Category: Highlights

To compensate for Washington’s ban on energy imports from Russia, imposed in response to the war in Ukraine, US officials have quietly made overtures to an antagonistic pair of oil producers, Iran and Venezuela. It is too early to tell whether the unorthodox attempt to make up for the oil-supply shortfall will bear fruit. So far, the main result of the administration’s endeavors has been a pushback from Republicans and Democrats alike, along with stern warnings from Venezuelan and Iranian opposition groups about the dangers of hasty overtures to the…

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Pakistan, Barrick gold and the, and Govt of Balochistan have reached agreement on a framework that provides for the reconstitution of the Reko Diq project in the country’s Balochistan province. The project, which was suspended in 2011 due to a dispute over the legality of its licensing process, hosts one of the world’s largest undeveloped open pit copper-gold porphyry deposits.The reconstituted project will be held 50% by Barrick and 50% by Pakistan stakeholders, comprising a 10% free-carried, non-contributing share held by the government of Balochistan, an additional 15% held by…

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THE FATE OF the UK’s West Burton A power station was supposed to be sealed. It is one of only three remaining coal plants in a country committed to phasing out coal completely by 2024. Last March, the plant’s future was bleak. Its owner, the French power company EDF, announced the site would close for good in September 2022. EDF has already shut down two of its four units. But when the UK came under pressure to ditch Russian energy imports in response to the war in Ukraine, officials approached…

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The build-up of Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders and the subsequent brutal invasion has sent European leaders rushing to find new sources of natural gas to replace at least a significant part of the 155 billion cubic meters of gas that the European Union imported from Russia last year — around 40% of its total consumption. But securing new pipeline gas supplies will not be easy or quick. The simple fact is that there is no “magic tap” that the EU can turn on. So far, much of Brussels’ interest…

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The war in Ukraine has forced a rethink of where we get our energy from as Europe tries to wean itself off Russian gas. But could super-sized heat pumps help to heat thousands of homes and businesses? Two huge schemes are about to be switched on in Gateshead and London – and the hope is they could provide a greener and cheaper source of warmth. “Coal mining was massive in the North East,” says Jim Gillon, walking across a building site in Gateshead. “And where we’re standing there are six…

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