Setor de captura de carbono pede regulação do mercado
Participantes do mercado de captura e armazenamento de carbono (CCS, na sigla em inglês) pedem um marco regulatório claro para tornar o mercado comercialmente viável.
O governo federal deve traçar uma visão estratégica para que o CCS possa ajudar a descarbonizar o setor industrial do país e, consequentemente, contribuir para a meta de zerar as emissões de CO2 até 2050, de acordo com participantes do mercado. Um projeto de lei está tramitando em Brasília.
"Para termos resultados no futuro, precisamos de segurança jurídica", disse Heloisa Esteves, diretora de Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis na Empresa de Pesquisa Energética (EPE), em uma conferência do setor, na semana passada, em São Paulo.
O projeto de lei que visa criar um mercado regulado de carbono prevê que empresas com emissões acima de 10.000t de CO2e/ano relatem reduções ao Sistema Brasileiro de Comércio de Emissões (SBCE). O texto foi aprovado, recentemente, pela Comissão de Meio Ambiente do Senado, e agora precisa ser encaminhado ao Congresso.
Se aprovada, a legislação teria papel semelhante à Política Nacional de Biocombustíveis (Renovabio) na formalização do mercado de créditos de descarbonização (Cbios), disse Alexandre Calmon, advogado especializado no setor de energia. "O Renovabio serviu de embrião para o mercado brasileiro de carbono", ele afirmou à Argus.
Outros participantes do evento citaram a importância de implementar rapidamente a regulação para captura e armazenamento de carbono para impulsionar investimentos e pesquisas, à medida que crescem as discussões sobre o assunto. A decisão dos senadores também gerou polêmica ao excluir o setor agrícola de seu escopo.
Em agosto, o Senado aprovou um projeto de lei que atribui a regulação do CCS à Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis (ANP). Além de permitir projetos comerciais de armazenamento de carbono no país, o texto cria um sistema de autorização para o setor. A proposta ainda não foi apreciada pelo Congresso.
As expectativas são altas, pois o país pode armazenar e capturar até 190 milhões de t/ano de CO2, de acordo com estudo publicado pela CCS Brasil, um centro de pesquisas especializado no setor. O Brasil poderia gerar até $20 bilhões/ano com projetos de CCS, de acordo com a presidente da organização, Isabela Morbach.
Rota da bioenergia
A indústria brasileira de biocombustíveis também está considerando projetos de captura e armazenamento de carbono pela rota da bioenergia (BECCS, na sigla em inglês), que representa o segundo maior potencial do país para CCS.
A produtora de etanol de milho FS está investindo R$350 milhões em um projeto em sua planta de Lucas do Rio Verde, em Mato Grosso, para gerar etanol carbono negativo, que envolve capturar e armazenar mais CO2 do que é gerado na produção do combustível.
A Uisa, empresa sucroalcooleira da região Centro-Oeste, também anunciou planos de BECCS para injetar carbono proveniente da produção de etanol em sua unidade de Nova Olímpia, também em Mato Grosso.
Grande produtor canavieiro, o estado de São Paulo também estuda novas iniciativas. O coordenador da secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento do estado, Alberto Amorim, disse à Argus que o governo quer investir em CCS por meio do setor sucroalcooleiro.
A Petrobras, que reinjeta gás e CO2 em seus campos de petróleo, também está de olho em soluções renováveis.
"A Petrobras tem interesse em transportar e armazenar carbono por meio de parcerias com outras empresas, que poderiam ser indústrias de bioenergia", contou Savana Fraulob, gerente de Contabilidade e Tributário da estatal, à Argus. "É uma estrutura muito cara. Então, para quem quiser embarcar nessa conosco, estamos, realmente, estudando esta possibilidade."
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Yemen warring factions reach UN-mediated financial deal
Yemen warring factions reach UN-mediated financial deal
Dubai, 25 July (Argus) — The UAE today welcomed a UN-mediated agreement between Yemen's warring factions that could allay economic woes in the impoverished country. The UAE's ministry of foreign affairs hailed the 23 July announcement of an agreement between the internationally recognised Yemen presidential leadership council (PLC) and the Houthi militant group "with respect to airlines and the banking sector." The UAE, alongside Saudi Arabia, support the PLC. The agreement stipulates "cancelling all the recent decisions and procedures against banks by both sides and refraining in the future from any similar decisions or procedures," and calls for the resumption of Yemenia Airways' flights between Sana'a and Jordan at three a day and operating flights to Cairo and India "daily or as needed." The deal was reached two days after Israeli jets bombed the Houthi-controlled Red Sea port of Hodeidah. The internationally-recognised central bank in Aden in April ordered financial institutions to move their main operations from Houthi-held territory within 60 days or face sanctions. That deadline ran out in June, leading to a ban on dealing with six banks whose headquarters remained in Houthi-held Sana'a. The Houthis retaliated by taking similar measures against banks in PLC-held areas and seized four Yemenia Airways planes at Sana'a airport. The PLC said it hoped the Houthis would also meet a commitment to resume crude exports. Yemen's crude production collapsed soon after the start of the country's civil war, from around 170,000 b/d in 2011-13 to 50,000-60,000 b/d in 2022, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy. Data from analytics firm Kpler suggests Yemen has not exported any crude since October 2022. Threats yield results The Iran-backed Houthis earlier in July threatened to attack vital infrastructure such as airports and ports in Saudi Arabia, holding Riyadh responsible for decisions taken by Aden's central bank. The Houthis struck central Tel Aviv on 19 July, inviting an Israeli retaliation that took out a power station that supplies the Red Sea coastal city of Hodeidah and its port and fuel tanks, which are controlled by the Houthis. A breakthrough in the UN-mediated talks between the PLC and the Houthis resulted in the agreement on 22 July, a possible sign that Riyadh might have compromised to avoid a Houthi escalation. The Houthis have been attacking commercial ships in and around the Red Sea since November last year, six weeks after the breakout of the Israel-Hamas war, in what they say is an act of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. By Bachar Halabi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Refining, LNG segments take Total’s profit lower in 2Q
Refining, LNG segments take Total’s profit lower in 2Q
London, 25 July (Argus) — TotalEnergies said today that a worsening performance at its downstream Refining & Chemicals business and its Integrated LNG segment led to a 7pc year-on-year decline in profit in the second quarter. Profit of $3.79bn was down from $5.72bn for the January-March quarter and from $4.09bn in the second quarter of 2023. When adjusted for inventory effects and special items, profit was $4.67bn — slightly lower than analysts had been expecting and 6pc down on the immediately preceding quarter. The biggest hit to profits was at the Refining & Chemicals segment, which reported an adjusted operating profit of $639mn for the April-June period, a 36pc fall on the year. Earlier in July, TotalEnergies had flagged lower refining margins in Europe and the Middle East, with its European Refining Margin Marker down by 37pc to $44.9/t compared with the first quarter. This margin decline was partially compensated for by an increase in its refineries' utilisation rate: to 84pc in April-June from 79pc in the first quarter. The company's Integrated LNG business saw a 13pc year on year decline in its adjusted operating profit, to $1.15bn. TotalEnergies cited lower LNG prices and sales, and said its gas trading operation "did not fully benefit in markets characterised by lower volatility than during the first half of 2023." A bright spot was the Exploration & Production business, where adjusted operating profit rose by 14pc on the year to $2.67bn. This was mainly driven by higher oil prices, which were partially offset by lower gas realisations and production. The company's second-quarter production averaged 2.44mn b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d), down by 1pc from 2.46mn boe/d reported for the January-March period and from the 2.47mn boe/d average in the second quarter of 2023. TotalEnergies attributed the quarter-on-quarter decline to a greater level of planned maintenance, particularly in the North Sea. But it said its underlying production — excluding the Canadian oil sands assets it sold last year — was up by 3pc on the year. This was largely thanks to the start up and ramp up of projects including Mero 2 offshore Brazil, Block 10 in Oman, Tommeliten Alpha and Eldfisk North in Norway, Akpo West in Nigeria and Absheron in Azerbaijan. TotalEnergies said production also benefited from its entry into the producing fields Ratawi, in Iraq, and Dorado in the US. The company expects production in a 2.4mn-2.45mn boe/d range in the third quarter, when its Anchor project in the US Gulf of Mexico is expected to start up. The company increased profit at its Integrated Power segment, which contains its renewables and gas-fired power operations. Adjusted operating profit rose by 12pc year-on-year to $502mn and net power production rose by 10pc to 9.1TWh. TotalEnergies' cash flow from operations, excluding working capital, was $7.78bn in April-June — an 8pc fall from a year earlier. The company has maintained its second interim dividend for 2024 at €0.79/share and plans to buy back up to $2bn of its shares in the third quarter, in line with its repurchases in previous quarters. By Jon Mainwaring Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Feedstock imports shake up US biofuel production
Feedstock imports shake up US biofuel production
New York, 24 July (Argus) — Waste from around the world is increasingly being diverted to the US for biofuel production, helping decarbonize hard-to-electrify sectors like trucking and aviation. But as refiners turn away from conventional crop-based feedstocks, farm groups fear missing out on the biofuels boom. Driven by low-carbon fuel standards (LCFS) in states like California, US renewable diesel production capacity has more than doubled over the last two years to hit a record high of 4.1bn USG/yr in April according to the Energy Information Administration. Soybean and canola processors have invested in expanding crush capacity, expecting future biofuels growth to lift vegetable oil demand. But policymakers' growing focus on carbon intensity, a departure from the long-running federal renewable fuel standard (RFS) that sets volume mandates for broad types of fuel, primarily benefits waste feedstocks, which generate larger LCFS credits because they are assessed as producing fewer emissions. Argonne National Laboratory's GREET emissions model, which has been modified by federal and California regulators for clean fuels programs, factors in emissions sources like fertilizers and diesel use on farms for virgin vegetable oils but not for used oils sourced from cooking operations. Refiners trying to maximize government subsidies are thus sourcing waste-based feedstocks from wherever they can find them. Through May this year, imports to the US under the tariff code that includes used cooking oil (UCO) and yellow grease rose 90pc from year-prior levels to more than 1.8bn lb (844,000t). While China represents most of that, sources are diverse, with significant sums coming from Canada, the UK, and Indonesia. Imports of inedible and technical tallow, waste beef fat that can be turned into biofuels, have also risen 50pc so far this year to 800,000lb on ample supply from Brazil. While soybean oil was responsible for nearly half of biomass-based diesel production in 2021, that share has declined to around a third over the first four months this year as imports surge (see graph). "Every pound of imported feedstock that comes in displaces one pound of domestically sourced soybean oil or five pounds of soybeans," said Kailee Tkacz Buller, chief executive of the National Oilseed Processors Association. Even as LCFS and RFS credit prices have fallen over the last year, hurting biofuel production margins and threatening capacity additions , imports have not slowed. Feedstock suppliers, many from countries with less mature biofuel incentives and limited biorefining capacity, might have few options domestically. And exporting to the US means they can avoid the EU's more prescriptive feedstock limits and mounting scrutiny of biofuel imports. More ambitious targets in future years, particularly for sustainable aviation fuel, "will create a lot of competition for UCO in the global market," said Jane O'Malley, a researcher at the International Council on Clean Transportation. But for now, "the US has created the most lucrative market for waste-based biofuel pathways." Incentives for US refiners to use waste-based feedstocks will only become stronger next year when expiring tax credits are replaced by the Inflation Reduction Act's 45Z credit, structured as a sliding scale so that fuels generate more of a subsidy as they produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions. While essentially all fuel will receive less of a benefit than in past years since the maximum credit is reserved for carbon-neutral fuels, the drop in benefits will be most pronounced for fuels from vegetable oils. Granted, President Joe Biden's administration wants the 45Z credit to account for the benefits of "climate-smart" agriculture, potentially helping close some of the assessed emissions gap between crop and waste feedstocks. But the administration's timeline for issuing guidance is unclear, leaving the market with little clarity about which practices farmers should start deploying and documenting. "While a tax credit can be retroactive, you can't retroactively farm," said Alexa Combelic, director of government affairs at the American Soybean Association. Squeaky wheel gets the soybean oil The concerns of agricultural groups have not gone unnoticed in Washington, DC, where lawmakers from both parties have recently called for higher biofuel blending obligations, prompt 45Z guidance, and more transparency around how federal agencies scrutinize UCO imports. There are also lobbying opportunities in California, where regulators are weighing LCFS updates ahead of a planned hearing in November. At minimum, agricultural groups are likely to continue pushing for more visibility into the UCO supply chain, which could take the form of upping already-burdensome recordkeeping requirements for clean fuels incentives and setting a larger role for auditors. Fraud would be hard to prove, but two external groups told Argus that the Biden administration has indicated that it is looking into UCO collection rates in some countries, which could at least point to potential discrepancies with expected supply. More muscular interventions, including trade disincentives, are also possible. Multiple farm associations, including corn interests frustrated that the country's first alcohol-to-jet facility is using Brazilian sugarcane ethanol , have asked the Biden administration to prevent fuels derived from foreign feedstocks from qualifying for 45Z. The possible return of former president Donald Trump to the White House next year would likely mean sharply higher tariffs on China too, potentially stemming the flow of feedstocks from that country — if not from the many others shipping waste-based feedstocks to the US. Protectionism has obvious risks, since leaving refiners with fewer feedstock options could jeopardize planned biofuel capacity additions that ultimately benefit farmers. But at least some US agriculture companies, insistent that they can sustainably increase feedstock production if incentives allow, see major changes to current policy as necessary. By Cole Martin Waste imports crowd out soybean oil Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Indian budget lifts spending for refining, crude SPR
Indian budget lifts spending for refining, crude SPR
Mumbai, 24 July (Argus) — India allocated 1.19 trillion rupees ($14.2bn) to the oil ministry in its budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year ending 31 March, up from Rs1.12 trillion in the 2023-24 revised budget. The budget presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 23 July was the first since the BJP-led administration was re-elected in June . Indian state-controlled refiner IOC was allocated Rs273bn for 2024-25, up from Rs270bn in the revised budget for 2023-24. Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) received an increased allocation of Rs110bn, up from 95bn, while Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) was allotted Rs107bn that was up from Rs102bn previously. No capital support was allocated to the oil marketing companies in the budget given IOC, BPCL and HPCL all reported record profits in 2023-24. India's crude import dependency rose to 88.3pc in April-June from 88.8pc the previous year, oil ministry data show. India's crude imports during January-June were up by around 1pc on a year earlier at 4.65mn b/d, according to Vortexa data. ONGC's allocation rose to Rs308bn for 2024-25, while fellow state-controlled upstream firm Oil India's increased to Rs68bn from Rs305bn and Rs56bn rupees respectively in the revised budget for 2023-24. India has been trying to reduce its dependence on imports and will offer 25 oil and gas blocks in the tenth bidding round in August or September under the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy's Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP). It offered 136,596.45km² in 28 upstream oil and gas blocks in the ninth bidding round. ONGC in January secured seven of the 10 areas of exploration blocks offered under India's eighth OALP round. A private-sector consortium of Reliance Industries and BP, Oil India and private-sector Sun Petrochemicals received one block each. Allocation for the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) received a push to Rs4.08bn for the construction of caverns under its second phase against Rs400mn in the previous budget. The first phase of India's SPR built 1.33mn t (9.75mn bl) of crude storage at Vishakhapatnam, 1.5mn t at Mangalore and 2.5mn t at Padur. A provision of Rs119.25bn was made for LPG subsidies in 2024-25 compared with spending of Rs122.4bn in 2023-24. By Roshni Devi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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