Update19 Feb 2025 10:31
- Europe’s wind generation posted a whopping 16% year-over-year decline, triggering a largely unexpected squeeze on natural gas inventories, however despite huge wind park buildouts globally climate change could make wind generation less efficient over the upcoming years.
- The amplified warming of both land and troposphere, known as wind ‘stilling’, is expected to result in wind speeds slowing down across northern mid-latitude regions such as North America and Europe by some 4-5% between 2021 and 2050.
- With typical lifespans of 20 years, the efficiency of wind turbines in converting wind into electricity tends to be between 30% and 40%, with the Betz Limit setting the theoretical maximum efficiency at 59% (gas combined cycle power plants operate with efficiencies over 60%).
- According to recent studies, the Arctic has been warming four times faster than the tropics over the past 50 years, with the relatively smaller temperature differences triggering weaker winds, further aggravated by increasing ‘surface roughness’ coming from urbanization.
Market Movers
- US shale oil firm Diamondback Energy (NYSE:FANG) agreed to buy parts of EnCap-backed oil producer Double Eagle IV for $4.08 billion, adding some 40,000 net acres in the core of Midland.
- Brazil’s state oil firm Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) reported a new oil discovery to the west of the Buzios field, drilling to a pre-salt depth of 5,600m and adding to the oil field’s 11.3 billion boe reserves tally.
- US oil major Chevron (NYSE:CVX) has finally received government approval for its $4 billion Aphrodite gas project in offshore Cyprus, opting for a floating production facility and a gas pipeline to Egypt.
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Ukraine’s drone strikes on Russian pipeline infrastructure, somewhat ironically carrying Kazakh crude oil to the Black Sea, have set a bullish tone for this week as the Monday settlement of ICE Brent climbed back above $75 per barrel. However, there seems to be no upside beyond that as US-Russia negotiations on a potential end to the Ukraine conflict could de-risk Russian supply over the upcoming months.
Drone Attacks Disrupt Kazakhstan Production. A Ukrainian drone attack damaged a pumping station on the CPC pipeline that carries Kazakh crude oil through the territory of Russia, with the operator suggesting some 400,000 b/d of production would need to be cut for the next 1-2 months.
Ukraine Rejects US Rare Earths Bid. According to the Financial Times, Ukraine has rejected a bid by the Trump administration for the US to own 50% of the country’s rare earth minerals, with Kyiv saying any US and European guarantees need to be tied directly to mineral resource deals.
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