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The Western European petroleum industry has been adversely affected by the prevailing low oil prices and restrictive regulations. In the UK, many companies are downsizing and reducing personnel to cut expenditures. The Norwegian petroleum industry, on the other hand, continues to suffer from low oil prices, high exploration and development costs and changes in tax policies., Western European activity slows in response to low oil prices and restrictive regulations. Production levels, driven higher by recent developments, will peak soon. But new elephants West of Shetlands offer [...]

Petroleum refiners in western Europe are facing similar regulatory changes and cost burdens as those seen by American refiners under the Clean Air Act Amendments. Limits on the sulfur contact of refined petroleum products will cost refiners $9-12 billion. Rules covering gasoline emissions, composition and oxygenation and diesel fuel reformulation are also being considered., Western Europe's refiners are beginning to grapple with the kind of fundamental changes and huge outlays related to stringent new environmental standards their U.S. counterparts are encountering. Just as the [...]

Oil Market Update 12.3.90 -- 23.3.90 OPEC'S mid March market monitoring committee meeting failed to rattle prices; instead it concluded with the Organisation choosing to stick with its joint output [...]

A draft report on the compatibility of the European Commission's plans for negotiated third part access (negTPA) with the single buyer (SB) proposal put forward by France in 1994 has been submitted by energy directorate DGXVII to the Energy Council. The draft defines both negotiated TPA and single buyer systems, and concludes that there is more scope for supply competition in a negTPA system.

Exploration and drilling have hit a plateau UNITED KINGDOM Significant recovery took place last year, as operators became more adept at working within the new worldwide price structure. Activity levels [...]

Losses on refining in Europe passed the $4 billion mark, first half of '81.

Pipe lines builders in non-Communist countries throughout the world are planning to lay 34,267 miles of crude and natural gas pipe line in 1984 and beyond. The estimated cost is $34 billion. This forecast is lower than one made in 1983 when it was estimated that 49,334 miles of pipe line would be laid at a cost of $42.34 billion.

Of the 49,334 miles of natural gas and crude oil pipelines to be built in non-Communist countries in the future, 27,651 miles will be laid in 1983 alone. Approximately 90% of the projected construction totals will be onshore lines, half of which will be gas pipelines. Future worldwide construction is forecast with special focus on project size and pipeline type.

It is important to establish a systsem for compensating utilities for existing investments which may become unviable under the European Commission's plans to introduce competition in electricity supply, according to Eurelectric, the European electricity lobby group. The main issue will be who will pay for the 'stranded investments' which will result from a changed legal and regulatory framework for investment decisions.

Spanish MEP Carlos Robles Piquer has been the driving force behind the creation of the European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources (RES). This will call for a large role for Renewable Energy Sources in energy policy. It hopes to be able to obtain funding for financial institutions for RES research and development projects, and will also make approaches to the European Investment Bank.

The European Commission will make considerable efforts to complete the internal markets in electricity and natural gas in 1995. A number of other existing energy proposals will also be given attention in 1995, including the renewal of the US Euratom nuclear cooperation agreement, trans-European network energy schemes and the Thermie 2 energy demonstration programme.

The French single buyer proposal is incompatible with the European Commission's plans for negotiated network access, according to a report for the UK electricity industry by US consultants National Economic Research Associates (NERA). The UK electricity industry will pursue efforts to achieve liberalisation at European level, and will support a negTPA system as a more effective way of opening up markets to foreign suppliers.

Ministers attending the Dec 1993 Research Council agred the main outstanding issues on the fourth framework R and D programme. Individial sector amounts were allocated and decisions were made about the future of the Joint Research Centre (JRC). Overall research funds to the energy sector have been reduced by the Council to 2238 million Ecu, with non-nuclear energies taking 984 million Ecu, nuclear safety 414 million Ecu and nuclear fusion 840 million Ecu. The Parliament will now undertake a second reading of the dossier under the co-decision procedure.

The new European Environment Agency (EEA) will initially work on bringing together environmental information in order to assist in the development of European Union environmental policy. It will establish a means of encouraging more information sharing between member states, and may later take on a more active policy role. It will be made up of a management board, consisting of one representative from each member state and two from the Commission, and has a scientific committee with nine members.

The main role to be played by energy policies in the new development model for the European Union is in the area of trans-European networks (TENs). The Commission believes that developing energy networks will encourage energy efficiency, thus making European industry more competitive. It estimates that around 30 billion Ecus will have to be invested in improving electricity and gas networks in the period to the year 2000, and has highlighted eight priority schemes. In the area of environmental policy, the Delors white paper on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment looks at the concept of ways of dealing with pollution being used to deal with unemployment and encourage growth.

Energy directorate DGXVII has established a working group on an EC energy policy in order to prepare position papers before the European Commission meets energy industry experts on Jan 25, 1994. The issue is also being studied by the Economic and Social Committee (ESC), and almost all experts believe that an EC energy policy of some kind will be beneficial. Key issues in the debate include the growing importance of the European Union's foreign policy as its dependence on energy imports grows and the need to set up a balance between environmental protection and energy policy.

The number of service stations in the UK and Western Europe is expected to decrease further in the years 1994-96. However, the Spanish and German markets are expected to grow in the same period. Deregulation of the highly underserved Spanish market is expected to fuel its expansion. Similarly, the increasing number of car owners coupled with growing traffic within the newly unified Germany are expected to fuel the need for an additional 2,000 service stations in the future., Declining number of service stations and increasing volumes per outlet remain the norm of the land. That picture may ring true of the U.S. market but it is also true [...]

EUROPEAN PRICES REFLECT MARKET FEARS DESPITE CLAIMS FOR PLENTIFUL SUPPLY GENEVA -- Fear rather than logic appeared to rule the spot oil market in Europe this week as prices swept [...]

The fastest growing sector of the oil market is transport fuels. Rising demand will add to refiners'difficulties n the developed nations generally and in Western Europe in particular, the fastest [...]

WEST EUROPE Gas set for 1990s growth OVER the next five years West Europe's three main outside suppliers -- the USSR, Norway and Algeria -- will all be seeking to [...]

Europe's single market to have little effect on petroleum operations The European Community's plans to turn most of Europe into a single market by 1992 are likely to leave oil [...]

WEST EUROPE Companies braced for 1992 changes The twelve-nation European Community aims to eliminate all trade barriers by the end of 1992, fulfilling the main objective behind the creation of [...]

Energy policy in the European Community must focus on ensuring that all consuming sectors receive regular energy supplies at reasonable prices, according to the Union of European Industrial and Employers' Confederations (UNICE). It is vital to ensure that the market can function properly, with companies having the freedom to negotiate prices and terms with suppliers. National environmental and tax policies should not be allowed to negatively affect market forces.

The issue of a European Community strategy for radioactive waste remains a sensitive one, and this is reflected in a resolution by ministers giving permission for the European Commission to go ahead with plans for such a strategy. The main area of concern is nuclear waste disposal, where the Commission has called for a more open approach, with countries cooperating for the disposal or treatment of nuclear waste.

The single buyer proposal put forward by France will protect the long term interests of consumers and also fulfil public service obligations, according to Electricite de France (EdF). The single buyer proposal has been criticised by the UK electricity industry, but EdF believes that it could be an effective way of reconciling European competition policy with the requirement to establish long-term national energy independence.

The Interconnector project has extended its reach and influence on western Europe's gas distribution infrastructure. The project, which will connect UK pipelines with Europe's gas distribution systems, plays an important role in finalizing unresolved talks between the UK and Norway on the use of the Frigg pipeline. The Interconnector deviates from traditional industry practices by requiring purchase contracts far ahead of time. The project will likely determine the price of gas in the region, which will lead to a spot market in Zeebrugge, Belgium., The government-promoted, but industry-financed, project to link the UK and continental gas distribution systems is set to go ahead. Benefits remain speculative but its influence is already being felt. For [...]

Mining '94, which was held in Birmingham, UK, May 2326, was but a shadow of its former self. This one-time major European mining equipment exhibition now is held every five [...]

The new GATT procurement deal, covering three categories and due to come into force on Jan 01, 1996, has failed to deal with procurement differences in the electrical sector between the European Union (EU) and the US. It the issue is not resolved before the GATT agreement is signed on Apr 15, 1994, the US and the EU will lose all access to large public supply contracts in the other's electrical markets. Currently, the US is objecting to article 29 of the EU's utilities procurement directive, while the EU is opposing the US's Buy American Act.

Negotiations on the Helsinki sulphur protocol in Nov 1993 were intended to make the existing Protocol targets stricter, but before the negotiations even started it was clear that some signatories would find tighter sulphur dioxide emission limits very difficult. It now appears that the UK has won its fight to set sulphur reduction targets for 2010 rather than 2000, and if this latest change is agreed, a new protocol could be signed by mid-1994.