC signed a non-binding initial agreement today to explore the development of a solar farm, as part of the oil major's long-term plan to shift its core operations in the country towards lower carbon alternatives.
The solar farm will be based on part of the Semakau Landfill, close to Shell's Pulau Bukom refining complex where capacity will be cut by 40pc next month as part of the firm's strategic shift.
The planned farm will be the first large-scale solar project in Singapore, where a sanitary landfill is also used for clean energy generation, the firms said. "This project is aligned with our 10-year plan to repurpose our core business, cut our own CO2 emissions in the country and help our customers decarbonise," Shell Singapore chairman Aw Kah Peng said.
The 10-year plan, announced last November, includes reducing capacity at Shell's 500,000 b/d Pulau Bukom refinery by 200,000 b/d in July to cut its Scope 1 and 2 emissions in Singapore by around a third within the next decade. Shell has set a target to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050.
The planned project, supported by Singapore's National Environment Agency and Energy Market Authority (EMA), is also in line with the city-state's target to increase solar deployment to at least 2GW peak (GWp) by 2030. The solar farm is expected to have a capacity of at least 72MWp, sufficient to reduce CO2 emissions by 37,000 t/yr and power up to 17,500 households for a year.
"Our energy sector is moving towards a cleaner and more sustainable future. Solar is our most promising renewable energy source and is a key switch for decarbonisation," EMA chief executive Ngiam Shih Chun said.
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Beryl aims between Corpus Christi, Houston
Beryl aims between Corpus Christi, Houston
Houston, 7 July (Argus) — Tropical storm Beryl was expected to regain hurricane strength today before coming ashore between Corpus Christi and Houston, Texas, early Monday. As of 11am ET today the center of the storm was about 195 miles southeast of the refining and oil export hub of Corpus Christi with maximum sustained winds of 65mph. Moving northwest at 10mph, its landfall was expected at about 2am ET Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The track of the storm's landfall has moved toward the east for the past two days, moving Corpus Christi out of the area likely to see the highest winds and storm surge. The most powerful winds and storm surge should be centered on areas near Matagorda Bay, according to the forecast, with 4-6ft of storm surge expected. Galveston Bay, which include numerous refineries and petroleum export terminals along the Houston Ship Channel and Texas City, was expected to see 3-5ft of storm surge. The port of Corpus Christi was closed to all traffic as of Saturday afternoon while the ports of Houston, Galveston, Freeport and Texas City were set to "Yankee" status at 8am ET today, suspending all inbound traffic, bunkering and lightering operations. The Houston-area ports were expected to close to all traffic later today as the storm nears landfall, according to the US Coast Guard. Disruptions to US Gulf oil and gas operations so far appear to be limited given Beryl's approach to the west of most US offshore and gas operations. Mexican offshore operations were halted late last week when the storm first entered the Gulf after passing over the Yucatan peninsula. Early last week Beryl was a Category 5 storm, which made it the strongest on record for the month of July, as it left a trail of destruction in the Caribbean. The second named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, Beryl followed tropical storm Alberto, which came ashore in northeastern Mexico late last month. This year's Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be more active than normal, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with 4-7 major hurricanes that pack sustained winds of 111mph or higher possible. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Reformist Pezeshkian to be Iran’s next president
Reformist Pezeshkian to be Iran’s next president
Dubai, 6 July (Argus) — Masoud Pezeshkian, the sole reformist candidate approved to run in this year's presidential election, was confirmed as the Iran's next head of state after coming out on top in Friday's second-round run-off. A health minister under former president Mohammad Khatami, Pezeshkian secured nearly 16.4mn votes, or around 54pc of the total 30.5mn votes cast, according to results issued by the interior ministry early on Saturday. His rival, the ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, got 13.5mn votes. Pezeshkian and Jalili faced off after none of the four candidates contesting the election managed to secure the 50pc of the vote needed to win outright one week prior. Pezeshkian came out on top in that first round with 42pc of the vote, while Jalili came in a close second with 39pc. Iran's current parliamentary speaker, conservative Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who was contesting his fourth presidential election, came in at a distant third with 14pc of the vote, while former cabinet minister, Mostafa Pourmohammadi, also a conservative, secured less than 1pc. Coming at a time of growing apathy among Iranians, evidenced by the historically low participation in recent presidential and parliamentary elections, turnout became a major focus ahead of the election. Turnout in the previous presidential election in 2021 was just under 49pc, down from 73pc in 2017, while turnout in parliamentary elections in March was just 42pc. The 49pc turnout in 2021 was the lowest for a presidential election since the inception of the Islamic Republic. And yet, despite the surprise inclusion of a reformist to contest this year's election, turnout in the first round plummeted further to reach a new low of 39.8pc, in the clearest sign yet that large swaths of the Iranian electorate have lost faith in the Islamic Republic and feel there is little value to voting. This was despite a call from the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, just days prior, for people to come out in force to participate in the election. A different way Ahead of the run-off, many put Pezeshkian's chances of victory down to his ability to galvanize and encourage at least some of those that initially chose not to participate, to turn out to vote. And to an extent, the numbers suggest that his efforts did not go unrewarded, with the turnout in the second round rising to 49.8pc, which, although still low, and only marginally above the 2021 turnout, represented a significant increase over the first round. In Pezeshkian, Iran is now poised to have its first reformist president for almost two decades. And with the country facing myriad external and internal challenges — from regional security to an economy ravaged by years of harsh economic sanctions reimposed by the US in 2018 — he will have his work cut out for him. And although in Iran the supreme leader, not the president, dictates policy and has the final say, Pezeshkian will still have an important role to play in determining how that policy is ultimately implemented. In his many interviews and debates on the campaign trail, Pezeshkian underlined the need for a change of tack on a range of domestic and external issues, from the role of the morality police, the unity of Iran's law enforcement tasked with enforcing mandatory rules on the dress code, to Iran's engagement with the west to lift the sanctions that have devastated Iran's economy. Pezeshkian, crucially, has signalled he will revive efforts to return to the 2015 nuclear deal that was brokered between Iran and world powers, including the US, with a view to lifting sanctions. His opponent, Jalili, appeared diametrically opposed to reviving talks, arguing that Iran's strengthened relations with its allies to the east, China and Russia, were serving Iran's interests more than the nuclear deal ever did. Iran has not yet set a concrete date for Pezeshkian's inauguration, but Alireza Salimi, a member of parliament, told state media today that it would be held before the end of the first half of the next Iranian month, Mordad, which would correspond with 5 August. By Nader Itayim Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Beryl enters GOM, heading towards Texas: Update
Beryl enters GOM, heading towards Texas: Update
Updates hurricane watch and status of Texas ports and lightering zones. New York, 5 July (Argus) — Hurricane Beryl weakened to a tropical storm as it crossed the Yucatan Peninsula and entered the Gulf of Mexico on Friday afternoon, with a likely second landfall in Texas on Monday. Maximum sustained winds have dropped to near 65mph, the National Hurricane Center said in a 5pm ET advisory, but the tropical storm is forecast to strengthen to a hurricane again as it moves over the Gulf of Mexico, with forecasts pointing to a landfall late Sunday or early Monday from far northeastern Mexico to the eastern Texas coast. The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch from the mouth of the Rio Grande River to Sargent, Texas, about 80 miles southwest of Houston. Heavy rainfall of 4-8 inches is expected by Sunday into next week. The US Coast Guard changed the status of the port of Corpus Christi, Texas — a key US oil export hub — to "X-ray" at 3pm ET Friday, meaning gale force winds are expected to arrive at the port within 48 hours. All commercial traffic and transfer operations can continue during X-ray, but the Coast Guard said ocean-going commercial vessels greater than 500 gross tons should make plans to depart the port. Corpus Christi is also home to three refineries totaling 800,000 b/d of capacity. Citgo said it is implementing its hurricane preparedness plan at its 165,000 b/d refinery there. The ports of Houston, Texas City, Galveston and Freeport were set to port condition Whiskey at 5:05pm ET Friday, meaning gale force winds are expected to arrive within 72 hours. The ports remain open to all commercial traffic. Ship-to-ship transfers off the Texas coast proceeded as normal on Friday but will be postponed off Corpus Christi beginning Sunday. The US National Weather Service (NWS) forecast winds up to 90mph and waves up to 32 ft at the Corpus Christi lightering area on Sunday and Monday before calmer conditions return Tuesday. Ship-to-ship transfers are expected to be postponed at the Galveston Offshore Lightering Area early next week due to the same conditions. Most of Mexico's Gulf coast ports were closed today and many offshore oil production operations. The impact to US Gulf oil and gas operations so far appears to be limited, with BP determining forecasts "indicate Hurricane Beryl no longer poses a significant threat" to its offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Shell had taken the precaution of shutting in production and evacuating all staff from its Perdido platform and its Whale development, which is scheduled to begin operations later this year. "We have safely paused some of our drilling operations, but there are currently no other impacts on our production across the Gulf of Mexico," the company said late on Thursday. Earlier this week, Beryl was a Category 5 storm, which made it the strongest on record for the month of July, as it left a trail of destruction in the Caribbean. By Stephen Cunningham, Tray Swanson and Nathan Risser Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Caribbean power faces long recovery from Beryl
Caribbean power faces long recovery from Beryl
Kingston, 5 July (Argus) — Power utilities in several eastern and central Caribbean countries have started repairing networks that were brought down this week by Hurricane Beryl. Beryl — the Atlantic's first hurricane this season — hit several islands with winds of up to 225 km (140 miles)/h, and also damaged roads, bridges and ports and telecommunications infrastructure. Many parts of Jamaica, Grenada and St Lucia remain without power, with one utility company forecasting "a long and difficult period of continuing darkness" in these countries. Jamaican power utility JPS said yesterday 60pc of its clients — just under a half a million households — were without electricity. "Our teams are doing damage assessment, and will complete the necessary repairs to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible," the company said. Beryl entered the Caribbean earlier in the week, leaving extensive damage in St Vincent and the Grenadines and in Dominica. St Vincent and the Grenadines will be without power for the next fortnight, chief executive of its power utility Vinlec Vaughn Lewis said. "We have significant damage … and we will be working to get power to facilities such as gas stations and supermarkets." Granada's ward island Cariacou is in an "Armageddon-like condition," prime minister Dickon Mitchell said. "The electricity and communication systems are wiped out." Winds from Beryl hit the southern coast of the Dominican Republic on 3 July, causing blackouts from a deficit of 900MW, according to distributor Edesur. Winds affected major natural gas-fired power plant AES Andres, reducing its regasification capacity for LNG and its fuel supplies to other natural gas plants, the government said. Beryl left several thousand people without power in the Cayman Islands yesterday as it left Jamaica and headed for Mexico. The Caribbean is likely to be hit by more strong hurricanes by the end of the season in November, a spokesman for Jamaica's weather office told Argus . "We have been promised a very active season with many and strong storms." The US federal weather agency NOAA forecast that there is an 85pc chance that this year's Atlantic hurricane season will be "above normal." The Atlantic season's first hurricane "sets an alarming precedent for what is expected to be a very active hurricane season," the World Meteorological Organization said. By Canute James Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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