Octopus Energy has acquired retailer SATO Luce e Gas and has entered the Italian energy market. Octopus Energy Italy will target a million Italian energy accounts – or roughly 5% of the market – by 2025, using an initial investment of €60 million (£50.6 million) from Octopus Energy to expand its operations. Greg Jackson, CEO and founder of Octopus Energy has said: “We have high ambitions for Italy, and we’ve found an amazing team to grow our business and lead the green energy revolution in Italy from the front. We know that the Octopus way works – our teams in the US and Germany have seen their customer bases grow by a factor of five and six respectively over the last year. We’re now taking our approach to Italy, and we can’t wait to see what we can achieve there.”
SATO Luce e Gas was set up in 2003 in Ascoli Piceno, and has since grown to operate in 11 Italian regions and to have thousands of supply customers.

The multinational energy corporation Lukoil has announced a discovery of an oil field within the Yoti West structure at Block 12 offshore Mexico. The field was discovered after drilling the first exploration well. According to preliminary estimates, the initial oil in place reaches 250 million barrels, Lukoil said. A spokesman of Lukoil has stated that “The well penetrated a sand reservoir in Upper Miocene sediments with high permeability and effective oil-saturated thickness of about 25 meters. An assessment plan for the Yoti West field is planned to be developed based on drilling results.”. In 2017, Lukoil obtained the right for exploration and production of hydrocarbons at Block 12 in the Gulf of Mexico. The Block measures approximately 521 sqm. The partners are Italy’s Eni with a 40% stake.

Italy could become the European hub of green hydrogen produced in Africa and Saudi Arabia. This according to John Kerry, US President Biden’s Special Environmental Adviser. The statement came during a meeting organized by the Gedi group a few days ago. Hydrogen would help to solve the problem of renewables that having non-programmable production peak (think of the windy or very cloudy days), today they need traditional plants ready for use that are, among other things, expensive to maintain. The energy transition remains a dream if at least two elements of the equation are not resolved: the storage of energy produced from renewable sources and, alternatively, a clean energy source that is scalable and always ready for use. Green hydrogen therefore plays a key role in any serious talk of decarbonisation. For Italy, Snam has identified the same role as Kerry: a hub with both import and export potential. In this sense, Snam’s effort to create an Italian supply chain in the sector is also part of the effort to discharge all the economic and employment potential of this revolution on the territory. Snam’s investment in De Nora, which produces electrolysers, is a part of this project.

The price of the WTI, the reference US barrel, is under pressure on rumors that Washington has proposed to other oil consuming countries such as China and Japan to consider a coordinated release of strategic oil reserves, as a solution to lower prices. The lease sale is a major reversal of Biden’s commitment to shut down new oil and natural gas leases on public lands and waters and comes just days after the president’s pledge to slash emissions during the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. The lease sale has the potential to emit more than 516 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere — the equivalent to annual emissions of 130 coal-fired power plants or 112 million cars, according to the Center of Biological Diversity. To increase the supply, Washington suggests a coordinated global action. Brent returns to 80 dollars per barrel.

Italy has joined Boga (Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance) at the Glasgow global warming summit COP26.
The initiative brings together first-mover countries to create an international platform to give visibility to and create momentum for policy decisions to end the expansion of the fossil fuel industry and phase out existing production. Boga bans new license and concessions for exploration of oil and gas on national soil. The launch of Boga is the first international climate process that has always focused on limiting emissions from fossil fuels rather than turning off the tap. Minister Cingolani has announced from Glasgow: “Italy is ahead and we have clear ideas: great plans for renewables for the next 9 years to reach 2030 with 70% of clean electricity”.

The formal opening of the authorization process of the “Tyrrhenian Link – East Branch”, the section of the submarine power line of Terna that connects Campania and Sicily, was signed by the Ministry of Ecological Transition. At the end of the public consultation phase with the administrations and citizens affected by the intervention, On July 22, the company that manages the national electricity network submitted to the Ministry of Ecological Transition formal request for the issue of authorization to build and operate the East Branch. The East section joins the Sicilian port of Fiumetorto, in the municipality of Termini Imerese, to Torre Tuscia Magazzeno, located in the municipality of Battipaglia, in Salerno.

Exxon, Chevron, & Toyota are the largest anti-climate lobbyists. This according to the London based organization Influencemap, that studies the influence of lobbyists on government decisions. The mentioned companies are accused of being the most active to condition climate policies and strategies that are taken at international conferences on global warming, such as the one being held in Glasgow. In the report, released shortly before the start of the conference, the two largest American oil companies are judged the most influential companies in “manipulating governments” to direct them to take “incredibly dangerous paths” in the approach to solutions to climate problems.

Norwegian gas deliveries to Europe has reached 10.1 billion cubic metres in October, showing well above the average of the last five years. Suppliers have tried to ride the energy crisis benefiting from the soaring gas prices in Europe, looking at exports as a great opportunity for profit. State-owned company Equinor intends to produce more gas from its main fields of Troll and Oseberg in autumn and winter thanks to an increase in permits of 1 Bcm. The permit for Troll went from 36 Bcm to 37 Bcm and that of Oseberg from 5 Bcm to 6 Bcm. It should be noted that Norwegian gas supplies in October increased compared to September in all European countries, except the Netherlands.

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud has revealed its intent to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2060. According to Salman, the first wave of initiatives would deliver against the targets under the Saudi Green Initiative and include programs that aim to achieve more than 278 Mtpa carbon emissions reduction by 2030. This is more than doubling delivery against the emissions reduction target set forth at the announcement of the Saudi Green Initiative earlier this year. The kingdom will also plant 450 million trees and rehabilitate 8 million hectares of degraded lands by 2030, reducing 200 million tons of carbon emissions. It’s about the transformation of the capital city Riyadh into one of the world’s most sustainable cities is already underway. In addition, an increasing surface of land is being designated for protection in the coming years, to achieve the first 20 percent of the goal to protect over 30 percent of the Kingdom’s total land area. The transition to net-zero emissions will be done by preserving the country’s leading role in enhancing the security and stability of global energy markets.

Russian oil&gas companies Lukoil and Gazprom Neft have reached an agreement to team up in the implementation of oil recovery enhancement projects. According to Lukoil, the agreement provides for joint work on improving chemical methods of enhanced oil recovery. It will allow best practices exchange and collaboration in lab research, as well as for researches of surface-active agents and production stimulation chemicals. The companies plan to collaborate on the development of national production of chemical agents and equipment for manufacturing surfactant-polymer and polymer solutions for oil recovery enhancement. They also aim to test and introduce new chemical compounds when developing mature reserves in their fields. Lukoil and Gazprom Neft will also evaluate prospects for the creation of competence centres that would apply innovative equipment to select surfactant and polymer formulae.