Energy

Bloomberg On a sweltering summer afternoon in West Texas, a cryptocurrency miner backed by billionaire Peter Thiel powered down its data-processing centres for about 30 minutes. During that short window, the company made money not from Bitcoin, but from selling electricity. On hot days without wind, the company, Layer1, can sell its contracted power supplies back into the grid for …

Bloomberg Cooks on strike and cracked equipment are among the latest maladies to undermine Australia’s $200 billion push to become the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter. More than a year after the completion of a decade-long LNG construction boom, two of the seven marquee projects haven’t been able to work right, the nation’s east coast urban centers face …

Bloomberg Russia sees oil prices averaging $50 to $55 a barrel in 2021 as the development of Covid-19 vaccines spurs an economic recovery, said Energy Minister Alexander Novak. That would be an improvement from this year and enough to cover Russia’s budget, but still well below pre-pandemic levels and too low for many of Moscow’s OPEC+ allies. “Globally, big work …

Bloomberg China’s record haul of crude is poised to end as state-issued allowances for imports dwindle, potentially taking the wind out of the uneven recovery across global oil markets. The world’s biggest importer will ship in much less crude in September and October than it did in May and June, with private refiners seeing purchases drop as much as 40%, …

Bloomberg Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) posted a 92% plunge in profit after crude prices crashed, production declined and demand for natural gas took a hit from a nationwide lockdown. Net income was 4.96 billion rupees ($68 million) in the three months ended in June, compared with 59.8 billion rupees a year ago, according to a company filing. Revenue …

Bloomberg The Trump administration is relaxing Obama-era requirements stemming toxic heavy metal pollution from coal-fired power plants. Under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule, electricity companies would have more time and flexibility to treat power plant wastewater that contains mercury, arsenic and other toxic heavy metals. Older coal power plants that are shutting down or switching to natural gas by …

Bloomberg Total SE will team up with Macquarie Group’s green bank to develop more than 2 gigawatts of floating wind farms off South Korea, the latest push by the French oil and gas giant to diversify into clean energy. Total and European peers such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc have vowed to reduce their exposure to fossil …

Bloomberg UK electricity has never been cleaner. As wind, solar and biomass plants produced more power than ever in the second quarter, carbon emissions fell by a third from a year earlier, according to Drax Electric Insight’s quarterly report. Power prices slumped 42% as demand plunged during lockdown. “The past few months have given the country a glimpse into the …

Bloomberg Veolia Environnement SA offered 2.9 billion euros ($3.5 billion) for a 29.9% stake in French rival Suez SA, reviving an eight-year-old attempt to create a world leader in waste and water services. Veolia offered to acquire the stake from energy giant Engie SA for 15.50 euros a share in cash, 27% more than where the target closed, Veolia said …

Bloomberg Activist climate investors warned Samsung C&T over its potential involvement in a new coal power plant in Southeast Asia amid mounting global pressure to halt use of the dirtiest fossil fuel. Investment arms of Legal & General Group Plc, the UK’s biggest manager of corporate pension schemes, Norway’s KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS and Helsinki-based Nordea Bank Abp, have urged the …