Does It Feel Like A New Year? January 1, 2022

MVP: West Virginia granted a water protection permit for the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The news follows Virginia's certification of a water quality permit for the project earlier this month, but that move is being challenged at the U.S. 4th Circuit Court.

FWIW: link here.

Indonesia: bans coal exports; domestic power worries.

Blog theme: OPEC+ meetings about to become a lot less relevant? Link here. 

Borrowing big: unthinkable a few years ago.

Gulf Arab energy firms borrowed $30.5 billion in 2021, the highest level in at least 25 years, as the region’s national oil companies sought to inject foreign investment into their balance sheets.

Qatar Energy led the region in issuing debt, according to Bloomberg calculations. The company sold $12.5 billion of bonds in July to fund an expansion of its liquefied natural gas output capacity and cement its position as the world’s biggest exporter. 

Energy companies in the United Arab Emirates raised $7.7 billion in new debt, a four-year high for the country. Saudi Aramco, which dominated the region’s energy corporate debt market in the previous two years, was its third-largest borrower in 2021, with $6.5 billion. 

The Middle East’s petrostates borrowed more and even sought to sell some energy assets in 2021, in a series of moves that would have been unthinkable a few years ago.

Global warming smacks Saskatoon: but at least it's a dry cold. Link here.

Arctic ice: spot the climate crisis.