Latest news with #energymarket
Zawya
13 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
Saudi energy minister: OPEC+ become key guarantor of oil prices
ST. PETERSBURG — Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Thursday that OPEC+ has become a key guarantor of oil prices and the oil sector as a whole. Speaking at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum on Thursday, he said that OPEC+ is a trustworthy and successful alliance that adapts to changing conditions and has had great success in maintaining oil market stability. In response to a question on whether Saudi Arabia and Russia would step into replace any potential loss of Iranian oil supplies, Prince Abdulaziz said: "We will only react to realities." The energy minister said that Saudi Arabia and Russia are working together to create a climate for those wishing to invest in both countries in various ways, including through joint ventures, emphasizing the need to create a suitable investment climate despite the current circumstances Iran is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), but is exempt from production cuts that the group along with other allies including Russia have in place. OPEC+ was in the process of increasing production targets for eight of its members before Israel's attack on Iran last week. The group of eight which includes Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Algeria and Kazakhstan will meet on July 6 to decide on whether to increase production further from August. At the end of May, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced that the eight OPEC+ member states had agreed to increase oil production by 411,000 barrels per day in July. The organization said in a statement that the increase was due to stable global economic conditions and the strength of current market fundamentals. The eight OPEC+ members, which include Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman, had previously announced additional voluntary adjustments in April and November 2023, held a meeting via video conference on Saturday to review oil market developments and future prospects. The OPEC+ statement said that in light of the stable future prospects for the global economy and the current positive market fundamentals, the participating countries decided to implement a production adjustment of 411000 barrels per day in July 2025 compared to the required production level in June 2025, which is equivalent to three monthly increases. © Copyright 2022 The Saudi Gazette. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
The Australian
a day ago
- Business
- The Australian
AEMC limits power bill price hikes in new retail energy market rules
Electricity retailers will be limited to hiking prices on consumers once a year in a major shake-up to the country's retail energy market. The Australian Energy Market Commission announced the changes on Thursday, entrenching a sweep of new rules designed to protect consumers from price shocks. Retailers are now limited to lifting prices once a year and must ensure customers who sign up to a plan with a temporary benefit do not roll over to one that is higher than the default price. Further, there is now a ban on what AMEC calls 'unreasonably high penalties' for not paying bills on time, and a ban on fees, except for network charges, for vulnerable customers. Providers must also limit fees charges to reasonable costs for all other consumers. AEMC chair Anna Collyer said the new rules, which follow from requests submitted by state energy ministers in August last year, marked a 'significant milestone in consumer protection'. Power bill increases will be limited to once a year under new rules from the AEMC: NewsWire / Brenton Edwards 'These reforms will help ensure that Australian households can have she said. 'For the first time, we have formally applied our updated equity guidance across these rule changes, explicitly considering how contract terms, benefits and fees may disproportionately impact vulnerable consumers.' She said limiting energy price increases to once a year would help households 'predict' their energy costs and avoid unexpected price rises across the year. The AEMC also announced a draft proposal to improve the visibility of the 'better offer message' that appears on energy bills. The regulator claims as many as 40 per cent of customers do not always open their bills and so miss important messages about potential savings. The draft rule would require retailers to present better offer messages in cover emails and bill summaries. 'The primary opportunity is visibility – ensuring customers know when better deals are available to them,' Ms Collyer said. Australian Energy Market Commission chair Anna Collyer said the changes would help protect consumers from price shocks. Picture: AEMC data insights director Sally Tindall said the changes were 'a step in the right direction' but more needed to be done to 'lift the clouds of confusion that hang over our electricity bills'. 'The new rule to limit price hikes to just once a year is a fantastic measure that will give Australians greater confidence when comparing their options,' she said. 'It means that Australians will be more likely to be comparing apples with apples when they do their research, particularly if the majority of retailers opt to implement any price hikes in July in line with the reference price changes. 'Right now, Australians looking for a competitive deal on their electricity plan really need to be checking on their rates at least once every six months. 'Limiting the number of price hikes to just one a year could reduce the need to check on your bill, freeing up time to focus on other expenses.' The new rules come into effect from July 1, 2026, giving retailers 12 months to implement them. Duncan Evans Reporter Duncan Evans is a reporter for News Corp's NewsWire service, based in Adelaide. Before NewsWire, he worked as a resources and politics reporter for The Daily Mercury in Mackay, Queensland and as a reporter at CQ Today, an independent newspaper based in Rockhampton. He was raised in Emerald and Brisbane and studied English Literature and American Studies at the University of Sydney. He began his career in journalism working for the Jakarta Post in Indonesia for over two years as an editor, translator and writer. He is fluent in Indonesian. @Duncanevans01 Duncan Evans
Globe and Mail
05-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Alberta is overhauling its energy market. Here's what's happening, and why
Alberta is overhauling its energy market through a suite of changes aimed at making the system more reliable and affordable – a gargantuan task that involves a raft of reviews, consultations, and legislative and regulatory changes. One of the largest drivers of that transformation is the development of the Restructured Energy Market. The REM process is examining the main rules and principles that govern Alberta's electricity market in an effort to ensure that the system remains as reliable and affordable as possible. The REM is being overseen by the Alberta Electric System Operator, which operates the province's power grid. The United Conservative government tasked the AESO with developing a new system for how the electricity market operates following years of volatile prices and, later, shortages that led to provincewide outages and pleas for consumers to power down. The REM redesign process began as the Market Pathways initiative, launched on Aug. 1, 2023. In March of 2024, however, the government changed its directive to the AESO. It asked for a much broader overhaul, which was renamed the REM. Alberta's power system is unique in Canada in that it has no central or Crown power provider. Instead, private companies run the plants that feed electricity into the grid. The AESO works with the industry and the government to manage and plan that market. Alberta restructures utilities rules ahead of major power market overhaul The overhaul comes as jurisdictions across North America grapple with how to meet rocketing demand for electricity. Industries are becoming increasingly electrified to reduce carbon emissions, and governments are trying to attract power-thirsty data centres. Alberta, for example, is aiming for $100-billion of investment over a few years. Electricity generation technology has changed dramatically over the past few years. First, coal-fired power plants, which ran 24/7, were phased out. Most producers pivoted to natural gas-fired power stations, which present more flexibility and, for the most part, provide reliable – and cleaner – electricity, no matter the weather. Then came what Matt Davis, the vice-president of policy with Edmonton-based Capital Power, called the 'spectacular build-out' of wind and solar. 'I don't think there's enough appreciation of what that actually does to the system and how challenging it is to operate.' All those changes, coupled with the growing use of batteries to store power and improve reliability, has completely changed the the way Alberta's grid operates. 'Obviously the sun comes up in the morning and goes down at night. We know the wind doesn't always blow,' said Jason Wang, a senior electricity analyst with Pembina Institute, a think tank. 'It's important for electricity markets to be able to make sure it's an even playing field for all types of generation, but also for that reliability to be maintained.' Those in Alberta's utilities sector say that the complexity of the REM review is off the charts – particularly when combined with other changes happening around the same time, including new transmission regulations, local access fees and distribution. It's not easy, agrees Alberta's Affordability and Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf. 'But we thought, 'If we're going to undertake this work, there's no point in doing it half-measure,' he says. 'If we were going to do some significant portions, why don't we do it fully – completely engage with stakeholders and make this adjustment all at the same time – so that we don't have to go through this multiple times over multiple administrations.' Report finds Alberta's restrictive renewables policies dampened investment Opinion: Free the market for renewable energy in Alberta Alberta wants a new market in place by 2027. Other jurisdictions such as Texas, Ontario and California have undertaken similar reviews, but took much longer to implement changes. Alberta could have taken its time, Mr. Neudorf says, but industry urged speedy completion of the task to avoid prolonging the market uncertainty that undermines investment. But Pembina's Mr. Wang reckons the accelerated timeline has created more uncertainty – particularly when combined with the government's seven-month ban on renewable power project approvals in August, 2023. 'In a different world, the government could have said, 'We want to make market changes, but they won't be implemented until 2030, maybe even like 2034, 2035,' so that they were slowly phased in. Then investors would have short-term certainty, and they would have that longer-term certainty.' The REM was initially to be completed by May, but that timeline has been pushed back owing to the scale of the exercise and concerns of the utilities sector. For example, AESO scrapped a mandatory day-ahead market rule that would have had participants agree a day ahead of time on the price and the duration of power production, and which industry said was far too complex. Reliability and planning standards will likely be implemented within the next year, and Mr. Neudorf anticipates that most of the decisions around the REM will be made by this summer. The province has already tabled Bill 52, which allows changes to be made at a rapid clip, rather than going through another year of public consultations. More legislation is slated for fall or spring. For the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, the REM raises broader economic concerns. The community has been investing in renewable power installations in Southern Alberta since around 2018. But the price of power from its renewables sites dropped significantly; in the final quarter of 2024, revenue was down roughly 12 per cent, says Jason Schulz, Athabasca Chipewyan's executive director of strategic advisory services. Promised power transmission infrastructure was never built to support renewable energy projects either, he says, which caused congestion on the grid. Electricity 'pretty well just gets dumped' as a result, he says, adding that the REM is unlikely to change that, given the distribution model being considered. Still, he's hopeful the REM will be a good news story for those in the power sector. With some positive decisions and others yet to be determined, he says, 'time will tell.' Capital Power's Mr. Davis is pleased the REM process has recognized the value of dispatchable, flexible generation capacity, be it batteries or gas-fired generators. 'There's more of an inherent acknowledgement that there is additional value to those resources because they provide critical reliability attributes to the system.' Bob Myles, chief executive of Calgary-based Canadian Utilities Ltd., says he's much more optimistic about the REM today than he was six months ago, given how much the AESO is listening to industry. 'There were a lot of doubters for a long time, that a lot of the comments were not being heard,' he says. 'Do we have everything figured out yet? No, there's still some issues that could have significant negative impacts on generators. But I believe now we're heading in the right direction, in a better direction.'
CNA
30-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
Energy Market Authority chairman Richard Lim to step down in September
SINGAPORE: Energy Market Authority (EMA) chairman Richard Lim will step down in September after leading the energy authority's board for five years. Mr Lim will relinquish his appointment as chairman on Sep 30, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said on Friday (May 30) in a press release. He will be succeeded by Mrs Tan Ching Yee, former Permanent Secretary (Finance). 'Under Mr Lim's leadership, EMA has undertaken important moves to strengthen Singapore's energy security,' said the ministry. These include the set-up of Meranti Power to develop fast-start power generation and the establishment of the centralised gas procurement framework. 'He has also been instrumental in advancing Singapore's energy transition, such as the deployment of solar energy, the pursuit of low-carbon electricity imports from the region and ongoing studies on the feasibility of other low-carbon technologies such as hydrogen and geothermal energy.' Dr Beh Swan Gin, Permanent Secretary at MTI, expressed the ministry's 'deep appreciation' for Mr Lim's contributions. Mr Lim 'has been instrumental in guiding EMA since April 2020 as chairman', he said. 'I am confident that Ching Yee will build on Richard's contributions and steer EMA to new heights.' NEW CHAIRPERSON Mrs Tan, 60, will be appointed EMA's deputy chairperson from Jun 1 to Sep 30, before assuming the role of chairperson from Oct 1, said MTI. Her appointment in the position ends on Mar 31, 2027. Mrs Tan has held various appointments at MTI, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and the former Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts. In 2016, she was concurrently appointed as Permanent Secretary (Finance) and Permanent Secretary (Prime Minister's Office) (Special Duties). During the COVID-19 pandemic, she oversaw critical relief measures for families and businesses through the use of reserves, said MTI. She also represented Singapore as G20 Finance Deputy and Sherpa for nine years, advancing Singapore's international interests at global and regional forums. 'In her various leadership roles, she has consistently emphasised people and leadership development," said the ministry, adding that she nurtured a culture of excellence and teamwork. Mrs Tan, who began her career in public service in 1986, retired from the sector on May 1. She was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 2008 and the Meritorious Service Medal in 2018.
RNZ News
15-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Transpower warns of higher blackout risk in winter 2026
The draft Security of Supply Assessment makes sobering reading for power suppliers. Photo: Transpower is warning of higher risks of electricity outages starting in winter 2026. The national grid operator's draft Security of Supply Assessment predicts an elevated risk of shortages will arrive four years earlier than thought as recently as a year ago. It found solar, wind and battery storage isn't coming online fast enough to make up for dwindling supplies in the country's gas fields. The assessment found, if every electricity generation project in the pipeline was built, supply would be much more reliable, but Transpower said there was a risk of some proposed solar, wind and battery projects falling over. Previously, Transpower thought its lower security standard - a measure of the safety margin between expected demand and supply - would be met until 2030. Now, it says that will be breached in 2026, much earlier than expected. "It doesn't mean there will actually be outages, but it does signal an increased risk," said Transpower chief executive James Kilty. "It is telling us things are getting tighter and next year is looking tight." He said companies in the electricity market could challenge the draft assessment, which said, if all potential solar, wind and battery projects in the development pipeline were built, the country would be in a much more secure position, but many projects didn't have consent yet. The main factor behind the changed outlook was worse-than-expected results from gas producers. Not only have yields from the country's gasfields dropped faster than expected, independent experts have also downgraded the size of estimated gas reserves in existing fields since the previous assessment a year ago. Transpower now expects lower demand from industrial users than previously forecast, with more electricity generation projects committed to being built than a year ago. Commercial rooftop solar has also helped alleviate some pressure, but while those factors improved the buffer, they weren't enough, the assessment found. A solar farm. Photo: Supplied / Genesis Energy Transpower says, to get the reliable supply the country needs, more renewable generation projects need to progress from possible to locked-in. "The more speculative part of the supply pipeline... has increased," the assessment says. "However, with so much of the supply pipeline unconsented, there is risk that these projects could be delayed, deferred or dropped." The risk of shortfall out to 2034 can't be met by coal and gas, even at their maximum levels. "Even with the highest plausible energy contribution from thermal [coal and gas], we require a rapid and sustained build of new generation, exceeding the large amount currently consented, to maintain energy margins above the security standards over the full ten-year horizon," the assessment said. Eighty-five percent of planned new generation is solar and wind, with most of the rest battery projects. Batteries can be used to store solar or wind power, and switched on and off to boost supply at stretched times, taking some pressure off the nation's hydro dams. Octopus Energy's Margaret Cooney said the risks could be alleviated before next winter, if the government acted quickly. "What the report's saying is actually, yes, that risk of outages is increasing," she said. "We do have opportunities to take action now that could reduce that, so more batteries more quickly, more demand response - both of those could help solve that situation and avoid the blackouts." "We're not getting enough new generation coming in fast enough to compensate for the fact that we've lost the firmness or certainty you've had with gas. The government really needs to focus on making sure more supply is coming into the market as soon as possible." Cooney said the government could take steps now that would make a difference within a year. One of those was changing the market, so companies could be paid to lower their demand at peak times, helping the country survive the short-term risk of outages. Octopus' UK arm made those payments in the United Kingdom and the company also wants to offer it here . "I'm not talking about shutting down plants for whole seasons, it's literally just to manage the supply imbalance that happens for a few hours," Cooney said. "When you look at markets abroad, they have incentive payments... so in those situations, where you're approaching peak scenarios, they get called on and if they reduce their usage at that time, they get paid. "It's something Fonterra and other major energy users have highlighted they are open to doing, but the current market structure doesn't support it. "There is potential to quickly spin up a solution and examples in other markets we could replicate quite quickly." Cooney said overall productivity need not be impacted. "They could time maintenance over the peak period, but ultimately not impact their own production." The country's biggest electricity user, Rio Tinto, has agreed to reduce its electricity use during tight winters, but in that case, the hiatus impacts production of aluminum. Likewise, the country's biggest gas user, Methanex, has committed to selling its gas to electricity generators this winter, if needed, to shore up dwindling gas supplies during a potentially dry winter for the hydro power lakes. Methanex has agreed to forfeit production of methanol for export for the second year in a row, because it was considered more profitable to onsell its gas supply to the likes of Contact and Genesis Energy. Managing director Stuart McCall told RNZ that its core business remained methanol production and it intended to get back to it. "Recent gas sales to New Zealand's electricity sector reflect targeted support during a period of energy supply stress, not a shift away from our core business," he said. "Our priority remains manufacturing methanol, a key ingredient in everyday products such as mobile phones, pharmaceuticals, construction materials, wind turbines, solar panels and an increasingly important lower-emissions fuel for the global shipping industry." Kilty said the hydro lakes looked a little fuller than feared going into winter 2024, and deals struck with Rio Tinto and Methanex also helped lower the risk of shortages this winter, but the sector needed to respond again to lower the risks in 2026. The draft assessment looks ahead 10 years and forecasts fossil fuel supplies, new power stations, new build of factories and demand sources, and assesses how much buffer there may be in the electricity supply. "We need to keep working hard to bring new electricity to market as soon as possible and make sure existing stations are well-fuelled going into next winter," he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
