Socialist Left Party (SV) Terje Aasland wants Norway, the biggest supplier of natural gas to the European Union and a major oil exporter, to stop exploring for new petroleum resources to fight climate change. The deal extends an agreement the minority cabinet and SV made last year, when the government won elections, which delayed the 26th licensing round by a year. Aasland said there was “no drama” in the decision as authorities still issue licences to oil companies in a parallel licensing around called the APA round, in so-called mature areas that are already open to oil companies.

Europe’s newest natural gas pipeline entered full service this week. The Baltic Pipe, which connects systems in Denmark, Norway and Poland, entered partial service Oct. 1. According to Energinet’s Torben Brabo, director of international affairs at Denmark’s transmission system operator (TSO), “Baltic Pipe also helps Poland transform its energy system from coal to natural gas, which is an important stepping stone on the road toward much more renewable energy.” Poland has worked to cut its reliance on Russian natural gas supplies by expanding its relationships with additional pipeline suppliers and LNG exporters, particularly those in Norway, Qatar and the United States.

Snam will invest 3.7 billion euro in the national gas network to improve transport facilities from the south to the north of the country and boost supply from Africa. CEO Stefano Venier said the project to build the socalled Adriatic pipeline would be completed by 2027. Recently, the government has leveraged long-standing relationships to secure more gas from Algeria and Egypt to replace part of the gas it was sourcing from Moscow. Rome authorities also mandated Snam to buy two new floating terminals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and asked the group to help to fill the country’s gas storage tanks.

US President Joe Biden will likely leave the Middle East this week with no announcements on increasing oil supply. Biden said he decided to make the trip to advance US interests and try and curb soaring gasoline prices, which have hurt him politically ahead of mid-term elections. Biden heads to Saudi Arabia from Israel later on Friday, where he’ll meet with King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the nation’s de-facto ruler. He will meet other leaders from the oil-exporting Persian Gulf on Saturday. According to US national security advisor Sullivan, the US president was confident he would make progress with Saudi and other Gulf leaders on guaranteeing a “sustainable” level of energy production from the region. He hasn’t promised immediate results, however. OPEC+ next meeting to discuss its production policy for the fall is scheduled for Aug. 3.

The oil sector plunged into chaos when the Government of National Unity put a new head in charge of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) and the current head in office, Mustafa Sanalla, questioned his authority. The situation outside the NOC headquarters was tense, with armed groups on the spot. NOC personnel launched a call to arms to Libyans to protect the building as a “national duty”.
Sanalla left HQ, which remains under NOC control, and the GUN claimed that the new appointed chief, Farhat Ben Gudara, took over. In a TV speech before his departure, Sanalla denounced the legitimacy of the GUN, one of the two governments of Libya: “You do not have the ability to make decisions,” said Sanalla addressing GUN leader Abdelhamid Dbeibeh directly. “The mandate of your government is over. It is a provisional government since October 2021 and the parliament has approved a vote of no confidence”. Sanalla has accused the GUN of disrupting the oil markets and of negotiating agreements with the United Arab Emirates, which in the past supported the Libyan national army insurgent against Tripoli and the NOC.

Snam and Singapore-based shipping giant BW LNG have signed a for $400 million contract for the acquisition of the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) BW Singapore as its sole asset. Built in 2015, BW Singapore has a maximum storage capacity of approximately 170,000 cubic meters of liquefied natural gas and a nominal continuous regasification capacity of about 5 billion cubic meters per year. It is expected that the FSRU, currently bound by a charter contract with third parties until November 2023, can be located in the Upper Adriatic, near the coast of Ravenna, and begin its activities in the third quarter of 2024. Stefano Venier, Snam’s Chief Executive Officer has commented that “With this operation, we assure Italy the second new floating regasification plant, which will make a decisive contribution to the security and energy diversification of the country: the two FSRU purchased by Snam during the last month will alone contribute to 13% of national gas needs, bringing regasification capacity to over 30% of demand, as soon as we have the authorization to place them and connect them to the national transport network”.

A geophysical and environmental survey is set to soon commence at the Salamander floating offshore wind project off the coast of Scotland in the North Sea. The survey is expected to run until 30 September at the latest. The geophysical scope of work will be divided into three main areas, including the offshore wind farm array area, offshore section of the export cable route, and nearshore section of the export cable route. Its aim is to also provide the necessary data to feed into the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. The 100 MW Salamander project is being developed by Simply Blue Energy Scotland (SBES). It is located approximately 35 kilometers east of Peterhead in the Northeast of Scotland, in an outline area of interest of approximately 67 square kilometers with water depths up to 115 meters.

Brussels is studying oil&gas alternatives within the EU Repower, the Community Executive’s roadmap, to alleviate the energy crisis. For the first time the European Commission has considered the construction of a gas pipeline between Spain and Italy under the Mediterranean Sea, of about 700 kilometers. This project would require an investment of between EUR 2.5 billion and EUR 3 billion, and its construction would take between one and two years. The gas pipeline between Barcelona and Livorno is considered a second alternative to be able to supply both Italy and the countries of central and northern Europe. This project would give a certain economic return to Spain and could make France reconsider also the resumption of the construction of the Midcat.

The G7 countries intend to put a large-scale end to coal-fired energy production gradually but with a commitment to and a large part of the decarbonization of their energy sectors by 2035. The seven major industrialized countries have committed themselves to strengthening their climate protection measures. The transport sector should be as CO2-free as possible by 2030. In addition, the development and production of hydrogen must be promoted. Fossil fuel subsidies will be abolished by 2025. A report on greater transparency is expected to be published next year. The G7 organization recognizes for the first time that countries particularly affected need more support in addressing climate damage. The volume of funding for projects in developing countries will be doubled by 2025. Japan is also committed to ending international fossil fuel funding by the end of this year.

Romanian prime minister Nicoale Ciucă and sheik Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates, recently met to discuss the diversification of the European oil and natural gas supply. The main topics of interest during the meeting were projects in the field of energy, port infrastructure, agriculture, and IT. The officials tackled the tense situation in the Black Sea, where the Russian blockade has stymied international trade. Investment opportunities in Romania in the field of renewable energy, both offshore and on-shore, were also approached. Last month, the Emirati government decided to send oil cargoes to the EU. The shipment followed a two-year gap in oil deliveries from the UAE to Europe and was the result of the attempts from the latter to find a replacement for Russian oil imports.