The introduction of zonal pricing by the UK government could put 8,000 jobs and £30 billion of investment in onshore renewables in Scotland at risk. Research performed by Biggar Economics for the Fairer Energy Future campaign group explored Scotland’s 10GW onshore wind project pipeline. With 1GW expected to be built per year between 2030 and 2035, this will support around 800 new jobs in Scotland during the construction phase and a further 200 jobs per gigawatt during operations. With an average commitment of £1.5bn of investment per gigawatt of onshore wind and a total of £3bn of lifetime investment over an expected 30-year lifespan, this adds up to a combined total of £30bn and 8,000 new jobs to the Scottish economy. However, industry-funded group Fairer Energy Future said if the UK government decides to introduce zonal pricing, these investment plans would be risk due to the uncertainty the reforms introduce. Zonal pricing The UK government is exploring potential reforms to the country’s electricity market under the review of electricity market arrangements (REMA) process, with a report expected later this month. The current national pricing system means that prices are consistent across the country. Zonal pricing, however, could split the UK into 12 different regions, each with different power prices. Prices would be determined by supply and demand – zones with multiple power projects but fewer users would have lower prices, while power-hungry areas with fewer sources would pay more. Proponents of zonal pricing, including utility Octopus Energy, Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator (NESO), argue this would lower power prices, especially in the north east of Scotland, which would have access to cheap power from multiple offshore wind developments. Areas with cheaper power can use it power new industrial projects, such as developing green hydrogen capacity. Areas with high

Greenpeace his raised concern that the Government has already decided to grant approvals to the Rosebank oilfield after courts deemed the UK government’s approval of the project was unlawful. The climate campaigning group, alongside fellow activists Uplift, took the UK government to court late last year over the approval of Shell’s Jackdaw and Equinor’s Rosebank oilfields. The landmark ruling went in favour of Greenpeace and Uplift and has forced the UK government to rethink how it assesses the environmental impact of North Sea oil production, particularly in relation to downstream – also known as scope three – emissions. However, Greenpeace has raised concerns that the Labour Government has already decided to approve the Rosebank EIA without following “due process”. Mel Evans, climate team leader at Greenpeace UK, said: “These noises coming from the government are concerning. “If a political decision to approve Rosebank and Jackdaw has already been made behind closed doors without following due process, we won’t hesitate to take legal action.” © Shutterstock FeedRachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer presenting the Autumn Budget. Greenpeace lawyers have sent a letter to energy secretary Ed Miliband and the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) after comments made by chancellor Rachel Reeves and prime minister Keir Starmer that the group believes indicated that a decision has already been made on the future of the UK’s largest untapped oilfield. In a recent interview with The Sun newspaper, Reeves said: “We said in our manifesto that they would go ahead, that we would honour existing licenses, and we’re committed to doing that, and go ahead they will. “North Sea oil and gas is going to be really important to the UK economy for many, many decades to come. And we want to make sure that fields that have already got licenses can continue to

Chevron Corporation subsidiary Chevron USA Inc. has completed the divestment of a 70 percent interest in its East Texas assets to TG Natural Resources (TGNR), which is jointly owned by Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. and Castleton Commodities International LLC (CCI). The transaction consideration was $525 million, with $75 million paid in cash and $450 million as a capital carry to fund the Haynesville development, Chevron said in a news release. Chevron said it retains a 30% non-operated working interest in a joint venture with TGNR and an overriding royalty interest in the assets. Tokyo Gas and CCI own approximately 93 percent and 7 percent interests in TGNR, respectively. The transaction supports Chevron’s plans to divest $10 billion to $15 billion of assets by 2028 in order to optimize its global energy portfolio, the company said, adding that it is expected to generate over $1.2 billion in value to Chevron at current Henry Hub prices through the multi-year capital carry, retained working interest, and overriding royalty interest. Chevron said it expects to “maintain future upside through the joint venture structure while accelerating [the] development of a non-core asset through a capital efficient approach”. With the acquisition, TGNR said it adds over 250 gross locations to its existing Haynesville inventory, assuming four wells per section, extending its inventory life beyond 20 years at the current development pace, “not counting the Bossier and Cotton Valley plays that are commercial at current prices”. The Haynesville acreage in the transaction is relatively undrilled and held by shallower production, “allowing parent-child effects between wells to be mitigated,” TGNR said in a separate statement. TGNR CEO Craig Jarchow said, “We are excited to partner with a world-class company like Chevron on this transaction. There is considerable operational overlap between the Chevron acreage and the legacy TGNR acreage,

Stonepeak Partners LP has signed an agreement to become a 40 percent partner in Woodside Energy Group Ltd.’s Louisiana LNG project, committing a cumulative investment of $5.7 billion. “The transaction significantly reduces Woodside’s capital expenditure profile and is a material step towards readiness for a final investment decision”, Woodside said in an online statement. The Australian oil and gas exploration and production company previously said it expects to make a final investment decision this quarter. The under-construction project in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, on the United States Gulf Coast has a permitted liquefaction capacity of 27.6 million metric tons per annum (MMtpa). Woodside took over the project, then called Driftwood LNG, when it acquired Tellurian Inc. for about $1.2 billion last year. “Under the transaction, Stonepeak will provide $5.7 billion towards the expected capital expenditure for the foundation development of Louisiana LNG on an accelerated basis, contributing 75 percent of project capital expenditure in both 2025 and 2026”, Woodside said. The foundation development targets to realize 16.5 MMtpa of the permitted capacity. “This enhances the project economics and Woodside’s cash flow profile ahead of revenues from Woodside’s Scarborough Energy Project in Australia, strengthening the capacity for shareholder returns”, Woodside added. “The remainder of Stonepeak’s committed capital will be funded in subsequent years”. Woodside kept the estimated forward cost for the foundation development at $900-960 per metric ton. On December 5, 2024, Woodside said it had signed a revised turnkey engineering, procurement and construction contract with Bechtel Corp. and that the new contract represents competitive pricing. The transaction with Stonpeak is expected to be completed in the second quarter, subject to regulatory and other customary approvals. “We are very pleased to have Stonepeak join us in Louisiana LNG, given their demonstrated track record investing in US gas and LNG infrastructure across LNG

The oil market has faced a “quadruple whammy”, Ole R. Hvalbye, Commodities Analyst at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB), said in a SEB report sent to Rigzone by the SEB team on Monday. U.S. tariffs, an OPEC+ production hike, a retaliation from China, and Saudi price cuts made up this quadruple whammy, Hvalbye outlined in the report, which pointed out that Brent crude oil prices had “crashed by a whopping $13 per barrel (-21 percent) since [the] last Wednesday high, marking a significant decline in just four trading days”. In the report, Hvalbye pointed out that Brent was trading at $62.8 per barrel. The SEB analyst highlighted that this was Brent’s lowest point since February 2021. “On Wednesday, the U.S. unveiled its new package of individual tariffs,” Hvalbye said in the report. “The market reacted swiftly, as Trump followed through on his promise to rebalance the U.S. trade position with the world. His primary objective is a more balanced trade environment, which, naturally, weakened Brent crude prices,” he added. “The widespread imposition of strict tariffs is likely to fuel concerns about an economic slowdown, which would weaken global oil demand. This macroeconomic uncertainty, especially regarding tariffs, calls for caution about the pace of demand growth,” he continued. Hvalbye noted in the report that, shortly after, OPEC+ announced plans to raise production in May by 411,000 barrels per day, “exceeding earlier expectations with a three-monthly increment”. “OPEC emphasized that strong market fundamentals and a positive outlook were behind the decision. However, the decision likely stemmed from frustration within the cartel, particularly after months of excess production from Kazakhstan and Iraq,” he added. The SEB analyst also stated in the report that, last Friday, even though the Chinese market was closed, firm indications came from China on how it plans to handle

The UK will not meet its legal obligation to achieve a net zero energy system and it’s time to have to have an “adult conversation” about it. Energy Industries Council (EIC) chief executive Stuart Broadley has called for an “adult conversation” and “honesty” to admit the UK won’t meet it legal obligations to become net zero by 2050, nor will it meet interim low carbon targets in 2030. He said policy makers would be reluctant to admit defeat on current timelines as it risks a tumbling a “house of cards” of consequences. Speaking on a podcast with Energy Voice, he said the UK must instead embrace “all energy sectors” or the UK will face a severe jobs crisis with entire clean energy sectors such as hydrogen at risk of never happening. LISTEN: Energy Voice Net Zero in jeopardy Speaking ahead of the UK government announcing its latest support mechanism for the hydrogen sector, Broadley argued the hydrogen sector in particular is “in trouble”. “I would say it’s grinding to a halt as a transition technology right now,” he said. The problems facing the wider clean energy sector are largely due to a collapse in the pace of investment. EIC said the rate of financial investments decisions in offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage are all well below 10%, and far below rates required to achieve significant momentum which is above 20% or 30%. In Aberdeen and across the UK, jobs are at risk he warned: “All those areas will be under severe job crisis if we’re not careful, 600,000 jobs or more in the energy supply chain in the UK. That’s one in 55 jobs of people working in the UK. It’s also 9% of GDP in the UK. It’s linked to the energy supply chain.” He added