©AFP Saudi Arabia will continue to meet rising demand for its oil and press ahead with global expansion plans in spite of the “challenging” backdrop for the industry. In some of the first public comments from Saudi Arabia’s state oil company since a government reshuffle at the weekend, Amin Nasser, chief executive of Saudi Aramco, emphasised its willingness and ability to compete in global markets. More On this topic IN Oil & Gas “Whatever the call on Saudi Aramco we will meet it,” he said during a rare media visit to the headquarters of the state oil company in Dhahran. At the weekend, Saudi Arabia replaced Ali al-Naimi, its veteran oil minister, with Khalid al-Falih, chairman of Aramco and a close adviser to Mohammed bin Salman, the deputy crown prince who has emerged as the man with his hands on the levers of power in the kingdom. “We are seeing a global increase in demand,” he said, citing strength in India, the US and other parts of the world. Mr Nasser said oil demand was expected to rise by 1.2m barrels a day this year. The oil industry is watching for any signs of a change in Saudi policy or production levels almost two years after the oil price rout began. The crash, in which oil fell from above $100 a barrel in mid-2014 to below $30 in January, has ravaged the budgets of producer countries, led to widespread lay-offs in the oil industry and stoked fears of a deflationary spiral in the global economy. Prince Mohammed has hinted that the kingdom could easily accelerate output to more than 11m b/d as Iran, the regional rival, tries to recoup market share after years of sanctions. Last year, Saudi Arabia’s crude output averaged 10.2m b/d. On his first day in office, Mr Falih said there would be “stability” in the kingdom’s oil policy but said it was prepared to meet “existing and additional hydrocarbons demand from our expanding global customer base, backed by our current maximum sustainable capacity”. On Tuesday, Mr Nasser declined to say if Aramco would raise production but indicated the kingdom would meet heightened domestic electricity demand in the summer months. The desert country burns crude oil at its power plants in summer as air-conditioning use soars. Mr Nasser said the latest stage of an expansion project at the Shaybah oilfield in the south-east would be finished in a couple of weeks, adding 250,000 b/d of production capacity and taking the field’s maximum output to 1m b/d. This would help offset falling output at mature fields. Aramco was also eyeing joint ventures in Vietnam, China, Indonesia as well as the US as it prepares for a stock market flotation. “Even though it is challenging, it is an excellent opportunity for growth,” said Mr Nasser. “We are capitalising on this opportunity.” Last month, Saudi Arabia unveiled plans to transform its economy, pledging to end its “addiction to oil”. The cornerstone of the “Vision 2030” programme being pushed by Prince Salman is an IPO of a small part of Aramco. The planned sale of a 5 per cent stake could value the oil company at more than $2tn, according to Prince Mohammed, as well as potentially granting more independence from government oil policy. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Source link

Two significant coastal dairy farms in Pembrokeshire, offering nearly 1300 acres in total, have come to the market.  Broadmoor Farm near Talbenny and Corston Farm at Hundleton represent some of the most significant properties of their kind to come to the market in Wales in recent years, according to selling agents Savills. Broadmoor farm extends to over 800 acres.  Bordering the Pembrokeshire coastline,  Broadmoor has modern milking facilities and housing for 400 cows.   It has been run as a successful dairy farm by the current owners in tandem with Corston Farm, as part of a larger farming and vegetable packing business in England. Currently housing a herd of 400 Holstein Friesans, that produce an average of 9,500 litres per cow for cheese production, the farm has the potential to expand and milk a larger herd.  Although currently dairy farmed, much of the land has been arable farmed over the years and, with a coastal influence, is known as being “early”. The farm has five residential dwellings – a main farmhouse set away from the main farmyard, two houses adjacent to the main farmyard and a further farmhouse and cottage on an adjoining holding.  In addition, on the edge of the main farmyard there are two semi-detached houses that have in the past been used for staff accommodation. The main farm is well served by a range of substantial modern portal frame outbuildings all set round a thoughtfully-designed farmyard complex.  The majority of the land is down to grass with areas of woodland and the coastal cliff land. The northern and western edges of the farm border the coastline and include a small pebbly beach called Mill Haven. Broadmoor is on the market with a guide price of £6.2 million for the whole or in three Lots. Corston Farm is a 483 acre dairy farm with views to the Pembrokeshire coast and sea.  The residential element of the farm consists of two 3-bedroom semi detached cottages and two detached 3-bedroom lodge bungalows. Made up almost entirely of early growing productive grassland with a small area of woodland, the land is divided into generous sized fields with good access for modern machinery. Extensive modern outbuildings include 20:40 Herringbone parlour, livestock, feed and machinery housing and cubicle housing for around 300 cows.  There are additional traditional outbuildings with potential for development subject to planning. Corston Farm is for sale as a whole or in three Lots with a guide price of £3.8m. Dan Rees of Savills comments, “Broadmoor Farm is one of the most important high quality farms to come onto the market in Wales for a number of years.  The owners have run both Broadmoor and Corston as part of a wider business and there is potential for them to continue to operate in this way or for them to be sold as separate entities. “Both farms have a considerable amount to offer in terms of land, buildings and machinery.  As well as being set up for dairy farming there are a number of options for diversification of cropping and alternative use of buildings subject to planning.” Source link

According to new figures from NHBC, new home registrations hit 41,222 during Q2. 31,753 new homes were registered in the private sector, a 6% increase on the 30,086 a year ago. The public and affordable sector was down 13% with 9,469 new homes registered compared to 10,845 in Q2 2015. The overall number represents a 1% increase on the same period last year when 40,931 new homes were registered, making it the strongest quarter since 2007. The figures portray a mixed picture across the UK with half of the 12 regions showing an increase in registrations during Q2, including the South East (+37%) and the North East (+34%) with the other half reporting a decline in numbers, such as Wales (-30%) and London (-29%) compared to the same period last year. The number of new home completions for the rolling 12 months July 2015 – June 2016 also increased by 6% when compared to the previous 12 months (July 2014 – June 2015). This mirrors the strong growth seen in registrations in recent years, resulting in these new homes being completed over the past twelve months. As the leading warranty and insurance provider for new homes in the UK, NHBC’s registration statistics are a lead indicator of UK house-building activity. For 80 years, NHBC has been committed to driving up quality and raising standards in housebuilding and has approximately 80% market share. NHBC Chief Executive Mike Quinton said: “Our latest statistics show that the industry continues to consolidate on the strong growth in registrations seen over recent years. These registrations reflect continued industry confidence in the run-up to the EU Referendum at the end of June. Indeed, this period was the strongest quarter since Q4 2007, albeit still some way off levels seen over a decade ago. NHBC remains fully committed to support the industry to build new homes to the highest possible standards.” Source link

Theresa May has approved the £18bn Hinkley Point nuclear power station in south-west England, Europe’s biggest energy project, but the go-ahead for the controversial Franco-Chinese scheme came with new conditions on foreign investment in UK infrastructure. Key developments Theresa May gives approval for £18bn nuclear project Guaranteed energy price paid to EDF of £92.50 per megawatt hour unchanged UK to introduce new legal framework for future infrastructure projects Unions and business groups welcome decision The prime minister’s blessing for Hinkley following a surprise last-minute review removed the final obstacle to construction of Britain’s first new nuclear plant for a generation after almost a decade of planning, political disputes and delays. The project, expected to meet about 7 per cent of domestic electricity demand, will be led by French utility EDF, one-third financed by state-owned Chinese nuclear groups. They have an option to construct a further plant at Bradwell in eastern England that would involve the first Chinese reactor built in the developed world. In her biggest decision since she came to office after the UK vote in June to leave the EU, Mrs May acceded to arguments that Hinkley was essential to renewing the UK’s ageing energy infrastructure and cutting carbon emissions. In doing so she avoided the diplomatic rift with France and China that would have followed the cancellation of a project in which both countries have big financial and strategic interests. The Hinkley deal is seen as crucial to the future of the French nuclear industry — and its tens of thousands of jobs — and to China’s ambitions to build a global presence in the sector. However, Mrs May’s approval in defiance of critics, who said the project was too expensive and based on unproven technology, was subject to measures giving ministers more power to defend the national interest in the ownership of “critical infrastructure”. Under a revised agreement, EDF would be barred from selling its stake in the plant during construction and the government would take a “golden share” in future nuclear schemes. This latter measure appeared aimed at addressing Mrs May’s security concerns over plans by China General Nuclear Corporation, EDF’s main Chinese partner, to take the lead in construction of further reactors at Bradwell in eastern England, using Chinese technology. Downing Street said: “There will be reforms to the government’s approach to the ownership and control of critical infrastructure to ensure that the full implications of foreign ownership are scrutinised for the purposes of national security.” A review of the 2002 Enterprise Act would look at whether investments in critical infrastructure such as power plants should be referred to the government for approval. The measures reinforced early impressions of Mrs May’s administration as more interventionist in industrial policy and warier of Chinese investment than that of her predecessor, David Cameron. But the government is also under pressure after the Brexit vote to show that the UK remains “open for business”. Allies of George Osborne, the former chancellor, who championed Chinese investment in UK nuclear power, said Mrs May’s talk of golden shares and national security tests did little to alter the fundamentals of the Hinkley deal. Rupert Harrison, Mr Osborne’s closest aide at the Treasury, tweeted: “Right decision, no significant changes.” Hinkley Point decision One Whitehall official who worked on the original deal with EDF and CGN said: “They have ended up on Hinkley exactly where we were before: this whole thing is designed to get them off the hook. The Chinese can still build a reactor at Bradwell.” CGN said it was pleased with the decision as it was now “able to move forward and deliver” nuclear capacity at Hinkley Point, as well as at Bradwell. Jean-Bernard Lévy, chief executive of EDF, said the decision marked “the relaunch of nuclear in Europe” after its retreat in Germany and elsewhere since the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan in 2011. The French government praised the decision as “a major milestone in Franco-British industrial and energy co-operation”. Announcing the go-ahead, Greg Clark, secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, said nuclear power was “an important part of ensuring our future low-carbon energy security”. There was no change to the financial terms of the deal with EDF, under which the French utility will receive £92.50 per megawatt hour of electricity produced by Hinkley Point, rising with inflation, for 35 years. Critics have argued that the guaranteed price is too high at a time when wholesale electricity rates are less than half that figure. They have also questioned the likelihood of the 3.2GW plant being finished on time in 2025, given the multiyear delays to similar projects involving EDF’s European Pressurised Reactors in France and Finland. EDF says it has learnt lessons from its construction problems elsewhere and that the cost of electricity from Hinkley Point is competitive with other forms of low-carbon energy such as wind power. The future of Hinkley was called into doubt in July when Mrs May ordered a review of the project just two weeks after taking office. As well as scrutinising China’s role, she wanted time to address concerns over the cost and technology. Reaction in the UK to the decision was mixed. Unions and business groups were generally welcoming of a project that EDF has promised will involve 64 per cent of its spending with British companies. Another foreign investor planning to build nuclear power plants in the UK said it was “entirely comfortable” with the legal framework proposed on Thursday. Horizon, owned by Hitachi of Japan, said it was right for the government to have control of vital infrastructure and it remained committed to its proposed power station at Wylfa in Anglesey. Environmental groups were more critical, arguing that government support should be given to renewable power instead. Friends of the Earth said Hinkley Point was “a project from a dying era which will saddle Britons with eye-watering costs for decades, and radioactive waste for millennia”. Source link

Issue Parents were refused the use of a highchair for their daughter in a coffee shop as there was no harness in it. Panel opinion The coffee shop was right to advise the customer that the high chair should not be used without the harness in place. It would have been a good idea to remove the chair from the café until such time as the harness had been replaced or a replacement chair with harness obtained. Source link

The members of Stevenage First, the body responsible for the development, have signed a memorandum of understanding to help drive forward the £1bn scheme. The masterplan includes a new railway station, 3,600 new homes, 65,000 sq m of office space, 24,000 sq m of retail space, new hotels and a community hub. Stevenage Borough Council, Hertfordshire County Council, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce and the local enterprise partnership have agreed to push forward with the regeneration, having already secured £18.8m of funding for Network Rail to build a fifth platform at Stevenage Station in 2020. Hertfordshire’s local enterprise partnership also helped to secure £15m of government funding for Stevenage First to develop plans for the regeneration. Plans for the scheme were first unveiled in June last year. Stevenage First chairman Andrew Percival said he wanted the scheme to be “a leader and innovator for urban regeneration”, and added that the signing of memorandum marked “a major milestone” for the project. “By working jointly as partners, we can build on previous regeneration attempts and ensure that we deliver for Stevenage, Hertfordshire and the South East,” he said. “We have big ambitions which will take a while to put in place but there is a collective energy, confidence and determination for growth and change.” Next steps for the project include plans for the complete refurbishment of Stevenage train station, which will also include opportunities for development on neighbouring sites. Source link

All UK hydroelectric projects with planning permission are in Scotland, according to research by Scottish Renewables. The group said a total of 27 projects with a combined capacity of 58.5MW have planning permission, with 14 schemes totalling 26.8MW under construction in the UK – all in Scotland. The study comes after news earlier this month that two community-scale hydropower plants in the Scottish Highlands have secured nearly £5 million investment from the Green Investment Bank.  Scottish Renewables policy officer Hannah Smith said: “Scotland’s terrain and rainfall mean the country is ideal for the development of hydroelectricity, but the rest of the UK has historically invested in this technology too. “These figures show that a huge cut to the support in the UK government’s feed-in-tariff review in December (2015) has already caused a contraction in the number of schemes being developed and, it seems, a geographical withdrawal to hydro’s traditional heartland.” “Developers are now looking to innovation to make projects financially viable,” she added. According to the British Hydro Association, the UK – which has benefitted from hydropower for well over a century – currently has a total installed capacity of 1649MW, as well as around 2,788MW capacity of existing pumped storage. But cuts to support under the Feed-in-tariff in 2015 have caused difficulties in financing hydro projects, and no projects in England, Wales or Northern Ireland currently have the green light to go ahead. Source link