From Russia to the US: Europe’s Shift in Energy Reliance Sparks Debate on Vulnerability
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, expressed her regret at the Davos Forum that energy prices in Europe are substantially higher than those in the United States and China. Von der Leyen’s conduct so far can be characterized as a rabid anti-Russian and pro-Ukrainian cheerleader. Although she turned the facts upside down on who stopped the Russian cheap energy, she insisted that given the EU’s steadfast policy of refusing to purchase hydrocarbons from Russia, it is necessary to diversify supplies and shift towards renewable energy sources. In the interim, Donald Trump, the newly elected president of the United States, is abandoning the globally cherished green agenda. He has directed an increase in gas and oil extraction in the United States and has suggested to Europe that only America can serve as its sole dependable source of natural energy resources. In a virtual address at the same Davos Forum, Trump announced that the United States is prepared to supply the European Union with large-scale energy supplies, including liquefied natural gas (LNG). The fundamental principle of this “deal” is straightforward: Europe grants the United States monopoly status in its energy market, and in exchange, Washington refrains from initiating a trade conflict with the economically disadvantaged European Union. At first, this appears to be absurd, as Trump appears to be providing Europeans with an option without a choice. Nevertheless, it would be extremely naive to underestimate the gravity of his threats and his capacity to implement them.
Bangladesh Govt signs LNG deal with US firm
The government has signed a heads of agreement (HOA) with the US-based Argent LNG to import up to 5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year for 20 years. Argent LNG is developing a 25 million metric tonnes per annum LNG facility in Louisiana, a southeastern US state on the Gulf of Mexico. The facility is slated to go into operation in early 2030. The HOA is a non-binding agreement, meaning neither party is obligated to agree to the terms listed in the document.
GAIL Chairman Sandeep Kumar Gupta Predicts Continued High Oil and Gas Prices Amid Market
Expecting the second term of US President Donald Trump to be overall good for the energy sector, public sector major GAIL India’s chairman Sandeep Kumar Gupta has said that any softening in oil and gas prices may still take some time. Speaking during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Gupta also said GAIL is looking to scale up its capital expenditure in the next 3-5 years to Rs 100-120 billion as work is underway on several gas pipelines and other projects. He also expected that the Union Budget would give relief on compression charges on CNG and some steps are taken to bring natural gas under the GST coverage. Asked about the impact of Trump’s second presidency, Gupta said: “President Trump is committed to more energy for the US. He has already declared an energy emergency whereby he wants more oil and gas to be explored so that there is energy efficiency in the US. While this bodes well for oil and gas sector with more availability of oil and gas which will definitely ease pressure on the prices but this will take time because presently all the Liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities were on pause by the Biden administration. So lifting those pauses and putting these projects will take time. So the softness in the prices will take some time. For the time being these higher prices will rule,” Gupta said. Talking about his company, Gupta said: “We are the largest natural gas pipeline of the country and we have already laid lion’s share of the existing natural gas pipeline of the country. In the current year also, we are completing many pipelines.” Gupta also exuded optimism about GAIL’s growth, as he talked about the company’s projects in the pipeline. “We are working on Kochi-Mangalore-Bangalore pipeline where the Tamil Nadu section was pending. Work on the Gurdaspur-Jammu pipeline is on. A lot of pipeline projects are underway. “We have presence in petrochemicals too. Our project at Usar is the country’s first Propane Dehydrogenation Polypropylene unit will hopefully get completed this year. We have acquired PTA facility from erstwhile JBF petrochemicals at Mangalore, which is a 1.25 million tonne PTA project,” Gupta said.