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Energy giant EDF has announced plans to extend the lives of two of the UK’s five remaining nuclear power stations.

Heysham 1 and Hartlepool had been due to close in March next year, but they will now be kept open until early 2026.

The company says the move will support energy security, reduce demand for imported gas, and reduce carbon emissions.

About 1,400 people work at the two sites, with hundreds more in the supply chain.

The government welcomed the news, with Secretary of State Grant Shapps saying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine demonstrated the “vital importance” of bolstering energy security.

Heysham 1 and Hartlepool began operating in 1983. Each has two Advanced Gas Cooled reactors, which were originally scheduled for closure in 2014. Two previous lifetime extensions had taken the closure date to March 2024.

The two power stations currently account for about 5% of the country’s electricity.

The announcement comes at a time when the country’s energy security has been coming under intense scrutiny.

The bulk of our electricity is generated from gas. Last year, the conflict in Ukraine led to a sudden spike in gas prices – which also led to a steep increase in electricity bills.

Renewable generation, from wind and solar power for example, has been growing rapidly in recent years. But the amount available to the grid can vary according to the time of day and the weather.

Supporters of nuclear generation argue that it provides baseload power – in other words, a predictable and stable supply – although other sources are needed to react quickly to spikes in demand.

To prevent potential blackouts this winter, five ageing coal plants have been kept on standby by National Grid.

Earlier this week two of them were ordered to start generating power, as a combination of high demand and limited supplies led to concerns about possible shortages.

A new scheme under which consumers are paid to reduce consumption at peak times has also been tried out recently.

EDF said the decision to keep Heysham 1 and Hartlepool open had been taken following a “rigorous review” of the technical and commercial cases for keeping them open.

It pointed to inspections of the reactor cores last year which “increased confidence that the stations can generate for longer and continue to meet stringent regulatory standards”.

The company has, however, closed three other nuclear power stations over the past 18 months.

Under current plans, even with the extensions agreed today, the country’s entire fleet of AGR reactors is due to close by 2028.

Sizewell B, a reactor built to a different design, is expected to remain open until 2035.

The government is committed to building a new generation of nuclear power stations. But only one – Hinkley Point C – is currently under construction.

The new £25bn plant, which has been beset by rising costs and delays, is not expected to open before June 2027.

An expert group that includes some vocal opponents of nuclear power, the International Nuclear Risk Assessment Group, said in 2021 – in a report looking at ageing nuclear power plants – that extensions inevitably increase the risk of accidents, including the release of radioactive substances in to the environment.

Heysham 1 and Hartlepool began generating power in the 1980s.

Reference: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64906179

Rising inflation led to government interest payments hitting a record high for the month of January, figures show.

Interest payments hit £6.1bn last month, the highest amount for January since records began in April 1997 and up from £4.5bn last year.

The payments are pegged to the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation – which reached 7.8% in January.

January’s interest payments were, however, below the all-time high of £9bn in June last year.

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, told the BBC it was worth noting that “overall interest payments by the government are still at remarkably low levels” despite UK debt levels at the highest for 60 years.

“Year after year interest payments have come in below expectations and that has given the chancellor additional wiggle room,” he said

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said government finances recorded a surplus of £2.9bn last month as the economy opened up from lockdowns and tax receipts improved.

The surplus compares with a £2.5bn deficit in January 2021 – when spending on coronavirus support measures was higher.

However, the latest figure is still a £7bn smaller surplus than in January 2020, before the pandemic.

UK finances are normally healthier in January as self-assessment income tax receipts come in. Revenues from self-assessed tax was £18.4bn last month, an increase of £2bn from a year earlier.

Borrowing from the end of March to January was £138.5bn – the second highest for the period since records began in 1993.

Mr Johnson told the BBC the figures showed “we are still spending an awful lot more. We are poorer than we were.”

But he said the bigger picture was that the deficit – the gap between spending and tax receipts – was coming down quickly. Some big tax rises this year will also mean the government borrowing less, he added.

January is normally a month when the Treasury reaps the benefit of large tax payments from self-employed workers, with more money coming in than going out.

The public sector finances were always going to look comfortable compared with the same month last year when the lockdown over Christmas and the new year dented economic activity.

But a surplus of £2.9bn in January 2022 is still £7bn less than before the pandemic, reflecting the impact of Omicron.

It’s notable that borrowing in the financial year to date has more than halved, down by £140bn, before the Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s forthcoming tax rises have taken effect.

That illustrates a point already evident from the efforts in the past 13 years of successive chancellors, first Labour then Conservative, to fix the public finances by imposing austerity: namely, it’s not so much what the chancellor does, but what the economy does, that most effectively cuts government borrowing.

Refrence: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60431535

1. Rising energy and petrol prices

Oil prices slumped at the start of the pandemic, but demand has rocketed back since, and have hit a seven-year high.

In the US gasoline currently costs an average of $3.31 a gallon – up from $2.39 a gallon a year ago. It’s a similar story in the UK and the EU.

The price of gas has also shot up, leaving people around the world with eye-watering central heating bills.

Demand from Asia has driven up prices, along with a cold winter in Europe last year, which depleted gas reserves. https://buy.tinypass.com/checkout/template/cacheableShow?aid=tYOkq7qlAI&templateId=OTBYI8Q89QWC&templateVariantId=OTV0YFYSXVQWV&offerId=fakeOfferId&experienceId=EXAWX60BX4NU&iframeId=offer_0e763acc7b457c03340a-0&displayMode=inline&widget=template&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com

• Petrol prices: Are we paying too much at the pump?

2. Goods shortages

The price of many everyday consumer goods jumped during the pandemic.

Consumers stuck at home during lockdown last year splashed out on household goods and home improvements because they couldn’t go to restaurants or on holiday.

Manufacturers in places such as Asia – many of which faced shutdowns due to Covid restrictions – have struggled to keep up with demand since then.

It’s led to shortages of materials such as plastic, concrete and steel, driving up prices. Timber cost as much as 80% more than usual in 2021 in the UK and reached more than twice its typical price in the US.

Major US retailers Nike and Costco have put up their prices because of higher supply chain costs.

And there’s a shortage of microchips, which are vital components in cars, computers and other household goods.

3. Shipping costs

Global shipping companies – which move goods around the world – have been overwhelmed by surging demand after the pandemic.

It’s meant retailers have had to pay a lot more to get those goods into stores. As a result, prices have been passed on to consumers.

Sending a single 40ft container from Asia to Europe currently costs $17,000 (£12,480) – 10 times more than the year before, when it was $1,500 (£1,101).

It’s been accompanied by a rise in air freight fees and made worse by a lorry driver shortage in Europe.

Transport bottlenecks appeared to be easing in December, with the US starting to get on top of record congestion at its ports.

But Omicron and the emergence of future Covid variants could reverse these gains.

Read full article(reference): https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59982702

Dana Gas, one of the largest private natural gas companies in the region, and Crescent Petroleum, its affiliate, said gas production from their operations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq surged 50 percent compared to 2018 levels to reach a record 452 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMscf/d) at the end of 2021.

The growth in production is supported by a number of process improvements at the gas plant in Iraqi Kurdistan, including a bypass project completed in 2020 as well as a de-bottlenecking program earlier in 2018, the two companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

“Our continued investments since 2018, notably the Khor Mor de-bottlenecking and bypass projects, have allowed us to deliver reliable supplies of clean energy to support the KRI economy and its people, with enhanced economic and environmental benefits which will increase as we further grow production,” said Patrick Allman-Ward, chief executive of Dana Gas.

Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum jointly operate the Khor Mor and Chemchemal gas fields on behalf of the Pearl Petroleum consortium, supplying gas that is used to generate electricity in the KRI. It also produces nearly 16,000 barrels of condensate and 1,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas per day.

Global oil and gas investments are expected to increase more than 4.3 percent annually to reach $628 billion this year as the industry recovers from the pandemic and from the hurdles posed by the Omicron variant, consultancy Rystad Energy said in a recent report.

Brent, the international benchmark under which two-thirds of the world’s oil trades, was up 0.7 percent at 1.11pm UAE time trading at $84.31. West Texas Intermediate, which tracks US crude prices, was trading 0.9 percent higher at $81.95.

Dana Gas payments from Egypt and Kurdistan jumped 107 percent in 2021 on higher oil prices, the company said last week. Oil prices rose more than 50 percent last year as global economies recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic and Opec+ group of countries restrained production.

Read full articles(reference): https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/energy/2022/01/12/dana-gas-and-crescent-petroleum-post-50-jump-in-gas-production-in-iraqi-kurdistan/

The price of oil hit its highest level in more than seven years on Tuesday as traders worried that an attack on a fuel storage facility in the Middle East could affect supply.

A suspected drone attack by Yemeni Houthi rebels in the United Arab Emirates blew up three fuel tankers.

Three people were killed in the attack on Monday near Abu Dhabi airport.

A Saudi-led coalition retaliated with airstrikes on the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, killing as many as 20 people.

The surging price of oil is also thought to be partly down to growing optimism for a speedy global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, which would increase demand for fossil fuel.

Concern about the attacks on the oil-rich state, twinned with expectations for a surge in demand, sent prices to their highest level since October 2014.https://buy.tinypass.com/checkout/template/cacheableShow?aid=tYOkq7qlAI&templateId=OTBYI8Q89QWC&templateVariantId=OTV0YFYSXVQWV&offerId=fakeOfferId&experienceId=EXAWX60BX4NU&iframeId=offer_0e763acc7b457c03340a-0&displayMode=inline&widget=template&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com

Brent crude, which is the international benchmark for oil prices, rose almost 1% to hit $87.22 a barrel. Price rises were even steeper in the US, where West Texas Intermediate crude increased by 1.3% to $84.89 a barrel.

Read full article(reference): https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60044210