Brazil's Brava Energia signs $65 million deal with PetroReconcavo for natural gas assets
The assets include two natural gas processing units, the Livramento/Guamare pipeline, and equipment used to store liquefied natural gas.
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BreakingNews.ie
7 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Revised NDP will see increase in defence spending, minister says
Increased spending on defence is envisaged within billions of additional funding on infrastructure under a revised National Development Plan (NDP). The revised NDP, which will be announced on Tuesday, will include up to €30 billion in additional capital expenditure for infrastructure projects over 2026-2030. Advertisement Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers, who is responsible for the delivery of the NDP, said Government would be setting out a 'trajectory' of €200 billion in spending over the next 10 years to 'help bridge the infrastructure deficit we have in the Irish economy'. That deficit is acting as a key constraint on the delivery of critical areas to the economy like housing. Mr Chambers had previously said €20 billion was available to allocate across critical areas in the economy, with the Government identifying housing, energy, transport and water infrastructure as priority areas. Asked on Sunday where the additional €10 billion for the short-term plan to 2030 had arisen, he said the Government is prioritising capital investment in its medium-term economic planning. Advertisement Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien (Brian Lawless/PA) He explained the €10 billion had been ringfenced for 'specific strategic investment', such as the electricity grid, water infrastructure and the Dublin metro project. Pressed on the timeline for the metro project, the deputy leader of Fianna Fáil said it would be dependent on the planning system. Meanwhile on transport, Mr Chambers said the Government is no longer 'governed' by the 2:1 ratio of public transport to roads which was a feature of the previous coalition. Speaking on RTÉ's This Week radio programme, he said the revised NDP would contain a 'major uplift' in commitments to public transports, road projects and active travel. Advertisement 'But we also need to ensure that in regions across our country – whether it's in the west or the south-west or elsewhere – that roads projects which have been on the table for many years are progressed.' Tánaiste Simon Harris (Brian Lawless/PA) Asked if this would include road projects in the constituencies of independents which supported the Programme for Government, Mr Chambers said it would not set out a list of particular projects and the focus was on driving delivery. However, he said Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien would have 'flexibility' to 'ramp up funding' for road infrastructure, as well as public transport projects. Mr Chambers also said the profile of defence spending is set to increase, adding Tánaiste and Defence Minister Simon Harris would provide further details on the specifics after Tuesday's announcements. Advertisement Meanwhile, the Government is also set to outline its Summer Economic Statement, which sets out the expenditure package for the Budget. The Public Expenditure Minister said: 'We're approaching budget 2026 with significant caution. 'We have serious economic uncertainty surrounding our country, but we are coming at this from a position of real strength.' He said Government would be seeking to moderate the level of increases in current expenditure. Advertisement
The Independent
11 hours ago
- The Independent
Water bills to see ‘small, steady' rise despite reform plans, says Reed
Households will continue to face rising water bills despite an overhaul of how the sector is regulated, the Environment Secretary has said, but increases will be 'small' and 'steady'. Steve Reed is expected to set out plans for 'root and branch reform' of the water sector on Monday, following the publication of a landmark review of the industry. Those plans are thought to include action to tackle sewage spills, invest in water infrastructure and the abolition of the industry's beleaguered regulator Ofwat as ministers seek to avoid a repeat of this year's 26% increase in bills. But while Mr Reed has promised that families will never again see 'huge shock hikes' to their bills, he was unable on Sunday to rule out further above-inflation increases. Although he told Sky News's Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips that bills should be 'as low as possible', he added that there needed to be 'appropriate bill rises' to secure 'appropriate levels of investment'. He said: 'A small, steady increase in bills is what people expect.' Government sources have argued that the recent large rise in bills was necessary to pay for investment in long-neglected infrastructure, but expect Mr Reed's promised reforms to make further rises unnecessary. Asked about the possibility of expanding social tariffs to help households struggling with bills – a move that could see wealthier families pay more – Mr Reed said he had 'not been convinced yet' that this was necessary. Earlier on Sunday, Mr Reed had pledged to halve sewage pollution in England by 2030, after the Environment Agency said serious pollution incidents had risen by 60% in 2024. Mr Reed said the measures the Government was taking would enable it to significantly reduce pollution, with the aim of completely eliminating it by 2035 should it be re-elected. He also suggested to the BBC that he would resign if the 2030 target was not achieved, provided he was still in the same job by then. His comments come before a major report by former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe, which is expected to recommend sweeping reform to water regulation on Monday. Sir Jon has been widely reported to be preparing to recommend the abolition of Ofwat, which has faced criticism over its handling of sewage spills and allowing water companies to pay large dividends while taking on significant debt and missing targets for investing in infrastructure. On Sunday, Mr Reed would not say whether he would scrap Ofwat, but also declined to say he had confidence in the regulator. He told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: 'The regulator is clearly failing.' Sir Jon's interim report criticised regulation of the water sector, which is split between economic regulator Ofwat, the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate. But on Sunday, Conservative shadow communities secretary Kevin Hollinrake said he would be concerned any changes 'might just be shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic'. He told the BBC: 'It's really important the regulator's effective, and we put in a lot of measures to give Ofwat more powers to regulate the water industry and a lot of those things were very effective.' Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said he backed scrapping Ofwat, calling for a new Clean Water Authority to 'hold these water companies to account'. Sir Ed has also called for the Government to go further and aim to eliminate sewage pollution entirely by 2030, saying voters were 'fed up with empty promises from ministers while Britain's waterways continue to be ruined by sewage'. He added: 'For years water companies have paid out millions in dividends and bonuses. It would be deeply unfair if customers are now made to pick up the tab for this scandal through higher bills.' Although sweeping regulatory reform is likely to be on the table, full nationalisation of the industry will not be after the Government excluded it from Sir Jon's terms of reference. Smaller parties such as the Greens have called for nationalisation, while on Sunday Reform UK's Nigel Farage said he would look to strike a deal with the private sector to bring 50% of the water industry under public ownership. Mr Reed argued that nationalisation would cost 'upwards of £100 billion', diverting resources from the NHS and taking years during which pollution would get worse.
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- The Guardian
Recognised Palestinian state could develop disputed gas resources, expert says
Recognition of Palestine as a state would put beyond doubt that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is entitled to develop the natural gas resources of the Gaza Marine field, according to one of the experts that worked on the stalled project. Michael Barron, the author of a new book on Palestine's untapped gas reserves, has suggested the field could generate $4bn (£3bn) in revenue at current prices and it is reasonable that the PA could receive $100m a year over 15 years. He said the revenues 'would not turn the Palestinians into the next Qataris or Singaporeans, but it would be their own revenue and not aid, on which the Palestinian economy remains dependent'. Plans to develop the field have a near 30-year history, during which time legal controversies over ownership have stalled exploration. A law firm representing Palestinian human rights groups sent a warning letter to the Italian state-owned firm ENI that it should not exploit the gas fields in an area known as Zone G, where six licences were awarded by Israel's energy ministry. In their letter, the lawyers claim that roughly 62% of the zone lies in maritime areas claimed by Palestine and, as such, 'Israel cannot have validly awarded you any exploration rights and you cannot validly have acquired any such rights'. Palestine declared its maritime borders, including its exclusive economic zone, when it acceded to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 2015, and set out a detailed claim in 2019. Israel is not a signatory to UNCLOS. Barron said recognition of Palestine, particularly by states with large oil firms registered in their jurisdiction, would effectively end the legal ambiguity, and provide the PA with not only a new secure source of income, but regular supplies of energy independent of Israel. Since the legal letter, ENI has told pressure groups in Italy that 'licences have not yet been issued and no exploratory activities are in progress'. Another group, Global Witness, claims the East Mediterranean Gas pipeline that runs parallel to the Gaza coastline is unlawful since it runs through Palestinian waters, and is not providing any revenue to the PA. The 56-mile (90km) pipeline transports gas from Ashkelon in Israel to Arish in Egypt, where it is then processed into liquefied natural gas for export, including to Europe. 'The Oslo Accords agreed in 1993 clearly give the Palestinian National Authority jurisdiction over territorial waters, the subsoil, power to legislate over oil and gas exploration and to award licences to do so,' Barron said. 'Control over natural resources was an important element of [the] state-building agenda of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Israeli exploitation of Palestinian resources was and remains a central part of the conflict.' Gas was discovered in the Gaza Marine field in 2000 in a joint venture owned by the BG Gas group, a giant privatised off-shoot of British Gas and the Palestinian Consolidated Contractors Company. The plan was for the gas to be used by the sole power station on the Gaza strip to end the territory's perennial energy shortages. Barron argues in his book – The Gaza Marine Story - that the fate of the project is a microcosm of how Israel worked to increase Palestinian dependence on Israel while at the same time trying to separate Palestinians from Israelis. The project was dogged by issues of commercial viability and an Israeli court ruling that the waters were a 'no-man's water', partly because the PA was not a sovereign entity with unambiguous powers to award licences. The court also did not resolve whether the rights to Palestinian territorial waters clearly provided for in the Oslo Accords included a Palestinian 'exclusive economic zone', a zone that normally extends 200 miles off the coast. The accords were only intended to be an interim arrangement before full statehood and so did not delineate the full maritime border. Territorial waters are normally defined as only 12 or 20 miles off the coast and Israel always argued that any licence for Gaza Marine 20 miles off the Gaza coast should be seen as a gift to the PA by Israel, and not a right. After Hamas took control the Gaza strip in 2007, Israel did not want the revenue to fall into its hands, so it blocked the development, prompting the BG group to put the project on hold and then eventually to quit. In June 2023 Israel approved plans for an Egyptian firm EGAS to develop the field, only for the war in Gaza to start. Gaza Marine is estimated to contain only 30 billion cubic metres (BCM) of natural gas, which is a small fraction of the more than 1,000 BCM contained in Israel's own territorial waters. Barron argued that Israel has its own gas supplies and so long as a Palestinian state with unified governance is recognised, Israel will have no motive or legal right to block Palestine exploiting its single greatest natural resource. The whole controversy around private sector investment in Israel's acknowledged occupation of Palestine moved centre stage with a report published last week by the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese, warning corporations against sustaining what has been declared an unlawful occupation by the international court of justice (ICJ). She claims ICJ decisions place on corporate entities a prima facie responsibility 'to not engage and/or to withdraw totally and unconditionally from any associated dealings with Israel, and to ensure that any engagement with Palestinians enables their self-determination'. Her claim has been rejected wholesale by Israel.
