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DAILY ENERGY NEWS | 03/06/2023

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"The net zero target was adopted on the basis of the Committee on Climate Change’s fairy tale of ever-cheaper renewable costs. The realization is now dawning that, like everything else, renewables need cheap fossil fuels."

– Rupert Darwall, The Spectator

Great reporting, now check in on solar panels, batteries, and windmills.

Wall Street Journal (3/5/23) reports: "U.S. officials are growing concerned that giant Chinese-made cranes operating at American ports across the country, including at several used by the military, could give Beijing a possible spying tool hiding in plain sight. Some national-security and Pentagon officials have compared ship-to-shore cranes made by the China-based manufacturer, ZPMC, to a Trojan horse. While comparably well-made and inexpensive, they contain sophisticated sensors that can register and track the provenance and destination of containers, prompting concerns that China could capture information about materiel being shipped in or out of the country to support U.S. military operations around the world. The cranes could also provide remote access for someone looking to disrupt the flow of goods, said Bill Evanina, a former top U.S. counterintelligence official. 'Cranes can be the new Huawei,' Mr. Evanina said, referring to the Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co., whose equipment U.S. officials have effectively banned after warning that it could be used to spy on Americans. 'It’s the perfect combination of legitimate business that can also masquerade as clandestine intelligence collection.' Huawei has said its products aren’t a national-security risk. A representative of the Chinese Embassy in Washington called the U.S. concerns about the cranes a 'paranoia-driven' attempt to obstruct trade and economic cooperation with China. “Playing the ‘China card’ and floating the ‘China threat’ theory is irresponsible and will harm the interests of the U.S. itself,” it said."

Who controls TikTok?

CNN (3/2/23) reports: "When Elise Joshi posted a TikTok video about the Alaska oil drilling project known as Willow in early February, she didn’t have high hopes it would go viral. Joshi, 20, posts often about climate issues on TikTok for the account Gen-Z for Change, as well as her personal account. She’s well aware 'climate doesn’t trend very often,' as she told CNN. But Joshi’s video about Willow was very different. It took just a few days to accumulate more than 100,000 views, eventually surpassing 300,000. 'It’s my most-viewed video in months,' Joshi told CNN. 'This is the entire internet advocating against Willow; [President Joe Biden’s] voter base, that trusted him to act on climate.' Biden’s administration is expected to finalize its decision on whether to approve the ConocoPhillips Willow Project next week. If it goes through, the decadeslong oil drilling venture on the North Slope of Alaska would create thousands of jobs and establish a new source of revenue for the region. But it would also generate enough oil to release 9.2 million metric tons of planet-warming carbon pollution a year, by the federal government’s estimate, about the same as adding 2 million cars to the roads. While the project has both supporters and opponents in its home state, it has become a lightning rod on social media. Over the past week, TikTok users in particular have galvanized around halting the project, with a staggering number of people watching and posting on the topic."

Declining natural gas production in Europe is a self-inflicted wound. The result is that Europe faces the “new normal” of elevated energy prices. Sad.

Bloomberg (3/6/23) reports: "After the convulsions of 2022, the European gas market appears to have entered into a new phase. There are two ways to describe the current environment: The glass half-full view sees prices down 85% from their peak, the half-empty one says they are double their pre-crisis levels. Both are true — to reconcile them, I’m calling it 'the new European energy normal.' In that new normal, European gas changes hands at €45 ($48) to €50 per megawatt hour. For many policymakers, who witnessed prices spiking to about €350 in August and feared blackouts and freezing homes, it’s a cause of celebration. The crisis is over, so the thinking goes from Brussels to London. Europe won, Vladimir Putin lost. I wish it was that simple. For businesses, which paid an average of €20 for their gas between 2010 and 2020, it’s more complicated. For most, current prices are still painful, although they can probably weather them with some additional belt tightening. For the region’s energy-intensive industries, such as chemical companies and glass manufacturers, prices remain catastrophically elevated. It’s a similar story in power markets. UK short-term electricity prices appear to have settled at just under £150 ($180) per megawatt hour. That’s a fraction of the £550 seen in August and December last year, but triple the 2010-2020 average of just £45. "

Energy Markets

WTI Crude Oil: ↓ $79.15
Natural Gas: ↓ $2.65
Gasoline: ↑ $3.40

Diesel: ↓ $4.37
Heating Oil: ↓ $284.97
Brent Crude Oil: ↓ $85.15
US Rig Count: ↓ 850

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