Energydesk
Gas market whistle-blower Seth Freedman, explains how energy markets can be rigged.
The FT and others reported this morning that the European Commission has raided the offices of Shell (energydesk story), Statoil and BP along with price reporting agency Platts as part of an investigation into possible rigging of the oil price,which has been going on for up to ten years.
Seth Freedman worked for a price reporting agency in the UK which helped set the price consumers pay for gas. Based on his experience - which is now the subject of an Ofgem inquiry into the gas market - he explains how the price of oil and gas could be manipulated by large energy companies to the detriment of consumers.
UK
UK nuclear deal 'within weeks'
The protracted talks with French owned EDF to build a new nuclear power plant in Hinkley Point, Somerset, look like they may be coming towards a conclusion. Ministers are apparently closing in on a deal which will see EDF paid between £93 and £96 for every Mw/hour of power the plant generates. The Mail reports that any deal is likely to include clauses to limit EDF profits from the scheme. However with similar projects in France and Finland both over budget and overdue there may also be arrangements to share any extra costs. Once agreed a deal may have to secure European state aid clearance before a plant could be built.
What has the EU ever done for us?
Everyone has a view on the UK's relationship with the EU right now. Friends of the Earth and WWF commissioned EU policy expert Dr Charlotte Burns to look at the impact on the UK's environment of an EU exit. The analysis found the UK would no longer be covered directives on bathing beaches and the protection of birds and habitats.
EU
EU gas industry in mess amid EU fracking calls
Jean-Francois Cirelli, the president of the European gas industry lobbying group - Eurogas - has warned that cheap coal and low carbon prices have left the EU's gas industry in a 'disastrous' and railed on policy makers for not embracing fracking. "We reject shale gas and we import coal," he said. His intervention came as the EU's environment commissioner Janez Potocnik said that shale could play a role in the EU if the risks - including water use, water pollution, air pollution and waste water - were properly managed. EU heads of state are expected to discuss the issue at a conference later this month.
RWE profit rises on cost savings
Germany's second largest utility - and UK big six energy provider - RWE said it's quarterly profits rose 0.7% thanks to lower costs and better terms for its purchases of natural gas. German utilities have been negotiating with Russian gas giant, Gazprom, to improve the terms of their contracts which have been traditionally linked to the global oil price.
World
IEA predicts global oil supply "shock"
The International Energy Agency has - again - forecast that shale oil from the United States will, basically, turn the global oil market upside down. Over the next five years the IEA forecasts that global oil production, primarily from the US, will increase by more than demand, still largely coming from China. The boost to US production from new drilling techniques currently being rolled out in North Dakota will also weaken the influence of the Saudi led oil cartel OPEC. Increased production from the cartel, the IEA forecasts, will be less than half that from the US.
Wind power takes off in Brazil
The FT reports on the apparently meteoric rise of wind power in Brazil. The South American economic giant had 1.4GW of wind capacity in 2011 rising to 2.7GW by may this year and likely to reach 9GW by 2017. The industries' success is partly down to winning government contracts where wind providers out-competed other forms of power on price. However the paper warns the future may be more difficult as such contracts are no longer available.
Climate
Martin Wolf: Why the world faces climate chaos
Faced with rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere the FT's Martin Wolf concludes that "humanity is conducting a huge, uncontrolled and almost certainly irreversible experiment with the only home it is likely to have." Why? Because as the Roman civilisation was built on slaves ours, he says, is built on fossil fuels - along with five other good reasons. To conclude, he says, moralising is not enough we must develop technological and institutional solutions in order to "offer humanity a far better future. Fear of a distant horror is not enough."
It comes as the New York Times reports that for one industry - insurance - the threat no longer seems so distant but rather a current business reality.
