Tokyo will closely monitor the rollout of new US sanctions on Moscow for any impact on shipments of liquefied natural gas from Russia’s Far East, a key source of supply for Japan. A week ago, the Biden administration imposed aggressive penalties on Russian energy, including restrictions on vessels that export oil from the Sakhalin-2 project just north of Japan. If those curbs end up halting crude production from the site, the gas that’s pumped out at the same time may be at risk. Japan is a big LNG buyer and sourced about 8% of its imports from Sakhalin-2 last year, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. “We’ll discuss with the relevant stakeholders” to ensure Japan gets the gas it needs, Shinichi Sasayama, the president of major importer Tokyo Gas Co., said Thursday. “It might require more investigation to determine how much impact this will actually have. I wouldn’t say there is no impact whatsoever.” One of Sakhalin-2’s three production platforms, Lunskaya, pumps both natural gas and gas condensate, a light version of crude oil, and the two fuels are then separated onshore. If curbs on exporting the oil lead to a buildup of crude on site, that may eventually prompt a halt in output, affecting gas in the process. “If oil and condensate shipments really stopped, then at some point — when the storage facilities were full — gas production would also have to halt as it’s impossible to produce gas without producing condensate,” said Sergey Vakulenko, an oil industry veteran who spent part of his career at Sakhalin-2. The US sanctions do not extend to the actual oil and gas from the development, just to the tankers needed to export the crude. Oil shipments are unlikely to cease immediately since the restrictions allow for a wind-down period. Ultimately, Lunskaya’s continued

The UK government has appointed five non-executive directors to the “start-up board” of proposed publicly-owned energy company GB Energy. The state-owned firm was a key election pledge of the Labour party, and officials unveiled former Siemens Energy chief executive Juergen Maier as chairman in July. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer later confirmed GB Energy will be based in Aberdeen, however questions remain over the number of jobs it will provide in the Granite City. Scottish politicians also criticised Maier’s decision to remain based in Manchester, rather than relocating to Aberdeen. Announcing the appointees, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said they bring a wide range of experience from their previous roles. “Together with the chair Juergen Maier, they will help to scale up Great British Energy and build its organisational structure and Aberdeen headquarters,” DESNZ said. UK energy secretary Ed Miliband said the GB Energy board will “hit the ground running” in its mission to “scale up clean, homegrown power”. Meanwhile, Maier said the appointments are an “important milestone” for the company is it seeks to “rapidly scale up” and “get to work”. “Their experience across the energy industry, government and trade unions will be crucial in shaping our strategy and organisation, ensuring we can back clean energy projects, bolster UK supply chains and create good jobs across the country,” Maier said. Who is the GB Energy start-up board? DESNZ said the five new start-up non-executive directors will join the GB Energy board on initial contracts of between 18 months and two years. They include former Trades Union Congress (TUC) general secretary and Labour peer  Frances O’Grady, former SP Energy Networks chief executive Frank Mitchell, British Hydropower Association chief executive Kate Gilmartin, former Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA) chief executive Dr Nina Skorupska, and former

Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) and Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC have signed an agreement to resolve their intellectual property dispute over nuclear reactor designs and pursue collaboration. Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania-based Westinghouse said Thursday it would work with KEPCO and KEPCO’s Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. Ltd. (KHNP) for the dismissal of all current legal actions. United States litigation and international arbitration are pending concerning Westinghouse’s claim to sub-licensing and export rights against South Korea’s state-owned KEPCO. “This agreement allows both parties to move forward with certainty in the pursuit and deployment of new nuclear reactors”, Westinghouse said in an online statement. “The agreement also sets the stage for future cooperation between the parties to advance new nuclear projects globally”. Westinghouse president and chief executive Patrick Fragman said, “As the world demands more firm baseload power, we look forward to opportunities for cooperation to deploy nuclear power at even greater scale”. Details of the settlement deal are confidential, Westinghouse said. In a recent episode of the legal row, which dates back to 2022, Westinghouse last year protested in Czechia after the Central European country’s state-owned CEZ Group selected KHNP over Westinghouse for two nuclear reactors. Westinghouse argued KHNP’s designs use the former’s technology and that the Korean company did not have clearance under U.S. tech export controls. Announcing the appeal before the Czech Anti-Monopoly Office on August 26, 2024, Westinghouse said, “The tender required vendors to certify they possess the right to transfer and sublicense the nuclear technology offered in their bids to CEZ and local suppliers”. “KHNP’s APR1000 and APR1400 plant designs utilize Westinghouse-licensed Generation II System 80 technology. KHNP neither owns the underlying technology nor has the right to sublicense it to a third party without Westinghouse consent. “Further, only Westinghouse has the legal right to obtain the

Isla Robb has been appointed as the new offshore renewables director at ETZ Ltd. The appointment comes as ETZ Ltd looks to secure new offshore wind-related investment for the Energy Transition Zone and the wider region to deliver sustainable economic impact. Robb’s energy career spans the public and private sectors, with a strong focus on offshore wind and supply chain management. As managing director of Opergy Scotland, she led numerous initiatives to support large-scale clients, SMEs, and public sector organisations, guiding them through the challenges of energy transition. Her work in connecting local suppliers with developers through meet-the-buyer events and promoting diversity in the offshore wind industry was recognised last year when she won the prestigious Judges’ Award at Scottish Green Energy Awards 2024 and was described by the judging panel as an “inspiring force for change”. Robb said: “It is a huge privilege to be appointed director of offshore renewables at ETZ Ltd, an organisation that is at the vanguard of energy transition and efforts to secure a vibrant and prosperous future for Aberdeen and the North East of Scotland. “This region has all the ingredients for success, a pipeline of transformational projects on our doorstep alongside a world-class supply chain that can deliver them, and I’m relishing the opportunity draw upon my experience to ensure we unlock the investment required to maximise the vast potential afforded by offshore wind.” Great British Energy has added five non-executive directors to its start-up board. The new board will set a strategy for how the publicly owned company will work with the energy sector and communities to drive investment in clean energy technologies. Frances O’Grady is a member of the House of Lords and served as general secretary for the Trades Union Congress (TUC) between 2013 and 2022. Frank Mitchell is the

Blaine Miller-McFeeley is a senior legislative representative at Earthjustice and Julia Poliscanova is the senior director of vehicles & emobility supply chains at Transport & Environment. The impacts of climate change are becoming more and more impossible to ignore. Extreme heat waves, intense wildfires, and unprecedented hurricanes, storms and flooding battered both the United States and Europe over the past year, exacting a toll on human life, the environment and the global economy. Mitigating these consequences requires a quick transition to clean renewable energy that will meet global energy demands while curtailing our reliance on fossil fuels that are warming our planet. Yet, this will involve a considerable challenge that both Europe and the United States will have to face in the upcoming years: The wind turbines, solar panels and batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage rely on minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel and others that, if not sourced or mined responsibly, can harm health, environment and cultural resources of nearby communities. Simultaneously, global mineral supply chains are often opaque, with well-documented cases of minerals tainted by forced and child labor making their way into our appliances, electronics and other technologies.  While cleaning up supply chains and dirty business practices will take time, a quicker path exists to secure a share of much-needed critical minerals to enable the rapid adoption of green technologies. We must scale up mineral recycling efforts that will reduce our demand for raw minerals and create new jobs in the green economy. But regulation in the United States is woefully behind the European Union. If policymakers want the United States to serve as a global economic leader in the energy transition and catch up to countries that have already invested in the circular economy, it can’t go on pursuing business as usual. Recent legislation passed

As businesses contend with rising bills, difficulties with recruitment and dwindling orders, 51% of Aberdeen firms project reduced profits in 2025. The last time businesses in the region projected figures like this was in 2020 when the same percentage of respondents to Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce’s (AGCC) Quarterly Economic Survey forecasted reduced profits in the fourth quarter. The north-east of Scotland is shaping up worse than the rest of the UK as 32% of UK businesses forecast a dip in profits this year. Speaking at a launch event for the report, AGCC research and insights manager Sarah McColl explained that the issues facing oil and gas firms have wider-reaching impacts than the energy market. McColl said: “It’s interesting when you look at the open-ended questions that the number of businesses that aren’t oil and gas or energy-related that do reference the issues that industry has and the compounding effect that has on all the other pressures. “Even when we look at the hospitality example, they used to rely quite heavily on the oil and gas industry to fill rooms during the week and things and that’s not the case anymore.” Optimism remained low for the year ahead as 29% of firms said that they expect turnover to get worse. Headcount at Aberdeen firms to stagnate This comes as BP (LON:BP) announced a cost cutting drive that will see the supermajor cut over 5% of its workforce as 4,700 employees are set to lose their jobs alongside 3,000 contractors. The London-listed supermajor is looking to cut costs by $2 billion (£1.64bn) as it sets out on a redundancy process that an industry analyst said would likely impact the north-east of Scotland. On Monday, oil and gas supply chain firm Hunting (LON:HTG) also announced a restructuring campaign that will impact