BG Group and Petrobras have announced they plan to set up a joint venture to produce liquefied natural gas from a floating LNG plant, putting themselves at the forefront of this emerging technology.

The plan is to use the associated gas that is present in the giant oil fields of the deep-water Santos basin, off the south coast of Brazil.

If the technology can be made to work - and it is still early days - this could be a strategic coup, opening up significant new reserves of gas, and helping Petrobras with its delicate political difficulties at home.

Continue reading "BG Group and Petrobras go for floating LNG in Brazil"

On Energy Source:

The IEA’s chief economist on peak oil, gas gluts, carbon prices and more

The Platts Energy 250: big oil still on top

Celebrities set a climate challenge for Oxfam

Crude rallies

Elsewhere:

Why oil production is reaching its limits: the basics (The Oil Drum)

More good exploration news from BP in the Gulf of Mexico (BP website)

…but Devon Energy, its partner in the field, is selling out (AP)

The man who pioneered US shale gas (Houston Chronicle)

US gas drilling has stabilised (Dow Jones / WSJ)

Repsol says Brazil oil finds will boost its reserves, and it could sell a stake in its Brazilian business (Reuters)

…but it is cutting its E&P spending (Bloomberg)

…and its chairman is under pressure (Barron’s)

What are the prospects for Copenhagen now Obama has accepted the inevitable and said there will be no binding treaty agreed there? (NY Times)

US energy and climate change legislation may not make much progress even next year (Politico)

India to boost funding for solar power (WSJ)

…and the plunging cost of silicon gives Asian companies an advantage (WSJ Environmental Capital)

Britain’s opposition Conservatives may support action on climate change, but their leading bloggers do not (The Guardian)

The Platts Top 250 ranking of the world’s leading energy companies for 2009, released today, holds few surprises in the top 10 - ExxonMobil at number one, inevitably - but does have a lot of intriguing detail.

It is still the big international oil groups that dominate. Chevron edging out Royal Dutch Shell for second place (giving the US a one-two at the top of the chart) and BP nudging ahead of Total for fourth place, symbolising its recovery under Tony Hayward, are the most notable shifts at the top since the 2008 ranking.

Continue reading "The Platts Top 250 energy companies: big oil still on top"

Oxfam, which has been pushing climate change up its agenda recently with a series of hard-hitting posters recently, is now trying a lighter-hearted approach.

Click on its Climate Challenge site for a quiz with Gael Garcia Bernal (The Motorcycle Diaries), Ashley Jensen (Ugly Betty, Extras), Mackenzie Crook (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Office, no relation) and David Tennant (Dr Who).

With polls showing many people in the US and Europe still sceptical about the science behind man-made global warming, and the need for their governments to make concessions to reach a climate deal, there is a lot of persuading that still needs to be done.

On Energy Source:

US climate and energy legislation: the issues that need to be addressed

The UK offshore wind industry looks ahead to a bright future

Oil recovers

Everything peaks, eventually

Elsewhere:

How to use the lessons from the “hot oil” debate of the 1930s to help climate policy today (Houston Chronicle)

Texas has cut its emissions more than any other state in the US (Houston Chronicle)

Continue reading "The source: Texas cuts emissions; Obama in Japan; more peak oil debate; and polluting pets"

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said we need a much higher carbon price, called for investment of $500n a year in clean energy, and warned that rising oil demand could threaten the world’s security.

It holds some remarkably radical views for a government-backed multinational organisation, particularly one which has been accused of being in thrall to the US.

Launching its World Energy Outlook - heavily trailed in the FT - on Tuesday, the IEA called for a revolution in the industry to tackle the threat of climate change.

Above all, it stressed the need for a significantly higher price of carbon credits than is currently effective in the European Union, or initially envisaged in the US.

Continue reading "The IEA on the carbon price: CO2 has to cost much more"

Pressure has been building on president Obama to attend the UN climate talks in December. Arguably that is unfair, since the meeting was always intended to be at only a ministerial level.

But on Monday the heat was turned up by Gordon Brown, Britain’s prime minister, when he addressed the Major Economies Forum meeting in London.

Mr Brown said he would definitely go to Copenhagen, and urged other leaders to do the same.
That created a slightly awkward situation for Todd Stern, the US climate representative who was at the London talks. Continue reading "Obama could go to Copenhagen, but only if the talks go well"

On Energy Source:

Brazil could cap its emissions at 2005 levels

Does Russia have an “unsustainable” energy industry?

Oil breaks through $78

Elsewhere:

Eni and Repsol confirm Venezuela’s largest-ever gas discovery (AP)

Fighting climate change by stopping gas leaks (NY Times)

A former Saudi Aramco geologist discusses the country’s oil production outlook (The Oil Drum)

Reactions to the Saudi plea for compensation if there is a climate deal at Copenhagen, mostly derisive (The Atlantic Wire)

Halliburton’s profits drop, but the company is hopeful that the downturn will be relatively shallow, and short (Houston Chronicle)

Maldives ministers rehearse their underwater cabinet meeting (AFP)