The Israeli company Asia Pipeline Company (EAPC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with MED-RED Land Bridge Ltd., a consortium of Israeli and Emirate based companies in the Emirates. The MOA includes the cooperation on the storage and transport of crude oil and oil&gas products between the Persian Gulf and Western markets, and between the Mediterranean Sea and Asia. The economic aspect was not disclosed, nor were the volumes and origin of the oil to be transported. The oil cooperation project will probably receive the support of the United States, which were the main promoters of the diplomatic rapprochement between Israel and the Emirates.

Although its exact structure is yet to be agreed upon, the EU is considering imposing a carbon border adjustment mechanism, more commonly referred to as a carbon border tax. According to Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, the European Commission’s Deputy Director General for Energy: “there will be first some areas where we test it, and form is still under discussion, because you can do it in different forms.
We are still struggling in finding a way to such a mechanism in a WTO compatible manner.”

Salvatore Pinto, President of Axpo Italia, was unanimously elected new President by the Executive Board of Energia Libera. Energia Libera is an association of large companies, operating mainly in the non-regulated segments of the electricity and gas sector, which promotes the liberalization of the energy market through its participation in the institutional debate, contributing to the formation of rules suitable for the correct unfolding of competition. Pinto commented on his appointment as follows: “I am very honoured by this new assignment which will see my utmost attention and commitment to developing dialogue within the sector in the perspective of the energy transition”.

Saras, one of the biggest Italian oil refineries located in Sardinia, is going for the first time towards a state of crisis and redundancy fund. However, the company must now also answer for very serious accusations. In fact, it is suspected that ISIS oil has reached Italy through the Italian oil refinery. 12 million tons of mineral oils would have allowed the company controlled by the Moratti family for 40% to distort the market, thanks to very advantageous purchase prices, and defraud the tax authorities for something like 130 million euros.

Russian giant Gazprom was fined by the Polish anti-monopoly watchdog UOKiK with an “unprecedented” fine of € 6,47 billion over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. According to Poland, the construction of the pipeline, which would allow Gazprom to double its gas capacity to Germany, will increase Gazprom’s dominance on the Polish market but also increase the EU’s energy dependence on Russia. In addition to fining Gazprom, the Polish regulator has placed penalties on the five cofinancing companies of Gazprom for a total of 234 m zlotys. Gazprom disagrees with the decision of the Polish anti-monopoly authority and will take the necessary legal countermeasures.

Six offshore oil and gas fields were shut on Monday due to strike in Norway. The issue started in September when 43 members organized by the Lederne union went on strike after mediation talks failed between the union and the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association (NOG). Monday’s escalation added 126 workers to the strike. A total of 966,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day is expected to be cut due to the strike by middle of October, triple the level so far, unless a deal can be reached to end the strike.

AM Energie Rinnovabili has placed a 28MW order to Vestas for the Serra del Vento project, located in the Palermo province in Sicily. The order includes the supply and installation of eight V136- 3.45MW wind turbines as well as a 20-year active output management 5000 (AOM 5000) service agreement. The delivery of the turbine will start in the first quarter of next year with commissioning scheduled for the second quarter of the 2021.

The DEA (Danish Energy Agency) has granted a permit to Nord Stream 2 AG to operate a section of the Nord Stream 2 pipelines. Denmark has attached a number of conditions to the permit to ensure a safe operation of the pipelines. Nord Stream 2 AG applied for the permit in November 2019. The project includes the construction of two pipeline strings with a total annual capacity of 55 bln cubic meters from Russian coast through the Baltic Sea to Germany. To date, 93.5% of Nord Stream 2 has been finished.

Shell’s CEO Ben van Beurden has declared that the company needs a “simpler, more streamlined, more competitive organization that is more nimble and able to respond to customers,”. According to the company’s website, Shell currently employs about 80,000 people in over 70 countries. The company’s announced job cuts would represent between around 8.75 percent and around 11.25 percent of its overall employment number. In addition, he has added: “I know I, and many others in Shell, will be saying goodbye to people we know well and really like and who have great loyalty to the company. But we are doing this because we have to, because it is the right thing to do for the future of the company,”.

SNAM has completed the acquisition of 50% of the share capital with right of joint control of “Biometano Iniziative” through the controlled Snam4environment. The acquisition allows Snam to enter the field of biomethane of agricultural production, whose development is expected to make the most significant contribution to the emergence of biomethane, a strategic source for the energy transition and circular economy in Italy. Biometano Iniziative will be the platform with which Snam and Femogas will develop further projects on the national territory to give a decisive boost to the availability of biomethane in progressively more significant quantities in the national energy mix.