BlackRock Says It Won’t Stop Investing In Coal, Oil, And Natural Gas

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Oct 19, 2022

BlackRock will not stop investing in oil, natural gas, or coal, the world’s largest asset manager told a UK parliamentary committee in written responses to an inquiry on the role of the financial sector in the UK’s net-zero transition.  

Asked if BlackRock supports a net-zero scenario in which “no new investment is needed in coal, oil, and gas,” the asset manager responded: “No.”, Reuters reported, citing dozens of statements from financial and environmental institutions the Environmental Audit Committee has received during the period of submitting evidence.   

“BlackRock’s role in the transition is as a fiduciary to our clients – it is not to engineer a specific decarbonization outcome in the real economy,” the asset manager added.  

BlackRock has faced criticism this year from both environmental campaigners for still investing in conventional energy and Republican-led U.S. states for what they see as a boycott of the U.S. energy industry.

In recent weeks, multiple U.S. states governed by Republicans have said they would withdraw state funds from BlackRock’s management, as they disapprove of the ESG investment policies of the world’s top asset manager. Over the course of just a few weeks, Louisiana, South Carolina, Utah, and Arkansas announced they would divest funds from BlackRock totaling more than $1 billion.

In early October, Louisiana State Treasurer John Schroder announced in a letter to BlackRock’s chief executive Larry Fink that he would divest all Treasury funds from BlackRock. Louisiana has removed $560 million to date and will pull out a total of $794 million by year’s end, Schroder noted.

For months now, Republican states have said they would no longer do business with asset managers who have ESG-aligned investment policies, which, the states say, show that those financial firms are boycotting the oil and gas industry.

Texas is leading the campaign against ESG policies. The Lone Star State published in August a list of financial firms that could be banned from doing business with Texas, its state pension funds, and local governments. 

Apple Partner Foxconn Unveils Two EV Prototypes

By ZeroHedge - Oct 19, 2022

Foxconn Technology Group, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, unveiled two electric vehicle prototypes at its event in Taipei on Tuesday. 

Foxconn founder Terry Gou Tai-ming showcased the Model B crossover SUV and Model V pickup truck. 

Foxconn isn't just the world's largest electronics contract manufacturer but also the most prominent manufacturing partner for Apple and is aiming to "build clients' EVs from the chassis up, with no plans to sell vehicles under its own brand," Bloomberg said. 

"After we announced our plans to build EVs in 2020, many people questioned whether Foxconn can build cars.

"Then when we unveiled three models a year later, everyone thought, 'wow, how did they manage to develop three models in just a year?' That's the speed we're operating at," Liu 

Model B & V won't be available for the retail market because they're considered reference designs -- intended to demonstrate the company's manufacturing capabilities to potential clients that want their EVs produced. 

By 2025, Foxconn expects to achieve at least 5% of the global EV market, with expected revenues of $31 billion. 

"Foxconn is not in the business of selling its own EV brand," Liu said. "I hope one day we can do Tesla cars for Tesla," he added.

If Foxconn is successful, this could mean Apple's "Project Titan" to develop an electric vehicle in the coming years could one day be produced by Foxconn. After all, Foxconn already makes Apple's iPhones. 

APTLY NAMED

Octopus Energy Announces 1.1 GW Renewable Venture In Italy

By City A.M - Oct 19, 2022, 

Octopus Energy Generation has continued its expansion plans into Europe, deepening its role in Italy’s green power market.

Its venture group, Octopus Energy Development Partnership (OEDP) has invested in renewables specialist Nexta Capital Partners, and is creating a joint project with the Milan-based group.

The new venture aims to build 1.1GW of new onshore wind, solar farms and energy storage in the south of Italy by 2025. 

This will power 1.2m homes, while potentially avoiding a potential 950,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

This is the equivalent of removing over 500,000 petrol cars and planting over 4.6m trees. 

The recently launched €220m OEDP invests in early stages of building green power.

OEDP is providing funding to Nexta who will secure land, grid connections, planning permission and local community engagement to get renewable projects to the ready-to-build stage.

Nexta was founded in 2015, developing renewable energy projects in Italy.

Octopus backs Italy’s plans to go green to ease Russian reliance

Italy depends on Russia for around 25 percent of its imported gas and the Government is aiming to reduce its reliance through renewable developments.

In the past year, regulations have been passed to unblock bottlenecks in permitting renewable projects and speed up green energy deployment in Italy.

Zoisa North-Bond, chief executive of Octopus Energy Generation, said: “Building more new green energy will help reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels and drive down energy bills. Onshore wind and solar are some of the cheapest forms of energy – and Italy can generate it right on their soil. To avoid a repeat of the energy crisis, it’s essential we turbocharge the creation of new renewable energy and shift to a low carbon energy system.” 

Fabrizio Caputo, co-founder and managing director of Nexta, said: “The partnership with Octopus represents a further step towards the consolidation of our growth objectives within the renewable energy industry. We aim to play a leading role with Octopus in the energy transition process.” 

This follows Octopus Energy Italy launching its energy supplier brand in Italy in June 2022, after acquiring SATO Luce e Gas in November 2022. 

Octopus Energy Generation is one of Europe’s largest renewables investors, managing green energy assets worth £4.4bn.

It previously invested in the Italian renewables market in 2017 to build 173 MW of solar farms in Lazio and Sardinia, sold in February 2021.

By CityAM

More Drones Spotted Over Norwegian Oil Infrastructure

By Alex Kimani - Oct 19, 2022,

Norway's domestic security agency has opened an investigation into new drone sightings near key infrastructure sites just hours after Bergen Airport, which is near Norway’s main naval base, briefly closed due to drone sightings, the Associated Press reports. 

“There can also be observations that could be other phenomena, for instance weather. We are sure that there is at least one,” AP cited Bergen police spokesman Ørjan Djuvik as saying.

According to deputy chief of the Norwegian Police Security Service Hedvig Moe, numerous drone sightings have been reported in recent months near offshore oil and gas platforms and other Norwegian infrastructure.

“We believe (the drone flights are) carried out in a way that makes it difficult to find out who is really behind it,” although Norwegian authorities suspect Russian involvement in operating unmanned aerial vehicles that “can be used for espionage or simply to create fear. Russia simply has more to gain and less to lose by conducting intelligence activities in Norway now compared to the situation before the war. It is simply because Russia is in a pressed situation as a result of the war (in Ukraine) and is isolated by sanctions. We are in a tense security-political situation, and at the same time a complex and unclear threat picture that can change in a relatively short time,” Moe was quoted as saying.

Seven Russian citizens have been detained over the past few weeks for flying drones or taking photographs of sensitive sites in Norway. 

Notably, on Wednesday, a 47-year-old man with dual Russian and British citizenship was jailed for two weeks on suspicion of flying drones on Norway’s Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. The man has been accused of breaching sanctions which came into force after Russia went to war against Ukraine. Aircraft operated by Russian companies or citizens are prohibited “to land on, take off from or fly over Norwegian territory” under Norwegian law, which often is coordinated with the European Union. 

Airport operator Avinor has revealed that 50 possible drone observations have been reported at Norway's civilian airports so far this year, nearly triple the 17 sightings recorded in 2021.

Norway’s Equinor Considers Buying Chinese North Sea Oilfields

By Alex Kimani - Oct 17, 2022

Reuters reported on Monday that Norway's Equinor ASA (NYSE: EQNR)is considering buying oilfields in the British North Sea from China's CNOOC Ltd (OTCPK: CEOHF), including a significant stake in the huge Buzzard oilfield in a deal valued at between 20 billion and 30 billion Norwegian crowns ($1.9 billion-$2.8 billion). 

The deal would rank among the largest in years on the U.K. continental shelf. 

According to the Norwegian newspaper DN, the deal might be finalized as early as the end of the current year.

The assets were originally obtained in 2013 from Canadian oil producer Nexen. Equinor’s assets also come with so-called tax losses, meaning the owner of the fields can offset past losses against future tax bills

"As a matter of principle, we never comment on rumors and speculation," an Equinor spokesperson told Reuters when quizzed about the deal. CNOOC has also declined to comment.

In March, Reuters, citing four sources, reported CNOOC had hired Bank of America to start preparing a formal sale of its North Sea assets, potentially raising more than $3 billion.

Back in the United States, dealmaking is slowly starting to recover, with Enverus noting that mergers and acquisitions picked up pace to $16 billion in Q3, the most this year. 

In its quarterly report, Enverus notes that the 3rd quarter was the most active quarter in oil and gas so far this year. Still, deal value in the first nine months only totaled $36 billion, significantly less than the $56 billion recorded in the same period last year.

“Companies are using the cash generated by high commodity prices to pay down debt and reward shareholders rather than seeking out acquisitions. Investors still seem skeptical of public company M&A and are holding management to high standards on deals. Investors want acquisitions priced favorably relative to a buyer’s stock on key return metrics like free cash flow yield to give an immediate uplift to dividends and share buybacks,” Andrew Dittmar, director of Enverus, told Reuters. 

CRIMINAL CRYPTO-CAPITALI$M

Crypto Miners Accused Of Exploiting Kazakhstan-Backed IT Startup Hub

By Eurasianet - Oct 20, 2022

Would-be IT startups based out of a government-backed technopark in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, have been mining cryptocurrencies and availing themselves of tax benefits in the process, state auditors have said.

The Audit Committee, a government agency that monitors state spending and answers only to the president, noted in a statement last week that poor oversight by the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry has led to crypto-miners turning the Astana Hub into a financial “offshore platform.”

“The activities of these companies do not correspond to the goals and scope of the international technopark,” the Audit Committee said in an October 14 statement.

The Astana Hub – hopefully dubbed Kazakhstan’s Silicon Valley – was opened in 2018 with the stated goal of serving as an incubator for new generations of IT specialists. Simplified visa and work permit regimes were established to lure foreign investors into putting down roots at the center. Another major incentive were the tax breaks that have allegedly been exploited by crypto-miners.

The Audit Committee said that its inspections at the Astana Hub led to the expulsion of more than 100 occupants over various contractual violations. These included the pursuit of “activities inconsistent with the mission and goals of the technopark” and “failure to provide quarterly reports.”

The hub itself, however, denies that it had any digital currency miners in its midst.

“What we’re talking about is companies that provided computing infrastructure services to third parties, possibly including digital miners. But they were not digital miners themselves and they did not mine cryptocurrencies,” Bakytzhan Yeshmukhambetov, managing director of Astana Hub, said on October 17.

The government earlier this year vowed to wage war on unlicensed crypto-miners amid concerns that the sector was putting an excess load on the national power grid. The problem arose following China’s de facto ban on crypto-mining in 2021, which sent miners fleeing for the relative haven of Kazakhstan, where low electricity costs made the enterprise a highly profitable undertaking.

What was good for the miners, though, caused trouble for the rest of the population. The unpredictable use of electricity made by the IT miners is believed to have been among the causes of a region-wide blackout at the start of this year. Officials also complained that gray miners, as unlicensed operators are known, had been avoiding paying their dues in taxes by presenting themselves as manufacturing enterprises.

In the course of investigations, it even emerged that close relatives of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev were involved in this opaque business.

In March, the Financial Monitoring Agency revealed that Nazarbayev’s brother, Bolat, had investments in lucrative cryptocurrency mining operations in northern Kazakhstan. Those activities, the agency said, “presented a threat to the country’s economic security.”

The crackdown appears to have brought a sliver of relief for the power grid. Energy Minister Bolat Akchulakov said at a government meeting on October 18 that electricity consumption has fallen by 1.4 percent over the past year. He attributed that development to the fight against illegal crypto-mining.

Conditions for legitimate digital currency miners are only due to get tougher. The Majilis, the lower house of parliament, has already passed the first reading of a bill that would limit the amount of power miners are eligible to consume. The legislation would furthermore tighten state control over the industry by bringing in stricter licensing rules and requiring the registration of data-processing equipment.