Indian refiners purchase more US crude before trade talks in May

Indian refiners increased the purchase of US oil before trade talks between the two nations next month, Bloomberg reported.

The newspaper said, around 11.2 million barrels of crude are set to arrive in India from the US in June, the highest volume since last August, according to provisional data from analytics firm Kpler Ltd. That comes after a drop in prices in the West Texas Intermediate benchmark as the result of lower demand because of a refinery overhaul in Singapore, along with reduced appetite in China — the world’s biggest oil importer.

The outlet added that: “WTI has to discount significantly more than usual to incentivize the rest of Asia to take in the barrels,” said June Goh, a senior oil market analyst at Sparta Commodities. “There is also a geopolitical element, where Asian buyers may seek more WTI as a negotiating tool with the US to reduce the reciprocal tariffs, per what we are observing with Indonesia and India.”

China, India leading global clean energy transition, but new BRICS members pursuing fossil fuels : Global Energy Monitor

The Global Energy Monitor (GEM/0 said the founding BRICS members — India, Brazil and China continue to lead the global clean energy transition, but countries that have recently joined them are pursuing fossil fuels. The bloc can play a crucial role in the power sector buildout by backing clean energy power projects across new bloc members.

The GEM report said fossil-powered capacity dropped below half of the total mix in the BRICS group for the first time in 2024. However, new BRICS members are building more than 10 times as much coal, oil, and gas capacity (25 GW as wind and utility-scale solar (2.3 GW).

But data in the Global Integrated Power Tracker also show 25 GW of coal, oil, and gas capacity under construction in the newest BRICS countries — Indonesia, Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Nigeria — versus just 2.3 GW of wind and utility-scale solar under construction.

GB News Broadcast Almost 1,000 Anti-Climate Attacks Before and After 2024 Election

According to the Desmond report, Britain’s TV channel GB News gave a platform to at least 953 anti-climate attacks in the 2024 general election. the channel’s “wild and paranoid conspiracy claims” ahead of May’s local elections.

Half of these featured attacks on clean energy policies, including that the goal of reducing emissions to net zero by 2050 is a “cult” and a “monster”, the report said.

The outlet noted that the broadcaster aired an average of around 4.5 anti-climate claims per day during the period from 31 May to 31 December, with attacks on climate science, policy, or environmental groups featuring in almost 12 percent of all half-hour segments. At least 74 of these anti-climate statements were made by current or former representatives of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and its predecessor party, the Brexit Party, several of whom are GB News hosts.

China to keep building coal plants through 2027

China plans to keep building coal-fired power plants through 2027 in some regions to meet peak power demand or stabilise the grid, according to government guidelines for upgrading the coal power system, reported Reuters. That policy says new coal projects are considered a back-up for renewable generation whose output depends on sunlight and wind conditions.

The guidelines, issued by the state planner and energy regulator, stated that newly built coal plants should have 10-20% lower carbon emissions per unit of power output than the 2024 fleet, and also call for upgrades to some existing coal plants to meet those conditions.

Newly built and upgraded coal plants should also be able to safely and reliably adjust their output to help meet peak power demand.

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