Mexico to call for more climate funds at Cop 26
Mexico will call for increased financing to meet emissions reduction targets across Latin America at the UN Cop 26 climate conference in Glasgow next month, foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard said.
"Access to financing is not proportional or equitable, nor does it correspond to the amount of emissions each country generates," Ebrard said yesterday. "The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been devastating on Latin America and, unlike the US and Europe, we just do not have access to the amount of financing required to meet climate targets."
As part of the 2015 Paris Agreement, rich countries committed $100bn each year to help developing countries adapt to climate change by 2020 but "none of that money has been spent," Ebrard said.
While some money has been invested, a UN report last year confirmed the target would not be met.
Aside from financing concerns, Mexico plans to present flagship projects including the proposed $2bn, 1GW Puerto Penasco solar park and the Sembrando Vida reforestation program, Ebrard said.
But environmental organizations have criticized the reforestation program, claiming trees and jungle have been deliberately felled to make way for replanting. Meanwhile, a project the size of the Puerto Penasco solar park has never been built in Mexico and it is unclear how CFE — with losses of $736mn in the second quarter of this year — could finance the project without private-sector participation.
Mexico's delegation at the climate talks will be limited to the environment minister Maria Luisa Albores and low-ranking foreign ministry representatives.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has prioritized energy security over climate change policies during his administration but, during a visit from US climate envoy John Kerry earlier this month, pledged to support US climate change plans at the climate talks.
But while the US is pushing a net-zero GHG emissions target by 2050, Lopez Obrador submitted an electricity reform bill on 1 October that would favor more polluting fuel oil- and diesel-powered generation and cancel clean energy certificates — Mexico's primary mechanism for renewable power development.
Mexico has committed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 22pc by 2030 and 50pc by 2050 against a 2005 baseline as part of its Paris Agreement pledge, targets that the country is unlikely to meet under current policy.
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US job growth nearly halved in April: Update
US job growth nearly halved in April: Update
Adds services PMI in first, fifth paragraphs, factory PMI reference in sixth paragraph. Houston, 3 May (Argus) — The US added fewer jobs in April as the unemployment rate ticked up and average earnings growth slowed, signs of gradually weakening labor market conditions. A separate survey showed the services sector contracted last month. The US added 175,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department reported today, fewer than the 238,000 analysts anticipated. That compared with an upwardly revised 315,000 jobs in March and a downwardly revised 236,000 jobs in February. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9pc from 3.8pc. The unemployment rate has ranged from 3.7-3.9pc since August 2023, near the five-decade low of 3.4pc. The latest employment report comes after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its target lending rate unchanged for a sixth time and signaled it would be slower in cutting rates from two-decade highs as the labor market has remained "strong" and inflation, even while easing, is "still too high". US stocks opened more than 1pc higher today after the jobs report and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.47pc. Futures markets showed odds of a September rate cut rose by about 10 percentage points to about 70pc after the report. Services weakness Another report today showed the biggest segment of the economy contracted last month. The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) services purchasing managers index (PMI) fell to 49.4 in April from 51.4 in March, ending 15 months of expansion. The services PMI employment index fell to 45.9, the fourth contraction in five months, in today's report. Readings below 50 signal contraction. On 1 May, ISM reported that the manufacturing PMI fell to 49.2 in April, after one month of growth following 16 months of contraction. In today's employment report from the Labor Department, average hourly earnings grew by 3.9pc over the 12 month period, down from 4.1pc in the period ended in March. Job gains in the 12 months through March averaged 242,000. Gains, including revisions, averaged 276,000 in the prior three-month period. Job gains occurred in health care, social services and transportation and warehousing. Health care added 56,000 jobs, in line with the gains over the prior 12 months. Transportation and warehousing added 22,000, also near the 12-month average. Retail trade added 20,000. Construction added 9,000 following 40,000 in March. Government added 8,000, slowing from an average of 55,000 in the prior 12 months. Manufacturing added 9,000 jobs after posting 4,000 jobs the prior month. Mining and logging lost 3,000 jobs. By Bob Willis Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Austrian regulator consults on gas tariff changes
Austrian regulator consults on gas tariff changes
London, 3 May (Argus) — Austrian energy regulator E-Control has revised up its planned increase in gas tariffs from the start of 2025 but adjusted its commodity charge lower. E-Control on Friday published draft amendments to its gas system charges ordinance that would codify planned changes to how it calculates tariffs. It largely retains its revised methodology from April, but has modified its planned outright tariffs and commodity charge. The regulator had in February proposed a shift to a capacity-weighted distance (CWD) model for its reference price methodology, along with a change to a 50:50 entry-exit revenue split from roughly 20:80 at present. The proposed changes would have tripled entry costs from Germany and quadrupled them from Italy from 2025, as well as other significant changes for the distribution system and storages. Austria's system operators supported the changes , but almost all other respondents to the consultation were highly critical , warning that the changes could threaten diversification, lower utilisation and increase tariffs further and harm liquidity. E-Control last month walked back on several of the proposed changes . Most significantly, it revised the entry-exit split to 25:75, limited the increase in exit tariffs to the distribution zone, introduced a 50pc discount on exit fees to storage facilities, and equalised entry tariffs at all points. The switch to a CWD model was retained, however. The most notable modification from the changes proposed in April is a roughly 7pc increase in capacity-based tariffs, as the new amendments use final prices as opposed to indicative prices previously (see table) . The difference "results from the findings over the course of the cost approval procedure during the past few months", E-Control told Argus . In contrast, the commodity charge on gas entering and exiting the Austrian grid has decreased as a result of "lower expected fuel energy costs", E-Control told Argus . It now plans to charge around €0.04/MWh on entry flows and €0.13/MWh on exit flows, compared with €0.12/MWh and €0.13/MWh, respectively, in the original proposal. There is no commodity charge in place for this year. The final change is an update of the multipliers for capacity bookings depending on their duration. The regulator now proposes multipliers of 1.25 for quarterly products, 1.5 for monthly, two for daily, and three for within-day. Interested parties may submit comments to the regulator by 16 May. Final tariffs will then be published in June, and will be applicable from 1 January 2025. By Brendan A'Hearn Austria 2025-28 estimated tariffs €/kWh/h/a Entry/Exit Capacity type* 2025 (final) 2026 (preliminary) 2027 (preliminary) Baumgarten Entry FZK 1.30 1.37 1.48 Oberkappel Entry FZK 1.30 1.37 1.48 Uberackern Entry FZK 1.30 1.37 1.48 Uberackern Entry DZK 1.17 1.23 1.33 Uberackern Exit FZK 4.25 4.59 4.98 Uberackern Exit DZK 3.82 4.13 4.48 Arnoldstein Entry FZK 1.30 1.37 1.48 Arnoldstein Entry DZK 1.17 1.23 1.33 Arnoldstein Exit FZK 5.96 6.62 7.39 Murfeld Exit FZK 3.73 4.19 4.71 Mosonmagyarovar Exit FZK 2.15 2.49 2.80 Distribution area Exit FZK 1.26 1.45 1.67 Storage Penta West Exit FZK 2.12 2.29 2.49 Storage MAB Exit FZK 1.07 1.19 1.34 *FZK = Firm, freely allocable capacity; DZK = dynamically allocable capacity — E-Control Austria 2025 final tariff vs current €/kWh/h/a Entry/Exit Capacity type* 2025 Current ±% Baumgarten Entry FZK 1.30 0.85 53 Oberkappel Entry FZK 1.30 0.97 34 Uberackern Entry FZK 1.30 0.97 34 Uberackern Entry DZK 1.17 0.88 33 Uberackern Exit FZK 4.25 3.26 30 Uberackern Exit DZK 3.82 2.93 31 Arnoldstein Entry FZK 1.30 0.97 33 Arnoldstein Entry DZK 1.17 0.68 72 Arnoldstein Exit FZK 5.96 4.35 37 Murfeld Exit FZK 3.73 1.90 97 Mosonmagyarovar Exit FZK 2.15 1.23 75 Distribution area Exit FZK 1.26 0.42 200 Storage Penta West Exit FZK 2.12 0.44 383 Storage MAB Exit FZK 1.07 0.44 144 *FZK = firm, freely allocable capacity; DZK = dynamically allocable capacity — E-Control Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US job growth nearly halved in April
US job growth nearly halved in April
Houston, 3 May (Argus) — The US added fewer jobs in April as the unemployment rate ticked up and average earnings growth fell, signs of gradually weakening labor market conditions. The US added 175,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department reported today, fewer than the 238,000 analysts anticipated. That compared with an upwardly revised 315,000 jobs in March and a downwardly revised 236,000 jobs in February. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9pc from 3.8pc. The unemployment rate has ranged from 3.7-3.9pc since August 2023, near the five-decade low of 3.4pc. The latest employment report comes after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its target lending rate unchanged for a sixth time and signaled it would be slower in cutting rates from two-decade highs as the labor market has remained "strong" and inflation, even while easing, is "still too high". US stocks opened more than 1pc higher today after the jobs report and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.47pc. Futures markets showed odds of a September rate cut rose by about 10 percentage points to about 70pc after the report. Average hourly earnings grew by 3.9pc over the 12 month period, down from 4.1pc in the period ended in March. Job gains in the 12 months through March averaged 242,000. Gains, including revisions, averaged 276,000 in the prior three-month period. Job gains occurred in health care, social services and transportation and warehousing. Health care added 56,000 jobs, in line with the gains over the prior 12 months. Transportation and warehousing added 22,000, also near the 12-month average. Retail trade added 20,000. Construction added 9,000 following 40,000 in March. Government added 8,000, slowing from an average of 55,000 in the prior 12 months. Manufacturing added 9,000 jobs after posting 4,000 jobs the prior month. Mining and logging lost 3,000 jobs. By Bob Willis Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Indonesia’s Tangguh LNG facility offers Jun-Jul cargoes
Indonesia’s Tangguh LNG facility offers Jun-Jul cargoes
Singapore, 3 May (Argus) — Indonesia's 7.6mn t/yr BP-operated Tangguh LNG facility is offering four LNG cargoes for June-July loading, through a tender that closes on 6 May. The Tangguh LNG project in Indonesia's west Papua province is offering four cargoes on a fob basis for loading on 17, 22, 27 June, and on 2 July, or two cargoes on a des basis. But the delivery windows are unclear. The firm was last in the market in March , when it offered four cargoes on a fob basis for loading during 28-29 April, 1-2 May, 3-4 May and 17-19 May, or three cargoes on a des basis for delivery over 6-8 May, 8-10 May and 12-14 May. But it is unclear if these cargoes were sold eventually. This offer adds to a growing pool of availability for June and July cargoes, as summer restocking demand among traditional major importing region northeast Asia is poised to be lower this year. This is mainly owing to higher inventories after the winter season and more than sufficient contracted term deliveries, buyers in the region said. This is despite Japan and South Korea forecasting higher summer temperatures this year as compared to the previous year, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency and Korea Meteorological Administration on 23 April. Spot prices have remained relatively rangebound at around high-$9s to low-$10s/mn Btu since the end of March despite weak demand. Spot prices have been tracking some strength in Dutch TTF contract prices, which has reduced importers' incentive to step up spot purchases since imported spot has no obvious price advantage. The front half-month of the ANEA — the Argus assessment for spot LNG deliveries to northeast Asia — was last assessed on 3 May at $9.955/mn Btu, lower by about 11¢/mn Btu from a week earlier, but about 71¢/mn Btu higher from a month earlier. Spot demand has been mostly confined to south and southeast Asian importers. Most of southeast Asia is currently experiencing a heatwave, which is likely to continue driving spot LNG demand from firms like Thailand's state-controlled PTT. The firm has issued another tender seeking three deliveries over 1-2, 7-8 and 10-11 July that closed on 3 May. It may have awarded the tender, but further details are unclear, traders said. By Rou Urn Lee Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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