Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Obstructing a Just Energy Transition

FAQ: What is Investor-State Dispute Settlement and What Does it Mean for Climate Action?

Boston University Global Development Policy Center

Photo by Zachary Theodore via Unsplash.

A controversial legal process known as investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS) is making it difficult for governments to mobilize finance for ambitious climate action.

When assets are protected by international investment treaties, like the Energy Charter Treaty, legal claims can be brought against countries by investors who feel they are negatively impacted by government policies. For example, Italy was recently ordered to pay UK-based oil/gas company Rockhopper more than €190 million for the Italian government’s refusal to grant an offshore oil concession. A May 2022 study in Science found potential ISDS claims globally could total as much as $340 billion.

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Emissions from Oil and Gas Operations in Net Zero Transitions

IEA.org

A World Energy Outlook Special Report on the Oil and Gas Industry and COP28

Today, oil and gas operations account for around 15% of total energy-related emissions globally, the equivalent of 5.1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. In the International Energy Agency’s Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario, the emissions intensity of these activities falls by 50% by the end of the decade. Combined with the reductions in oil and gas consumption in this scenario, this results in a 60% reduction in emissions from oil and gas operations to 2030.

Fortunately, oil and gas producers have a clear opportunity to address the problem of emissions from their activities through a series of ready-to-implement and costeffective measures. These include tackling methane emissions, eliminating all non-emergency flaring, electrifying upstream facilities with low-emissions electricity, equipping oil and gas processes with carbon capture, utilisation and storage technologies, and expanding the use of hydrogen from low-emissions electrolysis in refineries.

Upfront investments totalling USD 600 billion would be required to halve the emissions intensity of oil and gas operations globally by 2030. This is only a fraction of the record windfall income that oil and gas producers accrued in 2022 – a year of soaring energy prices amid a global energy crisis. This report aims to inform discussions on these issues in the run-up to the COP28 Climate Change Conference in Dubai in November and is part of a broader World Energy Outlook special report to be released later in 2023 focusing on the role of the oil and gas industry in net zero transitions.

Full report here

The Nord Stream gas pineline leaks the worst ever greenhouse gas event? Why it happened and what are the damages to the climate?

*Nord Stream is a network of natural gas pipelines run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany

Nord Stream gas leaks may be biggest ever, with warning of ‘large climate risk’

theguardian.com

‘Colossal amount’ of leaked methane, twice initial estimates, is equivalent to third of Denmark’s annual CO2 emissions or 1.3m cars

gas leak bubbling to surface of Baltic Sea
Scientists estimate the leaks could release up to 400,000 tonnes of methane into the atmosphere. Photograph: Danish Defence/AFP/Getty

Seascape: the state of our oceans is supported by

Scientists fear methane erupting from the burst Nord Stream pipelines into the Baltic Sea could be one of the worst natural gas leaks ever and pose significant climate risks.

Neither of the two breached Nord Stream pipelines, which run between Russia and Germany, was operational, but both contained natural gas. This mostly consists of methane – a greenhouse gas that is the biggest cause of climate heating after carbon dioxide.

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Nigeria: Shell settles lawsuit in the Netherlands for €15 million over oil spillages in Niger Delta

Four Nigerian Farmers Take Oil Giant Shell to Court

View full case here

business-humanrights.org

A unique court case, brought by four Nigerian victims of Shell oil spills, in conjunction with Friends of the Earth Netherlands, begins on Thursday 3rd December in the court at The Hague. This is the first time in history that a Dutch company has been brought to trial before a Dutch court for damages abroad. The Nigerian farmers and fishers, who lost their livelihoods after oil from leaking Shell pipelines streamed over their fields and fishing ponds, are claiming compensation from the Anglo-Dutch oil giant…Shell denies all responsibility and contends that the Dutch court has no jurisdiction over its Nigerian subsidiary.

“Shell to pay 15 mln euros in settlement over Nigerian oil spills”, 24 Dec 2022

Shell will pay 15 million euros ($15.9 million) to communities in Nigeria that were affected by multiple oil pipeline leaks in the Niger Delta, the oil company on Friday said in a joint statement with the Dutch division of Friends of the Earth.

The compensation is the result of a Dutch court case brought by Friends of the Earth, in which Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary SPDC last year was found to be responsible for the oil spills and was ordered to pay for damages to farmers.

The money will benefit the communities of Oruma, Goi and Ikot Ada Udo in Nigeria, that were impacted by four oil spills that occurred between 2004 and 2007.

“The settlement is on a no admission of liability basis, and settles all claims and ends all pending litigation related to the spills,” Shell said.

An independent expert had confirmed that SPDC has installed a leak detection system on the KCTL Pipeline in compliance with the appeal court’s orders, the company added…

The case was brought in 2008 by four farmers and environmental group Friends of the Earth, seeking reparations for lost income from contaminated land and waterways in the region, the heart of Nigeria’s oil industry.

After the appeals court’s final ruling last year, Shell said it continued to believe the spills were caused by sabotage.

But the court said Shell had not proven “beyond reasonable doubt” that sabotage had caused the spill, rather than poor maintenance.

Timeline

What Big Oil knew about climate change, in its own words

theconversation.com

Four years ago, I traveled around America, visiting historical archives. I was looking for documents that might reveal the hidden history of climate change – and in particular, when the major coal, oil and gas companies became aware of the problem, and what they knew about it.

I pored over boxes of papers, thousands of pages. I began to recognize typewriter fonts from the 1960s and ‘70s and marveled at the legibility of past penmanship, and got used to squinting when it wasn’t so clear.

What those papers revealed is now changing our understanding of how climate change became a crisis. The industry’s own words, as my research found, show companies knew about the risk long before most of the rest of the world.

Surprising discoveries

At an old gunpowder factory in Delaware – now a museum and archive – I found a transcript of a petroleum conference from 1959 called the “Energy and Man” symposium, held at Columbia University in New York. As I flipped through, I saw a speech from a famous scientist, Edward Teller (who helped invent the hydrogen bomb), warning the industry executives and others assembled of global warming.

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Collective action to release oil stocks in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: IEA confirms member country contributions

IEA.org

7 April 2022

Following an agreement on 1 April by IEA member countries for a new emergency release of oil stocks, the IEA Governing Board confirmed today that the total amount committed to date stands at 120 million barrels, making it the largest stock release in IEA history.

The unanimous agreement among IEA member countries on 1 April for a second collective action this year came in response to the significant strains in oil markets resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the days since the decision, each IEA member country has been considering how much it could contribute to the announced response plan, given its domestic circumstances.

The commitments submitted by members reached 120 million barrels to be released over a six month period, demonstrating strong unity. The United States will contribute about 60 million barrels, which are part of the larger drawdown from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) that was announced on 31 March.

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Asia’s oil refiners aren’t going away anytime soon

bloomberg.com

Predictions of peak oil and the impending demise of fossil fuels will hit Asian oil refiners especially hard. The region is home to three of the top four oil-guzzling nations, and more than a third of global crude processing capacity. Yet, Asian refiners are expanding at a breakneck pace, even building massive new plants designed to run for at least half a century.

What is going on?

After a century of powering the world’s vehicles, oil refiners are having to plan for an oil-free future in mobility as cars begin switching to batteries, ships burn natural gas, and innovation brings on other energy sources such as hydrogen. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predicts oil demand for transportation will peak as early as 2026.

Yet, even as a slew of headlines announce oil major BP Plc selling its prized Alaskan fields or Royal Dutch Shell Plc pulling the plug on refineries from Louisiana to the Philippines, Asia’s big refineries are planning for a much longer transition. Chinese refining capacity has nearly tripled since the turn of the millennium, and the nation will end more than a century of U.S. dominancethis year. And China’s capacity will continue climbing – to about 20 million barrels a day by 2025, from 17.4 million barrels at the end of 2020. India’s processing is also rising rapidly and could jump by more than half to 8 million barrels a day in the same time.

Crude oil exports plunge as resource depletes

By Dat Nguyen   March 24, 2021 | 11:00 am GMT+7 vnexpressCrude oil exports plunge as resource depletesTam Dao 03 oil rig off Vietnam’s eastern coast. Photo by VnExpress/Quoc Huy.Vietnam’s crude oil export is plunging, partly because of depleting resources. An industrialist says the situation can only improve after new fields come online in several years.

Crude exports volume from January 1 to February 15 this year fell nearly 50 percent year-on-year to 354,700 tonnes, according to Vietnam Customs.

Most of Vietnam’s oil and gas fields have been harnessed for over 20 years ago and run their course, said Hoang Ngoc Trung, deputy director of Petrovietnam Exploration Production Corporation Ltd.

In the last five years, crude oil prices have been falling, which has affected investment in searching for new fields, he told the Tuoi Tre newspaper.

The corporation’s output was 3.8 million tonnes last year, down marginally from 2019, and the figure is set to fall another 10 percent this year.

However, Vietnam’s crude oil prices remain higher than the global average.

The global average price of Brent crude oil last year was $41.8 per barrel, but Vietnam sold them for $43.7, 4.5 percent higher.

In the first two months, Brent crude was $58.53 per barrel, compared to $59.94 percent in Vietnam.

Trung said exploitation volume is set to recover in the next two or three years with several new fields such as Dai Hung and White Lion coming online.Related News:

Vietnam Approves Pharos Energy’s Offshore Oil Project

oedigital.com 

OE Staff September 11, 2020

Armada TGT-1 FPSO - Image Credit: Pharos Energy

Armada TGT-1 FPSO – Image Credit: Pharos Energy

Pharos Energy said Friday it had received approval from the Prime Minister of Vietnam for the development plan of an offshore oil field in Vietnam.

Pharos, until recently known as Soco International, said that the approval of what is called the TGT Full Field Development Plan represented the “last stage of the required process.”

Pharos has previously said that the plan, which includes drilling of six producer wells, had been approved by all partners in the field, and was awaiting PM’s green light. The PM’s approval, announced Friday, follows the recently granted two-year TGT field license extension to December 7, 2026.

“Ordering of long-lead items can now proceed to enable the commencement of the drilling of six firm development wells contained in the FFDP in Q4 2021 as planned,” Pharos Energy said.

This infill-drilling program is targeted to increase gross production at TGT field off Vietnam from the current levels of around 15,000 boepd to around 20,000 boepd in 2022.
Credit: Pharos EnergyEd Story, President, and Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are pleased to have received approval from the Prime Minister of Vietnam for the TGT Full Field Development Plan. This final approval enables us to put plans in place to commence the drilling of the six new producer wells on TGT starting in Q4 2021, allowing us to realize further resources in the TGT field.” Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam Approves Pharos Energy’s Offshore Oil Project”

Big Oil Took a Big Hit from the Coronavirus, Earnings Reports Show

insideclimatenews.org

Companies report billions in losses and decreased value of assets, but still plan to expand oil and gas production going forward.

ExxonMobil petroleum projects in central Vietnam ongoing as planned

By Viet Anh   September 12, 2019 | 08:43 pm GMT+7

ExxonMobil petroleum projects in central Vietnam ongoing as planned
Ca Voi Xanh gas field is 88 kilometers to the east of central Vietnam shore. Graphics by Exxon Mobil.

Petroleum projects being executed jointly by PetroVietnam (PVN) and America’s ExxonMobil in central Vietnam are proceeding as scheduled.

“The Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) has said that petroleum projects in central Vietnam, including projects at sea and on land, are being carried out as planned by PVN, Petrovietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP) and ExxonMobil,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said at a press meeting Thursday.

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Vietnam takes a stand in the South China Sea

Vietnam takes a stand in the South China Sea
A Vietnamese soldier stands watch overlooking the South China Sea. Photo: Facebook

After buckling in previous confrontations, Vietnam is finally facing down Chinese expansionism in its oil and gas-rich waters

Normally, Vietnam would have backed down. In July 2017 and March 2018, when China reportedly threatened military action if Vietnam did not stop oil exploration in contested areas of the South China Sea, Vietnam blinked and withdrew its vessels.

Last year, Vietnam scrapped a US$200 million oil and gas development project with Spanish energy giant Repsol situated within its own exclusive economic zone (EEZ) due to Chinese pressure. However, when a Chinese survey ship and coastguard vessels sailed last month to the contested oil-rich Vanguard Bank, which also lies well within Vietnam’s southeastern EEZ, Hanoi stood its ground. Tiếp tục đọc “Vietnam takes a stand in the South China Sea”

Biển Đông: Cuộc chơi và luật chơi của ai?

  • DANH ĐỨC
  • 19.05.2018, 14:53

TTCT – Vụ một nhóm du khách Trung Quốc nhập cảnh vào Cam Ranh với áo thun in hình “lưỡi bò” trên lưng chỉ là một trong vô vàn âm mưu thôn tính lớn nhỏ.

Biển Đông: Cuộc chơi và luật chơi của ai?
Máy bay vận tải quân sự Thiểm Tây Y-8 của Trung Quốc trên đá Subi, ảnh công bố ngày 28-4. Ảnh: AMTI

Hôm thứ hai 14-5, Hãng thời trang GAP đã xin lỗi Bắc Kinh vì bán ra những áo thun in bản đồ Trung Quốc mà không thể hiện trên đó Đài Loan, Nam Tây Tạng và biển Nam Hải (cách Trung Quốc gọi Biển Đông). Hãng GAP cam kết trong một thông báo trên Hoàn Cầu Thời Báo rằng họ “tôn trọng chủ quyền và sự vẹn toàn lãnh thổ của Trung Quốc”.

Báo mạng chuyên về kinh tế – tài chính Business Insider của Mỹ, phát hành bằng 8 thứ tiếng Anh, Ba Lan, Đức, Hà Lan, Nhật, Pháp, Hoa, Ý, còn “lập công” khi cho biết “đến tối thứ hai, Business Insider vẫn tìm thấy áo thun gây tranh cãi của Hãng GAP được bán” ngoài thị trường. Vụ việc đó, cùng vụ mặc áo thun in hình “lưỡi bò” ở Việt Nam, thật điển hình cho “cuộc chơi” cùng “luật chơi” ở Biển Đông lúc này. Tiếp tục đọc “Biển Đông: Cuộc chơi và luật chơi của ai?”