OIL
Europe faces high hurdles to make hydrogen hype reality
Nina Chestney, Kate Abbott, Reuteres, August 26, 2020
A European Union goal to boost the use of zero-carbon hydrogen is likely to be a pipe dream unless the bloc can find billions in investment and persuade member states, under strain from the pandemic hit to their economies, to give their backing. Last month, the European Commission mapped out a plan to expand the production and use of “green hydrogen” – a zero-carbon fuel made by electrolysis, using renewable power from wind and solar, that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen.
GAS
U.S. LNG Exporters Are Adding Capacity Despite A Plunge In Demand
Irina Slav, OILPRICE.COM, August 26, 2020
In a world awash in LNG, any news about more production capacity sounds illogical. Nevertheless, this is what U.S. energy companies are doing: they are boosting their production and export capacity despite a plunge in exports over the past few months. Are they burying themselves in billions worth of liquefaction trains that will never return the investment, or are they cleverly playing the long game? U.S. LNG export capacity was three times that of the actual exports last month, the Energy Information Administration said earlier in August. These have been falling since February, faster and faster, to reach just 3.1 billion cu ft per day from the February record-high of 8 billion cu ft per day.
MINING
Financial robust Arctic Mine confirmed
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, August 22, 2020
A feasibility study for developing a mine at the world-class Arctic deposit in Alaska’s Ambler Mining District details a financially robust operation that would produce 1.9 billion pounds of copper, 2.3 billion lb of zinc, 388 million lb of lead, 386,000 ounces of gold, and 40.6 million oz of silver over an initial 12-year mine life. While high-grade volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits such as Arctic are typically mined from underground, the Arctic feasibility study details plans for a lower cost open-pit mine feeding a 10,000-metric-ton-per day mill.
POLITICS
Turmoil consumes Chamber of Commerce as it backs Democrats
Alex Isenstadt, Politico, August 27, 2020
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is poised to endorse nearly two dozen freshmen House Democrats for reelection, triggering a revolt within the right-leaning organization and drawing fierce pushback from the group’s powerful GOP donors. The decision represents a sharp departure for the traditionally conservative Chamber, which has spent over $100 million backing Republican candidates during the past decade, and it threatens to further complicate the party’s prospects in the November election while driving a split in the business community.