Month: November 2020

$50bn housing project threatens mangroves on Pakistani island

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A short boat ride from the shores of Karachi, stately mangrove trees hug the quiet shores of an island inhabited solely by a few camels that environmentalists say provides vital coastal protection to Pakistan’s largest city. But the calm of Bundle Island is at risk, with Prime Minister Imran Khan determined to turn it into an enormous real-estate project to ease pressure on the expanding megacity, home to 20 million people. The $50bn housing development has pitted regional leaders against the central government, with local activists and lawmakers accusing the…

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Major Metals Producer Pivots To Renewables

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Australia-based iron ore giant Fortescue Metals Group Ltd plans to start producing renewable energy from wind, solar, hydrogen, and ammonia in 2022 or 2023, with an ultimate goal to have as much as 236 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy capacity, founder and chairman Andrew Forrest told Bloomberg in an interview on Monday. Fortescue Metals Group, set up in 2003, currently exports 175 million tons to 180 million tons of iron ore annually, and, according to Bloomberg, the firm is the world’s fourth-largest exporter of iron ore. Fortescue Metals Group plans…

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Libya’s Oil Company Clashes With Central Bank Over Earnings

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Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) will not be transferring the revenues from crude oil sales to the Central Bank of Libya until the bank adopts transparent policies on the spending of those revenues, the Libyan state oil firm said on Monday. NOC was responding to a statement from last week from the Central Bank, which, the oil firm says, provided false and misleading figures about the revenues and expenditures between January and October this year. According to NOC, the state oil firm deposited US$3.7 billion to the central bank in…

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Faltering Oil Demand Is Wreaking Havoc On The Tanker Industry

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Tanker owners had a blast in the spring: nations around the world went into lockdown, oil demand slumped, and hundreds of millions of barrels of excessive supply had to be stashed somewhere—offshore. Now, tanker rates are plummeting, and while industry insiders believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it is a long tunnel. The tanker market is in “cash burn mode”, said the chief executive of Diamond S Shipping, as quoted by Lloyd’s List. The amount of oil in floating storage has fallen significantly since this…

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Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline Project: Pak-Russia Strategic Partnership

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Flagship project of Pak-Russia strategic partnership has been inked last week when a deal was signed for laying the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline (PSGP), formerly known as North South Gas Pipeline. Since indigenously produced natural gas contributes only 38% to Pakistan’s energy supply, huge shortfall is bridged by importing gas, especially during demand peaks in winter. Global paradigm is shifting from unipolar era to multipolar scenario. Coming a long way from foes of Cold War to friends of today, Pakistan and Russia have entered into a mutually-beneficial relationship. The project…

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