Tag Archives: GASU

World

‘Fed up’: British gas pumps still dry, pig cull fears grow

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A worker guides vehicles into the forecourt as they queue to refill at a fuel station in London, Britain, September 30, 2021. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

  • Many gas stations still closed – Reuters reporters
  • Britain says crisis stabilising
  • Retailers: fuel demand unprecedented
  • Pig cull fears: farmers warn butcher shortage
  • Pig farmers urge retailers to shun EU pork

LONDON, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Many British gas stations were still dry on Friday after a chaotic week that saw panic-buying, fights at the pumps and drivers hoarding fuel in water bottles after an acute shortage of truck drivers strained supply chains to breaking point.

Shortages of workers in the wake of Brexit and the COVID pandemic have sown disarray through some sectors of the economy, disrupting deliveries of fuel and medicines and leaving up to 150,000 pigs backed up on farms.

British ministers have for days insisted the crisis is abating or even over, though retailers said more than 2,000 gas stations were dry and Reuters reporters across London and southern England said dozens of pumps were still closed.

Queues of often irate drivers snaked back from those gas stations that were still open in London.

“I am completely, completely fed up. Why is the country not ready for anything?” said Ata Uriakhil, a 47-year-old taxi driver from Afghanistan who was first in a line of more than 40 cars outside a closed Sainsbury’s petrol station in Richmond.

“When is it going to end?,” Uriakhil said. “The politicians are not capable of doing their jobs properly. The government should have been prepared for this crisis. It is just incompetence.”

Uriakhil said he had lost about 20% of his normal earnings this week because he has been waiting for fuel rather than picking up customers.

Ministers say the world is facing a global shortage of truck drivers and that they are working to ease the crisis. They deny that the situation is a consequence of an exodus of EU workers following Britain’s departure from the bloc, and have dismissed concerns the country is heading towards a “winter of discontent” of shortages and power cuts.

Though there are shortages of truck drivers in other countries, EU members have not seen fuel shortages.

The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) said members reported on Thursday that 27% of pumps were dry, 21% had just one fuel type in stock and 52% had enough petrol and diesel.

After a shortage of truckers triggered panic buying at gas stations, farmers are now warning that a shortage of butchers and abattoir workers could force a mass cull of up to 150,000 pigs.

EU PIGS?

Britain’s pig industry implored retailers to continue buying local pork and not cheaper EU products, saying businesses would go bust and livestock would be culled if producers were not given immediate support.

The weekly slaughter of pigs has dropped by 25% since August after the pandemic and Britain’s post-Brexit immigration rules combined to hit an industry already struggling for workers, leading to a now acute shortage of butchers and slaughterers.

“As a result of the labour supply issues in pork processing plants, we currently have an estimated 120,000 pigs backed up on UK pig farms that should have gone to slaughter,” the National Pig Association said in a letter to retailers.

“The only option for some will be to cull pigs on farm.”

The meat processing industry has long struggled to find enough workers but it has been hit by the departure of many eastern European workers who returned home due to Brexit and COVID-19.

The pig association said that despite attempts to persuade the government to ease immigration rules, it appeared to have reached an impasse. Britain recently changed tack to allow some international workers to come in for three months to drive trucks and fill gaps in the poulty sector.

Additional reporting by Costas Pitas, Kate Holton, James Davey and Sarah Young; writing by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Andy Bruce and Angus MacSwan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

Behave normally, UK transport minister tells Britons queuing for fuel

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BRIGHTON, England, Sept 26 (Reuters) – Transport Minister Grant Shapps on Sunday called on Britons to behave normally when buying petrol, saying there was no shortage of fuel and the government was stepping in to ease a shortage of drivers bringing it to petrol stations.

In recent days long lines of vehicles have formed at petrol stations as motorists waited, some for hours, to fill up with fuel after oil firms reported a lack of drivers was causing transport problems from refineries to forecourts.

Some operators have had to ration supplies and others to close gas stations.

“There’s plenty of fuel, there’s no shortage of the fuel within the country,” he told Sky News.

“So the most important thing is actually that people carry on as they normally would and fill up their cars when they normally would, then you won’t have queues and you won’t have shortages at the pump either.”

Shapps said the shortage of drivers was down to COVID-19 disrupting the qualification process for drivers, preventing new labour from entering the market.

Others pinned the blame on Brexit and poor working conditions forcing out foreign drivers.

Drivers queue to enter a fuel station in London, Britain, September 25, 2021. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

Read More

The government on Sunday announced a plan to issue temporary visas for 5,000 foreign truck drivers. read more

But business leaders have warned the government’s plan is short-term fix and will not solve an acute labour shortage that risks major disruption beyond fuel deliveries, including for retailers in the run-up to Christmas.

Shapps called the panic over fuel a ‘manufactured situation’ and blamed it on a hauliers’ association.

“They’re desperate to have more European drivers undercutting British salaries,” he said.

An Opinium poll published in the Observer newspaper on Sunday said that 67% of voters believe the government has handled the crisis badly. A majority of 68% said that Brexit was partly to blame.

Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, speaking at his party’s annual conference in southern England, said ministers had failed to plan for labour shortages following the 2016 Brexit vote and called for a bigger temporary visa scheme.

“This is a complete lack of planning: we exited the EU … just one consequence was there was going to be a shortage of HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) drivers. That was predictable, it was predicted,” he told the BBC.

Reporting by William James and Elizabeth Piper, Editing by Angus MacSwan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Algeria closes airspace to Moroccan aviation as dispute deepens

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Algerian upper house chairman Abdelkader Bensalah is pictured after being appointed as interim president by Algeria’s parliament, following the resignation of Abdelaziz Bouteflika in Algiers, Algeria April 9, 2019. REUTERS/Ramzi Boudina/File Photo

ALGIERS/CAIRO, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Algeria’s supreme security council decided on Wednesday to close the country’s airspace to all Moroccan civil and military aircraft, the Algerian presidency said, less than a month after it cut diplomatic relations with the Kingdom.

The decision came “in view of the continued provocations and hostile practices on the Moroccan side”, it said in a statement.

The closure also includes any aircraft carrying a Moroccan registration number, the presidency said after a meeting of the council.

There was no immediate Moroccan official response. A source at Royal Air Maroc said the closure would only affect 15 flights weekly linking Morocco with Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt.

The source described the closure as insignificant and said the relevant flights could reroute over the Mediterranean.

The airline gave no official comment on the Algerian decision.

Algeria late last month decided to cut diplomatic ties with Morocco, citing “hostile actions” from the Kingdom, referring mainly to comments made by Morocco’s envoy in New York in favor of the self-determination of the Kabylie region in Algeria.

Algiers also accused Rabat of backing MAK, a separatist group that the government has declared a terrorist organisation. Authorities blame the group for devastating wildfires, mainly in Kabylie, that killed at least 65 people. MAK has denied the accusations.

Morocco said in response that Algeria was unjustified in cutting ties and its arguments were “fallacious and even absurd.”

The border between Morocco and Algeria has been closed since 1994 and Algeria has indicated it will divert gas exports from a pipeline running through Morocco, which was due to be renewed later this year.

Relations have deteriorated since last year, when the Western Sahara issue flared up after years of comparative quiet. Morocco sees Western Sahara as its own, but the territory’s sovereignty has been disputed by the Polisario Front, an Algeria-backed independence movement.

Reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers and Ahmad Elhamy in Cairo, additional reporting by Ahmed El Jechtimi in Rabat; editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Richard Pullin

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

Britain tells its food industry to prepare for CO2 price shock

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  • CO2 prices will rise sharply, minister says
  • UK pays fertiliser maker CF to reopen plants
  • Poultry plants would have closed, Britain says
  • Iceland says 3-week deal will not save Christmas
  • Poultry industry says turkey production will still fall

LONDON, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Britain warned its food producers on Wednesday to prepare for a 500% rise in carbon dioxide prices after extending emergency state support to avert a shortage of poultry and meat triggered by soaring costs of wholesale natural gas.

Natural gas prices have spiked this year as economies reopened from COVID-19 lockdowns and high demand for liquefied natural gas in Asia pushed down supplies to Europe, sending shockwaves through industries reliant on the energy source.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a by-product of the fertilizer industry – Britain’s main source of CO2 – where natural gas is the biggest input cost. Industrial gas companies, including Linde , Air Liquide (AIRP.PA) and Air Products and Chemicals (APD.N), get their CO2 mainly from fertilizer plants.

The natural gas price surge has forced some fertilizer plants to shut in recent weeks, leading to a shortage of CO2 used to put the fizz into beer and sodas and stun poultry and pigs before slaughter. read more

As CO2 stocks dwindled, Britain struck a deal with U.S. company CF Industries (CF.N), which supplies some 60% of Britain’s CO2, to restart production at two plants which were shut because they had become unprofitable due to the gas price rise.

“We need the market to adjust, the food industry knows there’s going to be a sharp rise in the cost of carbon dioxide,” Environment Secretary George Eustice told Sky News.

It would have to accept that the price of CO2 would rise sharply, to around 1,000 pounds ($1,365) a tonne from 200 pounds a tonne, Eustice said, adding: “So a big, sharp rise.”

The three-week support for CF would cost “many millions, possibly tens of millions but it’s to underpin some of those fixed costs,” Eustice said.

The government gave few details about the deal to take on some of CF’s fixed costs.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, who also serves as energy minister, told lawmakers he was confident the country could also secure other sources of CO2.

It was not immediately clear how the state intervention by one of Europe’s most traditionally laissez-faire governments would affect the price of fertilizer – another key cost for food producers – and whether or not it would stoke demands from other energy-heavy industries for similar state support.

CHRISTMAS SHORTAGES?

Ministers, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have repeatedly brushed aside suggestions there could be a shortages of traditional Christmas fare such as roast turkey, though some suppliers have warned of them.

Kwarteng has said there would be no return to the 1970s when Britain was plagued by power cuts that made the economy the “sick man of Europe”, with three-day working weeks and people unable to heat their homes.

But the boss of supermarket Iceland said the temporary deal to supply CO2 would not solve food industry problems.

“A three week deal won’t save Christmas,” said managing director Richard Walker. “And certainly won’t resolve the issue in the long term.”

Eustice said some of Britain’s meat and poultry processors would have run out of CO2 within days.

“We know that if we did not act, then by this weekend or certainly by the early part of next week, some of the poultry processing plants would need to close,” he added.

He said the impact on food prices would be negligible.

The British Poultry Council welcomed the deal but said the industry was still facing huge pressures from labour shortages. It estimates Christmas turkey production will be down by 20% this year.

Similarly the British Meat Processors Association expressed “huge relief”.

“We are focused on re-establishing (CO2) supplies before Friday this week which is when around 25% of pork production was in danger of shutting down,” it said.

Britain’s Food and Drink Federation said there will still be shortages of some products though they will not be as bad as previously feared, while the British Soft Drinks Association warned it would take up to two weeks before production from CF made any positive impact on market conditions.

Britain’s opposition Labour party said the government needed to explain the contingency plans in place in case the C02 issues are not resolved in three weeks.

($1 = 0.7328 pounds)

Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Kate Holton and James Davey; additional reporting by Nigel Hunt
Editing by Alexander Smith, Mark Potter and Jane Merriman

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

UK vows to manage fallout from soaring gas prices

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  • Business minister says he will protect customers
  • Minister to continue to meet industry representatives
  • Lack of CO2 threatens meat supply
  • Small energy providers seen at risk

LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Britain said on Saturday it would work with the energy industry to try to stem the fallout from soaring gas prices after fears grew that more energy providers and food producers would struggle to operate with such high costs.

Business minister Kwasi Kwarteng said he had been reassured that the security of gas supply was not a cause for immediate concern but he would work with providers to “manage the wider implications of the global gas price increase”.

Kwarteng held emergency talks with executives from National Grid (NG.L), Centrica (CNA.L), EDF (EDF.PA) and the regulator Ofgem on Saturday and is due to hold further discussions with industry figures on Sunday and Monday.

A jump in gas prices has already forced several domestic energy suppliers out of business and has shut fertiliser plants that also produce carbon dioxide, used to stun animals before slaughter and prolong the shelf-life of food. read more

Consumer groups and opposition politicians have warned that some customers and businesses will struggle to pay higher bills. The BBC reported that at least four small British energy companies were expected to go bust next week.

The Business department said the pressures facing companies was discussed during the meeting. Kwarteng said no customer would go without gas or electricity because an alternative supplier would be found if one went bust.

“Protecting customers during a time of heightened global gas prices is an absolute priority,” he said on Twitter.

RENEWABLES

The government has been moved to act after low gas storage levels, decreased supplies from Russia, demand from Asia, low renewables output and nuclear maintenance outages combined to more than triple European gas prices this year, hitting record highs. read more

The impact was immediately felt in the UK food sector where the shortage of CO2, also used in beer, cider and soft drinks, compounded an acute shortage of truck drivers, which has been blamed on the impact of COVID-19 and Brexit.

Nick Allen of the British Meat Processors Association said on Saturday the pig sector was two weeks away from hitting the buffers, while the British Poultry Council said its members were on a “knife-edge” as suppliers could only guarantee deliveries up to 24-hours in advance.

“Doing nothing is not an option,” Allen told Reuters, adding that given the exceptional circumstances, the government needed to either subsidise the power supply to maintain fertiliser production or source CO2 from elsewhere.

Richard Walker, managing director of Iceland Foods, said a CO2 shortage would hit meat products, atmospheric packaged products such as cheese and salads, and long life bakery items.

“We need to sort it, quickly,” he said.

Dermot Nolan, former head of Ofgem, told the BBC he expected prices to stay high for up to four months and it was not clear what the government could do to affect market rates – meaning they will remain a focal point in the run-up to the COP26 climate conference in Scotland in November, where governments will seek to agree new rules to suppress emissions.

Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Edmund Blair, David Holmes and Gareth Jones

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Business

Exclusive: Exxon launches U.S. shale gas sale to kick-start stalled divestitures

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HOUSTON, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) has begun marketing U.S. shale gas properties as it ramps up a long-stalled program that aims to raise billions of dollars to shed unwanted assets and reduce debt taken on last year.

Three years ago, the top U.S. oil producer set a goal of raising $15 billion from sales by December 2021. More recently, it promised to accelerate lagging sales to whittle a record $70 billion debt pile.

The company’s XTO Energy shale unit is seeking buyers for almost 5,000 natural gas wells in the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas, spokeswoman Julie King confirmed.

The assets are among gas projects with declining production and market value Exxon is selling as it focus on newer ventures in Guyana, offshore Brazil and Texas’s Permian Basin.

Exxon is marketing the properties itself and aims to receive bids by Sept. 16 and close any sale by year-end.

“We are providing information to third parties that may have an interest in the assets,” King said. No buyers have been identified, she said, declining to confirm the due date for bids or the company’s anticipated value on the wells.

DECLINING PRODUCTION

The company has achieved about a third of its three-year, $15 billion sales target.This year, it has received sales proceeds of $557 million through June, and has deals pending valued at more than $2.15 billion. read more

Exxon acquired the Fayetteville assets in 2010 for $650 million during a shale boom that would change the U.S. energy landscape, leading to an oversupply of gas that pushed prices to record lows and last year. This led Exxon to reduce the value of its U.S. oil and gas holdings by $17.1 billion. read more

Output in the assets on offer fell by more than half since 2016 to about 160 million cubic feet per day last year, according to Exxon marketing materials seen by Reuters.

The Arkansas properties cover some 416,000 net acres (1,680 square kilometers) and are some of the North American natural gas resources cut last year from Exxon’s development plan. The sale includes 844 operated and 4,104 non-operated wells, King said.

Dallas-based Merit Energy is evaluating the properties, one person familiar with the matter said. Merit in 2018 purchased about 258,000 acres in the same area from BHP for $300 million.

Merit did not reply to requests for comment by phone, e-mail and LinkedIn. Exxon declined to comment on potential bidders.

WORLDWIDE DIVESTMENTS

Exxon, which suffered a historic $22.4 billion loss in 2020, is selling dozens of properties in Asia, Africa, the United States and Europe.

The company is prioritizing debt reduction and its shareholder dividend, officials said last month. After total debt last year doubled to almost $70 billion since 2018, Exxon paid off more than $7 billion this year, to reduce its burden to $60.6 billion.

This year, it has held talks with Britain’s Savannah Energy (SAVES.L) over properties in Chad and Cameroon and sold stakes in two deep water oilfields to Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N) and others. read more

Exxon is seeing new interest in its properties with this year’s rebound in oil and gas prices, said Exxon Senior Vice President Jack Williams on July 30.

“That whole divestment discussion that we’ve had in the past continues,” Williams said.

By Sabrina Valle in Houston, Liz Hampton in Denver and Shariq Khan in Bengaluru; editing by Gary McWilliams, Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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