Cop 27: Chile to trim methane emissions by 2025
Chile is focusing on trimming rising methane emissions and expanding land protections in its updated national determined contribution (NDC), or emissions pledge, at the COP 27 UN climate summit in Egypt today, the environment ministry said.
The new NDC vows to revert the growing trend of methane gas emissions by 2025 and to expand by at least 1mn hectares of land and aquatic ecosystems under protection by 2030.
The strengthened NDC contains Chile's updated climate policies, including the obligations imposed by the climate change law, which came into force in June, and the long-term climate strategy that extends to 2050.
Under the Paris Agreement, parties are not required to update their NDCs until 2025, but the Glasgow Climate Pact agreed at Cop 26 last year requested countries to revise and increase their 2030 targets.
Chile was also the second country worldwide to present its fifth biannual update report on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the environment ministry said.
The country's GHG emissions fell by 4pc in 2020 to 105,552kt CO2 equivalent (CO2e), excluding carbon offsets, compared to 2018. When the absorption of gases by forests is considered, 2020 GHG emissions totalled 55,825kt CO2e.
The global COVID-19 pandemic — which reduced land and air transport emissions due to lockdowns — and an increase in power generation from renewables were behind the improvement, it said.
Of total emissions, 75pc were produced by the energy sector, followed by agriculture (11pc), waste (7pc) and industrial processes and product use (7pc). Carbon dioxide represents 76pc of emissions, followed by methane gas with 14pc and nitrous oxides with 6pc.
The country also presented its first adaption report, detailing the main threats, vulnerabilities and risks it faces with regard to climate change and adaption priorities.
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US Gulf refiners report no serious storm damage: Update
US Gulf refiners report no serious storm damage: Update
Adds detail on Shell, Citgo, Chevron and ExxonMobil refinery operations. Houston, 12 September (Argus) — Refined products supply in Louisiana appears stable and largely unaffected by Hurricane Francine which made landfall last night as a Category 2 hurricane on the US Gulf coast. Fuel terminals and racks distributing gasoline, diesel and jet fuel in the state were largely unaffected, sources said this morning. Some terminals shut loadings during the peak of the storm late Wednesday and in the early hours of Thursday but were back online or restoring operations today. ExxonMobil's 523,000 b/d Baton Rouge refinery is operating as normal and supplying customers, a company spokesperson said today. "There appears to be no significant damage or flooding at our Baton Rouge area facilities," the spokesperson said. Oil major Shell also said today that there appears to be no serious damage at its Geismar chemicals plant, mothballed Convent refinery and 234,000 b/d Norco refinery in Louisiana. Before the storm, Shell limited personnel at the three plants as it prepared for landfall from Francine. Refineries often have "ride out" crews in place during a major weather event and a smaller number of essential operators continue to oversee the plant. Directly across the Mississippi River from Exxon, BP evacuated staff on Wednesday at a lubricants plant it operates in Port Allen. In far west Louisiana, Citgo's 455,000 b/d Lake Charles refinery faced no damage and is returning to normal operations, the company said today. To the east of Louisiana and closer to the storm's path, Chevron's 357,000 b/d Pascagoula, Mississippi, refinery is operational and supplying customers, the company said today. While details of damages could still emerge for plants in Louisiana run by the likes of Marathon Petroleum, PBF, Valero and Delek, market participants this morning said they expect a return to normal for operations in the coming days. With peak summer demand season over , refiners cutting runs due to narrow margins and the fall turnaround season underway , market participants were less worried about refineries curtailing operations or shutting terminals headed into Hurricane Francine compared to Hurricane Beryl earlier this summer. Beryl also threatened the Texas coast, home to 6mn b/d of refining capacity — about a third of the US total — compared to Louisiana's 3mn b/d. By Nathan Risser Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
BZ Credits near 5 year high after 2023 blending
BZ Credits near 5 year high after 2023 blending
Houston, 12 September (Argus) — Higher volumes of ethylbenzene (EB) into gasoline blending a year ago has led to a credit shortage, pushing prices to their highest levels since March 2021. In 2022 and 2023, US Gulf coast (USGC) naphtha inventories were long as US naphtha exports declined from 400,000-500,000b/d pre-pandemic to 100,000-200,000b/d. Over the same span of time, refiners and blenders dropped excess naphtha, a sub-octane blendstock, into the gasoline pool. This blend of gasoline spurred demand for high-octane blendstocks like EB, toluene and mixed xylenes into gasoline blending. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires gasoline with benzene content above a certain threshold to be offset by a credit generated by refining compliant gasoline. The elevated blending of EB exhausted the supply of benzene credits on the open market, which bled into 2024. Credits traded near 100¢/USG early in 2024 and rose to as high as 190¢/USG over the summer. Values now span buyer interest at 160¢/USG and seller interest at 190¢/USG. The compliance deadline for benzene credit submission is set for 31 March 2025, in which refiners must mass-balance their production over a given year and either face a credit surplus for being over-compliant or a shortage and therefore will need to procure credits on the open market. By Jake Caldwell and Matthew Cope Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Francine shuts in about 42pc of US Gulf oil: Update
Francine shuts in about 42pc of US Gulf oil: Update
Adds BSEE shut-in data update. New York, 12 September (Argus) — Hurricane Francine, which has since weakened to a tropical depression as it passes over central Mississippi, shut in about 42pc of US Gulf of Mexico oil output. About 730,472 b/d of offshore oil output was off line as of 12:30pm ET Thursday, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), while 991.68mn cf/d of natural gas production, or 53pc of the region's output, was also off line. Operators evacuated workers from 169 platforms this week ahead of the storm. Companies including Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell relocated offshore workers and suspended some drilling operations ahead of Francine, while a number of ports, including New Orleans, Louisiana, shut down. Shell curtailed output at the Appomattox platform, around 80 miles south east of Louisiana, as well as the Mars, Vito, Ursa, and Olympus platforms because of downstream issues. Today Shell said it has started to redeploy staff to its Perdido facility, located about 190 miles south of Houston, where production is still shut. Operations at Shell's Auger and Enchilada/Salsa assets, about 120 miles south of Vermillion Bay, Louisiana. remain suspended. Drilling is still halted at the Whale platform, which is scheduled to start up later this year. "As conditions continue to improve, we will begin the process of redeploying personnel to Auger and Enchilada/Salsa to bring staffing to normal operating levels," Shell said. The port of Lake Charles reopened to vessel traffic at 11am ET Thursday after closing on Tuesday evening. The port of New Orleans remained closed. Francine was about 15 miles north-northeast of Jackson, Mississippi, as of a 12pm ET advisory from the National Hurricane Center, with maximum sustained winds of 35mph. It slammed into the Louisiana coast as a Category 2 hurricane Wednesday evening before weakening. By Stephen Cunningham and Tray Swanson Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US Gulf fuel infrastructure stable post-hurricane
US Gulf fuel infrastructure stable post-hurricane
Houston, 12 September (Argus) — Refined products supply in Louisiana appears stable and largely unaffected by Hurricane Francine which made landfall last night as a Category 2 hurricane on the US Gulf coast. Fuel terminals and racks distributing gasoline, diesel and jet fuel in the state were largely unaffected, sources said this morning. Some terminals shut loadings during the peak of the storm late Wednesday and in the early hours of Thursday but were back online or restoring operations today. Before the storm, oil major Shell said limited personnel were working at its Geismar chemicals plant, mothballed Convent refinery and 234,000 b/d Norco refinery in Louisiana on Wednesday as the facilities prepared for landfall from Francine. Refineries often have "ride out" crews in place during a major weather event and a smaller number of essential operators continue to oversee the plant. BP evacuated staff on Wednesday at a lubricants plant it operates in Port Allen. Directly across the Mississippi River, ExxonMobil's 523,000 b/d Baton Rouge refinery was preparing for severe weather, but was operating and meeting customer commitments on Wednesday, prior to landfall. Other refiners with operations in Louisiana such as Marathon Petroleum, Chevron and Citgo had their eyes on the storm as it headed towards the coast. While details of damage at plants could still emerge, market participants this morning said they expect a return to normal for operations in the coming days. With peak summer demand season over , refiners cutting runs due to narrow margins and the fall turnaround season underway , market participants were less worried about refineries curtailing operations or shutting terminals headed into Hurricane Francine compared to Hurricane Beryl in the summer. Beryl also threatened the Texas coast, home to 6mn b/d of refining capacity — about a third of the US total — compared to Louisiana's 3mn b/d. By Nathan Risser Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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