TotalEnergies teams with French farmers on renewables
TotalEnergies today said it has formed a partnership with the French federation of farmers' unions (FNSEA) to develop renewable energy, including biofuels and biomethane, one of three moves it took this week to further its energy transition strategy.
The link with FNSEA aims to develop projects to produce renewable power from agrivoltaic installations, produce biomethane from agricultural waste, and manufacture biofuels from agricultural residues or "low greenhouse gas" crops.
Earlier this week TotalEnergies said it had started production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from wastes and residues at its 240,000 b/d Gonfreville refinery, adding to existing output at its Oudalle and La Mede facilities. It also said it would invest $50mn in the Tropical Asia Forest Fund 2 project, managed by nature-based investment firm New Forests. The project, which invests in native forest conservation across southeast Asia, will allow TotalEnergies to access "carbon sinks," it said.
TotalEnergies is targeting net zero emissions by 2050. It plans to spend $100mn annually to build a portfolio of projects capable of generating carbon credits worth a minimum of 5mn t/CO2 equivalent per year by 2030. The credits will be used after 2030 to offset the company's scope 1 and 2 emissions.
But not everyone is convinced. Several complainants, including environmental law firm ClientEarth and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Greenpeace and Notre Affaire A Tous, this week launched a court case against TotalEnergies for what Greenpeace terms "misleading commercial practices following the group's misleading communications on its climate commitments." TotalEnergies' activity is in direct conflict with its aim to be carbon neutral by 2050, Greenpeace said, given fossil fuels still represent 90pc of its activity and 80pc of its investments.
Around half of TotalEnergies' spending last year went to oil, and the other half to "growth" sectors — in which it includes gas and LNG.
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APLNG's Jan-Mar output higher: Origin
APLNG's Jan-Mar output higher: Origin
Sydney, 30 April (Argus) — The 9mn t/yr Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) project in Queensland state produced and sold more LNG than the previous quarter and year earlier, Australian independent Origin Energy said in its January-March results. Output rose from the final quarter of 2023 because of the power failure of a vessel docked at APLNG's terminal in Gladstone harbour in late November , which prompted upstream operator Origin to cut flows to the liquefaction plant and APLNG to defer three cargoes to 2024. APLNG exported 134PJ (2.4mn t) of LNG through 34 cargoes for January-March, 8pc up from 124PJ and 32 cargoes the previous quarter and 4pc up on the 129PJ and 33 cargoes shipped in January-March 2023. Total APLNG production for July 2023-March 2024, the first three quarters of Origin's fiscal year to 30 June, was 519PJ, 4pc higher than 498PJ a year earlier, because of effective well and field optimisation activities, fewer maintenance disruptions and the continuing benefit of reducing workover backlog resulting in more wells being on line, Origin said. The terminal will take half a train of capacity off line for 12 days in June , following a two-day maintenance period in January. APLNG's domestic gas sales were 36PJ, steady on the previous quarter but higher by 24pc from the 29PJ sold a year earlier. Gas sales volumes for Origin's energy markets business fell by 5pc to 36PJ from 38PJ in January-March 2023. Origin said it continues to negotiate a deal with the government of New South Wales (NSW) regarding the 2,880MW Eraring coal-fired power station's future . The power plant had been due to close in 2025 but insufficient new generation capacity has been completed in NSW for this to occur. "We continue to progress large-scale batteries under development at Eraring and Mortlake power stations and recently announced our first storage offtake agreement from the Supernode battery in Queensland, taking Origin's storage portfolio to around 1GW of capacity once these batteries come on line," chief executive Frank Calabria said on 30 April. By Tom Major APLNG results Jan-Mar '24 Oct-Dec '23 Jan-Mar '23 y-o-y % ± q-o-q % ± Production (PJ) 176 167 165 7 5 Sales (PJ) 168 160 158 6 4 Commodity revenue (A$mn) 2,303 2,149 2,583 -11 7 Average realised LNG price ($/mn Btu) 12.17 11.88 14.50 -15 3 Average realised domestic gas price (A$/GJ) 6.90 6.39 6.17 12 8 Source: Origin Energy Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Estoques de etanol no Centro-Sul recuam em abril
Estoques de etanol no Centro-Sul recuam em abril
Sao Paulo, 29 April (Argus) — Os estoques de etanol no Centro-Sul caíram 18pc na primeira metade de abril, à medida que as atividades da safra de cana-de-açúcar de 2024-25 começaram. Os estoques do biocombustível na principal região produtora do Brasil recuaram para 2,2 milhões de m³ até o dia 16 de abril, em comparação com 2,7 milhões de m³ registrados na quinzena anterior, segundo dados do Ministério da Agricultura. Na comparação com o mesmo período do ano passado, quando os estoques foram de 1,9 milhão de m³, o avanço foi de 17pc. Os estoques de etanol hidratado representaram 1,3 milhões de m³ do total acumulado no período, baixa de 14pc na quinzena e alta de 12pc na variação anual. Já o etanol anidro totalizou cerca de 875.700m³, queda de 23pc na comparação com a quinzena anterior e crescimento de 25pc no ano. Até 16 de abril, 171 plantas haviam iniciado as operações para a nova temporada, em comparação com 166 unidades no mesmo período do ciclo anterior, de acordo com a União da Indústria de Cana-de-Açúcar e Bioenergia (Unica). O início da safra facilitou o acesso de participantes de mercado aos estoques do biocombustível, ao passo que alguns players reportaram dificuldades em comprar de estoques no fim de março. Por Laura Guedes Produção sucroalcooleira do Centro-Sul 15-Abril ano atrás ± Etanol total m³ 830.437 721.630 15% Cana-de-açúcar '000t 15.847 15.155 5% Açúcar t 675.822 582.476 16% Mapa Envie comentários e solicite mais informações em feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . Todos os direitos reservados.
Norway's marine bio mandate ineffective: Marine market
Norway's marine bio mandate ineffective: Marine market
London, 29 April (Argus) — Norway's 6pc advanced biodiesel mandate for marine, which came into effect in October, has done little to incentivise the uptake of physical marine biodiesel blends at Norwegian ports, market participants told Argus . As of October 2023, bunker fuel suppliers in Norway must ensure that a minimum of 6pc, on a volume per volume basis, of the total amount of liquid fuels sold per year consists of advanced biofuel in the form of fatty acid methyl ester (Fame) or hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). The mandate is only applicable to bunker fuels sold in the domestic market, impacting vessels operating between Norwegian ports as well as local tugboats, offshore supply barges, and fishing vessels. Market participants confirmed that the mandate operates on a mass-balance system at the moment, such that the mandate could also be met by supplying the equivalent amount of biofuels into the inland road sector. Consequently, participants said that very few buyers end up purchasing the physical marine biofuel blends, and instead marine fuel suppliers have had to utilise the mass-balance system to meet their mandated targets. This has resulted in a premium added onto conventional bunker fuels in Norwegian ports of about $56-60/t on average. A market participant described the current system as "like a CO2 tax", with most marine fuel buyers paying the premium rather than purchasing a marine biodiesel blend directly. Participants told Argus that HVO is popular and frequently used in road transport because of its superior specifications compared with biodiesel and its generally low freezing point. Norway's HVO imports typically originate from the US — Kpler data shows that about 68.4pc of HVO flows into Norway have originated from there this year. This is mainly because Norway does not apply the same anti-dumping measures as EU nations, which typically put a substantial premium on US-origin biodiesel imports. Norwegian shipowners going internationally are exempt from being liable to the additional premium imposed by the mandate. But participants told Argus that they usually have to pay the premium and then claim it back from the Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA). The system may change very soon. Market participants told Argus that the NEA is considering some changes to the mandate requirement. A gradual move away from the mass balance system is being discussed, in favour of a physical product mandate that would require biofuel blends to be sold to bunker fuel buyers. Further, a switch from an annual reporting system to a monthly one could also be on the cards. NEA is also reportedly looking at mandating the availability of marine biodiesel at all Norwegian ports and biodiesel fuel reconciliation at the tank rather than terminal. By Hussein Al-Khalisy Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Yara first-quarter gas consumption higher on year
Yara first-quarter gas consumption higher on year
London, 29 April (Argus) — Europe's largest fertiliser producer Yara's European gas consumption in the first quarter was up by 26pc on the year, but remained far lower than in the second half of last year. Norway-based Yara's gas consumption across Europe in January-March totalled 29.2 trillion Btu, well above the 23.1 trillion Btu a year earlier, but drastically down from 37.5 trillion Btu in the fourth quarter last year, the company's latest quarterly report shows. Yara did not report its European ammonia production for the first quarter, but the company's global output totalled 1.74mn t, up from 1.38mn t a year earlier. Yara's first-quarter European gas consumption fell from the preceding three months, despite its average European gas costs falling to $11.70/mn Btu from $13/mn Btu. The firm's European gas costs have declined sharply since peaking at $34.50/mn Btu in the third-quarter 2022, when European wholesale prices hit all-time highs ( see price graph ). Yara's quarterly spending on European gas supplies fell to $343mn in January-March, the lowest since at least summer 2021 when the company began reporting this data, and around one third the $1.08bn peak in April-June 2022. Yara's European gas consumption also fell despite a 37pc annual increase in total fertiliser deliveries in Europe . Lower curtailments, improved production economics and "volume catch-up" had supported output, Yara said. But while European deliveries improved on the year, they remained "below normal" — particularly for nitrates — and Yara sourced a larger share of its European deliveries from its global plants, the company's chief financial officer Thor Giaever said. Yara had hinted earlier this year its ammonia assets might run at 90pc or more of capacity as the company expected to boost production this year . But one explanation for the lower gas demand compared to the previous quarter is Yara may be maximising production at more efficient plants like Sluiskil in the Netherlands and Brunsbuttel in Germany, while ramping down less efficient plants, allowing the company to maintain or increase production while consuming less gas. Yara last year curtailed 19pc of its European ammonia capacity , turning towards greater imports of ammonia to replace the lower production. And that remains key to Yara's business plans , which the company said last week focused on "further strengthening operational resilience and flexibility". Argus assessed European ammonia production prices based on the TTF front-month price at roughly a $100/t discount to northwest European import prices in its last weekly assessment on 25 April, suggesting a still-significant financial incentive to produce ammonia domestically. The European fertiliser market remains under pressure by large volumes from Russia, meaning Europe has swapped an energy dependency on Russia for a food dependency, chief executive Svein Tore Holsether said, echoing previous statements . Comparing global assets Yara consumed 54.4 trillion Btu of gas globally in January-March, down from a multi-year high of 61.9 trillion Btu in October-December ( see consumption graph ). European consumption accounted for roughly 54pc of Yara's global gas demand in January-March, well down from 61pc in the previous quarter. And Yara spent $485mn on gas worldwide in January-March, 71pc for European supply, a lower proportion than at any other point since 2021. Yara's global average gas cost was $8.90/mn Btu in January-March, 24pc below its reported European cost. That discount has been a significant driver for Yara and others to increase production abroad rather than in Europe over the past two years. Yara forecasts its European gas costs at $9.70/mn Btu and $10.50/mn Btu in the second and third quarters of this year, respectively, holding well above its global average gas costs of $7.70/mn Btu and $8.40/mn Btu during those same periods. Globally, the firm aims to produce 8.6mn t of ammonia in 2025, significantly up from 7.8mn t in 2023, it said. By Brendan A'Hearn Yara European vs global gas costs $/MMBtu Yara European vs global gas consumption million MMBtu Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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