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Poland says EU 2040 climate target a 'challenge'

  • Spanish Market: Crude oil, Emissions, Oil products
  • 23/01/25

Setting the bloc's climate target for 2040 as well as agreeing additional environmental and climate laws is a "challenge" for the six-month Polish EU presidency, Poland's environment minister Paulina Henning-Kloska said, as there is "no unified position".

Speaking to the European Parliament's environment committee, Henning-Kloska, who chairs meetings of both environment and energy ministers, made clear that member state adoption of the bloc's 2040 target for cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will be difficult.

"We had a discussion on this in the council [of ministers] last December," she said. "What is clear is that there is no unified position," she added, as some member states wants greater flexibility in reducing emissions between 2030 and 2050.

Difficult discussions between EU states and in the European parliament will likely push the submission of the bloc's nationally determined contribution (NDC) — climate plan — to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) beyond the 10 February deadline.

The European Climate Law requires the European Commission to propose a 2040 climate target "at the latest within six months of the first global stocktake". The global stocktake was completed during the UN Cop 28 climate summit in Dubai, in 2023. It gauged countries' progress against the Paris Agreement and proposed measures to keep to its goals — including keeping warming preferably below 1.5°C.

EU officials note that the 2040 target will "inform" the decision on the EU's next NDC.

Even if the EU's NDC submission does not require a separate law, officials also "expect" to receive a political mandate from member states before the NDC submission by the European Commission and the EU's presidency, led by Poland until the end of June.

Despite the threat to a speedy timeline, the commission maintains it will continue to be a "leading" voice for international climate action and aims to submit the EU's next NDC "well ahead" of the Cop 30 climate talks in Belem, Brazil in November.

But German member Peter Liese thinks the EU is in "deadlock" on its 2040 target. "We may like it or not, it's very ambitious," he said. "And I don't see enough support for that target."

A member of parliament's largest centre-right EPP group, Liese also picked up on Polish prime minister Donald Tusk's and Henning-Kloska's call for changes or delay to the bloc's specific emissions trading system for road transport and heating fuels (ETS2).

"I don't see — without the ETS2 — member states have any plan to get to their target," said Liese, who has previously helped draft legislative revisions to the ETS. "I don't think abolishing is a solution. Postponement is also [not] the best solution," Liese said.


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11/02/25

Brazil’s January inflation lowest since 1994

Brazil’s January inflation lowest since 1994

Sao Paulo, 11 February (Argus) — Brazil's monthly inflation stood at 0.16pc in January, the lowest increase for the month since 1994 when the government enacted multiple measures to contain soaring inflation, according to government statistics agency IBGE. The consumer price index (CPI) slowed annually to 4.56pc from 4.83pc in December, heavily influenced by a 14.2pc tumble in power costs in January, compared with a 3.19pc drop in December. Power costs decelerated January's inflation by 0.55 percentage points — the major individual contributor to the annual drop, according to IBGE — thanks to a R1.3bn ($224mn) federal discount in power tariffs that month, CPI's manager Fernando Goncalves said. Food and beverage costs rose by an annual 7.25pc, decelerating from 7.69pc in December. Beef costs increased annually by almost 21.2pc following a 20.8pc gain in the month prior, while soybean oil costs decelerated to 24.55pc over the last 12 months from 29.2pc in December. Motor fuels prices rose by 11.35pc in January. Ethanol was responsible for the group's largest annual increase of 21.59pc, up from 17.58pc in the month prior. Gasoline and diesel prices also registered annual rises of 10.71pc and 2.66pc from 9.71pc and 0.66pc, respectively. Still, diesel prices remained at a 0.97pc monthly increase from December, while ethanol costs contracted by 1.82pc from 1.92pc and gasoline prices increased by 0.61pc from 0.54pc. Fuel prices are likely to keep increasing in February, as states increased the VAT-like ICMS tax on fuels and state-controlled Petrobras increased wholesale diesel prices by 6.3pc , both effective as of 1 February. Transportation costs rose by 1.3pc in January over the year, following a 0.67pc gain in December. Flight tickets were the most responsible for the increase, with a 10.42pc monthly gain from a 22.2pc contraction in December. Brazil's central bank is targeting CPI of 3pc with a margin of 1.5 percentage point above or below. The bank raised its target rate to 13.25pc in January after it failed to maintain Brazil's headline inflation under the ceiling of 4.5pc for 2024. Further increases are expected in the coming months, the bank said. The central bank has recently changed the way it tracks the inflation goal. Instead of tracking inflation on a calendar year basis, it will now monitor the goal on a 12-month basis. In 1994, Brazil enacted its Plano Real, a series of measures to stabilize the economy and detain soaring inflation, which had hit an annual 916pc by the end of that year. One of the measures was to change its currency to the real from the cruzeiro real. By Maria Frazatto Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Petrobras considers India for crude: CEO


11/02/25
11/02/25

Petrobras considers India for crude: CEO

Sao Paulo, 11 February (Argus) — Brazilian state-controlled Petrobras is considering opportunities in deepwater and ultra-deepwater crude blocks in India, chief executive Magda Chambriard said today. The Indian government announced on Tuesday, during the India Energy Week conference held in New Delhi, that it will offer 25 deepwater and ultra-deepwater oil blocks, Chambriard said. "We will carefully evaluate these opportunities, always looking for new production frontiers, which will guarantee us security and financing for the energy transition," she added. Petrobras has been looking for alternatives to replenish its crude reserves, as those in its main source of oil — Brazil's pre-salt — are dwindling. But reserves are not in immediate danger, as the firm's proven oil and natural gas reserves rose by 4.6pc to 11.4bn bl of oil equivalent (boe) at the end of 2024. The company's 2025-29 strategic plan envisions investments in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia and Africa, but this is the first time Petrobras mentioned India as a potential source of crude. Still, the company's main bets to replenish reserves are the southern Pelotas basin and the Foz do Amazonas basin in the northern equatorial margin. The latter could contain 10bn of recoverable bl of oil equivalent, according to energy research bureau EPE. Petrobras is awaiting permission to start exploratory drilling there , after it appealed environmental agency Ibama's May 2023 decision to deny the license on environmental grounds. By Lucas Parolin Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Feyzin bitumen output halted as part of wider stoppage


11/02/25
11/02/25

Feyzin bitumen output halted as part of wider stoppage

London, 11 February (Argus) — Bitumen production at TotalEnergies' 109,300 b/d Feyzin refinery near Lyon, central France, is halted from 10-20 February as part of a wider shutdown affecting the refinery's crude distillation unit (CDU) and reformer. Workers at the plant said last week there had been unexpectedly extended CDU works caused by a blockage by unspecified debris . TotalEnergies said at the time it would not comment on operations. Officials at the company confirmed today the CDU and reformer were among units shut at Feyzin, but said the halt was planned. They said the CDU had suffered no unexpected blockage or damage. Workers reiterated today that debris had been detected in the CDU and that this could result in a shutdown lasting weeks. Sources familiar with the refinery's operations said today that the bitumen halt would cause no supply disruptions in terms of the usual truck movements, with sufficient stocks held at the plant to meet current low-level requirements during the winter slow activity period in the road paving and other construction sectors. By Fenella Rhodes and Adam Porter Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Power outage shuts Norway's Sverdrup oil field: Update


11/02/25
11/02/25

Power outage shuts Norway's Sverdrup oil field: Update

Updates throughout London, 11 February (Argus) — Norwegian state-controlled Equinor has confirmed that a power outage has forced it to shut down production from Johan Sverdrup, the North Sea's largest oil field, as well as other oil and gas fields in the area. "We have experienced an incident involving smoke development in a control room connected to one of the converter stations at Haugsneset near Karsto," the company said. "This station supplies power to Johan Sverdrup and other fields on the Utsira High. The incident has resulted in a temporary shutdown of production." Equinor said it is working to restore power supply to the fields. According to its website, the affected power line also supplies the Gina Krog, Ivar Aasen, Edvard Grieg and Gudrun fields. Edvard Grieg and Ivar Aasen feed into the medium sour Grane crude blend. It is the second time in a week that Johan Sverdrup has been disrupted by a power outage. The field was shut down briefly on 4 February because of power supply issues onshore. Power was restored the same day, and the field had been ramping back up up to full operations on 5 February. At the time, Equinor did not expect any delays to loadings. Johan Sverdrup produces the largest stream of middle distillate-rich crude in Europe, with a plateau capacity of 755,000 b/d. The field averaged around 712,000 b/d in 2024. Its output was around plateau levels in March, April and July last year, but Equinor expects capacity to drop early this year. The grade was valued at a $1.65/bl premium to benchmark North Sea Dated on 10 February, a seven-month high, supported by a perceived global tightness in the supply of medium grades. The US tightened sanctions on the Russian fleet last month, which pushed refiners in Asia-Pacific to look for alternative, unsanctioned grades. Grane is the second-largest medium sour stream in the region, with around 180,000 b/d exported last year, according to loading programmes. Official production data show Ivar Aasen contributed around 18,000 b/d to the Grane stream last year and Edvard Grieg accounted for 38,000 b/d. Grane prices surged to a $2.50/bl premium to Dated in recent assessments, up from a $1/bl discount in early January. By Lina Bulyk Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

BP promises strategy reset after sharp drop in profit


11/02/25
11/02/25

BP promises strategy reset after sharp drop in profit

London, 11 February (Argus) — BP today promised to "fundamentally reset" its strategy later this month after reporting a drop in underlying profit last year. The company alluded to what the reset might entail, noting that last year it had "laid the foundations for growth" by committing capital to new oil and gas projects and "refocusing" its investments in low-carbon assets. Details of the strategy shift will be outlined at a capital markets day for investors on 26 February. Key actions in 2024 included taking a final investment decision on the 80,000 b/d Kaskida oil field in the US Gulf of Mexico and raising its exposure to biofuels in Brazil . The company also took steps via a joint venture with Japanese utility Jera that will see it commit less capital to its wind energy investments. BP reported an underlying replacement cost profit — excluding inventory effects and one-off items — of $1.2bn for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared with $3bn a year earlier. For the full year, underlying replacement cost profit fell by 36pc compared with 2023 to $8.9bn, while cash flow from operations dropped to $27.3bn from $32bn. The company benefited from higher oil and gas production last year — up by 2pc on 2023 at 2.36mn b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d). But lower prices, a drop in refining margins and lower contributions from both oil and gas trading weighed on profitability. BP said it expects upstream production to be lower this year and refining margins "broadly flat". It expects a similar level of refinery maintenance in 2025, with the work "heavily weighted towards the first half" and the second quarter in particular. For now, BP is sticking with its share repurchasing programme, announcing a further $1.75bn of share buybacks for the fourth quarter. It has maintained its quarterly dividend at 8¢/share. The company's capital expenditure remained steady at $16.2bn last year. It will provide guidance on this year's investment budget at the strategy day later this month. By Jon Mainwaring Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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