Feed aggregator

AMI - Le siège de l’Agence Mauritanienne d’Information (AMI) à Nouakchott a abrité, vendredi, une cérémonie au cours de laquelle les...

In Afrika haben sich nach Angaben der Weltgesundheitsorganisation mehr als 100'000 Menschen nachweislich mit dem neuartigen Coronavirus infiziert. Dennoch nehme die Coronavirus-Pandemie hierbei einen anderen Verlauf als anderswo auf der Welt.

Endlich zieht wieder der Duft von gegrillten Köstlichkeiten von den Schweizer Balkonen und Terrassen. Wer eine Grillparty plant, will gut vorbereitet sein. Alles, was Sie benötigen, damit Ihr nächstes Outdoor-BBQ ein voller Erfolg wird, finden Sie hier.

Le jeudi 21 mai 2020, les Seychelles ont reçu une troisième série de fournitures médicales de la Fondation Jack Ma (Alibaba), livrées sur un vol spécial d’Ethiopian Airways. Cette initiative de secours a été lancée par le Premier ministre éthiopien, le Dr Abiy Ahmed, la Fondation Jack Ma et la Fondation Alibaba. Inscrite dans le […]

L’article Coronavirus – Seychelles : arrivée de fournitures médicales de la Fondation Jack Ma est apparu en premier sur Afrik.com.

Un septuagénaire qui voulait abattre un arbre est décédé après en être tombé. Une enquête est ouverte.

Mexico's state-run oil giant Pemex faces a difficult outlook due to the fall in international oil prices and the crisis resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, which threatens its production and finances, in a situation analysed during the 29th La Jolla Energy Conference, organised online by the Institute of the Americas. CREDIT: Emilio Godoy/IPS

By Emilio Godoy
MEXICO CITY, May 22 2020 (IPS)

While it attempts to cushion the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the Latin American and Caribbean region also faces concerns about the future of the energy transition and state-owned oil companies.

These questions were discussed at the 29th La Jolla Energy Conference, organised by the Institute of the Americas. It was held online May 18-22, rather than bringing together more than 50 speakers at the institute’s headquarters in the coastal district of San Diego, in the U.S. state of California, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alfonso Blanco of Uruguay, executive secretary of the Latin American Energy Organisation (OLADE), said during a session on global trends and the regional energy industry that the changes seen during the pandemic will spread after the crisis and will be long-lasting.

“There will be structural transformations and we are convinced that most consumer behaviors will change after the pandemic. Demand will vary due to changes in the main areas of transportation and other energy areas. The effects on fossil fuel consumption will be strong and there will be a greater impact on renewable energies,” he said.

OLADE, a 27-member regional intergovernmental organisation for energy coordination, estimates that electricity demand has fallen by 29 percent in Bolivia compared to 2019, as a result of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes COVID-19, and by 26 percent in Argentina, 22 percent in Brazil and 11 percent in Chile."There will be structural transformations and we are convinced that most consumer behaviors will change after the pandemic. Demand will vary due to changes in the main areas of transportation and other energy areas. The effects on fossil fuel consumption will be strong and there will be a greater impact on renewable energies." -- Alfonso Blanco

Likewise, final energy demand plummeted 14 percent in Brazil compared to 2019, 11 percent in both the Andean and Southern Cone regions, nine percent in Mexico, seven percent in Central America and five percent in the Caribbean.

As countries went into lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19, electricity consumption by businesses and factories declined, due to the suspension of activities.

Leonardo Sempertegui, legal advisor to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said the pandemic may be a wake-up call for countries lagging behind in the energy transition.

“This may be the new normal. The structure and governance of the energy architecture to cope with the next phase are changing dramatically. Energy poverty and the energy transition cannot be solved regardless of who controls a resource; these challenges cannot wait,” he said in the same session.

In Latin America, nations like Argentina, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras and Uruguay have made progress in the energy transition since 2015, while Brazil has slid backwards and countries like Mexico are stuck in the same place, according to the World Economic Forum’s Energy Transition Index, released May 13.

As the region heads into the fourth month of the pandemic, countries are assessing their electricity markets, which have been shaken by the crisis.

Nations like Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru have resorted to long-term electricity auctions, which have generated low prices for renewables, while Mexico suspended such schemes in 2019.

In Argentina, as Andrés Chambouleyron, a non-resident fellow at the Institute of the Americas, explained, industrial consumption fell by 50 percent and electricity distributors have not been able to obtain sufficient revenues to cover fixed costs or electricity purchases.

The government has thus provided financing to Cammesa – the electricity wholesale market administration company – to pay the generators, since it is bound by contracts to buy the energy.

“There will be a permanent change in electricity consumption in Argentina. We have cheaper gas than before; the models say that you have to use more gas because it is cheaper than other sources. We won’t see much change in Argentina’s energy mix, and that could extend to all of Latin America,” said Chambouleyron, who warned of breach of and renegotiation of contracts for energy purchases.

Low oil prices threaten to slow down the energy transition in Latin America, although renewable energies already compete with the costs of fossil fuels, agreed experts at the 29th La Jolla Energy Conference, organised online by the Institute of the Americas. The photo shows solar panels on a house in Ajijic, in the western Mexican state of Jalisco. CREDIT: Emilio Godoy/IPS

While renewables are already competing in price with conventional sources, low oil and gas prices undermine their expansion, a predicament that alternative energy sources have been facing in recent years.

In addition, the rise in the cost of international credit and the fluctuations of the dollar against local currencies may make generation more expensive.

In another session on the outlook for state-owned oil companies, Marta Jara, former president of Uruguay’s public oil company ANCAP, said the current crisis could accelerate the transition, but called it a “major challenge”.

“The temptation is to be opportunistic and forget the roadmap of the energy transition. We must invest in sustainable energy systems, decarbonise transport. It is important to secure funding and create jobs. I hope the crisis opens the door to be more innovative,” she said.

Viable or not?

The plunge in fossil fuel prices is damaging the finances of the region’s oil producing countries, such as Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela, and state companies in the sector are facing problems with regard to planning and operations.

But it benefits net importers, like the countries of Central America or Chile, whose oil bills have shrunk, while for consumers in both oil producing and importing countries the cost of electricity could go down.

“The most competitive will be the countries with lower oil extraction costs. Some projects will not be economically viable. We will see greater economic problems than in 2019,” predicted Lisa Viscidi, director of the Energy, Climate Change and Extractive Industries Programme at the non-governmental Inter-American Dialogue, during a panel on the situation in several Caribbean nations.

The pandemic and a rise in Saudi production announced on Mar. 10 led to a collapse in oil prices and the consequent risk of bankruptcies in the industry. State-owned oil companies have fared better than others so far in the crisis.

In another session on the outlook for state-owned oil companies, John Padilla, managing director of the private consulting firm IPD Latin America, stated that “it will take time to get out of this situation, with effects for the region, and the need for great efficiency.

“Most nations have been exporters, efficiency will be the key. What has not been done is to cultivate domestic and regional markets, state enterprises are not going to play the same role as they always have,” he said.

Public companies such as Brazil’s Petrobras and Colombia’s Ecopetrol entered the crisis in a better position than Mexico’s Pemex, Venezuela’s PDVSA and Argentina’s YPF, according to experts.

“These are difficult times, even for the best prepared. We can hope that if the country and its company are in trouble, if governments need money, they can get more out of the companies,” said Francisco Monaldi, interim director of the Baker Institute for Public Policy’s Latin America Initiative at the private Rice University in the U.S. state of Texas.

In his view, “Mexico is in better fiscal conditions, it should not be a problem. But Pemex can drag Mexico down. If the government doesn’t change direction, it could become a serious problem,” he said as an example.

Although Pemex will increase its investment in 2020, the oil company reported losses of 20 billion dollars in the first quarter of this year. Due to the crisis, Petrobras limited its investment to 3.5 billion dollars and its daily production to 200,000 barrels, and postponed the sale of eight refineries.

For Lucas Aristizábal, a senior director in Fitch Ratings’ Latin American corporates group, some state-owned oil companies are viable and others are not.

“In 2021, the financial contribution of oil will be lower for governments. If they want the companies to play a key role, they will put more pressure on their financial structure. The current situation illustrates the economics of these corporations,” he said during the forum.

Pemex and YPF were already losing money per barrel in 2019, while Petrobras has more balanced production costs.

On the oil horizon, and in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, Guyana has become the rising star, although there is still political uncertainty, as the result of the Mar. 2 presidential elections is still unclear.

“It’s hard to predict what will happen. There is a risk of U.S. sanctions that would not affect investment in the sector, but would pose a political risk to the country,” said Thomas Singh, in the Department of Economics at the public University of Guyana.

The country expects to extract 600,000 barrels per day by 2024 and take in revenues of five billion dollars, with reserves exceeding five billion barrels.

Related Articles

• The Crises of 2020 Will Delay the Transition to Clean Energy

The post Crisis Hits Oil Industry and Energy Transition Alike appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Un grand baobab de la musique béninoise vient de tomber. Le chanteur compositeur interprète Assa Cica (Michel Mahouklo KPODAN à l'état civil) a rendu l'âme ce vendredi au CNHU de Cotonou des suites d'une longue maladie. La vedette de la musique moderne d'inspiration traditionnelle est l'auteur de plusieurs chansons populaires dont Tinman sa lé, Ayato ganmènou, Yadonoumi, Dêmin, Aklunon, Sè dé wè do mi et Vi djin vè.
Assa Cica a marqué plusieurs générations depuis les années 70.
Il a démarré sa carrière avec l'orchestre Poly Rythmo de Cotonou avec la chanson Aga ma gnon nou hê dé. ‹‹ On m'a envoûté pour me faire perdre la voix››, confiait Assa Cica à des fans à qui il proposait l'achat de son CD, sur l'esplanade du stade de l'amitié de Cotonou.
Sa disparition est une grande perte pour le patrimoine nationale.

Les responsables de la prison civile d'Akpro-Missérété viennent d'être relevés de leurs fonctions. Le régisseur et le gardien chef ont été limogés suite au soulèvement enregistré récemment dans la maison d'arrêt.
Selon des sources confidentielles, les responsables du pénitencier ont été sanctionnés pour raison de complicité et de mauvaise gestion de la situation.
Les détenus ont organisé le 6 mai dernier des actes de vandalisme pour protester contre l'opération déclenchée par les autorités pour lutter contre la cybercriminalité et le trafic de stupéfiants au sein de la prison.

D. M.

In der Türkei hat wegen der Coronavirus-Pandemie in der Nacht zum Samstag eine erste landesweite weitgehende Ausgangssperre begonnen. Sie trat um Mitternacht Ortszeit (23.00 Uhr Schweizer Zeit) in Kraft.

Le porte-parole du comité scientifique de suivi de l’évolution de la pandémie du Coronavirus, Djamel Fourar, a indiqué, hier, que 190 nouvelles contaminations au Covid-19 et 7 décès ont été enregistrés lors des dernières 24 heures. Au total le nombre de cas confirmés s’élève à 7918, celui des décès à 582, alors que le total […]

L’article Coronavirus Algérie : Les principaux événements de la journée du 22 Mai 2020 est apparu en premier sur .

L’ancienne présidente de la Corée du Sud destituée en 2017, Park Geun-hye, risque jusqu’à 35 ans de prison. En effet, le parquet sud-coréen a requis, mercredi dernier, 35 ans de prison à l’encontre de l’ancienne présidente sud-coréenne. Jugée en appel pour corruption, la peine de prison requise contre l’ex-présidente de la Corée du Sud est […]

L’article 35 ans de prison requis à l’encontre de l’ex-présidente de la Corée du Sud est apparu en premier sur .

Ärzte der Augsburger Universitätsklinik haben bei der Obduktion verstorbener Coronavirus-Patienten durchwegs «ungewöhnlich schwere, teils mutmasslich irreversible» Schäden im Lungengewebe festgestellt.

Joe Biden wird Donald Trump im Kampf um das US-Präsidentenamt herausfordern. Dabei ist er dringend auf die Stimmen von Schwarzen angewiesen. Diese hat er mit einem Auftritt im Radio nun aber brüskiert.

Die Angst vor Corona schwindet, die Zahl der Ansteckungen geht zurück. Gleichzeitig steigen die wirtschaftlichen Schäden, es drohen gar Massenentlassungen. War der Lockdown vielleicht doch ein grosser Irrtum?

Nein, nein, nein! Kein CO2-Gesetz, keine Papiferien und keine Überbrückungsrente für ältere Arbeitnehmer. SVP-Chef Albert Rösti will all das verhindern, um den Weg aus der Corona-Krise zu meistern – doch nicht mit CVP und SP. Ihre Fraktionsspitzen widersprechen.

Die Einnahmen bleiben aus. Nicht einmal ein Mini-Team mit einer Person im Service und einer in der Küche ist rentabel. Das ist die Bilanz eines Schaffhauser Gastronomen. Er zieht die Konsequenzen.

Die zweite Runde nach dem Bundesliga-Restart ist lanciert. Beim Freitagsspiel schlägt die Hertha im Berliner Derby Union diskussionslos mit 4:0.

La Commission nationale de l’observation du croissant lunaire a annoncé, ce vendredi soir, que la fête de l’Aïd el-Fitr sera célébrée dimanche 24 mai en Algérie. Après consultation des données astronomiques, la commission a pris acte de l’impossibilité d’observer la nouvelle lune en cette nuit du doute. La Commission d’observation du croissant lunaire, qui a […]

L’article Dimanche, premier jour de l’Aid el Fitr en Algérie est apparu en premier sur .

Esti sajtótájékoztató a horvátjárfalui határátkelőről.

SDGs SDGs:  16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions

On 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 May, members of the armed formations again denied SMM attempts to cross into non-government-controlled areas along official crossing routes: eight times in Donetsk region and three times in Luhansk region, while further attempts to cross into government-controlled areas were also denied, twice in Donetsk region and four times in Luhansk region.

On 16, 17, 19, 20, 21 and 22 May, at a checkpoint south of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge (15km north-east of Luhansk), members of the armed formations again denied SMM patrols passage towards non-government-controlled areas on three occasions, and passage towards government-controlled areas on three other occasions, referring to the closure of the checkpoint due to COVID-19. On 18 May, a member of the armed formations granted an SMM patrol passage towards government-controlled areas but stipulated that the patrol would be subject to quarantine restrictions upon its return to non-government-controlled areas. Based on this condition, the patrol did not travel towards government-controlled areas.

On 18 and 22 May, at a checkpoint near Oleksandrivka (non-government-controlled, 20km south-west of Donetsk), members of the armed formations again denied SMM patrols passage towards non-government-controlled areas, referring to quarantine restrictions due to COVID-19.

On 18 and 22 May, at a checkpoint near Olenivka (non-government-controlled, 23km south-west of Donetsk), members of the armed formations again denied SMM patrols passage towards government-controlled areas on two occasions, stating that the SMM did not have permission to pass, and again denied passage towards non-government-controlled areas on two other occasions, referring to quarantine restrictions due to COVID-19.

On 16 May, at a checkpoint near Horlivka (non-government-controlled, 39km north-east of Donetsk), an SMM patrol was again unable to proceed towards non-government-controlled areas due to the presence of spikes across the road and the presence of a mine sign in the middle of the road. The SMM saw no members of the armed formations present at the checkpoint. On 20 May, at the same checkpoint, members of the armed formations again denied an SMM patrol passage towards non-government-controlled areas, referring to quarantine restrictions due to COVID-19.

On 17 and 21 May, at a checkpoint 600m west of Verkhnoshyrokivske (formerly Oktiabr, non-government-controlled, 85km south of Donetsk), members of the armed formations again denied SMM patrols passage towards non-government-controlled areas, providing no explanation on one occasion and referring to quarantine restrictions due to COVID-19 on another occasion.

The Mission began facing repeated denials when attempting to cross into non-government-controlled areas at checkpoints of the armed formations in Donetsk region on 21 March and Luhansk region on 23 March (see previous SMM Spot Reports). They restrict the SMM’s freedom of movement across the contact line, thus impeding the implementation of its mandate throughout the country.

***

With regard to COVID-19, the SMM has introduced a number of stringent mitigation measures into its operational procedures. These include strict adherence to social distancing rules both internally and with external interlocutors, daily temperature checks, use of PPE and minimizing the number of personnel in vehicles.