Energy

Bloomberg Angela Merkel will leave Brexit worries by the shoreline as she cuts the opening ribbon on a giant wind farm out in the Baltic Sea, a move that will do little to gloss over her tarnished reputation as Germany’s climate chancellor. The Arkona wind park, a joint venture of utility EON SE and Norway’s oil and gas giant Equinor …

Bloomberg An Australian energy startup says it has found a solution to the problem that has dogged some thermal solar technology projects, removing instability in the process of storing the generated electricity. Vast Solar’s technology differs from rivals because it uses liquid sodium as a heat transfer agent, improving control of the sunlight bouncing off specialised mirrors, according to Chief …

Bloomberg US oil refiners, in line for a windfall from new ship-fuel rules, are taking steps to lock in the change quickly, concerned it could fall victim to President Donald Trump’s re-election push. Under the new rules, many shippers will switch to low-sulfur fuels, boosting competition and, potentially, increasing the price of diesel, jet fuel and heating oil. The US …

Bloomberg Oil companies in Norway may pay some of the highest taxes and wages in the world but they could always count on support in the halls of power. Then last week the country’s biggest political party pulled out the rug from under that certainty in a dramatic policy shift to abandon support for drilling off the Lofoten islands. As …

Bloomberg Papua New Guinea’s Finance Minister James Marape has left the government, citing differences with Prime Minister Peter O’Neill over resources policy, days after the state signed a deal with France’s Total SA on a liquefied natural gas expansion project. Marape announced his resignation in a Facebook Inc. post, saying his voice was not being heard on policy-related matters, including …

Bloomberg The Estonian government has decided not to proceed with an application for a 600-megawatt wind farm by developer Saare Wind Energy OU, citing security concerns. The company had been drawing up plans for four years and had applied for a 50-year building permit for 100 six-megawatt turbines off the island of Saaremaa. The cost of the project was estimated …

Bloomberg Global oil markets are tightening as Opec supply falls, the International Energy Agency said, while warning it could lower demand forecasts because of economic threats. Crude inventories are set to decline for the rest of the year as Saudi Arabia and its partners curb production, while exports from Venezuela and Iran are squeezed by economic and political crises, the …

Bloomberg The Trump administration is weighing a plan that could force some of the nation’s biggest oil companies to come clean about their bids to dodge US biofuel mandates. The Environmental Protection Agency said in a notice it was opening a 15-day window for the public to comment on whether it should reveal “basic information” about refineries seeking waivers from …

Bloomberg Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said he’ll clear up any confusion from President Jair Bolsonaro’s decision to halt a planned fuel-price hike by Petroleo Brasileiro SA. When asked about Bolsonaro’s meddling in state-controlled Petrobras’ pricing policy this week, Guedes said he’d get more information when he returns home from Washington, where he’s been attending the spring meetings of IMF. …

Bloomberg President Vladimir Putin kept his options open on whether to extend Russia’s joint oil-production cuts with Opec beyond June, saying he wanted to continue cooperation with the group but also highlighting the many uncertainties in the market. Russia is comfortable with current oil prices, which rose to a four-month high above $70 a barrel in London, Putin said at …