Kenyan President, William Ruto, on Sunday, drove himself in an electric car to the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) where the Africa Climate Summit is taking place between Monday, September 4, and Wednesday, September 6, 2023.
According to a video shared online, the President is seen driving a yellow car from the State House to KICC.
The President was accompanied by an all-electric motorcade comprising two motorbike outriders, two cars and two electric bicycles.
The President visited the KICC to attend the Africa Youth Climate Assembly, a precursor to the African Climate Summit which started today, Monday.
The African Climate Summit will run parallel with the Africa Climate Week which will run from September 4—8.
Over 30,000 delegates are expected to attend the summit including over 25 heads of state and government.
While opening the African Youth Climate Assembly on Saturday, Ruto called on the youth to unite and participate in the event.
He said witnessing brilliant young minds from across the continent showcase climate solutions gives him immense joy.
“Two months ago, under the Eiffel Tower, I called upon the youth of the world to join us in Nairobi to champion the global climate,” he said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) is investigating complaints by some post-paid customers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) that they have been given higher estimated bills for about three months.
The Commission disclosed this in a statement issued and signed by its Executive Secretary, Dr Ismail Ackah, on Monday, September 4, 2023.
The Electricity Company of Ghana is responsible for power distribution in the southern part of the Republic of Ghana.
“The Commission is closely monitoring and investigating the situation where some customers were issued with perceived high estimated bills for May 2023, June 2023, and July 2023, to ensure amicable resolution of these issues,” Dr Ackah said.
He encouraged all affected customers to report such high estimated bills on their post-paid meters to ECG for resolution.
“If they are, however, not satisfied with the ECG resolution, affected customers can report to the Commission’s Regional Offices on the following contact numbers: Accra, 0540126201; Kumasi, 0540126202; Ho, 0540126206; Takoradi, 0540126203; Koforidua, 0540126205 and Cape Coat, 0540126208,” he added.
Dr. Ackah assured the Commission’s stakeholders of their commitment to protecting the interests of consumers and utility service providers.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
South Africa’s power utility, Eskom, has announced that it will, on Tuesday, escalate stage ‘6’ load shedding indefinitely.
In a statement on Monday, Eskom said the stage ‘6’ load shedding will be implemented from 05:00 on Tuesday and will only publish an update should any significant changes occur.
Giving reasons for the indefinite load shedding, Eskom attributed the development to an increase in generation planned maintenance as well as the loss of a further two generation units on Monday.
Eskom added that a further two units at Lethabo and Matla power stations would need to be shut down for urgent repairs.
Eskom noted that breakdowns are currently at 16,210MW of generating capacity while the capacity out of service for planned maintenance is 5,894MW.
“Since Sunday, a generating unit each at Kriel and Medupi power stations was taken offline for repairs.
“In the same period, a generating unit at Arnot, Kendal, Kriel and Lethabo power stations was returned to service.
“The delay in returning to service a generating unit each at Hendrina and Tutuka power stations is also contributing to the current capacity constraints,” Eskom said.
Eskom assured that its teams are working tirelessly to return these generating units to service.
The power utility said its forecast for the evening peak demand is 28,603MW and appealed to the public to continue reducing demand by switching off non-essential appliances.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
UK drivers experienced a big shock at the pump in August as the prices of gasoline and diesel saw some of the biggest monthly jumps in 23 years amid rallying international crude oil prices, RAC, the UK’s longest-serving motoring organization, said on Monday.
The price of gasoline in the UK rocketed by nearly 6.68 pence per liter in August while diesel shot up by 8 pence, making for the fifth and sixth biggest monthly rises in 23 years, data from RAC Fuel Watch shows.
The average price of unleaded gasoline made filling up a tank $5.05 (£4) more expensive in August compared to July, while the price of diesel at the end of August made a fill-up $5.57 (£4.41) more expensive, RAC said.
Barclays Sees $97 Brent Oil Price In 2024 As Market Tightens
“The rising prices at the pumps have been caused by the increasing cost of oil, which has gone up nearly $12 since the start of July to nearly $87 a barrel now, due to producer group OPEC+ reducing supply,” RAC said.
“This led to the wholesale cost of fuel – the price retailers pay – going up, which in turn has been passed on to drivers on the forecourt,” the organization noted.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams commented, “August was a big shock to drivers as they had grown used to seeing far lower prices than last summer’s record highs.”
At the start of September, crude oil prices hit the highest level so far this year amid a tightening market and expectations that Saudi Arabia and Russia would extend their supply cuts into October.
WTI exceeded $85 per barrel and Brent topped $88 a barrel on Friday and continued to trade above those levels in Asian trade on Monday. Meanwhile, gasoline prices in the U.S. also climbed.
Despite the higher WTI price, gasoline prices in the United States could fall in the coming weeks, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said on Friday.
“WTI crude surpasses $85/bbl, the highest level since November, but the outlook for #gasprices is still for an eventual fade that will start with the switch back to cheaper winter gasoline which happens on September 16,” De Haan tweeted.
Source: Oilprice.com
Africa must increase investment in developing its renewable energy and attract greater support of the private sector and international financial institutions if it is to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, experts at the Financial Mobilisation for the Extractive Sector stressed at a workshop held in Abidjan recently.
The continent should also control, exploit and transform its enormous mineral resources locally in order to generate the financial resources needed for its development, urged the experts, who represented a dozen African countries, during an African Development Bank workshop held on August 23-24, 2023.
Speaking during a panel discussion on “Financial modelling for a just energy transition for certain critical minerals in transition countries”, Director for Policy and Research at Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Mines and Mineral Resources Dr. John David Cooper said renewable energy gave his country opportunities to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
“We also need to be major players in the energy field,” Dr. Cooper said.
Participants noted that Africa has made considerable progress in energy transition despite the challenges.
Pointing to the scale of the challenges still ahead, Silas Olang, Energy Transition Advisor for Africa at the Natural Resources Governance Institute in Accra, Ghana, said that no African country ranks among the world’s top 30 in energy transition.
He mentioned Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa as examples of countries implementing ambitious renewable energy development policies.
Renewable energy has the potential to provide electricity to the 600 million Africans currently deprived of it, create jobs and stimulate industrialisation.
“Every dollar invested in renewable energies will yield an additional $0.93, and the deployment of renewable energies will progressively lead to lower costs, unlike fossil fuels,” Dr. Cooper said.
In addition to solar energy, Africa’s renewable assets include wind power, biomass, hydroelectricity and minerals such as lithium, graphite and cobalt, which are needed for renewable energy technologies including the production of solar panels and batteries for electric vehicles.
A key theme of the discussions was the need for the continent to take better advantage of its immense mining resources for sustainable development.
Director General for the Economy in Niger’s Ministry of the Economy and Finance Dogari Bassirou said his country’s uranium was exploited by France and its oil by China.
He said this resulted in huge financial losses for African governments, who more often than not had to make do with foreign mining companies’ statements on mineral content.
Dr. Cooper said the minerals were processed not in Africa but in European countries and China.
“80% of African cobalt is refined in China. If we could refine the minerals in Africa we could sell them at a higher rate, because raw exports limit our financial gains. We are losing out enormously in the current system,” Dr. Cooper said.
Boubacar Lounceny Camara, representing Guinea, said countries needed help to better master the processes of setting costs and determining impurities in ores.
“We say, for example, that the grade is 45%, but how can we verify and determine this,” Camara said.
He called on the African Development Bank to assist African countries in setting up mineral processing plants prior to export.
“The price of raw gold is determined according to the amount of gold refined. But it’s the companies that give us the quantity of refined gold. This leads to huge losses. The metals leaving our countries contain other mineral resources,” he said.
Camara also said that Guinea had been able to define a bauxite reference price with the support of its international partners and was ready to share its experience with other African countries.
To boost the development of renewable energy resources, each African country must have a clear vision and draw up laws distinct from those applied to fossil fuels.
As for financing the sector, Dogari Bassirou said, governments needed to create a stable political environment, adopt laws that are attractive to the private sector, set up transparent budgetary systems and fight corruption.
According to Bassirou, the private sector, with its financial power and expertise, could play a crucial role, as can international financial institutions.
He said the latter must help countries to set up regional projects, and act as a catalyst in mobilising additional investment.
Yannick Bouterige, Research Assistant at the Foundation for Development Studies and Research (FERDI) explained how the African Development Bank, through its Extractive Sector Financial Modelling Project, was assisting African countries to mobilise more tax revenue, build institutional capacity and strengthen resilience.
Guinea, Mali, Liberia, Madagascar, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Zimbabwe had already benefited from this two-year programme, which launched in 2020.
Innocent Onah, Chief Natural Resources Officer at the African Centre for Natural Resources Management and Investment (ECNR) Centre at the African Development Bank, said the Bank had several financing instruments, investment projects and departments dedicated to the sector that benefit all African countries.
“Our new Climate Action Window of about $429 million could provide a great opportunity for financing low carbon projects from renewable natural resources in Africa,” Onah said.
Source: AfDB
China’s biggest coal power generating company plans to revive some projects that were suspended earlier as the country’s government prioritizes energy security over the transition.
This prioritization opens up opportunities for boosting China’s already considerable coal generation capacity, with Shenhua Energy Co. planning to build more coal power plants before 2025.
The company is a unit of the biggest coal mining company in the country: China Energy Investment Corp.
Last year, China’s total coal output rose by 9% to 4.5 billion tons, which represented over half of the world’s total.
Barclays Sees $97 Brent Oil Price In 2024 As Market Tightens
“As the country’s latest round of power system optimization progresses, the company is seizing the window of opportunity for thermal power development,” said the company’s general manager Xu Mingjun, as quoted by Bloomberg.
China has been approving new coal generation capacity at a breakneck speed since the start of last year.
The total approved to date stands at 152 GW, which Bloomberg notes is more than the total coal generation capacity in Europe currently in operation.
In the first half of this year, China approved more than 50 GW in new coal generation capacity.
This has prompted a lot of criticism from environmentalists but China has stuck to its priorities, noting that it needs coal generation in a supporting role to make up for the drops in output from wind and solar as they depend on the weather.
In fairness, Europe is also returning to coal in the absence of cheap Russian pipeline gas.
Despite the massive buildup in wind and solar capacity across much of the continent, European countries have discovered they need dispatchable generation and have found it in coal.
Germany, the flagman for the European energy transition, made headlines earlier this year when it decided to dismantle a wind farm in order to expand a coal mine.
Source: Oilprice.com
PETROSOL Ghana Ltd, one of the leading Ghanaian Oil Marketing Company (OMC), has supported consumer advocacy group, Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) with fuel worth Ten Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHS10, 000) for their activities.
COPEC is an important player in the petroleum downstream sector focused on petroleum consumer rights advocacy, especially in the area of consumers receiving the right quantity and quality at the right price and in a safe environment.
Mr. Joseph Yaribil, the Head of Compliance and Supply Chain/Ag. Head of Marketing of PETROSOL, who made the presentation to COPEC on behalf of the company, indicated that as a firm believer in and advocate of consumer rights and a responsible industry player, as well as a good corporate citizen, PETROSOL is deeply committed to making a difference in the lives of Ghanaians.
Mr. Kwasi Owusu Boadu, the Technical Director of COPEC, expressed their appreciation to PETROSOL for its continuous and consistent support for the activities of COPEC.
He said the support would energise them to do more to protect the interest of consumers.
He also encouraged PETROSOL to continue with its commitment to giving consumers quality fuel in the right quantity from its neatly maintained stations across the country.
PETROSOL, which operates about 120 fuel stations across the country, is triple-ISO certified for quality, safety and environment and has won several awards for best industry practices.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Head of Corporate Communications of Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC), Ernest Owusu-Bempah Bonsu, was on Friday, September 1, 2023, honoured as the ‘Corporate Communications Personality of the Year’ at the prestigious Ghana Corporate Brands Award held in Accra, Ghana’s capital.
In a post on the Facebook page of Ghana Gas and sighted by this portal, it said: “This recognition reflects his outstanding dedication to improving communication between GNGC and the public.”
According to the post, Owusu-Bempah expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the event organisers for the remarkable honour and dedicated the award to the entire management and staff of GNGC.
He encouraged everyone to keep up the fantastic work they have been doing.
The Ghana Corporate Brands Award recognises individuals and organisations who have made significant contributions to the development of their respective industries.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Nigeria’s power transmission company, TCN, the Market Operator (MO) for the West African nation, has hosted cross-border market participants to discuss energy transaction issues and challenges, as well as proffering suitable solutions towards smooth business operations on the distribution of energy exported to Togo and Benin Republic.
The meeting, which was held on Monday, 28th August 2023, had in attendance representatives from Transcorp Power, Benin Republic (SBEE), Togo (CEET), Transmission Company for SBEE and CEB, PARAS and NDPHC.
Among other issues discussed was an outstanding energy reconciliation issue between Togo and Benin Republic for the period of October 2020 to February 2021, wherein the two countries believed that the MO would reconcile them as a neutral operator.
It would be recalled that the two countries—Togo and the Benin Republic—were enjoying sovereign off-take of the power supply until 2019 when the two countries resorted to going into bilateral energy transactions because both Generators and Distributors in Nigeria had been privatised.
The MO used the opportunity of the meeting to call on the two countries to settle their legacy outstanding debt of US$1,715,786.25.
“To put the record right, the above figure is the correct outstanding debt owed to Nigeria by the two countries.”
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has signed a binding agreement to sell its 10.92 percent stake in National Gas and Industrialization Co. to Jadwa Investment Co. for SR491.19 million ($131 million), according to a bourse filing.
The transaction is set to be executed as a negotiated deal, following the Saudi Stock Exchange’s trading and membership procedures on Sept. 3, with completion expected by Sept. 5, subject to various conditions and steps.
The sale involved 8.18 million shares, with GIB Capital serving as the financial advisor to the sovereign wealth fund.
Earlier in August, ADES Holding Co., with the backing of PIF, announced its plan to go public on the Kingdom’s main stock exchange.
In a statement, the oil and gas drilling firm revealed its plans to issue 339 million ordinary shares during the public offering, resulting in a 30 percent free float after a combination of existing and newly issued shares are sold.
PIF, recognized as one of the world’s wealthiest sovereign wealth funds, continues to drive Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification endeavors as part of Vision 2030.
The fund, over the course of years, has made several strategic investments, as Saudi Arabia’s economy moves away from its dependence on oil.
Furthermore, in August, PIF-owned AviLease, an aviation financing and leasing firm, inked a definitive agreement to acquire Standard Chartered’s aircraft leasing business, which includes Dublin-based Pembroke Group.
Valued at $3.6 billion, this deal encompassed a portfolio of 100 narrow-body aircraft and granted AviLease servicing rights for an additional 22 aircraft, according to a press statement.
Residents in part of Tamale, the Northern Regional capital in the Republic of Ghana, will experience a power outage from 08:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., on Saturday, September 2, 2023, according to the power distribution company, NEDCo.
The company explained that apart from Adubilyilli and Bamvim and surrounding areas, all other areas will experience power outages.
In a public notice shared with energynewsafrica.com, the company said the outage is at the request of GRIDCo to enable them to undertake maintenance works.
“Please, take note of this and plan accordingly. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted,” the company said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The price of Russia’s flagship crude grade, Urals, averaged $74 per barrel in August, slightly down from August 2022, but way above the G7 price cap of $60 and higher than the July average of $64.37 a barrel, according to data released by the Russian Finance Ministry on Friday.
To compare, the average price of North Sea Dated Brent was $86.20 per barrel in August.
Between January and August 2023, the average price of Urals was $56.58 per barrel, compared to an average of $82.13 a barrel for the same period of 2022, the ministry’s data showed.
Barclays Sees $97 Brent Oil Price In 2024 As Market Tightens
August was the second consecutive month in which the average price of Russia’s Urals has exceeded the $60 price cap set by the G7 and the EU if Russian crude shipments to third countries outside the EU are to use Western insurance and financing.
In early July, the price of Urals, which had been trading consistently below the price cap, climbed above $60 per barrel for the first time, which could pose problems for cautious buyers, including India. The higher benchmark oil prices in July and, as a result, the higher price of Urals as well as the ESPO grade, could mean higher budget revenues for Russia in July and August compared to June.
At the end of July, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law amendments in the tax code in the energy sector which will narrow the discount of Urals crude to Brent to $20 per barrel from September from a $25 discount at the time.
The amendments in the tax code will also halve the subsidies to Russian refineries as of September 2023 to the end of 2026.
Russia also raised its oil export levy to $21.40 per ton starting on September 1—the highest level this year—as the state tries to lift oil-derived income as oil prices rise. The previous oil export duty was $16.90 per ton.
Source: Oilprice.com
Planned work stoppages next week at two of Australia’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities are scheduled to go ahead unless mediation can produce a deal after workers at Chevron rejected the company’s offer on pay and conditions.
Australia is the world’s biggest LNG exporter, and the Gorgon and Wheatstone projects account for more than 5% of global LNG capacity.
The dispute has stoked volatility on natural gas markets nervous about the risk of long term disruption.
Chevron confirmed its offer had been rejected minutes after the Offshore Alliance (OA), a coalition of two unions, said on Facebook that staff at Chevron’s Gorgon LNG facility and its Wheatstone downstream LNG facility in Western Australia had almost unanimously voted down the deal.
Industrial action will begin at 6.00 am local time on Thursday (2200 GMT on Wednesday) unless parties find a resolution.
“The vote was part of the bargaining process and an important step which enabled employees to share their views,” Chevron said in an emailed statement.
A senior figure at the Fair Work Commission, Australia’s industrial umpire, will fly to Perth to host up to five days of talks between the parties next week, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, declining to be named.
Chevron told Reuters it had filed a request for mediation on Friday but did not comment further.
In the absence of a deal, workers could down tools for up to 11 hours and stop performing certain tasks until at least Sept. 14 based on the alliance’s current plan.
“Ballot results show that they (Chevron) are out of touch with OA members and haven’t listened to a word spoken in their discussions with members, Reps and the Offshore Alliance,” the union alliance said in a Facebook post on Friday.
Chevron will be under pressure to avoid lengthy disruptions that could force it to buy replacement cargoes on the spot market, Leo Kabouche, LNG market analyst at consultancy Energy Aspects, said.
Another dispute between the union alliance and Woodside Energy Group at a nearby LNG facility was resolved without unions following through on threats of strikes.
Dutch and British gas prices edged higher early on Friday, although high gas storage inventories and muted demand limited buying.
The Dutch October contract gained 0.22 euro to 36.00 euros ($39.06) per megawatt hour (MWh) by 0833 GMT, while the day-ahead contract was 0.50 euro higher at 32.25 euros/MWh, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.
The Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMC) in the Republic of Ghana, last Saturday, organised the 2023 edition of the Petroleum Fun Games to exercise their bodies and also strengthen ties among the industry players.
The annual event, which was held at the Armed Forces Sports Complex in Accra, Ghana’s capital, brought together players in the petroleum downstream and some regulatory agencies.
The participating OMCs competed in swimming, sack race, tug-of-war, draft, table tennis, volleyball, lime and spoon race, playing cards, chewing of apples, ludo and football.
The thrilling events started at 06:15 and ended at 6:00 p.m. with the presentation of awards.
Petrosol Ghana Limited was adjudged the Best Organised Company and was presented with an award, while Radiance Petroleum and IBM Petroleum were awarded the Overall Best Performing Company.
Star Oil was awarded for being the first company to arrive on time for the games.
Aswell Takyi from Frontier Oil received the golden boot while Georgette Quarmyne from Engen Ghana was adjudged Best Coordinator.
For the competing games below are the results.
Mr. Kwaku Agyemang-Duah (3rd left), Chief Executive Officer of Association of Oil Marketing Companies in Ghana presenting an award to one of the winners.Click on the document below for the full list of winners.Blank Layout 5 (1)
According to the post, Owusu-Bempah expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the event organisers for the remarkable honour and dedicated the award to the entire management and staff of GNGC.
He encouraged everyone to keep up the fantastic work they have been doing.
The Ghana Corporate Brands Award recognises individuals and organisations who have made significant contributions to the development of their respective industries.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com 
