Nicholas Newman

There is growing concern by Canada’s Energy regulator for the financial viability of two major pipeline projects. The first is the Trans Mountain expansion project and the second concerns construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The annual Energy Futures report concludes that as Canada adopts stricter climate change policies, there will be less need for new natural gas transport capacity.

Ernst & Young’s (EY) latest bi-annual Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index measuring investment in renewable energy by 40 countries has raised Australia from 4th to third place, behind China and the United States. The improvement in Australia’s ranking owes much to its planned investment in green hydrogen and solar energy export projects.

Western Australia gets the go-ahead for the construction of a 580 km pipeline, costing $460 million, which will connect the Western Perth onshore gas production basin with mining customers in the Midwestern and goldfields regions of Western Australia.

The African Development Bank and the government of Uganda have signed an agreement to each provide $500,000 of finance for micro, small and medium sized private enterprises along the East African Crude Oil pipeline (ECOP). Grants to local businesses along the route could help them access new market opportunities and help build links with regional, national and international companies.

America’s energy market regulator, known as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), has issued a suggested policy statement providing guidance for oil and petroleum products pipeline operators, concerning tariff rates and terms of conditions related to affiliate contracts.

Last August, Turkey imported a total of 3.35 billion cubic metres (BCM) of natural gas shared between 2.76 BCM of pipeline gas and 59 1,000,000 m³ of LNG (liquid natural gas). Year-on-year, imports of piped gas increased by 17.7% whilst LNG imports fell by 26.1% according to the country’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority’s monthly gas report.

There is much media speculation that the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden will result in delays or abandonment of new pipeline projects. Pipeline projects will depend less on government’s energy policies and more on the state of the oil and gas industry and market demand.

China’s state-owned oil major Sinopec has announced it plans to greatly expand its interest in the country’s pioneering hydrogen sector.

Calgary-based Enbridge, North America’s largest crude oil pipeline operator, has announced plans to drastically cut their greenhouse emissions by 35 percent by 2030 and to reach net zero by the year 2050.

At the start of this month, it was announced in a business wire news report , that Houston-based energy engineering contractor Baker Hughes, had purchased Compact Carbon Capture (3C) an innovative carbon capture technology solutions enterprise.