Today’s Key Takeaway: ANWR lease sale a political risk for Biden. Red Dog mine is the world’s first zinc mine to be awarded the Zinc Mark – recognizing it for meeting high ESG standards. 50% growth in global LNG by 2050. Neutering an energy watchdog.
NEWS OF THE DAY:
Looming Arctic oil sale reveals political risks for Biden
Heather Jones, E & E News, February 14, 2024
A congressionally mandated oil lease sale in the Arctic looms over President Joe Biden’s 2024 election campaign, threatening to revive attacks on the administration’s energy record as the president is looking to his environmental base for crucial support.
Because of a 2017 tax law, the White House must hold the sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by December, forcing the president to advance potential crude oil development on untrammeled lands that he once promised to protect from drilling.
It’s a tricky political mandate as climate is expected to be a deciding issue in 2024 for many environmentalists and younger voters who are already angry about White House’s policies on oil and gas drilling.
The coming sale underscores the political challenge for Biden as he simultaneously aims to get high turnout from his base, woo independents who may be sympathetic to Republican arguments on drilling and faces an electorate that appears largely unaware of his climate record.
GAS:
Shell Expects Global LNG Demand To Jump by 50% by 2040
Tsvetana Paraskova, OilPrice.Com, February 14, 2024
Global demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) is expected to surge by 50% by 2040, driven by higher demand from Asia, with coal-to-gas switching in China and a boost in LNG consumption to fuel economic growth in South and Southeast Asia, Shell said on Wednesday.
Last year, global trade in LNG reached 404 million tons, slightly higher than the 397 million tons in 2022, with tight supplies of LNG constraining growth, Shell, the world’s largest LNG trader, said in its annual Shell LNG Outlook 2024.
A milder winter in 2022/2023, high gas storage levels, modest economic recovery in China, and lower demand in Europe helped balance the global gas market during 2023, as prices stabilized. But volatility lingered, with periods of higher volatility sparked by supply security concerns. Tight supplies capped growth rates in LNG trade last year, while prices remained above historic averages, Shell noted.
MINING:
Red Dog awarded the Zinc Mark stamp
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, February 13, 2024
The world’s first zinc mine to meet the high ESG standards to be awarded this mark of sustainability.
Teck Resources Ltd.’s Red Dog Operations in Northwest Alaska is the world’s first zinc mine to be awarded the Zinc Mark, a certification that the facility meets high environmental, social, and governance standards.
Accounting for more than 4% of global zinc production – along with lead, silver, and germanium byproducts – Red Dog is the largest critical minerals mine in the United States.
“Zinc plays an important role in enabling a low-carbon future and our people are focused every day on responsibly producing this critical mineral that the world needs,” said Teck Resources President and CEO Jonathan Price.
Now, the critical metal produced at Red Dog will bear the Zinc Mark, an extension of the Copper Mark framework established by the International Copper Association in 2019 as an independent entity to promote responsible mining practices and demonstrate the sector’s efforts to uphold the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Copper Mark-assured sites currently account for 25% of the copper mined globally. This includes Teck’s Highland Valley Copper Operations in BC, which was the first mine in Canada to be awarded the Copper Mark.
This sustainability certification was expanded to include Zinc Mark, Molybdenum Mark, and Nickel Mark.
To be certified with any of these marks, operations are assessed and independently verified against 32 ESG criteria, including greenhouse gas emissions, community health and safety, respect for Indigenous rights, and business integrity.
Meeting the requisite criteria, Red Dog is now Zinc Mark certified.
“Teck’s Red Dog Operation is the first mining site to receive the stand-alone Zinc Mark. We are excited to see the standard applied to other metals operations, and congratulate Teck on the initiative and Red Dog on its achievement,” said Copper Mark Executive Director Michèle Brülhart.
Adding to the ESG credentials of zinc mined at Red Dog, Teck’s Trail Operations, a British Columbia refinery where the Northwest Alaska’s mine’s concentrates are shipped for processing, is also Zinc Mark certified.
In addition, the Canada-based mining company’s Quebrada Blanca Operations and Carmen de Andacollo operations in Chile were awarded the Copper Mark in 2022.
“With Red Dog being awarded the Zinc Mark, all of Teck’s managed base metals operations are now verified and recognized for strong environmental and social performance, illustrating our focus on responsible production for the benefit of our customers, and for the environment and people where we operate,” said Price.
POLITICS:
Climate Politics Neuters an Energy Watchdog – WSJ
Robert McNally, The Wall Street Journal, February 12, 2024
The International Energy Agency once provided solid information. Its reports can no longer be trusted.
The U.S. and other oil-importing countries established the International Energy Agency in 1974, a year after the disruptions of the Arab oil embargo. The IEA’s founders intended to create a multinational organization that would bolster energy security by providing authoritative data and analysis; scrutinizing energy markets, policies, and geopolitics; and orchestrating responses to emergencies.
But today the IEA looks more like a climate-obsessed nongovernmental organization. As IEA members gather this week in Paris, they should consider several steps to restore the agency’s reputation and bolster energy security.
For most of the past five decades, the IEA fulfilled its watchdog duties. It became the gold standard for timely data, impartial analysis, and forecasts devoid of political bias. The agency navigated energy crises, providing data and policy coordination during the two Gulf Wars, the 2019 Iranian attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq oil facility, and various natural disasters affecting energy supply and basic energy trends.
Unfortunately, in recent years, the IEA has succumbed to politicization and strayed from its security mission. In 2020 the IEA bowed to enormous pressure from climate activists and ceased publication of oil and gas demand forecasts that didn’t show demand for those fuels would soon peak because of imaginary future climate policies.
Green groups had been angry over IEA baseline forecasts showing what the activists regarded as too much oil and gas demand. This was because these baseline forecasts assumed only the laws currently on the books and didn’t engage in conjecture about future green policies. As a result, IEA’s influential demand forecasts now reflect wishful thinking about the timing and cost of a peak in oil and gas consumption.
IEA’s capitulation to political pressure transcends mere technical debates among energy-forecasting experts. Bullying the world’s respected energy authority to mislead the world into thinking that oil and gas demand will soon peak might align with the preferences of certain governments and activists. But the distortion and politicization of the IEA’s once-respected forecasts pose significant risks.