Occidental Petroleum to Acquire BC Carbon Capture Technology Supplier for $1.1 Billion

By 

FATIMA ATTARWALA

 

Published August 16, 2023

Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Oil and gas producer Occidental Petroleum (OXY) announced on Tuesday its plans to acquire Canadian carbon capture technology supplier Carbon Engineering Ltd. for $1.1 billion.1

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Occidental Petroleum plans to purchase direct air capture technology firm Carbon Engineering Ltd. for $1.1 billion.
• Spurred by the government's direct air capture incentives, Occidental plans to set up about 100 plants that will strip carbon dioxide from the air and bury it in the ground or use it for manufacturing.
• By decreasing costs, the acquisition will boost Occidental's profitability as well as provide new revenue streams through technology licensing and royalties.

Occidental aims to build about 100 direct air capture (DAC) plants that can strip carbon dioxide from the air and use it to manufacture products such as concrete or aviation fuel. The CO2 can also be buried underground.2 The two companies have been working on DAC technologies since 2019. The buyout will enable Occidental to develop multiple carbon-capture sites that can provide climate change solutions.1

Carbon Engineering's equity will be purchased for cash in three roughly equal annual payments, with the first due when the deal is finalized. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year, subject to court reviews and regulatory approvals in the U.S. and Canada.1

Accelerating the deployment of DAC as a large-scale, cost-effective, global carbon removal system will enhance Occidental's profitability, the company said. Technology licensing and royalties will add new revenue streams as well.1

The efforts come as part of the Biden administration's efforts to use DAC to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. To scale up DAC technology, the U.S. Department of Energy announced last week $1 billion in federal grants for projects in Texas and Louisiana that can potentially remove more than 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually.3

Some of that money will be funneled toward Occidental's West Texas-based Stratos project.3 Using Carbon Engineering's technology, Stratos is set to be the largest DAC plant in the world by 2025.4

As climate-change catastrophes unfold across the globe, the importance of removing carbon from the atmosphere is increasing. Scientists estimate billions of tons of carbon have to be removed from the environment to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.3

 

B.C.-based Carbon Engineering being bought by Occidental for US$1.1 billion

CALGARY — A Canadian company that is pioneering the use of direct air capture technology to remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere has been acquired by U.S. oil company Occidental Petroleum.

The US$1.1-billion deal will see Squamish, B.C.-based Carbon Engineering Ltd. become a wholly owned subsidiary of Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, an Occidental company that is investing in a range of new emissions-reduction technologies.

Carbon Engineering — which was founded in Calgary by Harvard professor David Keith and currently has 150 employees— has already been working for years with Oxy subsidiary 1PointFive, which is aiming to commercialize the large-scale deployment of carbon capture, utilization and sequestration technology. 

1PointFive is currently using Carbon Engineering’s technology to construct what it says will be the largest direct air capture project in the world, in Ector County, Texas.

The plant under construction is expected to capture up to 500,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year with the capacity to scale up to 1 million metric tonnes per year. 

Unlike the more common form of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology — which captures emissions from industrial flue stacks and sequesters them safely deep underground — direct air capture technology removes harmful C02 emissions directly from the air for safe storage underground.

Advocates say direct air capture technology has the potential to not only reduce current greenhouse gas emissions, but also to begin removing the large quantities of CO2 emitted in the past that remain trapped in the earth’s atmosphere.

While the technology is very expensive, increasingly aggressive climate policies by governments around the world are making its deployment more feasible. The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act contains generous subsidies for direct air capture projects, and in Canada, the federal government is currently hammering out details of its promised tax credit for carbon and direct air capture deployment.

1PointFive has stated it believes it can deploy 70 direct air capture facilities worldwide by 2035, under current compliance and market scenarios.

In a statement, Carbon Engineering CEO Daniel Friedmann said the deal with Occidental will dramatically enhance the Canadian company’s ability to continue developing its technology through widespread commercialization.

“It will enable us to accelerate our mission to lead the world in the large-scale removal of carbon dioxide from the air and help advance our shift to a sustainable, net zero society,” Friedmann said.

“We have always believed that global partnerships and cross-industry collaboration would be required to deploy Direct Air Capture infrastructure at scale.”

Friedmann said Carbon Engineering’s headquarters and its employees will remain based at the company’s Innovation Centre in Squamish.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2023.

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press

Occidental to Buy DAC Innovator Carbon Engineering for $1.1B

Occidental Petroleum revealed plans to acquire Canadian Direct Air Capture supplier Carbon Engineering through its subsidiary Oxy for $1.1 billion.

The oil major’s Oxy Low Carbon Ventures subsidiary advances technologies and solutions that economically grow the company while reducing emissions.

Carbon Engineering (CE) provides climate solutions focusing on deploying large-scale direct air capture (DAC) technology. It captures carbon directly from the atmosphere and stores it in geologic formations or uses it to make valuable products.
Accelerating DAC Deployment and Technology Breakthroughs

Occidental and CE have been working on DAC technologies for almost five years now. The buyout will allow Occidental to establish multiple direct air capture sites to deliver climate change solutions.

DAC is Occidental’s low-carbon strategy toward its net zero goal. Last year, it signed a net zero oil deal with South Korean refiner SK Trading.

Occidental plans to build about 100 DAC plants to rapidly advance the technology breakthroughs and ramp up deployment. That way the energy giant can help make DAC a cost-effective global carbon removal solution.

Buying out Carbon Engineering is a good opportunity to make that happen while aligning with Occidental’s net-zero strategies. CE’s DAC technology applies standardized and proven processes.

The image shows how CE’s DAC technology works. It uses giant fans powered by solar energy to suck in CO2. The liquid sorbents draw in carbon that will be heated to get pure CO2, which would be injected underground or used in making valuable products.
Carbon Engineering DAC Process

 

Highlighting the importance of their agreement in scaling up DAC, Occidental President and CEO Vicki Hollub said:

“Together, Occidental and Carbon Engineering can accelerate plans to globally deploy DAC technology at a climate-relevant scale and make DAC the preferred solution for businesses seeking to remove their hard-to-abate emissions.”

Hollub added that it will bring new revenue streams for Occidental, adding to its profitability.

Occidental will buy CE’s equity for cash in 3 annual payments, with the first due when their agreement turns official.

Their deal will close before this year closes, subject to regulatory approvals in both the United States and Canada. After this Carbon Engineering would be a wholly owned subsidiary of Oxy Low Carbon Ventures. Its R&D activities and Innovation Center will remain as is in BC, Canada.

The DAC company’s personnel will also continue their usual DAC tech development efforts while working closely with Occidental and 1PointFive to provide DAC solutions.

1PointFive is a Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration (CCUS) platform aimed at curbing global warming by deploying climate solutions. And this particularly includes CE’s DAC solution.
A Growing Support for DAC

Carbon Engineering CEO Daniel Friedmann expressed their appreciation of the acquisition as the next chapter in their journey. The deal shows their commitment to “accelerate implementation of DAC-based climate solutions in the U.S. and around the world.”

The deal comes as part of the US government’s intent to employ DAC, alongside other carbon removal technologies, to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Just last week, the US Department of Energy made a huge bet on DAC technology by planning to spend over $1.2 billion on two DAC projects in Texas and Louisiana. Together, these facilities can potentially remove over 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions each year.
Some of the dollars will be under Oxy’s hands as it manages the West Texas-based DAC project called Stratos.

1PointFive is building Stratos in Ector County, Texas. Occidental and CE are adapting the project’s front-end engineering and design study for a planned DAC facility at Kleberg County. This new plant will be part of the DAC Hub that won DOE’s federal grant.

Employing Carbon Engineering’s DAC technology, Stratos would be the largest DAC plant worldwide in 2025. The other recipient of the grant is Climeworks-led Project Cypress in Louisiana. Climeworks said its DAC hub construction will start as soon as possible, targeting 2025 or 2026.

Right now, the US government is pioneering massive support programs for advancing DAC and scaling it up. But other countries like the UK and EU are keeping pace with their recent announcements of DAC funding programs.

The world needs to remove 1 billion tons or 1 gigatonne of CO2 annually by 2030 to prevent catastrophic disasters. Though it can’t deliver such a big amount of carbon removal, DAC is one option entities have at their disposal.

As governments and industries prioritize DAC, Occidental’s vision aligns with the growing support for innovative carbon capture solutions worldwide.

Offshore drilling rig arrives in Lebanese waters ahead of work near the border with Israel

BASSEM MROUE
Updated Wed, August 16, 2023 



Undated picture released by TotalEnergies shows the drilling rig, Transocean Barents, which arrived at its location in the Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. The rig is expected to begin drilling in September in Lebanese waters near the border with Israel after the two countries reached a deal last year on their maritime border. Lebanon and Israel have formally been at war since Israel's creation in 1948. (TotalEnergies via AP)

BEIRUT (AP) — An offshore drilling rig arrived at its destination in the Mediterranean Sea off Lebanon’s coast and will start operations in the coming weeks to search for gas, cabinet ministers said Wednesday.

The rig is expected to begin drilling this month in Lebanese waters near the border with Israel after the two countries reached a deal last year on their maritime border. Lebanon and Israel have formally been at war since Israel’s creation in 1948.

Cash-strapped Lebanon hopes that future gas discoveries will help the small Mideast nation pull itself out of the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history.

Caretaker Minister of Transport Ali Hamie wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the rig arrived Wednesday morning at the location where it is scheduled to begin work. The rig faces the southern port city of Tyre.

“We hope that Lebanon will become an oil state,” Lebanon’s Energy Minister Walid Fayyad told reporters in Beirut, adding that the results of the drilling are expected in two or three months.

TotalEnergies said in a statement that the rig, Transocean Barents, is now at around 120 kilometers (75 miles) off the coast of Beirut, and the first helicopter that will transport teams to and from the rig is at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport.

“The arrival of the equipment marks an important step in the preparation of the drilling of the exploration well" this month, TotalEnergies said.

In 2017, Lebanon approved licenses for an international consortium including France’s TotalEnergies, Italy’s ENI and Russia’s Novatek to move forward with offshore oil and gas development for two of 10 blocks in the Mediterranean. The borders of one of the two blocks were disputed by neighboring Israel until the maritime border deal was reached last year.

In January, Lebanon, ENI, TotalEnergies and state-owned oil and gas company Qatar Energy signed an agreement in which the Qatari firm replaced Novatek. Under the deal, Qatar Energy will take Novatek's 20% stake in addition to 5% each from ENI and TotalEnergies, leaving the Arab company with a total stake of 30%. Total and ENI will each have 35% stakes.

Under the U.S.-mediated deal between Lebanon and Israel that was signed in October, the disputed waters would be divided along a line straddling the “Qana” natural gas field in the Mediterranean. Gas production would be based on the Lebanese side, but Israel would be compensated for gas extracted from its side of the line under a separately signed deal between TotalEnergies and Israel.

Mexico's Sheinbaum grows lead for ruling party presidential ticket -poll

Reuters
Wed, August 16, 2023 

FILE PHOTO: Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum holds a rally in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum has grown her lead to a 13-point advantage in the contest to be the ruling party's candidate in Mexico's 2024 presidential election, a poll published on Wednesday in newspaper El Universal showed.

With less than a month until the candidate is announced, the survey showed Sheinbaum with 35% support to be the nominee of the leftist National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), followed by former Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard at 22%.

The survey of 1,000 adults by polling firm Buendia & Marquez also showed Sheinbaum was slightly more popular with respondents who identified with the opposition.

Both candidates have long been favorites for the MORENA ticket and ranked far ahead of the poll's next-best placed candidates, including former Interior Minister Adan Augusto Lopez, who had 7% support.

MORENA, lifted by the strong personal approval ratings of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, is heavily favored to win the June 2024 election. That has prompted many analysts to view the MORENA contest as an almost de facto presidential race.

The poll showed that Ebrard was the best-known candidate, being recognized by 70% of respondents, while Sheinbaum followed closely at 69%.

Both resigned from their positions this year to compete in MORENA's internal contest, which formally kicked off on June 19. A winner is due to be announced on Sept. 6, and is expected to be based on voters' preferences.

The face-to-face voter survey was carried out from Aug. 10 to Aug. 14 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.53 percentage points, Buendia & Marquez said.

A survey published in June by Buendia & Marquez showed Sheinbaum polling with a 12-point lead with 34% support and Ebrard with 22% on the question of who should be MORENA's presidential candidate.

If Sheinbaum wins the nomination, Mexico could see women at the head of the presidential election's two top tickets.

Several polls have shown Senator Xochitl Galvez is well positioned to win the nomination for an alliance of leading opposition parties.

(Writing by Isabel Woodford; Editing by Jamie Freed)

ROFLMAO

Montana GOP Slams Youth Constituents As 'Pawns' In A 'Climate Cult' After Historic Ruling

Chris D'Angelo
Tue, August 15, 2023 

Montana Republicans responded to Monday’s ruling in a landmark climate case with statements painting the judge as an environmental “activist” and dismissing the 16 youth plaintiffs — their own constituents — as “pawns” and members of a “climate cult.”

It was a rather stunning reaction given that the case centered on a unique provision in Montana’s Constitution guaranteeing citizens the right to a “clean and healthful environment.” The plaintiffs, ages 5 to 22, argued during a seven-day trial in June that state agencies had violated this constitutional right by approving fossil fuel projects without considering climate impacts.

District Court Judge Kathy Seeley ultimately agreed. In her 103-page ruling, Seeley wrote that the plaintiffs “have proven that as children and youth, they are disproportionately harmed by fossil fuel pollution and climate impacts,” and that their “injuries will grow increasingly severe and irreversible without science-based actions to address climate change.”

One might expect Republicans to be outraged that the state’s government was found to have violated their constituents’ constitutional protections. Instead, they attacked both the young plaintiffs and the judge, and defended Montana’s polluting industries.

“Activist judges, even here in MT, are helping far-Left environmentalists push their green hallucination down the throats of Americans,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who has received more than $1.2 million in oil and gas industry donations over his career, wrote on social media. “Shutting down energy projects that support an all-of-the-above energy portfolio is setting America on a dangerous path. We must reverse course.”

Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) called the plaintiffs “pawns.”

“This is not a school project. It’s a courtroom,” he wrote. “Judge Seeley did a huge disservice to the courts and to these youths by allowing them to be used as pawns in the Left’s poorly thought-out plan to ruin our power grid and compromise our national security in the name of their Green New Fantasy.”

Emily Flower, a spokesperson for Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R), slammed the ruling as “absurd” and called the trial a “taxpayer-funded publicity stunt.”

“Montanans can’t be blamed for changing the climate,” Flower said in a statement. “Their same legal theory has been thrown out of federal court and courts in more than a dozen states. It should have been here as well, but they found an ideological judge who bent over backward to allow the case to move forward and earn herself a spot in their next documentary.”

Tim Sheehy, a Montana businessman who was recruited by Republicans to take on Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) in 2024, extended his streak of toeing the party line.

“The latest example of a liberal activist judge trying to legislate radical Green New Deal disastrous policies from the bench,” Sheehy wrote on social media. “We must fight back and take a strong stand against the climate cult and their job-killing agenda.”

Sheehy is the founder of Bridger Aerospace, a Bozeman-based aerial firefighting business. Prior to launching his Senate bid, Sheehy’s company notably scrubbed language about “fighting on the front lines of climate change” from its website, as ABC News reported last month.

The Republican response to Monday’s ruling is the latest example of the party burying its head in the sand about the mounting impacts of climate change — extreme heat, wildfire, flooding and mass coral bleaching, to name a few — while working to increase production of planet-warming fossil fuels.

During the June trial, several youth plaintiffs testified about the many ways that fossil fuel-driven climate change has affected their lives and health, both physical and mental.

“Today’s ruling in Montana is a game-changer that marks a turning point in this generation’s efforts to save the planet from the devastating effects of human-caused climate chaos,” said Julia Olson, chief legal counsel and executive director of Our Children’s Trust, one of the legal organizations that represented plaintiffs in the case. “This is a huge win for Montana, for youth, for democracy and for our climate.”

The Montana attorney general’s office has promised to appeal the ruling.
Related...

Montana Violated Youth’s Right To A ‘Clean And Healthful Environment,’ Judge Rules In Historic Case


Under Apocalyptic Skies, Republicans Blow Smoke On Climate Change


GOP Pushes Disastrous Environmental Plan As The Planet Bakes

ABOLISH BLASPHEMY LAWS
Pakistan crowd vandalises churches, torches homes after two accused of blasphemy

Mubasher Bukhari and Asif Shahzad
Updated Wed, August 16, 2023 






By Mubasher Bukhari and Asif Shahzad

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Muslim crowd attacked a Christian community in eastern Pakistan on Wednesday, vandalising several churches and setting scores of houses on fire after accusing two of its members of desecrating the Koran, police and community leaders said.

The attack took place in Jaranwala in the industrial district of Faisalabad, police spokesman Naveed Ahmad said. The two Christians were accused of blasphemy, he said, adding they and family members had fled their homes.

Resident Shakil Masih said he heard announcements inciting the mob and then saw crowds heading towards his Christian area.

"I left my home immediately with my family. Several other families did the same," he told Reuters.

The area has been cordoned off as police negotiated with the crowd, provincial police chief Usman Anwar told English Dawn.com online publication.

The police case against the two Christians is that they found pages of the Koran with some derogatory remarks written in red.

Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan and though no one has ever been executed for it, numerous accused people have been lynched by outraged crowds.

A former provincial governor and a minister for minorities have also been shot dead because of blasphemy accusations.

Rights groups say accusations of blasphemy are also misused to settle scores. Hundreds of people are languishing in prison after being accused as judges often put off trials, fearing retribution if they are seen as being too lenient, they say.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar called for stern action against those responsible for Wednesday's violence. "I am gutted by the visuals coming out," he said.

Hundreds of people blocked a nearby highway to protest against the alleged desecration of the Koran.

A Christian leader, Akmal Bhatti, said the crowd had "torched" at least five churches and looted valuables from houses that had been abandoned by their owners.

Several social media posts showed some churches, houses and belongings on fire as police stood by.

The mob was made up of thousands of people led by local clerics, mainly from an Islamist political party called Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), a government source said.

The TLP, however, denied inciting the violence and said it had worked with police to try to calm things down.

(Writing and additional reporting by Asif Shahzad in Islamabad; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Nick Macfie)

Mob burns Pakistani churches, vandalises cemetery over alleged blasphemy
AFP
Wed, August 16, 2023 

View of a burnt church on the outskirts of Faisalabad, Pakistan, on August 16, 2023, following an attack by Muslim men after Christians were accused of blasphemy (Ghazanfar MAJID)

Hundreds of Muslim men set fire to churches and vandalised Christian homes during a rampage in eastern Pakistan on Wednesday, officials said, after Christians were accused of blasphemy.

The mob made its way through a predominantly Christian area on the outskirts of the industrial city of Faisalabad after allegations spread that the Koran had been desecrated.

"The crowd inflicted heavy damage on the area including to homes of Christians, and many churches," Ahad Noor, a district government official, told AFP.

Police and rescue officials said at least four churches had been set on fire, while residents said as many as a dozen buildings with church status had been damaged.

Several thousand police have been sent to secure the area and dozens of people detained, Amir Mir, the information minister for Punjab province, said in a statement that also condemned the alleged blasphemy.

Yasir Bhatti, a 31-year-old Christian, fled his home in a narrow alley next to one of the churches that was ransacked by the mob.

"They broke the windows, doors and took out fridges, sofas, chairs and other household items to pile them up in front of the Church to be burnt. They also burnt and desecrated Bibles, they were ruthless," he told AFP by phone.

Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic figures can face the death penalty.

Pakistani bishop Azad Marshall, in the neighbouring city of Lahore, said the Christian community was "deeply pained and distressed" by the events.

"We cry out for justice and action from law enforcement and those who dispense justice and the safety of all citizens to intervene immediately and assure us that our lives are valuable in our own homeland," he posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

- 'Failure to protect minorities' -

Images on social media showed crowds of people armed with sticks and rocks storming through the streets, with smoke rising from church buildings.

In one video, crowds cheer and demand punishment for the accused blasphemers as a cross is torn from the top of a church.

The boundary walls of a Christian cemetery were vandalised, as well as the local government office, as crowds demanded action from the authorities, police said.

Local Muslim leaders used mosque loudspeakers to urge their followers to demonstrate, according to videos posted on social media.

"Christians have desecrated the Holy Koran. All the clerics, all the Muslims should unite and gather in front of the mosque. Better to die if you don't care about Islam," one cleric is heard saying.

A police report said charges would be filed against two Christian men who have fled the area.

Christians, who make up around two percent of the population, occupy one of the lowest rungs in Pakistani society and are frequently targeted with spurious and unfounded blasphemy allegations that can be used to settle personal vendettas.

Islamist right-wing leaders and political parties across Pakistan frequently rally around the issue, while politicians have been assassinated, European countries threatened with nuclear annihilation and students lynched over accusations of blasphemy.

"The frequency and scale of such attacks -- which are systematic, violent and often uncontainable -- appear to have increased in recent years," The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said on Wednesday.

"Not only has the state failed to protect its religious minorities, but it has also allowed the far right to permeate and fester within society and politics."

Christian woman Asia Bibi was at the centre of a decade-long blasphemy row in Pakistan, which eventually saw her death sentence overturned and she was later allowed to leave the country.

Her case sparked violent demonstrations and high-profile assassinations while spotlighting religious extremism across wide sections of Pakistani society.

Pakistan's newly appointed caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said on X that he was "gutted" by what was happening: "Stern action would be taken against those who violate law and target minorities."

kf-ak/ecl/qan

Pipeline Company Energy Transfer to Buy Crestwood in $7.1 Billion Deal

Christine Buurma and Ruth Liao
Wed, August 16, 2023 



(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Kelcy Warren’s Energy Transfer LP will buy Crestwood Equity Partners LP in a $7.1 billion all-equity deal that will create a major expansion of its pipeline networks across the US.

The deal will extend Energy Transfer’s position in the Williston basin of Montana and North Dakota and the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, while providing entry into Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, according to a statement Wednesday. Crestwood’s system includes about 2 billion cubic feet a day of gas gathering capacity and 340,000 barrels a day of crude oil gathering capacity.

Shares of Energy Transfer were about 2% higher as of 10:19 a.m. in New York, and and Crestwood was up about 5%.

The US energy sector has seen dealmaking heat up after booming profits in recent years left producers flush with cash. Pipeline operators have been part of the activity as the transition to renewable energy makes it unlikely that major new infrastructure will be built even as demand for offtake remains robust as shale producers seek to preserve top-quality drilling locations. In May, Oneok Inc. agreed to buy Magellan Midstream Partners LP in an $18.8 billion cash-and-stock transaction that’s awaiting shareholder approval.

Read More: Oil Patch Is Poised for Buyout Wave as US Drillers Seek New Land

Warren, 67, has been on a buying spree for more than three years. Even before Wednesday’s announcement, he’d committed more than $11 billion to snap up pipelines and ancillary assets in the Permian region, the Gulf Coast and Great Plains. The value of pipeline networks has continued to increase amid the need to connect remote wells to population centers and export facilities.

The Crestwood deal includes the assumption of $3.3 billion of debt, according to the statement. Under the terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, Crestwood common unitholders will receive 2.07 Energy Transfer common units for each Crestwood common unit. After closing, Crestwood common unitholders are expected to own about 6.5% of Energy Transfer’s outstanding common units.

“We view the deal as neutral for ET,” Elvira Scotto, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a report. “ET units are likely to underperform given the all-equity deal.”


BofA Securities acted as sole financial adviser to Energy Transfer and Kirkland & Ellis LLP was legal counsel. Intrepid Partners LLC and Evercore acted as financial advisers to Crestwood and Vinson & Elkins LLP was legal counsel.

(Adds analyst comment in seventh paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

Canada wildfire: Car 'began melting' as family evacuated north


BBC
Published
4 hours ago

Some residents have chosen to leave Yellowknife following the declaration of a state of emergency

By Nadine Yousif
BBC News, Toronto

Wildfire is bearing down on the capital city of Canada's Northwest Territories, with thousands of people under evacuation orders.

The conflagration - which has already razed one remote community - could reach the city of Yellowknife by the weekend, say officials.

Another fire is threatening the community of Hay River.

One evacuee told the CBC her car began melting as they drove through embers while fleeing the town on Sunday.


The Northwest Territories declared a state of emergency late on Tuesday as it battles more than 200 wildfires.


Hay River Mayor Kandis Jameson estimated that about 500 people were still in the community of some 3,500 people as of Tuesday despite an evacuation notice issued for the town over the weekend.


Media caption,


Watch: A dramatic helicopter rescue for three hikers trapped by wildfire in Canada


The fire moved 30km in a few hours because of strong winds earlier this week, closing the only two highways out of the town.


The road out of Hay River is "treacherous", the mayor said, and food and petrol supplies are getting low in the town.


Phone and internet services have also been down in the remote region.


Canada's military has been co-ordinating airlift operations out of several communities in Northwest Territories' South Slave Region that have been threatened by wildfires in recent days.


It is the largest airlift evacuation effort in the territory's history.


Most evacuees have been brought south to the neighbouring province of Alberta, with no indication as to when they will be able to return home.



Yellowknife, a city of 20,000 south of the Arctic Circle, declared a state of emergency on Monday.


Officials hope Yellowknife could be spared the wildfires if it rains as forecast in the next few days. The blaze was about 17km (10 miles) north-west of the city as of Wednesday afternoon.


Fort Smith, K'atl'odeeche First Nation, Hay River, Enterprise and Jean Marie River are all under evacuation orders.


Enterprise, home to 120 people, is "90% gone" after a wildfire swept through this week, the community's mayor told the CBC on Tuesday.


Canada is having its worst wildfire season on record, with nearly 1,100 active fires burning across the country as of Wednesday.


Experts have pointed to a warmer and drier spring than normal as the reason.



Scientists say climate change increases the risk of the hot, dry weather that is likely to fuel wildfires.

Related Topics

UK
Scroby Sands: Investigation into wind turbine fire 'may take weeks'

OLIV3R DRONE PHOTOGRAPHY
The turbine is part of the Scroby Sands offshore wind farm

By Andy Trigg
BBC News, Norfolk

It could take weeks to determine the cause of a fire on an offshore wind turbine, its owner has said.

The blaze at the Scroby Sands wind farm 1.5 miles (2.5km) off the coast of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk started on Tuesday morning and self extinguished hours later.

RWE, the German company that owns the site, said a team had already started removing fire debris at low tide.

The majority of turbines at the wind farm are back in operation.

Chris Smith, the first manager at Scroby Sands wind farm when it was commissioned in 2004, said; "These types of fires are extremely rare.

"I can only think of two similar fires across the UK in the past.

"When something like this happens, you can only watch as the fire burns out."

HEMSBY BEACH CAFE
The fire could be seen by people on the beach at Hemsby

RWE confirmed on Tuesday that no-one was working on the turbine at the time and that all personnel at the site had been accounted for following an evacuation.

It said the majority of damage was caused to the nacelle - the enclosure at the top of the tower which housed the generating components - and that it may take weeks to determine the cause of the blaze.

Investigators could not assess the damage until it was safe to do so, the company added.

"An electrical fault is the most likely cause," Mr Smith added. "There's a lot of electrical components in those things and electrical items are the most likely things to generate heat."

,

OLIV3R DRONE PHOTOGRAPHYImage caption,
The majority of the damage was caused to the nacelle - the enclosure at the top of the tower which houses the generating components

RWE said the wind farm was now operational but that six turbines - connected to the damaged one via an electrical cable - would remain out of action until next week.

Ana Musat, executive director of policy and engagement at RenewableUK, said: "There's a lot of work that goes in on a regular basis to stress test the equipment and ensure that we install really good quality components.

"So, of course, everyone is working really hard to ensure that we have as few incidents like this as possible and that we can learn any lessons from this particular one."

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) also said it was liaising with RWE, the local authority and environmental stakeholders, to ensure an appropriate clean-up operation was carried out.

It added that a local navigation warning had also been issued to keep vessels away from the affected area.

RWE said its 30 turbines at Scroby Sands had an installed capacity of 60 megawatts and was able to power more than 48,000 households.

Scroby Sands wind turbine fire off Norfolk coast self extinguishes

Published
1 day ago


The turbine is part of the Scroby Sands offshore wind farm
By Andy Trigg
BBC News, Norfolk

A fire on an offshore wind turbine has self extinguished, its owner has said.

A plume of black smoke was seen billowing from the Scroby Sands wind farm, 1.5 miles (2.5km) off the coast of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

HM Coastguard said the alarm was raised at 10:50 BST on Tuesday and that all personnel had been accounted for following an evacuation.

RWE, the German company that owns the wind farm, said no-one was on board the turbine when the fire broke out.

The company hoped to have the wind farm back operational on Wednesday.

EMILY METCALFE

The fire was first reported to HM Coastguard at about 10:50 BST

A spokesperson for RWE said: "An incident occurred which led to a fire in the turbine nacelle - the enclosure at the top of the tower which houses the generating components.

"Emergency services were contacted immediately and the Coastguard made aware. They are monitoring the area and advising on a potential 500 metre restriction zone being enforced around the affected turbine

"We would ask people to keep away from the area as assessments are ongoing."


The Scroby Sands wind farm was commissioned in 2004

ANDY PERKINS

Scroby Sands was one of the UK's first commercial offshore wind farms

RWE said its 30 turbines had an installed capacity of 60 megawatts and was able to power more than 48,000 households.

Georgia tribunal rejects recommendation to fire teacher over controversial book reading

Associated Press
Tue, August 15, 2023 

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — A trio of retired educators has rejected a suburban Atlanta school district's recommendation to fire a teacher who was removed from the classroom after she was accused of improperly reading a book on gender fluidity to her fifth-grade class.

Monday's move paves the way for Due West Elementary teacher Katie Rinderle to keep her job. But the Cobb County School Board has the final decision, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The panel reached a decision after a two-day hearing last week about whether Rinderle should be fired for reading the picture book “My Shadow is Purple” by Scott Stuart. The case has drawn wide attention as a test of what public school teachers can teach in class, how much a school system can control teachers and whether parents can veto instruction they dislike. It comes amid a nationwide conservative backlash to books and teaching about LGBTQ+ subjects in school.

Officials in Cobb County, Georgia’s second-largest school district, argue Rinderle broke the school district’s rules against teaching on controversial subjects and decided to fire her after parents complained. She is believed to be the first public school teacher in Georgia to face termination under the regulations modeled after new state laws that require teachers to get preapproval to bring up potentially sensitive topics in the classroom.

But a district-appointed, three-person tribunal that heard the case denied the district’s recommendation to terminate her employment.

“I appreciate the tribunal’s consideration of my case and decision not to terminate me,” Rinderle said in an emailed statement to the newspaper through the Southern Poverty Law Center. “However, I disagree that I’ve violated any policy and that finding remains unjust and punitive. The district has never provided adequate guidance on how I am supposed to know what is and what is not allowed in the classroom based on these vague policies. Prioritizing behaviors and attitudes rooted in bigotry and discrimination does not benefit students and undermines the quality of education and the duty of educators.”

The school board will have the choice to adopt, reject or modify the tribunal’s decision during Thursday’s school board meeting. Board Chair Brad Wheeler told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the board would discuss the case this week.

“The board will review the tribunal’s recommendation and looks forward to returning our entire focus on educating all of our talented students,” a spokesperson for the school district said in an email.

WW III

China watching closely as US, Japan, South Korea aim for 'de facto Asian NATO'

South China Morning Post
Tue, August 15, 2023 

China is said to be on "high alert" as US President Joe Biden hosts the leaders of Japan and South Korea at Camp David this week to deepen technological and defence ties - building what some observers have called a "de facto Asian Nato" on China's doorstep.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will be joining Biden on Friday at the US presidential retreat in rural Maryland for the first three-way summit of its kind.

They are expected to announce plans for expanded cooperation on ballistic missile defence systems and technology development, senior US officials told Reuters.

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They are likely to also agree to set up a new three-way crisis hotline and gather annually in the future, Reuters quoted the officials as saying.

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China was opposed to "the cobbling together of various small circles by the countries concerned".

"[China] also opposes practices that exacerbate confrontation and jeopardise the strategic security of other countries," Wang said.

"The countries concerned should follow the trend of the times and do more that is conducive to regional peace, stability and prosperity."

Lu Chao, dean of the Institute of American and East Asian Studies at Liaoning University in northeastern China, said Friday's meeting could lead to a trilateral military alliance that would hit a nerve in Beijing.

"The [likely] mechanism of regular meetings among heads of state and the fixed mechanism of cooperation in the military aspect amount to the de facto formation of a three-way military alliance," Lu said.

While North Korea is expected to top the agenda, Beijing will be watching for specific references to Taiwan in the joint statement expected to be issued at the end of the summit, observers in mainland China said.

Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province to be eventually reunited, by force if needs be. While most countries, including the US, Japan and South Korea, do not recognise self-ruled Taiwan as an independent state, but oppose any attempt to take the island by force.

"China is on high alert for the summit, especially if the Taiwan issue is to be mentioned," Lu said.


"If they raise the Taiwan issue publicly at the summit, it would be seen as a strong provocation to China and will be a dangerous move for stability in the Asia-Pacific."

Taiwan's Vice President William Lai (centre left) chats with Ingrid D. Larson (right) managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan/Washington Office, upon arrival in New York on Sunday. Photo: Taiwan Presidential Office via AP alt=Taiwan's Vice President William Lai (centre left) chats with Ingrid D. Larson (right) managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan/Washington Office, upon arrival in New York on Sunday. Photo: Taiwan Presidential Office via AP>

The statement would also contain general observations on maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, though the exact wording was expected to be negotiated up until the last minute, an anonymous US official told Reuters.

Friday's summit comes after months of diplomacy by the Biden administration, which has tried to bring together Washington's treaty allies Japan and South Korea as part of a campaign to strengthen Asian military alliances to counter China.

The US signed the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security with Japan in 1951. In 1953, following the Korean war armistice, it signed a Mutual Defence Treaty with South Korea.

Tokyo and Seoul have a troubled history, especially over Japan's wartime excesses as well as territorial issues, but a rising China, Russia's militarism and a nuclear-armed North Korea are factors bringing the two neighbours closer to each other and the US.

Tensions had peaked from time to time, until a major thaw in recent months as Yoon, who took office in May last year, has sought to repair ties with Japan and launched a strategic pivot to the US, to tackle growing military challenges from North Korea and souring ties with China and Russia.

North Korea test-fired around 90 missiles last year, nearly four times its peak of 25 in 2017. Last month, it tested its latest Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile, saying it was a warning to the US and other adversaries.

During an inspection tour of a military factory last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for an increase in missile production to help secure "overwhelming military power" and be ready for war, state news agency KCNA reported.

This came days before annual joint US-South Korean military exercises due to begin on Monday.

Under the principle of collective defence in Article 5 of the Nato treaty, an attack against one ally is considered as an attack against all Nato members.

But Liu Jiangyong, an expert on regional affairs at Beijing's Tsinghua University, voiced scepticism about a trilateral alliance comparable to Nato.

"The three countries do not have the security commitments that Nato countries have with each other, and Japan and South Korea are security partners, not allies," Liu said.

The strategic goals of the three countries were also different, he said.

"The US may consider [its goals] from a global perspective, while Japan is largely targeting China ... South Korea, meanwhile, is trying to strengthen security cooperation with the US and Japan to build a greater military deterrent against North Korea."

However, he expected "joint military exercises and trilateral consultations against China" to continue.

In a speech on Tuesday marking the 78th anniversary of South Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Yoon said his country would step up security cooperation with the US and Japan in addressing the nuclear threat from North Korea.

Kim Jae-chun, an international relations professor at Sogang University in Seoul, also said any trilateral military technology cooperation would largely focus on North Korea.

"While previously the discussion remained on sharing the alert on North Korean missiles, now it will focus on the drills to intercept North Korean ballistic missiles using their radar and missile weapons systems," Kim said.

"I think it has a great meaning in deterring North Korean nuclear development. However, China will criticise South Korea's incorporation into the US missile defence system."

Kim said while the joint statement after the trilateral summit was not likely to point at China as a threat, the US-China rivalry had already turned into a strategic competition, regardless of the aims of the trilateral summit.

"The current trend shows that China-Russia-North Korea cooperation is strengthening in northeast Asia and US-South Korea-Japan ties are also increasing in response ... it appears that the two sides are containing each other."

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.