New base 08 march 2021 energy news issue 1413 by khaled al awadi

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NewBase Energy News 08 March 2021 - Issue No. 1413 Senior Editor Eng. Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase for discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
UAE: ADNOC and Korea’s GS Energy explore opportunities to
grow Abu Dhabi’s hydrogen economy
Source: ADNOC
Companies sign agreement to collaborate on potential development of new value chains for blue
hydrogen and carrier fuels, such as blue ammonia, in Abu Dhabi
Agreement reached during the UAE’s virtual business trip to Republic of Korea where UAE Minster
of Industry and Advanced Technology met with business leaders and Republic of Korea Minister of
Trade, Industry and Energy
Areas of discussion included possible areas for further economic partnership, the global climate
challenge, the promise of hydrogen and industrial cooperation to build on the two nations’ many
years of strong bilateral ties
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on Thursday hosted the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE)
virtual business trip to the Republic of Korea, in which ADNOC and GS Energy agreed to explore
opportunities to grow Abu Dhabi’s hydrogen economy and carrier fuel export position.
During the trip, His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced
Technology and ADNOC Group Managing Director and CEO, and H.E. Yun-Mo Sung, Republic of
Korea Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, discussed new opportunities to expand upon the UAE
and Republic of Korea’s many years of strong bilateral ties. The discussion focused on possible

areas for further economic partnership, the global climate challenge, the promise of hydrogen and
opportunities for greater UAE-Korea industrial cooperation, which had in attendance of Mr. Yongsoo
Huh, the President and CEO of GS Energy.
H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said: 'This agreement not only reflects ADNOC’s longstanding
partnership with GS Energy and its affiliates, but also the great importance the UAE places on its
strategic relationship with the Republic of Korea across multiple sectors. Approximately ten percent
of South Korea’s crude oil is currently imported from the UAE, Korean companies are significant
stakeholders in several of Abu Dhabi’s upstream concessions and Korean contractors today play
critical roles on major projects across our oil and gas value chain.'
'We look forward to building upon these successes as we seek to expand our existing relationship
with GS Energy, identifying possible areas of investment in Abu Dhabi’s emerging blue hydrogen
ecosystem as well as the Emirate’s world-scale refining and petrochemicals assets in Ruwais.'
The UAE virtual business trip is aimed at expanding bilateral economic and trade relations between
both countries as they drive economic growth in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The trip
included presentations from representatives of the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced
Technology, Masdar, Mohammed Bin Zayed University for Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and
executives from ADNOC’s directorates.
H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber also met with Mr. Yongsoo Huh during a CEO roundtable to explore
collaborating in areas of mutual interest across various sectors.
Mr. Yongsoo Huh said: 'As a stakeholder and a partner of the ADNOC Upstream Concessions, we
are excited to strengthen this partnership by jointly seeking opportunities within the blue hydrogen
ecosystem.'
ADNOC has enjoyed decades of mutually beneficial strategic partnerships with GS Energy and
other leading companies from the Republic of Korea, including, most recently, GS Energy’s
partnership with Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) on the launch of ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD).
ADNOC’s latest agreement with GS Energy reinforces this foundation in low-carbon energy and
innovation, through its focus on blue hydrogen and its carrier fuels as promising areas for
development within the fast-evolving global energy mix.
This agreement also makes ADNOC well-placed to further strengthen the UAE’s historic relationship
with Korea, reinforcing the resilience of both nations’ economies throughout the COVID-19
pandemic and seizing the many potential joint opportunities for greater industrial cooperation,
particularly those which capitalize upon the UAE and Republic of Korea’s regional leadership in both
technology and sustainability.

Oman: 221 Km Duqm gas Supplies pipeline project completed
Oman Observer + NewBase
OQ Gas Networks (formerly known as Oman Gas Company), a subsidiary of OQ — the Sultanate’s
integrated energy group — has announced the successful operationalisation of the natural gas
pipeline project that feeds natural gas from Saih Nihayda in central Oman to the Special Economic
Zone (SEZ) at Duqm.
The 221-km long pipeline project, constructed at a cost of U$D 280 million, will supply gas at the
rate of 25 million cubic metres per day at full capacity, Mansour bin Ali al Abdali, General Manager
— OQ Gas Networks, said in a statement to ONA.
In October 2016, Egyptian construction contractor Petrojet revealed that it had been selected by
Oman Gas Company, the predecessor of OQ Gas Networks, to build the strategic gas pipeline.
Among the first consumers of the gas is Duqm Power Company, which is investing in a major
integrated power and water project at Duqm. Duqm Power Company is a joint venture between the
Central Utilities Company (Marafiq), which forms part of OQ Group, and Gulf Pacific Holding
Company.
As part of the $480 million investment in the project, Duqm Power is setting up a 326 MW combined
cycle and gas-fuelled electricity generation plant alongside a 36,000 cubic metres per day reverse
osmosis desalination plant, in addition to seawater supply and discharge facilities. Electricity from
the plant will initially cater to the needs of Duqm Refinery (OQ8).
A Gas Supply Station (GSS), with a current capacity to provide 15 million cubic metres of gas per
day, has been commissioned as well. This will regulate supply to the integrated power and water
plant of Duqm Power.
OQ Gas Networks is the sole operator and owner of Oman’s national gas 4,000 km long high-
pressure gas transmission system, transporting natural gas to 59 end-users across the Sultanate.

Pakistan:Trucking LNG Across 1,000 Km Is A Hot New Business
Bloomberg Kamran Haider + NewBase
The slow roll-out of Pakistan’s 1,100 kilometer gas pipeline system has forced the nation to find new
ways to transport the fuel to meet its rapid energy demand growth.
Singapore-based LNG Easy will invest $200 million this year to develop a first-of-its kind system in
Pakistan to use trucks and rail to move liquefied natural gas discharged from ships to off-grid
industrial users. LNG Easy will import 350,000 tons of LNG per year and plans to boost supplies to
1.2 million tons in two years, said Yasir Hamid, chief executive officer of the company’s Pakistan
unit.
“We see a huge market” in Pakistan for truck and rail LNG transport services, he said in an interview
in Islamabad. “The downstream businesses is worth billions.”
While Pakistan’s dependence on overseas shipments of the fuel have ballooned since imports
began in 2015, insufficient infrastructure has made it difficult to deliver the fuel to more remote parts
of the country. The government and Russia are planning a domestic pipeline that connects
Pakistan’s southern LNG terminals to the energy-hungry north, but the project has been delayed
several years and won’t begin construction until later this year.
Door-to-door deliveries of LNG via trucks has increasingly allowed importers to leapfrog
infrastructure bottlenecks and has helped boost demand for the fuel globally. The network could
help places like the land-locked Punjab prefecture, where major industries such as fertilizer, textile,
cement, face gas shortages.
LNG Easy, which operates in Myanmar, Singapore and Malaysia, will begin transporting LNG from
Pakistan’s ports from August. PetroChina Co. will be the main LNG supplier, although the company
has also signed purchase agreements with Trafigura and Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Berhad
and is in talks with QatarGas to buy LNG fixed to the price of crude oil, said Hamid.
The company sees additional growth opportunities across South and Southeast Asia, in countries
including Bangladesh, Vietnam and the Philippines, according to its website.

China Oil Demand Growth Gains Pace on Swift Factory Rebound
Bloomberg News
China’s fuel demand is going from strength to strength, leaving the capital blanketed in smog despite
concerns a virus resurgence prior to Lunar New Year would derail the robust rebound.
Gasoline and diesel consumption has extended its run above pre-Covid-19 levels this year after the
faster-than-expected return of factory activity and infrastructure building following the holiday. The
virus flare-up prior to the break threatened to dent demand, but more people took to their cars to
avoid being infected and continued to travel locally.
Beijing saw the biggest impact of more cars, experiencing its worst smog in 12 months in early
February and there’s been little respite since. Major cities in Hebei, the province that surrounds the
capital, had medium pollution levels on Thursday, according to the China National Environmental
Monitoring Center.
“China’s gasoline and diesel demand has picked up its regular year-on-year growth rate since the
start of the year,” said Sengyick Tee, an analyst with consultant SIA Energy in Beijing. Diesel
consumption is up about 10% over the first two months of 2021 compared with the same period in
2019, while motor fuel use is 3.2% higher, he said.
About 79% factories and companies restored full production right after Lunar New Year, much
earlier than previous years, according to a survey of over 1,000 energy and petrochemical
companies in 30 provinces and regions. The poll was carried out by OilChem and the Development
Research Center of the State Council and included trade, logistics and manufacturing companies.
The nation’s economy stabilized and improved in the first two months of this year, with power
consumption and generation rising by more than 20 percent, He Lifeng, head of the nation’s
economic planning agency, said on sideline of National People’s Congress in Beijing on Friday.

Earlier this year, the virus resurgence in Hebei led to authorities advising people against making the
annual pilgrimage to their hometowns for the holidays, raising concerns about a hit to fuel demand.
While many chose not to travel far, a report by Baidu map services signaled the movement of people
within the cities they lived was higher in 2021 than the previous two years.
Staying at home also led to an unexpected bump in fuel consumption from another source. The
postal service collected and delivered over 660 million parcels during the holiday, almost three times
more than the same period last year, data from China’s Ministry of Transport shows.
People have continued to stick with their cars, with weekday rush-hour traffic in cities
like Shanghai over the past week more congested than the same period in 2019, according to
navigation company TomTom International BV.

China Gas in LNG, LPG, hydrogen pact with Sinopec
LNG World - Adnan Bajic
Chinese piped-gas operator China Gas has formed an LNG and LPG and hydrogen pact with its
compatriot China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec).
The strategic cooperation agreement will enable both parties to engage in all-round cooperation in
areas including natural gas procurement, liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal utilisation,
downstream gas projects, oil and gas (natural gas and hydrogen) stations/recharging poles and
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) business.
Under the agreement, China Gas will commence strategic cooperation with Sinopec in three main
areas. In the natural gas business, both parties will study and cooperate in the establishment of a
natural gas trading company.
This trading company will be responsible for centralised procurement from Sinopec’s natural gas
resources pool based on the China Gas’ needs.
The parties will also cooperate in the establishment of a joint venture company that is tentatively
controlled by China Gas. This joint venture company will be responsible for the merger and
acquisition of downstream gas companies, as well as acquisition of downstream gas project
concession rights.
As for LNG business, Sinopec will support China Gas to invest in their newly-established LNG
receiving terminal projects, and it will enjoy the window period rights for receiving and unloading
LNG import resources according to their respective shareholding, enabling China Gas to realise
its strategic LNG import plan as soon as possible.
Also, by leveraging the group’s logistics advantages in regional city gas projects, coastal LNG
imported trade and onshore LNG logistics capacity, as well as giving play to the layout of Sinopec’s
petroleum/gas stations, both parties will cooperate in developing gas/recharging pole joint stations,

LNG distribution warehouse and relevant logistics system, as well as jointly develop initiatives in the
transportation energy business.
With regards to LPG business, the group being the largest vertically integrated LPG business
service provider, will deepen its cooperation with Sinopec in the fields of LPG trading and logistics,
including jointly facilitating the establishment of the national association of LPG importers,
coordinating external procurement, and promote the formulation and application of China’s LPG
import price index.
The parties will also conduct a joint study on the feasibility of investing in the construction of public
liquefied hydrocarbon storage facilities in coastal and riverine areas, as well as explore the feasibility
of commencing cooperation in the supply of liquefied hydrocarbon resources.
China Gas will also allow Sinopec to rent and use its LPG terminals and storage facilities in order
to provide support to Sinopec’s onshore LPG resources operation.

India on track to achieve Paris Agreement targets before 2030
The National - Rebecca Bundhun
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said non-fossil fuel sources were contributing more to India's
electricity grid. India is “well on track” to achieve its climate change targets under the Paris
Agreement before the 2030 deadline, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
Mr Modi made the comments in an online address to CeraWeek, a conference organised by IHS
Markit, as he received the award for global energy and environment leadership.
“For large-scale behavioural change, we need to offer solutions that are innovative, affordable and
powered by public participation,” said Mr Modi on Friday. The most powerful way to fight climate
change is behavioural change.
India pledged to reduce its emissions intensity to between 33 per cent and 35 per cent, compared
with 2005 levels, by 2030 and generate 40 per cent of its power from non-fossil fuel sources.
Energy demand in India is expected to grow more than that for any other country over the next two
decades, driven by an expanding economy and urbanisation, the International Energy Agency said
last month.
The agency projected that India would overtake the EU and become the third-biggest energy
consumer by 2030.

Mr Modi told the conference that his country had already made great strides in its push to meet its
energy needs while tackling the problem of climate change. Coal is currently the main fuel used to
generate power in India.
“The share of non-fossil sources in India’s installed capacity of electricity has grown to 38 per cent
now,” said Mr Modi. India is working to increase the share of natural gas in its energy mix to 15 per
cent by 2030, compared with 6 per cent today.
“We launched a national hydrogen mission last month for the use of hydrogen as fuel,” said Mr
Modi. He said the country had unveiled an initiative to promote an equitable model of solar power
generation.
“But there is something beyond the world of policies, laws, rules and orders,” he said. “The most
powerful way to fight climate change is behavioural change.”
Mr Modi said LED light bulbs were one example of a solution that has helped the public to reduce
emissions. About 37 million LED bulbs are being used in India, which cut emissions by more than
38 million tonnes while also saving costs, said Mr Modi.
He also said there was “growing acceptance” of ethanol, which can be used to reduce transport
pollution. “We have decided to advance the target of 20 per cent blending of ethanol in petrol by
2025, from the earlier [target of] 2030.”
Managing India’s dependence on oil is also critical as the world’s third-largest importer and
consumer of the fossil fuel tries to control import costs.
As India’s appetite for energy grows, the country’s import bill for fossil fuels is expected to triple over
the next two decades, with oil accounting for the bulk of the costs, according to the IEA. The
country’s dependence on imported oil is projected to rise from the current 75 per cent to more than
90 per cent by 2040.
On Friday, India’s oil minister
Dharmendra Pradhan told Reuters
that the Opec+ decision to continue
with an output cut had the “potential to
undermine a consumption-led
[economic] recovery and, more so,
hurt consumers, especially in our
price-sensitive market”.
Despite India having large reserves of
coal, it is heavily dependent on
imports. It aims to reduce its
dependence on coal imports in the
coming years as it scales up its own
production of the fuel, PM Prasad,
chairman and managing director of
Central Coalfields Limited, a
subsidiary of Coal India, said at the
conference on Friday.
“One thing that comes through very strongly in our analysis is just the sense of scale. Whatever
aspect of energy you are interested in, India is going to be such an important player,” said Tim
Gould, the IEA’s division chief for energy supply and investment outlooks. He was speaking during
a panel session on India’s energy future at the conference.

NewBase March 08-2021 Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase for discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
Oil over $70 for first time since pandemic after Saudi facilities attacked
Reuters + NewBase
Brent crude futures surged above $70 a barrel on Monday for the first time since the COVID-19
pandemic began, while U.S. crude touched its highest in more than two years, following reports of
attacks on Saudi Arabian facilities.
Brent crude futures for May hit $71.38 a barrel in early Asian trade, the highest since Jan. 8, 2020,
and were at $70.96 a barrel by 0611 GMT, up $1.60, or 2.3%.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for April rose $1.47, or 2.2%, to $67.56. The front-month
WTI price touched $67.98 a barrel earlier, the highest since October 2018.
Asian stocks also rose after the U.S. Senate approved a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill while positive
economic data from the United States and China bode well for a global economic rebound.
Yemen’s Houthi forces fired drones and missiles at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry on
Sunday, including a Saudi Aramco facility at Ras Tanura vital to petroleum exports, in what Riyadh
called a failed assault on global energy security.
“We could see further upside in the market in the near-term, particularly as the market probably
now needs to be pricing in some sort of risk premium, with these attacks picking up in frequency,”
Oil price special
coverage

ING analysts said in a report, noting that this was the second attack this month following an incident
in Jeddah on March 4.
RBC Capital’s Helima Croft said the latest incident underscored just how dangerous the security
environment remains in the region nearly 18 months after the September 14, 2019 Iranian strikes
that temporarily took offline half of the kingdom’s oil output.
Brent and WTI prices are up for the fourth consecutive session after OPEC and its allies decided to
keep production cuts largely unchanged in April.
China’s crude shipments in the first two months of 2021 are up 4.1% on year after the world’s top
importer expanded its refining capacity and as its fuel demand continued to grow. Despite fast-rising
crude prices, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister has voiced doubts on demand recovery.
“The decision to keep quotas unchanged signals the group’s intent to drawdown inventories further,
without concern of overtightening the market,” ANZ analysts said in a note.
“It also suggests they see little threat from rising output elsewhere.” However, the energy minister
in the world’s third-largest crude importer, India, said higher prices could threaten the consumption
led-recovery in some countries.
Higher prices have also encouraged U.S. energy firms to add oil and natural gas rigs for a second
week in a row, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said on Friday.
Oil Soar Past Gulf’s Budget-Balancing Levels
Brent crude now trades above fiscal breakeven prices for the four biggest oil producers
in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia convinced fellow OPEC+ members to keep output
largely unchanged.

The shock move by OPEC+ triggered a rally in Brent prices, which rose to almost $70 a
barrel. That’s higher than annual average levels needed for the cartel’s largest
producers, including Saudi Arabia, to balance their budgets this year.
If oil prices stay at current levels, “we would see fiscal surpluses for the larger Gulf
Cooperation Council economies,” said Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi
Commercial Bank. “This provides more fiscal space to support economic activity and
recovery.”
Analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price
forecasts for Brent after the OPEC decision, while Citigroup Inc. said crude could top
$70 before the end of this month.
Reaching Equilibrium?
Oil trades higher than the price most exporters need to balance budgets
Budget deficits in the Arab Gulf, where economies are reliant on oil, widened after prices
crashed in 2020. OPEC+ agreed last year to take about 10% of global supply off the
market to stem the plunge and while the group has slowly rolled back some of those
cuts, it is curtailing more than 7 million barrels of daily production.
Still, Brent prices have averaged just over $59 so far this year -- below
the breakeven level for most gulf countries. Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest
economy and OPEC’s biggest producer, has posted successive budget shortfalls in the
past seven years, a trend expected to continue into 2024, according to projections from
the International Monetary Fund.

Despite higher oil prices, “key non-oil sectors will continue to be impacted by the
pandemic,” Malik said. “It will also be a balancing act for oil producers to manage the
tightening in the oil market, whilst not halting the global recovery outlook.”
U.S. drillers add oil and gas rigs for second week in a row: Baker Hughes
U.S. energy firms this week added oil and natural gas rigs for a second week in a row as crude
prices soared to their highest since 2019.
The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, rose one to 403 in the week to March
5, still its highest since May, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co said in its closely followed report
on Friday.
The total rig count has increased for the past seven months after dropping to a record low of 244 in
August, according to Baker Hughes data going back to 1940. Separately, oil rigs rose one to 310
this week, their highest since May, while gas rigs were unchanged at 92.
Data and analytics firm Enverus, which publishes its own rig count, said the most-active operators
as of Wednesday were EOG Resources Inc (22 rigs), Pioneer Natural Resources Co (21), Devon
Energy inc (17), Occidental Petroleum Corp (15) and ConocoPhillips (14).
Enverus also said the Permian Basin in West Texas and eastern New Mexico has led the way,
gaining nine rigs over the week. Pioneer boosted the number of rigs in the Permian to 21 as of
March 3, its highest since April 2020, up from an average of 18 in February.
U.S. crude futures soared to over $66 a barrel this week and closed at their highest since 2019 as
OPEC+ kept production cuts in place for another month. With prices rising, a growing number of
energy firms now plan to boost spending a bit in 2021 after cutting capital expenditures over the
past two years.
That spending increase, however, remains small as firms continue to focus on boosting cash flow,
reducing debt and increasing shareholder returns rather than increasing output.
U.S. financial services firm Cowen & Co said the 45 independent exploration and production (E&P)
companies it tracks plan to increase spending about 2% in 2021 versus 2020. That follows capex
reductions of roughly 49% in 2020 and 12% in 2019.

NewBase Special Coverage
The Energy world – March 01- -2021
Saudi Arabia’s Bold Plan to Rule the $700 Billion Hydrogen Market
Bloomberg - Verity Ratcliffe
Sun-scorched expanses and steady Red Sea breezes make the northwest tip of Saudi Arabia prime
real estate for what the kingdom hopes will become a global hub for green hydrogen.
As governments and industries seek less-polluting alternatives to hydrocarbons, the world’s biggest
crude exporter doesn’t want to cede the burgeoning hydrogen business to China, Europe or
Australia and lose a potentially massive source of income.
So it’s building a $5 billion plant powered entirely by sun and wind that will be among the world’s
biggest green hydrogen makers when it opens in the planned megacity of Neom in 2025.
The task of turning a patch of desert the size of Belgium into a metropolis powered by renewable
energy falls to Peter Terium, the former chief executive officer of RWE AG, Germany’s biggest utility,
and clean-energy spinoff Innogy SE. His performance will help determine whether a country
dependent on petrodollars can transition into a supplier of non-polluting fuels.
“There’s nothing I’ve ever seen or heard of this dimension or challenge,” Terium said. “I’ve been
spending the last two years wrapping my mind around ‘from scratch,’ and now we’re very much in
execution mode.”
Hydrogen is morphing from a niche power source — used in zeppelins, rockets and nuclear
weapons — into big business, with the European Union alone committing $500 billion to scale up
its infrastructure.

Huge obstacles remain to the gas becoming a major part of the energy transition, and skeptics point
to Saudi Arabia’s weak track record so far capitalizing on what should be a competitive edge in the
renewables business, especially solar, where there are many plans but few operational projects.
But countries are jostling for position in a future global market, and hydrogen experts list the kingdom
as one to watch.
The U.K. is hosting 10 projects to heat buildings with the gas, China is deploying fuel-cell buses and
commercial vehicles, and Japan is planning to use the gas in steelmaking. U.S. presidential climate
envoy John Kerry urged the domestic oil and gas industry to embrace hydrogen’s “huge
opportunities.”
That should mean plenty of potential customers for the plant called Helios Green Fuels. Saudi
Arabia is setting its sights on becoming the world’s largest supplier of hydrogen — a market that
BloombergNEF estimates could be worth as much as $700 billion by 2050.
“You’re seeing a more diversified portfolio of energy exports that is more resilient,” said Shihab
Elborai, a Dubai-based partner at consultant Strategy&. “It’s diversified against any uncertainties in
the rate and timing of the energy transition.”
Blueprints are being drawn and strategies are being announced, but it’s still early days for the
industry. Hydrogen is expensive to make without expelling greenhouse gases, difficult to store and
highly combustible.
Green hydrogen is produced by using renewable energy rather than fossil fuels. The current cost of
producing a kilogram is a little under $5, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
Saudi Arabia possesses a competitive advantage in its perpetual sunshine and wind, and vast tracts
of unused land. Helios’s costs likely will be among the lowest globally and could reach $1.50 per
kilogram by 2030, according to BNEF. That’s cheaper than some hydrogen made from non-
renewable sources today.

It’s more expensive to produce renewable energy in Europe, and the continent’s anticipated demand
while implementing a Green Deal should exceed its own supply, Terium said. That $1 trillion-plus
stimulus package will try to make the continent carbon-neutral.
“By no means will they be able to produce all the hydrogen themselves,” he said. “There’s just not
enough North Sea or usable water for offshore wind.”
Terium, who is Dutch, joined Neom in 2018 to design its energy, water and food networks. His
enthusiasm for technologies such as electric vehicles and digital networks wasn’t matched by
Innogy’s investors, but it is by the backers of Neom.
The most important of those is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 35-year-old de facto ruler,
who envisions Neom as a zero-emissions exemplar helping transform society and the economy.
The hydrogen plant is part of that vision. But while Neom’s $500 billion price tag
prompts questions about whether it will go ahead exactly as planned, the hydrogen effort doesn’t
depend on the megacity’s overall success.
There are other challenges, too: The country produces one-eighth of the world’s oil supply, but its
operational renewables capacity is small by regional standards, and it’s starting from zero with
green hydrogen.
The government is partnering with Acwa Power, a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based power developer
partly owned by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, and Air Products and Chemicals Inc., a $58
billion company based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, to build the green hydrogen plant.
The trio is splitting the costs of Helios, which will use 4 gigawatts of solar and wind power.

“As the first gigawatt plant, we will have an advantage in developing further innovation,” Terium
said. “This is not going to be the end of the game.”
For starters, Helios will produce 650 tons of hydrogen a day by electrolysis – enough for conversion
to 1.2 million tons per year of green ammonia. Air Products will buy all of that ammonia, which is
easier to ship than liquid or gaseous hydrogen, and convert it back upon delivery to customers.
Enough green hydrogen will be produced to maintain about 20,000 city buses. There are about 3
million buses operating worldwide, and Air Products wants to be a mainstay in depots switching to
hydrogen, said Simon Moore, vice president of investor relations.
“We’re not going to wait until this project comes on-stream in 2025 to think about additional
capacity,” he said.
Fuel-cell vehicles could capture as much as 30% of bus-fleet volume globally by 2050, with growth
coming primarily from China and the European Union, according to BNEF. Moore declined to identify
Helios’s clients.
Hydrogen will cost more than polluting alternatives at first, but enough governments and businesses
face stringent carbon targets that need the gas to meet them, Moore said. Thirteen nations have
hydrogen strategies in place, and another 11 are preparing theirs, according to BNEF.
Germany said it needs “enormous” volumes of green hydrogen, and it hopes Saudi Arabia will be a
supplier.
“The interest Saudi Arabia has had from investors leads us to believe that there is a sound economic
case for hydrogen, even at current prices,” a spokesman for the Energy Ministry said.
At the same time, the government is trying to boost its own scant use of renewable energy.
Currently, under 700 megawatts operate nationwide -- less than 2% of Spain’s installed capacity.
The nation plans to meet half of its
power needs from renewables by 2030
and has several projects under
construction or soon to start.
Saudi Arabia also is one of the few
countries regularly burning crude to
make electricity. The highly polluting
practice reached a four-year peak in
August, and critics say the energy
used by the Neom plant should be
diverted into the national grid instead.
Yet the focus remains on exports.
Petrostates stand to lose as much as
$13 trillion by 2040 because of
climate-change targets, and Saudi
Arabia is among those expected to be most affected.
The hydrogen plant will produce 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day at most, hardly a match for
the 9 million barrels of crude the kingdom pumps daily. Even so, finding a way to corner part of the
clean-fuels market represents a necessary economic lifeline.
“It’s sponsored at the highest possible level, so if any project happens, it’s got to be this,” Elborai
said.

NewBase Energy News 08 March 2021 - Issue No. 1413 call on +971504822502, UAE
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Mobile: +971504822502
khdmohd@hawkenergy.net or khdmohd@hotmail.com
Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with over 30 years of experience in the Oil & Gas
sector. Has Mechanical Engineering BSc. & MSc. Degrees from leading U.S.
Universities. Currently working as Technical Affairs Specialist for Emirates General
Petroleum Corp. “Emarat “with external voluntary Energy consultation for the GCC
area via Hawk Energy Service, as the UAE operations base. Khaled is the Founder
of NewBase Energy news articles issues, an international consultant, advisor,
ecopreneur and journalist with expertise in Gas & Oil pipeline Networks, waste
management, waste-to-energy, renewable energy, environment protection and
sustainable development. His geographical areas of focus include Middle East,
Africa and Asia. Khaled has successfully accomplished a wide range of projects in
the areas of Gas & Oil with extensive works on Gas Pipeline Network Facilities &
gas compressor stations. Executed projects in the designing & constructing of gas
pipelines, gas metering & regulating stations and in the engineering of gas/oil supply routes. Has drafted &
finalized many contracts/agreements in products sale, transportation, operation & maintenance agreements.
Along with many MOUs & JVs for organizations & governments authorities. Currently dealing for biomass
energy, biogas, waste-to-energy, recycling and waste management. He has participated in numerous
conferences and workshops as chairman, session chair, keynote speaker and panelist. Khaled is the Editor-
in-Chief of NewBase Energy News and is a professional environmental writer with more than 1400 popular
articles to his credit. He is proactively engaged in creating mass awareness on renewable energy, waste
management and environmental sustainability in different parts of the world. Khaled has become a reference
for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences and for many Energy program broadcasted internationally, via GCC
leading satellite Channels. Khaled can be reached at any time, see contact details above.
NewBase: For discussion or further details on the news above you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
NewBase 2021 K. Al Awadi

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New base 08 march 2021 energy news issue 1413 by khaled al awadi

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New base 08 march 2021 energy news issue 1413 by khaled al awadi