The News Journal

Europe is a “few years” away from overcoming its current energy deficit triggered by the loss of Russian gas supply, according to Alfred Stern, chief executive of Austrian energy group OMV. The continent is in the middle of its worst energy crisis after Russia, the region’s biggest natural gas supplier, curtailed exports sharply in response to EU sanctions over its military offensive in Ukraine. However, the crisis has been a few years in the making. Spending on new oil and gas projects has nearly dried up amid pressure from investors, who have adopted more pro-renewable energy strategies in recent years. This issue is “bigger than Europe” and is a result of underinvestment in the energy sector, as well as from “thinking that we could magically move to renewable energy overnight”, Mr Stern told The National at the Adipec energy summit in Abu Dhabi. “Fixing this up will require significant investments, and typically, our industry is one that has very long investment cycles,” he said. Up...

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company has made new oil discoveries at Bu Hasa, the emirate’s biggest onshore field, as well as at the onshore Block 3 and Al Dhafra Petroleum Concession. Bu Hasa, which has a crude oil production capacity of 650,000 bpd, is part of the Adnoc Onshore Concession and is operated by Adnoc Onshore. “The 500 million barrels of oil discovered from an exploration well in the Bu Hasa field has unlocked a new formation within the field, offering substantial additional premium-grade Murban oil resources,” Adnoc said in a statement on Thursday. In Abu Dhabi’s Onshore Block 3, operated by US oil company Occidental, about 100 million barrels of oil were discovered, marking the second oil find in this concession. Occidental was awarded the exploration rights for Onshore Block 3 in early 2019. About 50 million barrels of light and sweet Murban-quality crude was also discovered in Al Dhafra Petroleum Concession, operated by Al Dhafra Petroleum, a joint venture between Adnoc, th...

 EU leaders failed on Friday to agree a short-term solution to the energy market crunch made worse by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but did offer a compromise for Spain, where increasing fuel prices prompted 12 days of blockades by lorry drivers. A debate on whether to cap energy prices, pitting some southern countries against Germany and the Netherlands, pushed the second day of an EU summit into the evening. Lorry drivers take to the streets of Madrid in Spain to protest against the high price of fuel. In the end, they settled on a trade-off and left a number of matters unresolved. he war in Ukraine has pushed energy prices to record highs and prompted the EU to seek to cut Russian gas use by two-thirds this year by finding alternative supplies and increasing use of renewable energy. While the Mediterranean rim states pressed for a cap on wholesale gas prices to protect poorer households, opponents said this would mean public cash subsidising fossil fuels. The leaders charged the...