Oil drops as economic headwinds overshadow supply cuts (Reuters, 07-05)

SK集团来盐城考察调研 (中国江苏网, 07-05)

英媒：印度炼油商开始用人民币购买从俄进口原油 (国际石油网, 07-05)

ＩＨＩ、タイで炭素中立関連の実証実験(NNA, 07-05)

IHIは4日、タイで石油を用いずに低級オレフィンを製造する技術を確立するための実証実験を行うと発表した。2021年度にIHIが受託した新エネルギー・産業技術総合開発機構（NEDO）の研究の実証試験で、低級オレフィンは通常、原油由来のナフサを熱分解することで製造される。2024年度に必要な設備を着工し、26年3月まで実証試験を行う。

タイの素材最大手サイアム・セメント（SCG）の完全子会社で化学品製造・販売事業の持ち株会社SCGケミカルズが運営する石油化学プラントにあるナフサクラッカー（エチレン設備）から排ガスの供給を受け、そのガスから分離回収した二酸化炭素（CO2）のほか、SCGケミカルズの他工程から発生する水素を利用して低級オレフィン合成技術を開発する。1日当たり100キログラムのCO2を注入する。

実証試験から得られた低級オレフィンは、既設商用プラントで製造された低級オレフィンと比較・互換性評価を行う。さらに評価結果を基に、オレフィンの合成条件および既設プラントとの統合条件を検討することで商用化を模索する。

Central bank surprises see June become bumper 2023 rate hike month (Reuters, 07-04)

LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) - The world's major central banks delivered in June the biggest number of monthly interest rate hikes year-to-date, surprising markets and flagging more tightening ahead as policy makers grapple to get the upper hand in their battle against inflation.

Seven of the nine central banks overseeing the 10 most heavily traded currencies that met in June hiked rates, while two opted for no change, Reuters data showed.

Both Norway and the Bank of England surprised markets last month with a larger-than-expected 50 basis points move, while Canada and Australia resumed their rate hiking cycles. Sweden, Switzerland and the European Central Bank also tightened policy, taking the total monthly tally of hikes to 225 basis points last month. May had seen six rate hikes across six meetings.

"While some central banks are seeing initial progress toward lower inflation, central bankers overall continue to face a tough balancing act," said Tiffany Wilding, economist at PIMCO.

"Without fiscal policy ready to save the day, we see a more uncertain growth environment with downside risks building over the cyclical horizon."

The latest G10 moves bring the total 2023 rate hike tally among G10 central banks to 950 bps across 28 hikes. Looking at moves since Norway kicked off the rate hiking cycle in September 2021, major central banks have hiked interest rates so far by 3,765 bps.

While the U.S. Federal Reserve's pause at its June meeting did not come as a surprise, the hawkish outlook from the world's top central bank sent tremors through markets.

"We believe central banks have more work to do," said Vanguard analysts in their mid-year outlook. "The last leg of inflation reduction to central bank targets may be the most challenging, in our view."

Across emerging markets there was more evidence that the tightening cycle was running out of steam.

Thirteen out of 18 central banks in the Reuters sample of developing economies had interest rate setting meetings last month. However, 11 central banks opted to keep policy unchanged.

Having been a stark outlier in the emerging market tightening cycle that kicked off in spring 2021, Turkey's central bank under new governor Hafize Gaye Erkan played catch up with a 650 bps rate hike, signalling a return to more orthodox policy making. This was the second biggest rate hike in recent times since Russia was forced to deliver an emergency 1,050 bps rate hike following its invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, China's central bank eased interest rates by 10 bps.

The total rate hike tally for the year across emerging markets is 1,375 bps through 22 hikes - less than a fifth of the 7,425 bps of tightening delivered in 2022. The total amount of cuts is 60 bps across two moves.

UK Five-Year Mortgage Rate Breaches 6% for First Time This Year (Bloomberg, 07-04)

UK mortgage costs have jumped to fresh highs for the year as rising interest rates continue to wreak havoc on households and prospective homeowners.

The average five-year fixed-rate home loan rose to 6.01% on Tuesday, edging closer to the 14-year peak reached at the end of 2022, according to Moneyfacts Group Plc. The average two-year fixed-rate deal rose to 6.47% after breaching 6% for the first time since December last month.

The UK housing market is under pressure from a triple whammy of pricey borrowing, economic uncertainty and the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. Markets expect the Bank of England to bump interest rates up to 6% in a bid to tackle inflation, slamming the door on an era of cheap money that stoked demand for homes.

Lenders are hiking the cost of loans, pulling deals off the market and tightening borrowing criteria, making it harder for first-time buyers to get on the housing ladder and adding hundreds of pounds to the monthly mortgage bills of existing homeowners when their deals expire. That’s prompted Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to extract a promise from the largest banks to show forbearance to borrowers in difficulty, though the government has ruled out direct fiscal support.

Mortgage approvals — an indicator of future borrowing — rose slightly to 50,524 in May, but remained well below pre-pandemic levels. That suggests that rising rates are piling pressure on would-be buyers, with the effective interest rate on new mortgages climbing 10 basis points to 4.56% in May, according to the BOE.

Canadian factory activity slows further in June (Reuters, 07-04)

TORONTO, July 4 (Reuters) - Contraction in Canada's manufacturing sector deepened slightly in June as an uncertain economic outlook weighed on both domestic and foreign demand, data showed on Tuesday.

The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dipped to a seasonally adjusted 48.8 in June from 49.0 in May. A reading below 50 indicates contraction in the sector.

"Reports of subdued market demand, both at home and abroad, were widespread, with clients reportedly hanging back from committing to new business given the uncertain economic outlook," Paul Smith, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in a statement.

The new orders index edged lower, to 48.5 from 48.6 in May, while the measure of new export orders was in contraction for the 13th straight month.

High interest rates contributed to the postponement of spending decisions, manufacturers said.

The Bank of Canada last month raised its benchmark interest rate to a 22-year high of 4.75%.

As demand weakens, firms have moved to cut excess input inventory. The stocks of purchases index fell to 47.3 from 48.6 in May, its 11th straight month of contraction.

In an encouraging sign for inflation, a combination of reduced input buying and the easing of pandemic-related supply challenges led to a sharp improvement in the lead times for input delivery. The suppliers' delivery times index was at 51.8, up from 50.9 in May.

The improvement in vendor delivery times "has clearly helped to ensure that inflationary pressure remain under broad control," Smith said.

"However, with a lack of market demand the principal factor behind the shortening of lead times, it's hard to get away from the sense of subdued industrial performance heading into the second half of the year," Smith said.

New Zealand Firms Are Downbeat on Economy, Sales as Growth Slows (Bloomberg, 07-04)

Exxon To Advance Direct Air Capture With Its Own Pilot Project (Carbon Herald, 07-03)

Exxon is advancing a pilot direct air capture (DAC) project with in-house expertise after ending a partnership with carbon removal company Global Thermostat.

As reported by Energy Intelligence, Exxon will be working on its own DAC project after concluding a three-year collaboration with the U.S.-based Global Thermostat. Back in 2019, the two companies signed an agreement to work together on direct air capture technology and extended the partnership twice – in 2020 and 2022. 

The partnership, which expired in 2023, was not renewed this year, Energy Intelligence reported. Exxon and Global Thermostat did not comment on the reason behind the decision. 

According to a Bloomberg report from 2021, Global Thermostat allegedly did not pay some of its bills on time and struggled to achieve certain technological milestones. Founding CEO Graciela Chichilnisky left the company in 2021 and was replaced by Enphase’s previous CEO Paul Nahi last September. 

Lydia Johnson, vice president of product development for Exxon Mobil Low Carbon Solutions, told Energy Intelligence the oil and gas corporation’s in-house DAC pilot is still in the early stages. 

One of the challenges ahead for DAC technology is cost. “It’s very expensive, it’s way out there,” Johnson told Energy Intelligence. “So our challenge is to understand that and get our cost down.”

Exxon CEO Darren Woords has refered to direct air capture as the “holy grail” with the company previously indicating that its current cost for removing one ton of CO2 from the atmosphere is between $600 and $1,000, and is looking to cut that in half.

Other oil and gas giants that pursue or research DAC technology include Occidental, Chevron and Shell.

Shell's renewables boss to leave after CEO strategy shift (Reuters, 07-01)

LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Shell's (SHEL.L) head of renewable generation Thomas Brostrom is leaving the company, a spokesperson said on Friday, weeks after CEO Wael Sawan scaled back its energy transition plans.

Brostrom joined Shell from offshore wind giant Orsted in August 2021 to head offshore wind as the company planned to rapidly grow its wind and solar operations as part of a strategy to cut greenhouse gas emissions under previous CEO Ben van Beurden.

Brostrom quickly became head of renewables in February 2022 after Elisabeth Brinton stepped down less than two years after taking the reins.

Chief Executive Sawan, who took office in January, announced on June 14 a shift back to oil and gas production while paring back investments in renewables following investor pressure to focus on the most profitable businesses.

Sawan also introduced a new structure to the company's top leadership that eliminated Brostrom's role and split it into regions.

"Thomas Brostrøm has elected to leave Shell to pursue an external opportunity," the company said.

He will be succeeded by Greg Joiner, currently VP Shell Energy Australia, as head Shell Energy Europe and Emerging Markets Power. Ajay Shah will lead renewable generation in Asia while Mike Parker will head offshore wind engineering.

UK to tighten emissions trading scheme from 2024 (Reuters, 07-03)

OSLO, July 3 (Reuters) - The UK emissions trading scheme (ETS) will be reformed next year to tighten limits on carbon dioxide pollution and expanded in 2026 to include new sectors, the relevant authority said on Monday.

Introduced in 2021 for an initial phase lasting until 2030, it replaced the UK's participation in the European Union's ETS.

Designed to incentivise industry to cut emissions, the scheme forces participants from energy intensive industries, the power generation sector and aviation to buy permits to release CO2.

Building on the first years of trading and a consultation held last year, the UK Emissions Trading System Authority has decided that industries covered by the scheme will need to bring down emissions at a faster rate to reach net zero goals.

This will lower the so called net-zero cap for Phase 1 to the top of the consulted range of 887-936 million allowances, the authority said.

The current cap is 1,365 million, according to the consultation papers.

At the same time, the authorities will release an addition 53.5 million allowances from reserves between 2024 and 2027 to ensure that there is no sudden drop in allowance supply between 2023 and 2024, it said.

The level of freely allocated allowances which industry receives to shield it from international competition in markets with no or lower carbon pricing has also been guaranteed until 2026, the authority said.

It also announced that the UK ETS will be extended to cover domestic maritime transport from 2026 and to cover waste from 2028, while a phased removal of free carbon allowances for the aviation industry will be rolled out in 2026.

太陽光・グリーン水素で成果　産総研福島再生可能エネ研究所(日刊工業新聞, 07-05)

産業技術総合研究所福島再生可能エネルギー研究所（ＦＲＥＡ、福島県郡山市、宗像鉄雄所長）は、独創的な再生エネルギー・水素技術に関する２０２２年度の開発成果を明らかにした。特に太陽光発電（ＰＶ）、グリーンアンモニア合成、人工知能（ＡＩ）活用地熱ポテンシャル調査プラットフォームなどの開発で成果があった。３県（福島、宮城、岩手）企業対象シーズ支援事業は採択企業・団体が３０１者、事業化は６５件に上り、新たに福島国際研究教育機構（Ｆ—ＲＥＩ）委託事業も８月に開始する。（いわき・駒橋徐）

ＦＲＥＡは再生エネ・水素に特化した日本で唯一の国立研究機関として総員２００人ほどの研究員で研究・開発を進めている。２２年度はＰＶと、風力発電のＯ＆Ｍ（運用・保守）に関する技術開発を進めた。ＰＶ搭載固定翼飛行ロボット（ドローン）システム開発では、曲面追従型軽量ＰＶモジュールを開発。スペースエンターテインメントラボラトリー（福島県南相馬市）の固定翼ドローンに搭載し飛行実証した。ＰＶ搭載型電気自動車（ＥＶ）の実証ではコミュニティーバスにＰＶを搭載。電気使用量の最大５０％をＰＶでまかなう見込みだ。

水素開発では、再生エネで水を電気分解して水素を製造する際に問題となる、ＰＶや風力発電の出力変動の影響を明確化。再生エネ水素を用いた小型アンモニア合成システムと合成触媒を開発した。今後は、従来の「ハーバー・ボッシュ法」より低温で高活性な合成触媒を得る技術の検証に入る。

地熱では、日本は世界第３位のポテンシャルがあるとされているものの、実際に調査した少数の坑井の温度構造にかなり依存する。正確なポテンシャル把握のため、これまでの多くのデータに基づくＡＩによる地熱の評価プラットフォームを開発。有望地点のマッピング作成に着手した。

ＦＲＥＡはさらに、再生エネの系統連系試験施設「スマートシステム研究棟」の能力を拡充。発電能力を５０００キロワットに増強した制御システムを導入し、２４年から世界初の水電解装置の評価事業にも入る。