As Europeans nations scramble to meet energy demands ahead of the winters, Britain’s energy regulator has announced an expected 80% jump in its price cap, heaping pressure on the government to do more to help millions of households facing fuel poverty.
Several strategies for tackling the crisis have been put forward by politicians, consultancies and suppliers, but due to the ongoing UK leadership election, no new policy announcements have been made despite the looming spike in bills.
Wholesale gas and power prices that were already rising after the pandemic have surged to record levels since Russia invaded Ukraine and Moscow curtailed gas exports to Europe, driving UK inflation to a 40-year high.
The increases are passed on to British consumers through a price cap, calculated every three months, that was designed to stop energy suppliers profiteering but is now the lowest price available for 24 million households.
Amid energy security concerns, the E&P momentum continues
As Britons prepare to face record-high energy costs, the E&P sector in the MENA region saw some interesting developments this past week:
- Abu Dhabhi-based ADNOC Drilling announced the purchase of another premium offshore jack-up drilling unit for $70 million,  bringing its total to 28, one of the largest operating fleets in the world.
- Algerian state-owned oil company Sonatrach made a new oil discovery in Hassi Ilatou well in Algeria’s Adrar province, state news agency APS reported on August 24. The initial estimated volumes of this discovery is about 151 million barrels of oil and is the company’s fourth major discovery this year.
- To ensure secure supplies of crude oil to the international markets, OPEC’s fourth-largest producer Kuwait increased its crude oil production in line with its 2.811-million-barrels-a-day quota under the OPEC+ agreement, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Dr Mohammad Al-Faris announced on August 25.
