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German cabinet passes EU RED III
German cabinet passes EU RED III
Hamburg, 10 December (Argus) — The German cabinet on 10 December approved legislation to implement the EU's Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) into national law. This will adjust the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction quota and abolish double counting of advanced fuels from 2026. But it is unlikely to pass remaining legislative processes in time for the EU's 1 January deadline. The bill passed by the cabinet largely follows a draft dated 29 October that was leaked in November. The overall quota level will rise to 59pc by 2040. Aviation and marine fuels are exempt from the quota obligation. The law will end the eligibility of palm oil products, most notably palm oil mill effluent (Pome), for compliance towards the GHG quota. This exclusion, and a requirement for fuel producers to allow on-site audits, will not come into effect until 2027, leaving 2026 as a transitional year. The end of double counting for advanced biofuels removes a key point of market uncertainty. Under current rules, advanced biofuels can be counted as twice their energy value towards the GHG quota, provided the minimum sub-mandate for advanced fuels has been met. But the change to end double counting will apply to the entire compliance year and all subsequent years, meaning it will be retroactive to 1 January. The only exception is for fuels supplied prior to 1 January 2026. The law will enter into force on the second day after publication in the Federal Law Gazette, with selected sections taking effect a day earlier for procedural reasons. Before that can happen, the bill must be submitted to the Germany's lower and upper parliaments for debate. The lower house's approval is not required, and the upper house could initiate changes. The bill can only be submitted to the Federal President for his signature once the upper house has given approval. This process is likely to conclude in the first quarter of 2026. Changes to sub-quotas, RFNBOs, biomethane The sub-mandate for advanced biofuels, made from feedstocks listed in Annex IX of RED III, will rise to 9pc by 2040. The mandate for renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) — such as e-fuels and green hydrogen — is higher will rise to 2.5pc of an obligated company's energy mix in 2034, and then to 8pc in 2040. The penalty for non-compliance is €120/GJ. Imported biomethane can be counted towards the GHG quota, provided it meets certain conditions, such as a connection to the EU gas grid. The baseline emissions value is 94kg CO2e/GJ, aligned with the rest of the EU. The registration deadline with the main customs office is 1 June. The market for GHG certificates reacted immediately. Other certificates for 2025 are trading around €20/t CO2e higher than the previous day, and prices for 2026 certificates are rising. Prices for 2025 certificates are rising, although they are unaffected by the change. They are seen as a substitute for 2027 certificates because excess 2025 compliance will be carried over. Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) could now play a central role in meeting the GHG quota, which can influence certificate prices. Demand for advanced HVO could increase significantly, as it can be counted without limit towards the GHG quota as a blending component and as a pure fuel and can be used in most of the existing diesel vehicle fleet. The end of double counting could increase demand for non-advanced biodiesel grades, such as rapeseed-based RME and used cooking oil-based Ucome. Although the eligibility of these is capped to a certain percentage of a company's energy mix, this limit has not always been fully utilised in the past. by Max Steinhau and Chloe Jardine Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Australia's Beetaloo gets approval to sell NT shale gas
Australia's Beetaloo gets approval to sell NT shale gas
Sydney, 9 December (Argus) — Australian shale gas developer Beetaloo Energy, formerly Empire Energy, has received Northern Territory (NT) government authorisation to sell appraisal gas from its 25 TJ/d (668,000 m³/d) Carpentaria pilot project in the Beetaloo subbasin. Reconstruction of the 42 TJ/d former Rosalind Park gas plant, bought last year from domestic utility AGL Energy for A$2.5mn ($1.66mn), can now begin, Beetaloo said on 9 December. Carpentaria holds a gas supply agreement with the NT government signed in 2024 but the project is yet to reach a final investment decision. The company previously said it was targeting first gas by mid-2026. A vast, underpopulated region of northern Australia, the NT is hoping to drive a new wave of investment on the back of extensive shale gas reserves, which have yet to be commercially proven. Fellow Beetaloo subbasin developer Tamboran Resources expects first appraisal gas from its 40 TJ/d Shenandoah South pilot project in mid-2026 . The NT hosts the 3.7mn t/yr Santos-operated Darwin LNG terminal and 9.3mn t/yr Ichthys LNG terminal run by Japan's Inpex, which both use offshore-sourced gas as feedstock. By Tom Major Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Singapore sets green power rules for new data centres
Singapore sets green power rules for new data centres
Singapore, 2 December (Argus) — Singapore has opened applications for at least 200MW of new data centre capacity, with adoption of novel green energy sources as a key criteria, the city-state's Economic Development Board and Infocomm Media Development Authority said on 1 December. The city-state is looking to host more cloud computing services against a backdrop of increasing competition in southeast Asia, while keeping the industry's power and emissions footprint in check. Applicants should have at least 50pc of proposed data centre capacity powered by "eligible green energy pathways", according to the Economic Development Board and Infocomm Media Development Authority. The pathways include biomethane, low-carbon ammonia, low-carbon hydrogen and novel fuel cells with carbon capture and storage. Solar panels are also listed, including advanced "building-integrated" variants where photovoltaics are built into new premises. Singapore launched a 300MW biomethane import trial in September and will appoint power generators as trade aggregators in early 2026. The city-state also has an ongoing low-carbon ammonia bunkering and 55-65MW power generation pilot. Singapore announced a 700MW data centre park at its energy and petrochemical hub Jurong Island in November, to expand on the over 1.4GW of existing cloud computing infrastructure. Data centre applicants under the latest exercise should meet "best in class" efficiency standards, including a power usage effectiveness of at most 1.25 at full load. Applications close at the end of March 2026. By Liang Lei Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Petrobras cuts spending in updated 5-year plan
Petrobras cuts spending in updated 5-year plan
Sao Paulo, 28 November (Argus) — Brazilian state-controlled Petrobras cut its spending plans by $7bn to $91bn in its 2026-2030 business plan, it said on Thursday. Petrobras outlined $109bn in overall capital spending in the current plan, down from $111bn in the previous five-year plan . The firm envisages $69.2bn in upstream spending over the next five years, of which around 62pc — about $42.6bn — is earmarked for pre-salt assets and $7.1bn for exploration. The figures represent an overall decrease from the $77.3bn in the previous plan. Pre-salt assets increased its share in the spending from 60pc, but their investments decreased from $46bn in the 2025-29 plan. Petrobras set $18bn to its evaluation portfolio. Of the total, $9bn will go for upstream activities, $5bn for refining and other activities, and $5bn for natural gas and low-carbon initiatives. The upstream figure is nine times higher than the envisioned amount in the previous plan, while refining figures increased slightly from $4bn. But gas and low-carbon initiatives decreased from $8bn from the previous plan. Exploration spending of $7.1bn is split between offshore fields in Brazil's south and southeast, the equatorial margin and foreign assets such as Colombia, Sao Tome and Principe, and South Africa. Petrobras received the environmental license to drill a well in the environmentally-sensitive equatorial margin in October . The company expects eight new projects to come on line by 2030, with seven new floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) platforms — most of them in the pre-salt — and the Raia project , which Petrobras does not operate. The firm also expects 16 complimentary projects in the pre-salt, 15 in the post-salt and eight in onshore regions. The new FPSOs include the P-79 , P-80 , P-82 , P-83 units in the Buzios field, P-84 in the Atapu field and P-85 in the Sepia 2 field. All units have capacity of 225,000 b/d and all fields are in the pre-salt Santos basin. Petrobras included the deepwater oil and natural gas project Sergipe Aguas-Profundas in the plan, expecting its partial conclusion by 2030. Mines and energy minister Alexandre Silveira said this week that the executive veto on the new crude royalties formula was "a way to push Petrobras to maintain its investments from its previous plan," including the Seap and the Campos field revamp project. The firm expects oil and natural gas production to hit 3.3mn b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d) by 2030, with peak production at 3.4mn boe/d in 2028-29. The figures represent an overall increase from 3mn boe/d in the previous plan and an increase from 3.2mn boe/d for the 2028-29 timeframe. Petrobras' plan considered Brent crude prices at an average of $63/bl for 2026 and $70/bl for 2027-2030. It also considered average US dollar-Brazilian real exchange rate of R5.80/$1 in 2026-2030, it said. Refining, fertilizers Combined spending on refining, transportation, sales, petrochemicals and fertilizers is set to fall by over 19pc from the previous five-year cycle to $15.8bn, despite a forecast increase in diesel production. The company aims to prioritize 10ppm diesel over 500ppm. It will produce the fuel mainly in 21mn m³/d Boaventura Energy Complex, in southeastern Rio de Janeiro state, and in its recently upgraded 230,000 b/d Abreu e Lima plant in northeastern Pernambuco state, it said. Petrobras plans to focus investments on expanding and upgrading refineries with low-carbon fuels production, it said. The company aims to increase its installed processing capacity to 2.1mn b/d by 2030, up from 1.8mn b/d today, without acquiring or building new refining assets, it said. The firm also plans to increase logistics in the center-west and north, it said. Those plans include spending $2bn to build 20 cabotage vessels, 18 barges and charter other 40 supporting vessels for oil and gas production. The nitrogen fertilizers plant UFN-III in Tres Lagoas, in central-western Mato Grosso do Sul state, is the main investment in the sector, it said. Spending on the fertilizer sector is stable from the previous five-year plan. Energy transition in the corner Energy transition investments decreased by nearly 20pc from the previous plan to $13bn. While investments in bioproducts — including ethanol, biodiesel and biomethane — rose by over 11pc to $4.8bn, planned spending for decarbonization operations fell by 19pc to $4.3bn. Investments in low-carbon energies almost halved to $3.1bn. But spending on research and development initiatives grew by 20pc to $1.2bn. The plan earmarks $4bn in spending on natural gas and low-carbon energy projects, up by 54pc from the previous plan. Petrobras will prioritize ethanol, biodiesel, biomethane production through partnerships and shared assets, in tandem with its own projects for renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel and biobunker prompted by regulatory advances, it said. By Maria Frazatto and João Curi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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