Energy

Bloomberg Venezuelans forced to queue for days to fill up their cars with gasoline are now facing a growing shortage of propane to cook after a processing plant caught fire and distribution is being rationed. The Jose petrochemical complex that supplies propane used by about 90% of Venezuelans to cook has slowed production since a fire and a pipeline leakage, …

Bloomberg Returns from turning oil into fuels are lagging behind crude’s jump, signalling that prices are still vulnerable and demand may not be recovering fast enough to justify the rally. Crude futures have soared 73% in May, rebounding from their historic crash below zero just over a month ago, helped by production cuts across the globe after the coronavirus crisis …

Bloomberg The oil and natural gas capital of the world is going all-in on solar power. Houston will begin a new five-year contact in July with NRG Energy Inc to power all of its city-owned properties, from fire stations to airports, with renewable energy. The move means the nation’s fourth-largest city will reach its goal of 100% renewable power five …

Bloomberg A Total SA-led liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique will receive commitments for about $15 billion of financing at a signing scheduled in June, marking rare progress for such a project as companies scrutinise costs. The first and most significant phase of the financing commitment for the LNG project — which will be Africa’s biggest private investment yet — …

Bloomberg The UK transmission network is under pressure as it grapples with a flood of green power and lower demand, according to new research published on Thursday. Intermittent renewables supplied more than 40% of electricity during first quarter of 2020, overtaking fossil fuels for the first time, according to the Electric Insights report, commissioned by Drax Group Plc and researched …

Bloomberg It’s going to take months for oil demand in the world’s third biggest market to get back to pre-virus levels as India faces its deepest recession ever in the wake of its near two-month lockdown. Once the engine of global oil demand growth, India’s fuel consumption collapsed by as much as 70% at one stage last month as it …

Bloomberg Texas has started seeing a slight increase in power use this week in one of the first signs that electricity demand is bouncing back in the US as lockdowns ease. While power use in the Lone Star state is still depressed, the state’s main grid operator noticed a slight improvement in electricity use during early morning hours, according to …

Bloomberg Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co is considering a sale of its majority stake in PT Paiton Energy, one of Indonesia’s biggest independent power producers, people with knowledge of the matter said. Mitsui is working with an adviser on a potential divestment of its 45.5% stake in the power producer, said the people, who asked not to be identified …

Bloomberg Cape Town, South Africa’s second-biggest city, said it could buy its own renewable energy within five to six years if it wins a court case against the government. The city of 4 million people has sued the Energy Ministry and the national power regulator to obtain the right to procure its energy in a case that could pave the …

Bloomberg The global plunge in electricity demand will drag on long after nations lift stay-at-home orders, leading to the biggest annual drop since the Great Depression and fundamentally reshaping power markets. As economies struggle to recover, worldwide electricity consumption will decline 5% in 2020, the most in more than eight decades, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). In the …