India’s crude oil imports from Latin America and Africa rose marginally in February as refiners turned to alternative sources, fearing a loss of Russian oil supplies caused by tighter US sanctions, data from trade sources shows. India’s oil imports from African nations rose to about 330,000 barrels per day (bpd) in February from 143,000 bpd in January, while those from South America rose 60% to 453,600 bpd, the data showed, Reuters reported.
In January, the US government imposed sanctions targeting Russian producers and tankers, disrupting Russian supply and tightening ship availability. Russia’s oil imports by India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, shrank marginally to about 30.5% in February, while that of Latin America rose to 9%, the highest since December 2021, the data showed.
Centre launches first critical mineral exploration license auction
India launched its first-ever auction of critical minerals Exploration Licences (ELs) for 13 exploration blocks. The licenses are for the exploration blocks for minerals like REE (rare earth elements), zinc, diamond, copper, PGE (platinum group minerals) and others, ET reported.
Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy said the exploration could take place in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Karnataka. The exclusive exploration access would empower private companies to explore up to 1,000 square metres per licence, Reddy said.
EU ambassador to China urges Beijing to stop building coal-fired power plants
The EU’s ambassador to China Jorge Toledo “urged Beijing to stop building coal-fired power plants, saying that its rapid approval of new projects was increasingly at odds with its green ambitions”, The Guardian reported. Toledo lamented the increase in China’s coal approvals in the second half of last year. Beijing approved 66.7GW of new coal-fired power capacity in 2024, the majority in the final months of the year. One gigawatt is the equivalent of a large coal power plant.” Meanwhile, China’s imports of coal have increased 2.1% year-on-year, reaching a record high of 76 million tonnes for the January-February period, Reuters reported.
US withdrawing from plan to help major polluters move from coal?
The US is set to quit the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), reported Reuters. JETPs are a collaboration of rich countries to help developing countries transition from coal to cleaner energy sources, the newswire added. Currently, JETP consists of 10 donor nations, first announced at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021. South Africa, Indonesia, Vietnam and Senegal were subsequently announced to be the first beneficiaries of the loans, financial guarantees and grants, the article explains. Since Donald Trump took office, the US has “slashed foreign aid and championed development of fossil fuels”, it notes. US commitments for Indonesia and Vietnam within the JETP exceeded $3bn in total, mostly through commercial loans and, for South Africa, $1.063bn out of a wider $11.6bn pledged for the country, the report stated.
Wall Street is making millions betting against green laws?
Fossil fuel and mining firms won $92 billion of public money from states, reported the Guardian. “Financial speculators are investing in a growing number of lawsuits against governments over environmental laws and other regulations that affect profits, often generating lucrative awards”, the article adds.
The sector of litigation finance earlier thrived in the realm of car crashes and employment claims. offering to finance lawsuits in exchange for a cut of any payout, now, they are financing massive arbitration lawsuits launched by companies against governments, where claims can stretch to tens of billions of dollars, the report noted adding that these cases come under a little-known area of international law called investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), which allows corporations to sue countries for actions that hurt their profits.
Government announces plans to axe oil and gas windfall tax in 2030
The UK government is eying plans for a ‘prosperous and sustainable’ shift away from North Sea oil and gas. The Department of Energy Security and Net-Zero will now talk to communities, businesses, trade unions, workers and environmental groups to create a plan for phased transition for oil and gas workers, reported Independent. The government will look for views on how to foster a “prosperous and sustainable” transition away from oil and gas, while turning the North Sea into a “hub for clean technologies”, such as renewables, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS), added BusinessGreen.
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