Latest News
-
Baltic States switch to European grid and end Russia's ties
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania announced on Sunday that they successfully synchronised the electricity systems of their countries to the European continental grid. This comes one day after Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania severed decades-old energy links with Russia and Belarus. The complex switch from the grid that was used by their former Soviet Imperial overlord has been planned for many years. It is intended to bring the three Baltic countries closer to the European Union, and boost energy security in the region. In a social media post, Latvian President Edgars Rinkovics stated: "We did it!" The Baltic countries cut high-voltage cross-border transmission lines in eastern Latvia on Saturday, just 100 metres from Russia's border. They gave away pieces of wire as souvenirs to passers-by. Kaja Kallas - the Estonian EU Foreign Policy chief - called this switch, made earlier this week, "a victory of freedom and European unity". After power cable, telecommunication links, and gas pipelines between the Baltics and Sweden and Finland went down, the Baltic Sea region has been on high alert. The Baltic Sea region is on high alert after power cable, telecom links and gas pipeline outages between the Baltics and Sweden or Finland. Russia has denied involvement. After an undersea cable from Finland to Estonia, which was damaged in December 2012, Poland and the Baltics deployed elite police units, helicopters, and navy assets. Lithuanian military started drills to secure the land connection to Poland. Analysts believe that more damage to the links could drive power prices to levels seen in the Baltics since the invasion of Ukraine when energy prices spiked. The IPS/UPS Grid was the last remaining link between Russia and the three countries. These nations reemerged in the early 90s as independent nations after the fall of the Soviet Union. They joined the European Union in 2004 and NATO in 2007. After the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022, three of Kyiv's staunchest supporters stopped purchasing power from Russia but still rely on its grid to stabilise and control frequencies to prevent outages.
-
Lithuania cuts Russian grid connections as Baltics prepares to link up with EU
Lithuania announced on Saturday that it had disconnected its power system from the Russian grid. This is part of a larger plan, which the Baltic states claim will help them integrate more closely with Europe and improve security. After operating independently, Latvia and Estonia will be expected to follow suit at 0700 GMT Saturday. Subject to any last-minute testing, they should synchronise their grids with the EU on Sunday. A spokesperson for Lithuanian grid operators Litgrid stated, "We have disconnected." After the annexation by Russia of Crimea, plans to decouple the Baltics from their former Soviet imperial master gained momentum. The grid was the last remaining link between the three countries and Russia, who reemerged after the fall the Soviet Union as independent nations and joined the European Union in 2004. In order to prevent outages, the Baltic countries depend on the Russian grid for frequency control and network stabilisation. After the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022, three of Kyiv's staunchest supporters stopped buying power from Russia. Lithuania's Energy Ministry has said that it has prepared contingency plans for heavy energy consumers, such as factories. These plans could temporarily disconnect some heavy energy users from the grid if there is a power shortage, in order to maintain essential supply. (Reporting and editing by Terje Solsvik, Andrius Sytas)
-
Trump delays meeting with Panamanian president as tensions over canals simmer
The U.S. president Donald Trump postponed his phone call with Panamanian leader Jose Raul Mulino because of last-minute changes to the agenda. This was announced by the Panamanian government on Friday amid tensions surrounding U.S. threats that it would take over the Panama Canal. The government of Panama said that the foreign office would share the details about the new date after it had been coordinated. Mulino accused the U.S. government of spreading "lies" and falsehoods after it claimed that its vessels could pass through the Panama Canal for free. He also denied claims that China controls and has troops in the Canal, which is a vital shipping waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean. Panama Canal Authority is an autonomous agency under the supervision of the Panamanian Government that controls and operates the canal. Both leaders were scheduled to address the media at 3:30 pm local time, on Friday afternoon. Mulino announced that following a visit by U.S. Secretary Marco Rubio to his country, it would not be renewing a broad agreement in order to contribute to China’s signature. Belt and Road Initiative , a global infrastructure development plan. (Reporting and writing by Elida Morland, editing by Kyry Madry).
-
Brazil soy sales are lagging due to high freight costs, traders warn
Analysts said that the sale of Brazil's soy crop was lagging, due to high freight costs, an increased local currency, and the extra caution taken by trading companies to complete purchases. According to the consultancy Safras & Mercado, Brazil's soybean crop for 2024/25 has already sold 39.4% more than total production expected. This is higher than the 31,9% recorded in the same time period of 2024. It is still below the average for five years of 43.2%. Guilherme Palahares, Santander Research's head of food and beverage research, said that "Freight was the biggest factor in limiting business." To reduce risk, traders only buy freight services if the soy that they are purchasing has a client who is committed. Brazil heavily relies upon trucks to transport grains to ports. Diesel prices are rising and farmers in the area will need to transport a record crop of soy north of 170 millions tons. The excessive rains in Mato Grosso have also caused problems, as they have hampered harvesting. Truckers are faced with muddy roads and shipping in unusually large volumes when heavy showers occur. According to Mato Grosso's farmer-backed group IMEA, road freight from Mato Grosso's Sorriso port to the riverport of Miritituba has risen by around 40% since January began, reaching 270 reais (46.64 dollars)/ton. The strengthening of the Brazilian currency to 5,8 reais to the dollar has hampered farmers' interest in selling their soy. Santander's analyst stated that Brazilian farmers still expect better prices because of possible problems with Argentinean soy harvest affected by drought. He said that by April they would be more likely sell, as the input bills will be due. According to data from Esalq/USP, Cepea's data, premiums for soybean shipments at the Port of Paranagua in March remained negative. The high freight rates put a lot pressure on the premium, said Francisco Queiroz. He is a soybean analyst with the Itau BBA agro-consulting firm.
-
Dozens of passengers fall sick on Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 90 passengers and crew members on a Royal Caribbean Cruise in the Gulf of Mexico fell ill with a gastrointestinal disease causing vomiting and diarrhea. Cruisemapper.com reports that "Radiance of the Seas", a ship from Tampa, Florida, departed on Saturday to embark on a seven-day western Caribbean cruise. The ship will visit Mexico, Honduras, and Belize. The CDC's vessel hygiene program received a report of an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness on Tuesday. Royal Caribbean, based in Miami, did not respond to a comment request immediately. About 89 passengers, or 4%, of the 2,164 cruise passengers on board have reported feeling sick. The CDC also reported that two members of the 910 person crew were sick. The CDC reported that Royal Caribbean had increased cleaning aboard the ship, taken stool samples for testing, and isolated sick individuals. Cruisemapper.com reports that the ship will return to Tampa Saturday, February 8. According to the CDC, stomach bugs are usually caused by norovirus. Norovirus is a highly contagious, diarrhea-causing virus. Radiance of the Seas is still not known to have been the source of the illness.
-
Azeri BTC daily loads to decrease 6% in March
The differentials between Urals and Azeri BTC crude oil were unchanged on the Friday while daily Azeri BTC oil loadings at Ceyhan are set to drop 6% in march. Azeri BTC crude exports to Turkey's Ceyhan Port are set at 16,99 million barrels for March, up from 16,33 million barrels during February, according to a schedule seen on Friday. Calculations showed that daily oil loadings from Ceyhan would decline by 6% from February's plan in March, due to the fact that the following month will be three days longer. Two sources with knowledge of the plans said that Chevron was speeding up expansion at Kazakhstan's Tengiz Oilfield. This would increase its production to around 1%. PLATTS WINDOW On Friday, no bids or offers for Urals BTC, Azeri BTC Blend and CPC blend were displayed in the Platts Window. The Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service could impose a one-month-long ban on the export of gasoline by large producers to stabilize wholesale prices before the planting season. This was reported Friday by state news agency TASS. The oil ministry reported on Friday that India's fuel consumption in January was at its lowest level since October but up 3.2% compared to last year, with 20.49 millions metric tons. Reporting by
-
Venezuela's PDVSA resumes imports of light crude as production declines
According to documents from the company and data on vessel tracking, Venezuela's PDVSA state oil company has begun importing light crude regularly as its own production of medium and lighter grades is decreasing. This creates bottlenecks in producing blends that can be exported. Venezuela, which is sanctioned by the United States, and Iran signed a swap deal that allowed PDVSA import crude oil and condensate from 2021 to 2023. They could then use these products as diluents in its heavy oil. Debts and disagreements about projects have caused the exchange to be halted since last year. This has left the Venezuelan company with few options for sourcing imports. A vessel with about 600,000 barrels (unidentified) of imported light crude was discharged in December at the main terminal of PDVSA, Jose. According to shipping records, a tanker with a similar amount of light oil was discharged in the same port by another vessel last month. TankerTrackers.com, a ship tracking service, reports that the Liberian-flagged vessel which discharged crude in January left China's Dongjiakou Port. It was not possible to determine the origin of the crude oil immediately. PDVSA didn't immediately respond to a comment request. In January, the company increased its crude and fuel exports to 867,000 barrels a day (bpd), including nearly 300,000 bpd for the United States. This was after the Trump administration warned of a possible reduction in U.S. crude imports. Independent calculations show that the country's total crude production increased slightly from 1,01 million bpd to 1,05 million in January. Sources close to the operations say that PDVSA has been struggling to supply enough diluents to its oil blending operations for years. However, in recent months, this struggle has worsened as production at Monagas North, an important region for producing some of the lightest crude grades for the country, has decreased due to a shortage of gas to reinject into oilfields. Sources said that a key gas processing facility, which suffered a major explosion in November, hasn't fully recovered the supply of gas to PDVSA oilfields. Venezuela will import about 73,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iranian crude and condensate in 2022. This number will drop to around 40,000 in 2023. According to LSEG vessel tracker data and PDVSA records, PDVSA made only sporadic purchases last year of foreign crude, with an average less than 15,000 bpd. In recent years, PDVSA has been able to stabilize its discharge of heavy naphtha imported from joint venture partners including U.S. Chevron. This has contributed to fewer operational hiccups in the main production region of the country, the Orinoco Belt.
-
Power-boosting task for US grid to miss out on July deadline
U.S. grid operators are asking regulators for more time to fulfill a federal order to upgrade existing transmission lines with devices that can increase their capability approximately 40%, according to a Reuters review of regulatory files. The hold-ups represent a possibly years-long setback for efforts to reinforce the country's weak power infrastructure, at a time recently sworn-in President Donald Trump has declared a. national energy emergency over skyrocketing U.S. electrical power need. from data centers. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in late 2021 had. bought all 6 significant regional grid operators outside of Texas. to develop systems that regularly update the capacity rankings. on transmission lines, based on weather conditions, by a. deadline of July 2025. High-voltage transmission lines currently rely primarily on. fixed settings that do not factor in real-time temperature. drops or cooling breezes that could enhance their capacity,. indicating less power is often provided than could be. Fulfilling the FERC order needs technology that consider. hourly power line temperature levels. All six regional grid operators, however, have actually shown. they will not meet the July due date, according to the Reuters. study. Some, including the Midcontinent Independent System Operator. ( MISO), which oversees the wholesale electrical power market in 15. states, pointed out a lack of readily available software application suppliers needed to. achieve the work. MISO informed Reuters on Thursday it prepares to submit a due date. extension with FERC in March, however has actually not identified for how long of. an extension it would require. California's CAISO, whose members are now involved in. probes and claims relating to devastating wildfires in Los. Angeles, told FERC this week it may require up until late 2027 to. completely execute the firm's order. Getting this done by the July 2025 timespan is too large. an effort for us and our taking part transmission owners,. Andrew Ulmer, a lawyer for CAISO, said last month during a. meeting with stakeholders, when explaining the reasoning for a. deadline extension. PJM, which operates in 13 states that consist of the southern. and eastern part of the country, told Reuters it prepares to. talk about an extension to the FERC due date during a meeting with. transmission owners next week. The Southwest Power Swimming pool, whose territory extends from North. Dakota to Louisiana, told stakeholders earlier this month it. would look for an extension for as late as December 2026. In early 2024, FERC approved a due date reprieve for New. York's grid operator that might extend into late 2028. New England's grid operator, ISO New England, informed Reuters. it prepares to ask for a deadline extension in the fourth quarter,. however did not say for how long it would need. The hold-ups are emblematic of decades of underinvestment in. the U.S. electric grid, stated Julia Selker, executive director of. WATT Coalition, an advocacy group for more grid technology. You require utilities demanding this technology to get the. local grid operators moving, Selker stated. Trump described the electrical grid as increasingly. unreliable in a Jan. 20 National Energy Emergency statement,. which is meant to assist him fast-track allowing for new. energy infrastructure tasks. FERC informed Reuters it is examining the president's executive. orders and whether they will factor into choices on deadline. extensions. The White House did not react to a message looking for. comment. Transmission line congestion cost U.S. electrical consumers an. approximated $11.5 billion in 2023, according to a report from Grid. Strategies, a power sector consulting firm. It has been a significant barrier for brand-new power generation. jobs, which need transmission capacity to gain access to markets. Utilities that have actually currently installed sensors based on the. FERC order have actually seen some benefits. For example, throughout 2022's Winter season Storm Elliott that knocked. out power for more than 1.5 million homes and services throughout. the U.S., PPL Corp's power lines with sophisticated sensing units. enhanced their capacity beyond standard settings, which PJM said. was important in avoiding turning power failures.
Kuwait Announces 'Giant' Oil Discovery
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said on Sunday it had made a "giant" oil discovery in the Al-Nokhatha field east of the Kuwaiti island of Failaka, with oil reserves estimated at 3.2 billion barrels.
KPC's CEO Sheikh Nawaf Saud Nasir Al-Sabah said in a video posted by the company on X that the new discovery's reserves were equivalent to the country's entire production in three years.
The initial estimated area of the newly discovered oil well is around 96 square km, KPC said in its statement.
It added that the preliminary estimates of the hydrocarbon reserves present at the well were estimated at approximately 2.1 billion barrels of light oil, and 5.1 trillion standard cubic feet of gas, which correspond to 3.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
(Reuters - Reporting by Jaidaa Taha and Muhammad Al Gebaly; Editing by Jan Harvey and David Evans)