New base issue 1264 special 29 july 2019 energy news by khaled alawadi

Copyright © 2015 NewBase www.hawkenergy.net Edited by Khaled Al Awadi – Energy Consultant All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, redistributed,
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NewBase Energy News 29 July 2019 - Issue No. 1263 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: Emirati professionals counts 66% of its nuclear workforce
WAM/Tariq alfaham
In 2018, Emirati professionals constituted 66 percent of the Federal Authority for Nuclear
Regulation's total workforce of 241 employees, according to FANR’s 2018 Annual Report.
''Regulating the nuclear sector comes with its challenges, which require a high level of knowledge
and expertise to meet. And this is why we are proud to have qualified Emirati nuclear
professionals working side by side with our foreign expert staff in nuclear safety, nuclear security
and nuclear non-proliferation,'' said Abdulla Nasser Al Suwaidi, Chairman of the Board of
Management, FANR.
The past year, he added, FANR made excellent progress towards realising its vision of becoming
a globally recognised nuclear regulator.
''FANR remains dedicated to developing Emiratis in the nuclear regulatory sector, the third round
of Emiratis joined the Developee Engineers Programme in 2018. Long-term career opportunities
for Emiratis at FANR are achieved through focused recruitment, training and development
programmes. In 2018, Emiratis accounted for 66% of FANR employees,'' stated Christer
Viktorsson, FANR Director General.
''FANR’s Board of Management approved the Research and Development Policy to support the
regulatory programmes of FANR, to help develop Emiratis in the organisation and attract them to
work at FANR.
This policy provides a technical basis for all FANR’s regulatory activities, which will eventually
contribute to the sustainability of the nuclear applications in the UAE.'' FANR is dedicated to
optimising the skills, processes and resources needed for it to excel and realise its vision of being
globally recognised as a leading nuclear regulator.
FANR’s capacity-building efforts includes the steadfast support of the government’s Emiratisation
initiative. FANR continues to attract talented individuals to meet its business requirements with 32
new Emiratis being recruited in 2018, the report indicated. In order to accomplish its vision of

being global leaders in nuclear regulation, FANR implements and conducts extensive
programmes to support its resources, skills and processes.
UAE nuclear watchdog issues over 1,000 licences in 2018
The UAE's Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) said a total of 1,088 licences have
been issued for the country's nuclear sector as of December 2018.
Of this, 483 are new licences, 459 licence
renewals, and 146 licence amendments to
conduct activities using radiation sources in
both the medical and non-medical fields,
according to Federal Authority for Nuclear
Regulation's 2018 Annual Report.
FANR also issued seven new licences, 19
licence renewals and three licence
amendments related to the possession and
handling of nuclear material, and transfer of
nuclear material and regulated items.
In line with its commitment to periodically review elements of the FANR regulatory framework, a
number of regulations and regulatory guides were reviewed and issued in 2018, it stated.
FANR’s vigorous inspection programme continued throughout the year, and as of December 2018
FANR’s radiation safety inspectors had carried out 430 inspections including announced,
unannounced and reactive inspections.
A total of 137 inspections were conducted on companies around the UAE to ascertain their
compliance with the provisions of safeguards, and nuclear import and export control.
Over 40 per cent of these inspections were to ensure there was compliance with the provisions of
the Regulation on the Export and Import Control of Nuclear Material, Nuclear Related Items and
Nuclear Related Dual-Use Items (FANR-REG-09).
In 2018 FANR also conducted numerous radioactive source security inspections across the UAE:
they included 78 inspections on licensees’ storage facilities and 80 inspections on licensees’
transport vehicles. 774 import permits and 270 export permits were issued last year.
''The year 2018 has been another step towards FANR’s mission to ensuring the safe, secure and
peaceful use of nuclear energy and radiation sources, and to ensuring the sustainability of the
UAE’s regulatory infrastructure in accordance with FANR’s 2017-2021 Corporate Strategy,'' said
Abdulla Nasser Al Suwaidi, Chairman of the Board of Management,FANR.
Director General Christer Viktorsson said: "FANR continued to develop and revise a number of
regulations and regulatory guides in accordance with FANR’s five-year development framework."
"In 2018 FANR issued 413 licences to conduct activities using regulated material in different fields.
The majority of licences issued were for medical purposes and the remainder were for non-
medical purposes; seventy licences were related to the transfer of nuclear material," he added.

UAE's Dana Gas hires adviser to sell Egypt assets - sources
Reuters - Clara Denina, Davide Barbuscia
United Arab Emirates’ Dana Gas has hired investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. (TPH) to
advise it on the sale of its Egyptian assets, worth over $500 million, two sources familiar with the
matter said, as the company shifts its focus to its Kurdistan operations.
The Abu Dhabi-listed energy producer - whose main assets are in Egypt and in the Kurdistan
Region of Iraq (KRI) - has been considering an alternative listing in London, and focusing on a
single geographical area could be appealing to future investors in the company, said one of the
sources. The sources did not wish to be identified because the information has not been made
public.
A spokesman for Dana Gas declined to comment while TPH did not immediately respond to a
request for comment, sent outside working hours. Dana’s exploration and production assets in
Egypt are onshore the Nile Delta except for Block 6 in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
In May Dana began drilling at the offshore Merak well in Block 6, saying it could hold up to 4
trillion cubic feet of gas.
On Sunday Dana said in a bourse filing that the drilling has not found commercial hydrocarbons
and that the well is being abandoned. It added its operations in Egypt continue production
normally.

The gas producer started marketing its Egyptian assets over the past few weeks and while it has
received interest from the market there are no buyers lined up yet, said the first source, who
added the assets are worth “well over $500 million.”
The decision to sell in Egypt is “strategic” as Dana wants to focus its resources on investments in
KRI, where it has large capital expenditure requirements and sees potential for growth, the source
added.
In a second bourse filing on Sunday, Dana said a new independently audited report showed the
fields in which it has stakes in KRI could be “the biggest gas fields in the whole of Iraq”.
Pearl Petroleum, a consortium majority-owned by Dana Gas and its affiliate Crescent Petroleum,
plans to increase gas production from the KRI’s Khor Mor field to 650 mmscf per day by 2022 and
900 mmscf per day by 2023, Dana said.
The expansion plan, worth some $700 million, will include adding two new production trains as
well as drilling new wells to raise output from the current 400 mmscf a day, Dana Gas and
Crescent Petroleum said in March, when they announced a 20-year gas sales deal with the
Kurdistan Regional Government.
In May, Dana’s Chief Executive said Pearl Petroleum would raise funding for the KRI investments
through several types of financing. Dana’s 2019 capital expenditure for Iraqi Kurdistan was
estimated at $70 million-$90 million, while its capex for Egypt this year would have been about
$90 million, he said at the time.
Dana Gas, which at the end of this year’s first quarter had a cash balance of $442 million, rocked
the world of Islamic finance in 2017, when it halted payments on $700 million in sukuk saying the
instruments had become unlawful in the UAE. After a protracted and complex legal dispute it
reached a consensual restructuring agreement with its creditors in May last year.

Venezuela: Chevron Wins U.S. Waiver to Keep Producing Oil
Bloomberg
Chevron Corp. and four oil services companies won a last-minute U.S. government reprieve to
continue producing oil in Venezuela despite sanctions placed on the crisis-stricken country.
The extension of a waiver from sanctions will keep San Ramon, California-based Chevron’s joint
venture with state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA running for another three months, the U.S.
Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a statement Friday. The waiver,
previously due to end on July 27, will now last until Oct. 25.
Oilfield service companies Schlumberger Ltd., Halliburton Co., Baker Hughes and Weatherford
International Plc were also allowed to continue their work in Venezuela for three months. Chevron
pared losses and was down 1.4% to $123.88 at 12:02 p.m. in New York, after earlier declining as
much as 1.9%.
“This does indicate Chevron has the ear of key government officials,” said Muhammed Ghulam, a
Houston-based analyst at Raymond James & Associates. The Trump administration has “got the
message that a pullout won’t really hurt Maduro. It would hurt Chevron.”
While Venezuela only accounted for 1% of Chevron’s global crude production last year, it remains
strategically important. The company is the only major U.S. producer still operating in the country,
which has the world’s largest oil reserves. In recent months, Chevron made the case to the Trump

administration that if it were to leave, its Venezuelan assets could be turned over to another
operator. That could mean the state, or even Russian or Chinese interests.
The U.S. has refused to recognize Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela’s president after an election last
year. Financial sanctions have become its main tool for depriving Maduro of cash and pressuring
the military to turn against him.
Earlier this week, Venezuela’s opposition-led National Assembly issued a decree that guaranteed
Chevron’s assets in the country would be protected under a new government led by Juan Guaido.
Oil purchases from Venezuela have become complicated since the U.S. expanded its sanctions
regime to include any business done with PDVSA, as the national oil company is also known.
Other companies, including Spain’s Repsol SA and Italy’s Eni SpA, continue to do business with
Venezuela.
Chevron has operated in Venezuela for almost a century, since the discovery of the Boscan field
in the 1920s. It has outlasted Exxon Mobil Corp., which left the country after a series of industry
nationalizations during Hugo Chavez’s tenure as president.
Venezuela has seen its oil output drop precipitously in recent years. Production is currently below
800,000 barrels a day, down from as much as 3.45 million in 1998.
While Chevron’s joint ventures with PDVSA produce more crude on average than JVs involving
other companies such as China National Petroleum Corp. and Russia’s Rosneft Oil, it gets only a
portion of the supply. The U.S. producer received about 40,000 barrels a day from its Venezuelan
affiliate in 2018.

Angola: Eni's Block 15/06 Agogo well confirms 650 mmbo
Source: Eni
Eni has successfully drilled Agogo-2, the first appraisal well of the Agogo discovery in Block 15/06,
offshore Angola. The well results confirm the 650 million barrels of oil in place at the Agogo
field and indicate further upside in its northern sector that will be assessed with new appraisal
wells.
Agogo-2 has been drilled by the Poseidon drillship, 3 kms north-west of the Agogo-1 discovery
well, approx. 180 kms from the coast and 23 kms from the N’Goma West Hub floating production
and storage facility (FPSO). The well was drilled in a water depth of 1,700 metres and reached a
total depth of 3,949 metres.
Agogo-2 encountered 58 metres net of light oil (31° API), in sandstones of Miocene and Oligocene
age with excellent petro-physical characteristics. The result confirms the extension of the Agogo
reservoir to the north of the discovery well and below the salt diapirs. The well has been planned
and drilled as a highly deviated one, to reach the sequences below the salt diapirs and prove the
existence of reservoir and oil charge also in this sector of the Agogo megastructure. Data acquired
in Agogo-2 indicate a production capacity in excess of 15.000 barrels of oil per day.
The Block 15/06 JV is composed by Eni, the operator of the asset with a 36.8421%
stake, Sonangol P&P which has 36.8421% and SSI Fifteen Limited who holds the remaining
26.3158%. Eni plans to start first production from Agogo before the end of 2019 with a subsea tie
back to the N’Goma FPSO. Meanwhile, Eni will continue the appraisal campaign to assess the
discovery’s full potential and size its development.
Angola plays a key role in the strategy for organic growth of Eni, which has been present in the
country since 1980. Eni’s equity production in Angola currently stands at about 150,000 barrels of
oil equivalent per day. In Block 15/06 Eni operates two development projects, West Hub and East
Hub, which currently produce about 155,000 B/D of oil. Eni is also operator of Cabinda Norte
Block, located onshore Angola.

Eni kicks off production from Egypt’s Western Desert
source: Eni + NewBase
Italian oil and gas major Eni said that production from South West Meleiha Development Lease,
located in the Egyptian Western Desert, some 130 Km North of the oasis of Siwa, has started.
The current production, delivered through two oil producer wells, is around 5,000 barrel of oil per
day (BOPD) and is expected to reach 7.000 BOPD within September 2019. The oil is transported
and treated at the Meleiha Plant facilities operated by AGIBA, a company equally hold by IEOC
and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC).
South West Meleiha oil discoveries have been made in 2018, while other exploration wells are
now planned to be drilled on the nearby prospects within the exploration area.
Eni, through its subsidiary IEOC, holds a 50 per cent interest in South West Meleiha while EGPC
holds the remaining 50 per cent. AGIBA is the operator.
AGIBA, which is operator company on behalf of Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC)
and Eni, also recently made two additional near field oil discoveries in the Meleiha development
lease in Western Desert, specifically on the Basma and Shemy prospects.
On Basma, two wells have been successfully drilled and are already in production from the
Jurassic Khatabta formation, while on Shemy prospect a well is currently under testing and
targeting oil from the Matruh sands. Moreover, in the Meleiha development lease AGIBA has
successfully continued a deepening campaign on existing shallow wells targeting the Alam El
Bueib Cretaceous formation. These deepened producers are now contributing with about 6.000
BOPD to the Meleiha production.
All these new actions in the Western Desert are contributing in excess of 15.000 BOPD to the
AGIBA production.
In the Nile Delta area, within the new El Qar’a onshore exploration lease granted in 2018, Eni has
successfully drilled and tested the El Qar’a-NE1 well. This well found gas in the sandstones of the

Abu Madi formation. During the clean-up, the well delivered 17 MMscfd and associated
condensates. The well will be tied-in to existing facilities and the production will be delivered to the
Abu Madi gas plant operated by Petrobel (Ieoc 50 per cent - EGPC 50 per cent) upon the granting
of the development lease.
Eni through its subsidiary IEOC holds a 37.50 per cent interest in El Qar’a exploration lease, while
BP a 12.5 per cent interest and EGPC a 50 per cent interest. Petrobel is the operator of the lease
on behalf of EGPC and Eni.
Finally, in the Gulf of Suez, in the Abu Rudeis Sidri development lease (equally held by IEOC –
and EGPC), IEOC, through Petrobel, has successfully drilled a new structure on the Sidri South
exploration prospect which resulted in an oil discovery.
The new discovery has been made through the Sidri-23 well in pre-Miocene sequences. The
discovery may hold up to 200 MMbbl of oil in place. The well has been completed and brought on
stream through production facilities available in the area. Petrobel has a plan to develop the new
discovery with about 10 wells that will be drilled in the near future.
Eni has been present in Egypt since 1954, where is the main producer with approximately
350,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day equity. Such production is expected to further grow within
the year, thanks to the ramp-up of Zohr and the start-up of Baltim South West fields. –

India unveils $10bn gas pipeline network expansion plans
Source : Gail + NewBase
India plans to spend around $10.2 billion on the expansion of its natural gas pipeline network
across the country to raise the share of natural gas in the country’s primary energy mix, according
to a report by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
However, India needs to address the key issues plaguing the country’s pipelines sector to
encourage natural gas demand and achieve its goal, said the report.
GlobalData research reveals that the issues affecting the development of natural gas pipelines
have led to low private sector participation in the Indian natural gas pipelines sector. State-owned
companies such as Gail (India), Indian Oil Corp (IOCL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC)
dominate the country’s natural gas pipeline landscape.
Soorya Tejomoortula, Oil and Gas analyst at GlobalData, said: “A major prerequisite for increasing
natural gas demand is the creation of adequate pipelines infrastructure. Presently natural gas
pipelines are not included under the infrastructure sector by the Indian government.”

“Once the pipelines sector gets ‘infrastructural status’, it will be eligible to raise capital on easier
terms for longer tenures from a variety of lenders such as insurance companies and pension
funds,” Tejomoortula said.
Unbundling of transportation and marketing of gas is another major step required to increase
private participation and develop the natural gas pipelines network. This will not only stop
vertically integrated companies from gaining unfair advantage but also provides equal
opportunities to all the companies and fosters competition, added the report.
Tejomoortula continued: “Though India has ample potential for natural gas consumption, it is not
being translated into reality due to low availability of gas, inadequate infrastructure and high prices
to end-users. This is in turn resulting in the inadequate pipeline capacity usage of the available
pipelines, affecting operational efficiencies of natural gas pipelines and causing financial duress to
pipeline operators.”
Another important issue plaguing the Indian pipelines industry is the non-inclusion of natural gas
under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. It has led to varying tax rates on natural gas
production and related value chain such as pipelines and retailing in different states.
A lower and uniform tax rate on natural gas production, allied infrastructure for transportation and
distribution will unlock the growth potential of the natural gas pipelines sector, it said.
“India plans to invest billions of dollars on the development of new natural gas pipelines without
addressing the key issues. It remains to be seen how far the Indian federal government succeeds
in achieving its plans to increase the natural pipeline network in the country,” added Tejomoortula

NewBase 29 July 2019 Khaled Al Awadi
NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE
Oil edges up on prospect of U.S. interest rate cut
Reuters + NewBase
Oil prices edged higher on Monday as the prospect of an expected interest rate cut by the U.S.
Federal Reserve overshadowed pessimism over U.S.-China trade talks and worries about slower
global economic growth.
Brent crude rose 8 cents to $63.54 a barrel by 14:58 p.m. EDT (18:58 GMT), while U.S. West
Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures were up 43 cents to $56.63 a barrel.
“Prices appear to be treading water ahead of this week’s events,” said John Kilduff, partner at
Again Capital Management.
Traders and investors are watching the Fed this week, with U.S. central bankers expected to
lower borrowing costs for the first time since the depths of the financial crisis more than a decade
ago.
Oil price special
coverage

U.S. President Donald Trump said a small Fed rate cut “is not enough.”
Economic growth in the United States slowed less than expected in the second quarter,
strengthening the outlook for oil consumption. Elsewhere, growth is slowing faster, partly because
of the U.S.-China trade war over the past year.
“All that macro-economic anticipation is reminding us that oil prices are focused on global growth
ideas for market direction,” Phil Flynn, an analyst with Price Futures Group in Chicago, said in a
note.
U.S. and Chinese negotiators meet this week for their first in-person talks since a G20 truce last
month, but expectations are low after Trump said China might not want to sign a trade deal until
after the 2020 U.S. election.

“On the trade front, expectations may be low ahead of renewed Sino-U.S. talks, but any positive
echoes this week will lift market sentiment,” said BNP Paribas global oil strategist Harry
Tchilinguirian.
Crude prices were also supported by supply risk as tensions remained high around the Strait of
Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes.
Tensions have spiked between Iran and the West after Iranian commandos seized a British-
flagged oil tanker in the Gulf this month in apparent retaliation for the seizure of an Iranian tanker
by British forces near Gibraltar.
Britain told Iran that if it wants to “come out of the dark” it must follow international rules and
release the British-flagged tanker.
Following the end of a waiver on U.S. sanctions at the start of May, China’s crude oil imports from
Iran sank almost 60% in June from a year earlier, Chinese customs data showed on Saturday.

Saudi Plan B to Avoid Hormuz Danger Isn't Much Safer
The Red Sea's Gate of Tears looks like an appealing alternative to the Persian Gulf chokepoint,
but has its own dangers. By Julian Lee
After all of the incidents in the Strait of Hormuz in recent months, Saudi Arabia is understandably
nervous about its dependence on using the chokepoint to ship its oil to vital overseas markets. But
its plan to pump more of its crude all the way across the country and export it through the Red
Sea instead may not bring it as much security as it hopes.
Two separate attacks on oil tankers in May and June just outside Hormuz – a narrow neck of
water that links the Persian Gulf to the high seas – have caused costs and insurance rates to
skyrocket. British-flagged vessels have shunned the strait after one was seized by Iran’s
Revolutionary Guard in retaliation for the arrest of the supertanker Grace 1 off Gibraltar earlier this
month.
It’s perfectly understandable that producers are weighing up their options. But unlike most of the
others in the region, Saudi Arabia actually does have some. It and the United Arab Emirates are
the only countries in the Persian Gulf that have a coastline on another sea. In Saudi Arabia’s case
it’s the Red Sea, which forms the country’s western boundary.
Risky Business
Diverting Saudi crude exports to the Red Sea doesn't make them safe
Source: Bloomberg
There is already a big oil pipeline that carries Saudi crude from its oil fields in the east to that
western coast. With a capacity to move five million barrels of oil a day, it is one of the largest in
the world. It was already due to grow, but the Hormuz tensions mean it’s now going to get much
bigger, much faster.

The kingdom now plans to complete the expansion of the line to carry 7 million barrels a day by
September. But as recently as April, the prospectus for the first international bond sale by state-
owned oil company Saudi Aramco showed the completion date for the expansion was four
years away and the planned capacity was half a million barrels smaller.
Hormuz Flows
Saudi Arabia is the biggest shipper of crude through the Strait of Hormuz and fears its exports are
vulnerable to Iranian interference
Source: Bloomberg tanker tracking
Aramco has also boosted its export capacity on the Red Sea coast, rehabilitating the Muajjiz, or
Yanbu South, oil terminal with a capacity of 3 million barrels a day. This was originally the
terminus of the IPSA pipeline, which had carried Iraqi oil to the Red Sea until Saddam Hussein’s
invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
The line was mothballed and eventually confiscated by the Saudis in lieu of reparations payments
owed by Iraq. Given that it has a nameplate capacity of 1.65 million barrels a day and runs parallel
to the East-West line across the kingdom, it may form the basis of the capacity expansion.
But will all this work make Saudi oil exports any safer? Perhaps not.
The East-West pipeline itself came under attack from drones in May. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels
in Yemen claimed responsibility, though U.S. officials subsequently judged the incursion to have
originated in Iraq, where the Saudi border is less well defended. Further such incidents cannot be
ruled out if tensions with Iran rise further.

Dire Straits
Saudi oil exports to Asia must negotiate one of two chokepoints to reach open seas, and the Bab
el-Mandab may be just as risky as Hormuz
Souces: Times Atlas and Encylopaeida of the Sea, U.S. Energy Information Administration
The line has plenty of unused capacity, even now. Last year it carried just 2.1 million barrels a day
to the west coast, much of it destined for refineries at Yanbu. And there is no sign from Bloomberg
tanker tracking data that exports via the Red Sea have increased as tensions around Hormuz
have escalated in recent months. The share of total Saudi crude exports shipped through the Red
Sea dropped below 10% in 2Q from 12% in 1Q.
All One Way
More than 90% of Saudi Arabia's crude exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz

Shipping crude out through the Red Sea may avoid the Strait of Hormuz, but it also has its own
bottleneck to negotiate – the Bab el-Mandab, or Gate of Tears, a narrow sea passage between
Yemen and Djibouti that links it to the Indian Ocean and the sea routes to Asia. And that may
prove no less fraught than sailing through Hormuz.
Twice last year Saudi tankers were attacked in the Bab el-Mandab, causing the kingdom to
halt shipments through the strait.
Diverting more of Saudi Arabia’s crude exports through the Red Sea could, perversely, complicate
the task of protecting oil tankers, requiring navies to patrol not one, but two chokepoints over
which Iran, or militias it backs, have a degree of control.
Iran has shown how easily it can harass tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and jeopardize oil
shipments there. Its proxies in Yemen may soon try demonstrating their capabilities in the Bab el-
Mandab, and if so, global oil flows there may be no less vulnerable.

NewBase Special Coverage
News Agencies News Release 28 July 2019
U.S. government energy consumption continues to decline
U.S. EIA, based on Federal Energy Management Program Federal Comprehensive Annual Energy Performance Data
The U.S. federal government consumed 915 trillion British thermal units (Btu) of energy during the
2017 fiscal year (FY), or 20% less than a decade before. The slight decline in FY 2017 marks the
fifth consecutive decline in annual federal government consumption.
Consumption by defense agencies accounted for more than 75% of total government energy
consumption, according to data compiled by the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP).
Defense agency energy consumption declined 0.2% from FY 2016 to FY 2017, while civilian
agency energy consumption declined 0.4% during the same period. In the past decade, defense
agency energy consumption has fallen 18% (compared with FY 2007), and civilian agency energy
consumption has fallen 8%.
Over the years, several Executive Orders (for example, EO 13834) directed federal agencies to
improve the energy and environmental performance of government buildings, vehicles, and overall
operations.
Most of the federal government’s energy use is for vehicles and equipment, which accounted for
568 trillion Btu, or 62% of total energy consumption, in FY 2017.

The jet fuel that defense agencies use is the primary driver of government vehicle and equipment
energy consumption. The 509 trillion Btu of fuel consumed by defense agencies represents 90%
of total government vehicle fuel consumption.
Among civilian agencies, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) consumed the most energy in FY 2017,
at 44 trillion Btu. More than half of the energy USPS consumed was for vehicle fuel. The U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Department of Energy ranked second and third,
respectively, each consuming about 29 trillion Btu.
Government expenditures for energy in FY 2017 totaled $15.6 billion. Similar to their energy
consumption share, defense agencies accounted for more than 75% of government energy
expenditures.

Defense agency energy spending is mostly for vehicles and equipment ($8.6 billion of the $11.9
billion total), and civilian agency energy spending is mostly for buildings and other uses ($2.7
billion of the $3.7 billion total).
U.S. EIA, based on Federal Energy Management Program Federal Comprehensive Annual Energy Performance Data
More coal-fired power plants are decommissioning
Between 2010 and the first quarter of 2019, U.S. power companies announced the retirement of
more than 546 coal-fired power units, totaling about 102 gigawatts (GW) of generating
capacity.Plant owners intend to retire another 17 GW of coal-fired capacity by 2025, according to
the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator
Inventory.

Coal-fired power plants in the United States remain under significant economic pressure. Many
plant owners have retired their coal-fired units because of relatively flat electricity demand growth
and increased competition from natural gas and renewables.
In 2018, plant owners retired more than 13 GW of coal-fired generation capacity, which is the
second-highest annual total for U.S. coal retirements in EIA’s dataset; the highest total for coal
retirements, at 15 GW, occurred in 2015.
The annual number of retired U.S. coal units has declined since 2015, and the configuration of
retired coal capacity has changed. Coal-fired units that retired after 2015 in the United States have
generally been larger and younger than the units that retired before 2015.
j
The U.S. coal units that retired in 2018 had an average capacity of 350 megawatts (MW) and
an average age of 46 years, compared with an average capacity of 129 MW and average age of
56 years for the coal units that retired in 2015.
During a coal-fired plant’s decommissioning process, the electric-generating equipment—such as
precipitators, boilers, turbines, and generators—are shut down and operating permits are
terminated. Unused coal and materials associated with both the generation process and the
buildings and structures are removed. The electric-generating equipment may be used at other
plants or sold as scrap.

Unlike nuclear plant decommissioning, which is closely regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, the physical process of decommissioning a coal-fired power plant is not as firmly
regulated in terms of specific procedure. The time required to physically decommission a coal-
fired power plant varies and sometimes overlaps with remediation and redevelopment.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Remediation involves cleaning up hazardous materials to meet federal and state requirements.
Remediation of coal combustion residuals (CCR), commonly known as coal ash, is the primary
focus in coal plant decommissioning because it is one of the largest U.S. industrial waste streams.
CCR can be disposed in onsite landfills or surface impoundments, known as coal ash ponds. CCR
also can be moved offsite to be recycled into products such as concrete or wallboard.
The redevelopment of a decommissioned coal-fired plant may involve repurposing the site for
another generation technology or some other commercial, industrial, or municipal application.
Coal-fired power plants typically occupy land in or near downtown areas or along rivers, and they
usually have access to railways, roadways, water, sewers, and other infrastructure.
Repowering a plant with natural gas-fired technology, such as a combined-cycle natural gas
turbine plant, requires significantly less space than coal-fired configurations, which could cover
hundreds of acres. Repowering a former coal-fired plant with natural gas-fired elements is a viable
option for power providers because much of the critical infrastructure is already in place, including
transmission lines, substations, and water.
Principal contributors: Slade Johnson, Kien Chau

NewBase For discussion or further details on the news below you may contact us on +971504822502, Dubai, UAE
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Khaled Malallah Al Awadi,
Energy Consultant
MS & BS Mechanical Engineering (HON), USA
Emarat member since 1990
ASME member since 1995
Hawk Energy member 2010
Mobile: +97150-4822502
khdmohd@hawkenergy.net
khdmohd@hotmail.com
Khaled Al Awadi is a UAE National with a total of 25 years of experience in
the Oil & Gas sector. 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 a UAE
operations base , Most of the experience were spent as the Gas Operations
Manager in Emarat , responsible for Emarat Gas Pipeline Network Facility &
gas compressor stations . Through the years, he has developed great
experiences in the designing & constructing of gas pipelines, gas metering &
regulating stations and in the engineering of supply routes. Many years were spent drafting, &
compiling gas transportation, operation & maintenance agreements along with many MOUs for the
local authorities. He has become a reference for many of the Oil & Gas Conferences held in the
UAE and Energy program broadcasted internationally, via GCC leading satellite Channels.
NewBase : For discussion or further details on the news above you may contact us on +971504822502 , Dubai , UAE

New base issue 1264 special 29 july 2019 energy news by khaled alawadi

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New base issue 1264 special 29 july 2019 energy news by khaled alawadi