US gives more time for climate disclosure input
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is extending by nearly a month the deadline for public feedback on its proposed rule requiring publicly traded companies to uniformly disclose climate-related information.
The SEC said today it would extend the comment deadline until 17 June on the climate proposal, which would require publicly-traded companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related risks. For companies that voluntary set emission reduction goals, the proposal would require specific data on their progress in achieving those targets.
SEC chairman Gary Gensler said the agency was offering more time in response to public feedback. Oil and gas groups, investors, states and others argued the initial comment deadline of 20 May was too short and asked to extend the deadline until mid-July or later.
The climate disclosure proposal has drawn intense criticism from oil groups and many Republicans, who say the SEC is straying too far from its core mission of protecting investors. They have criticized the proposal's estimated $6.4bn/yr in compliance costs and say the rule, alongside other federal initiatives, is making it harder for fossil fuel producers to attract investment.
"If you look at the reality, the context of this administration's attitude toward fossil, you have killed financing," US senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) said last week during a congressional hearing where he criticized the climate disclosure rule.
A group of law professors last month urged the SEC to scrap the rule, which they said was too costly and likely preempted by the US Environmental Protection Agency's authority over greenhouse gases. Oil groups have said the rule could run afoul of freedom of speech protections in the US Constitution, while warning its requirements could drive up energy costs for consumers.
"At a time of high gasoline prices when the world needs more, not less, American oil and natural gas production, this rule is uniquely ill-timed," the Independent Petroleum Association of American and dozens of other oil industry groups wrote last month.
Hundreds of publicly-traded companies have already started disclosing climate-related data and set emission reduction goals, in response to investor demands. SEC's Gensler has argued the proposal is needed to provide investors actionable and consistent information about public companies and their performance.
"Without clear rules of the road, different companies are disclosing different amounts of information, in different places and at different times," Gensler told an SEC advisory panel on 6 May.
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Azerbaijan wants certainty from EU on gas needs
Azerbaijan wants certainty from EU on gas needs
London, 26 April (Argus) — Azerbaijan needs long-term guarantees and available financial instruments to invest in gas production growth, its president Ilham Aliyev said earlier this week. Azerbaijan and the EU signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2022, in which Azerbaijan committed to increasing its supply to the EU to 20bn m³/yr by 2027 from 8bn m³ in 2021. This is a "target that we are moving towards" and exports to Europe will be around 12bn m³ this year, Aliyev said on 23 April at the Cop 29 and Green Vision for Azerbaijan forum ( see Azeri gas production graph ). But Azerbaijan needs investments to reach this export target, and restrictions from financing institutions on fossil fuel projects make them harder to realise, Alyiev said. The European Investment Bank has removed fossil fuel projects from its portfolio and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has only a small share of such projects, Aliyev said. Corporations tend to finance 30pc of gas production or infrastructure projects on their own and the remainder through loans, he said. The other issue is a need to receive long-term guarantees for Azeri gas supply, as "Azerbaijan cannot invest billions only for 5-10 years and not be able to recover the costs", Aliyev said. Azerbaijan is still paying back loans for the Southern Gas Corridor and Shah Deniz Stage 2 projects, he said. A long-proposed Ionian-Adriatic pipeline that could provide the Balkan region with Azeri gas is yet to materialise because it lacks EU funding support and gas consumption in the countries involved is low, particularly considering the challenges involved with building a pipeline in a mountainous region, Aliyev said. But Azeri gas can already reach Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Montenegro through Hungary, while it can flow to Serbia through Bulgaria, he said. Aliyev said he believes that the Croatian and Azeri governments are already in consultation about this. Referring to a long-mooted project to build a pipeline across the Caspian Sea to deliver Turkmen gas to Europe, Aliyev said that Azerbaijan has "received no messages from Turkmenistan". Azerbaijan as a transit country cannot become the initiator or co-ordinator of a trans-Caspian pipeline project, Aliyev said. The Southern Gas Corridor is fully booked, meaning that infrastructure developments are needed to transport more gas to Europe, which is "under discussion", Aliyev said. Azerbaijan plans renewables build-out Azerbaijan is targeting 5GW of additional renewable generation capacity, which it aims to substitute for gas, releasing this supply for export to Europe, Aliyev said. Azerbaijan's first 240MW solar plant was inaugurated in 2023. It plans to add four new 1.3GW solar and wind projects this year and is considering some offshore and onshore wind projects as well as solar and hydropower plants. Azeri gas consumption for power generation and heating needs increased to 6.6bn m³ in 2022 from 6.1bn m³ in 2020, and made up almost half of domestic consumption in 2022 ( see data and download ). Azerbaijan is in the last phase of a feasibility study for a green energy cable from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea and then further down to Europe. The project aims to initially connect the Georgian Black Sea to the Romanian coast, and plans to expand it further down to the eastern Caspian and Kazakhstan, according to Aliyev. The state plans to keep investing to strengthen the energy grid to allow it to cope with the renewables build-out. Foreign investors are mainly involved with renewables projects. Oil and gas makes up less than half of Azerbaijan's GDP today, but 95pc of its exports, Aliyev said. By Victoria Dovgal Azeri gas production bn m³ Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US M&A deals dip after record 1Q: Enverus
US M&A deals dip after record 1Q: Enverus
New York, 26 April (Argus) — US oil and gas sector mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are likely to slow for the rest of the year following a record $51bn in deals in the first quarter, consultancy Enverus says. Following an unprecedented $192bn of upstream deals last year, the Permian shale basin continued to dominate first-quarter M&A as firms competed for the remaining high-quality inventory on offer. Acquisitions were led by Diamondback Energy's $26bn takeover of Endeavor Energy Resources. Other private operators, such as Mewbourne Oil and Fasken Oil & Ranch, would be highly sought after if they decided to put themselves up for sale, Enverus says. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
EU adopts Net-Zero Industry Act
EU adopts Net-Zero Industry Act
London, 26 April (Argus) — Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have adopted Net-Zero Industry Act, which plans to allocate funds towards the production of net-zero technologies. The act provides a pathway to scale up development and production of technologies that are critical towards meeting the EU's recommendation of net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. This would include solar panels, electrolysers and fuel cells, batteries, heat pumps, onshore and offshore wind turbines, grid technologies, sustainable biomethane, as well as carbon capture and storage (CCS). The act is designed to help simplify the regulatory framework for the manufacture of these technologies in order to incentivise European production and supply. It also sets a target of 40pc production within the EU for its annual "deployment needs" of these technologies by 2030. Time limits will be instated on permit grants for manufacturing projects, at 12 months if the manufacturing capacity is under 1 GW/yr and 18 months for those above that. It will introduce time limits of nine months for "net-zero strategic projects" of less than 1 GW/yr and 12 months for those above. This is further complemented by the introduction of net-zero strategic projects for CO2 storage, to help support the development of CCS technology. The act was met with positive reactions from the European Community Shipowners' Association (ECSA), which said the bill will set the benchmark for member states to match 40pc of the deployment needs for clean fuels for shipping with production capacity. ECSA said the Net-Zero Industry Act will be instrumental in supporting the shipping industry to meet targets set under FuelEU Maritime regulations , which are set to come into effect next year. By Hussein Al-Khalisy Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
New technologies aim to boost SAF production
New technologies aim to boost SAF production
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