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Ravi Mattu and Rebecca F Elliott, The New York Times
The South Pars gas field – a “giant offshore natural gas field” shared by Iran and Qatar – has been hit in an airstrike, reports the New York Times. This is “one of the most significant energy sites to be hit since the US-Israeli air war against Iran began nearly three weeks ago,” according to the newspaper. Separately, the New York Times says: “South Pars is a cornerstone of Iran’s energy supply, accounting for as much as 70% of the nation’s gas production. Initial reports indicated damage to sections of the gas field that make up nearly 12% of Iran’s total gas production, analysts said.” The Guardian says: “The strikes were the first time facilities associated with the production of fossil fuel energy had been hit in the conflict, rather than sites associated more generally with the oil and gas industry.” The New York Times notes that the airstrikes “also hit oil and petrochemical facilities in the southern city of Asaluyeh, where gas from the South Pars field is pumped for processing”. The Financial Times reports that in retaliation for the South Pars attack, Iran has “hit the site of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas facility in Qatar with a ballistic missile, inflicting ‘extensive damage’”. Bloomberg says: “Several LNG facilities at the Ras Laffan site, which typically produces about a fifth of global supply, were the subject of missile attacks, causing fires and extensive damage, QatarEnergy said in a statement on Thursday.”
The New York Times reports that global oil prices have topped $112 per barrel. It adds: “Brent, the global benchmark for crude oil, settled on Wednesday at $107.38 a barrel, bringing the cost of the commodity up over 48% since the war began.” The Times reports that the attacks sent energy markets into “fresh turmoil”. Al Jazeera says: “Less than three weeks into the conflict, market watchers are seriously considering the possibility of [oil]prices surpassing $150 or even $200.” Bloomberg reports that European natural gas prices surged 35%.
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Reuters reports that “Sri Lanka will introduce additional fuel-rationing measures”, while the Financial Times says “Indonesia faces fuel fears as half its population travels for Eid.” The Guardian has a story under the headline: “Fuel rations and no air con: south-east Asian nations race to conserve energy”. Agence France-Presse says the leaders of “import reliant Pacific nations” have "appealed for help”. Reuters reports that “Egypt’s energy import bill has more than doubled” since the war began. Bloomberg says Egypt “will begin curbing some electricity use, including by ordering shops and cafes to close earlier”. Bloomberg reports that Australia has appointed a “fuel czar”. Reuters says that the prime minister Anthony Albanese has “urged Australians to avoid panic buying petrol and diesel”. The Independent reports on Indians “forced to cook using coal”, while Agence France-Presse reports on “Thai fishermen marooned by rising fuel costs”. Politico says “anxiety is growing over Europe's unusually low gas storage levels”. Reuters adds that EU leaders “will attempt to find quick fixes to curb the jump in energy prices triggered by the Iran war when they meet for a summit on Thursday”.
Fiona Harvey and Jessica Elgot, The Guardian
The UK will cut its climate aid to developing countries by about 14%, to roughly £2bn per year, says the Guardian. The newspaper adds that, overall, the UK’s aid budget was cut to 0.35 of gross national income, following “bitter rows with the Treasury, which wanted deeper cuts owing to pressure on spending resulting from the war in Iran”. It continues: “Climate spending will be ‘around’ £6bn over three years, the government said before the announcement on Thursday. But experts told the Guardian this was likely to mean less than £6bn, rather than more. Under the previous five-year arrangement, the UK provided £11.6bn over five years, or about £2.3bn a year. The previous earmark of £3bn in funding for nature and forest projects has also been scrapped. The climate funding pledge abandons the previous practice of setting five-year budgets, to allow for longer-term projects of the kind that experts said were more efficient.” [See Carbon Brief’s analysis of the UK’s climate finance, including its accounting rule change.]
Lauren Aratani, The Guardian
US president Donald Trump has issued a 60-day waiver of a US shipping law in an attempt to lower oil and gas prices, reports the Guardian. Bloomberg says: “The Jones Act mandates that cargo carried between US ports must be transported on US-flagged, -built and -owned ships. The waiver exempts those requirements for some cargoes, allowing foreign vessels to temporarily ship several products. That includes coal, crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas, natural gas liquids, fertiliser, anything using refined petroleum products as a primary feedstock and other energy derivatives.” According to the New York Times, “analysts and some shipping executives expect the move to have only a marginal impact on gasoline prices”. Politico, Axios, the Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera and the Daily Mail also cover the story.
Separately, Bloomberg reports that US vice president JD Vance and other “key Trump administration officials” will meet with oil executives today at the American Petroleum Institute. According to the outlet, the group will look for “ways to tame surging fuel prices after the US attack on Iran”. Politico and Reuters also cover the meeting. Bloomberg reports that “the price of US propane is climbing at almost twice the pace of the natural gas it’s made from”. Reuters reports that the Trump administration “is expected to announce soon that it will temporarily lift federal smog-cutting restrictions on summer-blend gasoline to curb rising energy prices”.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press says that “US companies will be allowed to do business with Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company after the Treasury Department eased sanctions”. Bloomberg says: “US fuel makers are boosting purchases of crude from Venezuela to the highest in more than a year.” Reuters reports on a US plan to help control global oil prices “with a swap of millions of barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve”. The Wall Street Journal reports that US crude oil inventories have increased, according to data released yesterday by the Energy Information Administration.
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The Associated Press: “A tiny desert community in Southern California reached 108 degrees on Wednesday, tying the highest March temperature ever recorded in the US.” The New York Times: “The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday it would relaunch a canceled grant program that had helped states invest billions of dollars in projects that made local communities more resilient to floods, fires and other disasters.” Inside Climate News reports that “US House Democrats proposed legislation on Wednesday to restore clean energy tax credits revoked by Republicans last year through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act”. Reuters says: “The US government on Wednesday held its most successful sale ever of oil and gas drilling rights in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve, attracting $163m in winning bids.” Bloomberg reports that home insurance costs are rising faster than inflation in the US. The Los Angeles Times says: “Even low-risk homes are caught up in California’s climate-driven insurance crisis.”
Matthew Taylor, The Guardian
The Guardian covers a report from the Common Wealth thinktank, which finds that household energy bills in the UK could be reduced by up to £203 per year “by stopping expensive fossil gas setting the price of energy in the UK”. [See Carbon Brief’s new Q&A on why gas currently sets the price of electricity.] The newspaper says: “Under the existing system, gas – the most expensive form of electricity production in the UK system – set the price of energy 85% of the time in 2024 in the UK, even though it generates only about a quarter of Britain’s electricity. This means that, as the cost of gas rises further amid the US and Israeli war on Iran, consumers may face huge increases on their household bills this year. However, the [new report] sets out how the government can cut the link between gas prices and electricity bills, saving consumers hundreds of pounds a year and stopping renewable energy companies, which are being paid the price of expensive gas, from reaping unearned windfalls.”
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Green Party leader Zack Polanski has called on Keir Starmer to extend the energy price cap beyond June, reports BusinessGreen. The Financial Times adds that Polanski has promised to “put aside £8.4bn” to stop energy bills rising, if he wins the next general election. The Press Association reports that Ed Miliband has warned energy firms “not to rip off businesses”. He says pricing needs to be “fair, transparent and fully justifiable”, according to the newswire. Bloomberg reports that Offshore Energies UK has said “faster reform of the UK’s North Sea windfall tax could significantly cut reliance on LNG imports”. The Daily Telegraph reports that the owner of the Rosebank oil field has said it “could be producing millions of barrels a day by the autumn, if Ed Miliband approves the North Sea project”. The Daily Express says: “Labour MPs voted down calls to scrap an increase in petrol duty, despite warnings that the Iran war is already pushing up fuel prices.” Separately, the newspaper claims that petrol and diesel could be “rationed” across the UK.
Michael Holder, BusinessGreen
The UK government has published its land use framework, the “first ever formal policy framework for better managing how land is used across England”, reports BusinessGreen. The outlet adds: “The government said the new framework would help enable its targets to build a clean power system by 2030, build 1.5m new homes and protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030, all while increasing food production and enhancing climate resilience.” The Guardian reports that, under the framework, around 7% of England’s land would be “given over to nature, forests and renewable energy, to meet the UK’s environmental targets”. It adds: “Only about 1% of England’s land is likely to be needed for solar and windfarms and other renewable energy, according to the report, but this estimate may already be in need of an update, as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has admitted that it did not include any increased needs for water and energy from the building of new AI datacentres.”
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