How much natural gas will Europe need over the next 20 years, and from where? As the winter crisis eases, tricky questions abound. European politicians are pointing fingers at Gazprom amid surging energy poverty. The Nord Stream 2 soap opera has been sidelined by US-Russia crunch talks over Ukraine and NATO. EU climate ambition and LNG imports have never been higher. What exactly…

FIRST UP: The Biden administration’s release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve captured the headlines this week, but the move is one big distraction. Releasing the equivalent of ten hours of global oil consumption over a matter of weeks was never going to dent a hyper-bullish oil market…

Not even a global gas shortage can convince investors to put their faith in newbuild liquefied natural gas projects, it seems. Australia’s Woodside Energy made big, risky concessions with private equity financiers to get its flagship Scarborough LNG project off the drawing board. Scarborough is a drop in the global LNG ocean, but the trouble faced by Woodside to get this far speaks volumes about the challenges of building greenfield plants today…

Cheap, abundant natural gas has become the bedrock of the American economy – but the drillers that produce it are sitting on their hands, even as prices rise. Manufacturers are getting twitchy, calling for liquefied natural gas exports to be capped. This is unlikely for many reasons, meaning US consumers might have to get used to higher bills. This coul…

First up: Inflation and volatility are roiling the market for green power purchase agreements (PPAs). Corporations are being urged to lock in power prices as wind and solar costs soar. That’s this week’s breakout story — click through for more (~7 minute read…

Expensive gas has put fossil-based hydrogen out of the money. At today's inflated prices, green hydrogen is *in theory* already cheaper to produce in Europe than both blue and grey H2. Using models developed by Australian math modelling outfit Keynumbers…

The unfolding global energy crisis has added urgency to the slow-burning debate on the role of reducing demand to achieve climate objectives. The trouble is, most people are looking through the wrong end of the telescope. When markets turn febrile, the first casualty is perspective…

European energy prices are going ballistic. Barely a day has gone by this month without wholesale gas and power prices breaking the previous day’s new all-time high. But what is really driving the bull run, what does it mean for decarbonisation, and how is this playing out in the political arena…

Natural gas prices are soaring across Europe and Asia, propelled by resilient demand and patchy supplies. This demonstrates how deeply gas has become entrenched in the global economy – and how poorly equipped the gas industry is to provide the affordable ‘bridge fuel’ it says the energy transition needs. The partially commoditised nature of gas trade co…

The liquefied natural gas industry says it is helping to reduce emissions by replacing dirty coal with cleaner-burning gas in Asia and other markets. LNG is credited with providing a route to market for stranded gas that might otherwise be flared or vented. But the opposite is often true, according to flare capture specialist Capterio, which warns that …

Liquefied natural gas is the stand-out story of the post-Covid commodities boom. Asian spot prices are soaring amid firm demand in China and Europe, but marshalling investment into newbuild gas liquefaction projects is proving tough. US LNG developer Tellurian has all but abandoned a strategy to lure buyers into investing equity in its flagship project …

French oil major Total this week demonstrated the strategic benefits of having a diverse global LNG portfolio. Days after delaying the Mozambique LNG megaproject, Total pivoted to Papua New Guinea to fast-track a rival scheme that could partially plug the supply-side gap from the Mozambique delay. With coal-to-gas switching in the power sector driving A…

Tanzania is trying to revive long-lost plans to build an enormous $30 billion onshore liquefied natural gas export project, which has been stuck for many years by disagreement over the fiscal terms for exploiting Tanzania’s vast gas wealth. Foreign investors are also anxious about ploughing big sums into a country beset by corruption and authoritarianis…

New York’s Indian Point nuclear power plant has closed after 59 years of operation, leaving a two gigawatt-sized hole in the state’s power grid that will most likely be filled by unabated natural gas-fired power generation. The story of Indian Point underscores the challenges …

Happy Easter! Energy Flux won’t usually publish on UK public holidays, but I made an exception over the Easter weekend to give all readers the fullest possible experience during the two-week free trial period (which ends this Friday). In today’s issue…

The EU Commission has pulled off a spectacular fudge by updating its draft taxonomy on sustainable investment but delaying a decision on whether natural gas and nuclear will be deemed ‘sustainable’ investments. The friction underscores how far apart different member states are in their journey towards ‘net zero…

Welcome to the first premium edition of Energy Flux. This issue is securely behind the paywall, so only paying subscribers can read it. Lucky you! 😉 Thank you for supporting Energy Flux. As usual, a million things happened in the energy world last week while I was helping to keep my kids entertained and out of trouble. In today’s ‘catch-up’ issue…

Nuclear power retirements need to be handled very carefully. Any power grid connected to reactors nearing the end of their useful life will need a well-engineered system-wide solution to ensure the replacement capacity does not hike electricity supply costs or carbon emissions…

The European Commission has done more than probably any international body to advance the issue of climate neutrality on the world stage. Its European Green Deal has set in motion an ambitious policy package intended to set the 27-member bloc on a path towards ‘net zero’ climate emissions by 2050…