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DUBAI: Spain's Acciona, a leader in sustainable solutions for infrastructure and renewable energy, has been rejecting projects that are not carbon neutral as part of its commitment to environmental protection.
According to a top executive, the company has been turning down projects directly involved in oil and gas extraction or production since they will add to the carbon dioxide emissions on its balance sheet.
Founded in 1931, the company has been carbon neutral since 2016, said Acciona's Middle East Director-General Jesus Sancho while speaking to Arab News.
"That's something easy to say, but it is very difficult to achieve for a company which is present across 60 countries in the world," he said.
That’s something easy to say, but it is very difficult to achieve for a company which is present across 60 countries in the world.
Sancho explained that one part of the company invests solely in renewable energy to achieve carbon neutrality. Acciona owns and operates its assets, including more than 12 gigawatts of renewable energy, contributing to negative carbon emissions.
As for renewable energies, the company has solar thermal, photovoltaic, concentrating solar-thermal power and wind farms, all of which are carbon-negative and offset the carbon dioxide generated by the other areas of the company, he added.
The challenge for Acciona, which has invested approximately SR1.8 billion ($500 million) in projects, is minimizing each project's carbon footprint to achieve carbon neutrality.
The challenge for Acciona, which has invested approximately SR1.8 billion ($500 million) in projects, is minimizing each project’s carbon footprint to achieve carbon neutrality.
"We are focusing on projects aligned with our philosophy," he said, adding that his company's sustainability master plans were well aligned with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030's goals.
The company's sustainability commitment has already invited the attention of the futuristic smart city, NEOM.
Acciona, according to Sancho, is bidding for NEOM in the heavy civil area with hopes of contributing to the Kingdom's projects.
The company is currently working on water treatment plant projects in the Kingdom. It has also set up desalination plants in Alkhobar 1, Alkhobar 2 and Shuqaiq 4.
Acciona also built the Shuqaiq 3 desalination plant to full capacity, producing 450 million liters of potable water daily. In addition, the plant is equipped with energy-efficient seawater reverse osmosis technology.
RIYADH: Ukraine’s foreign currency rating was lowered to selective default, from CC, by global rating agency S&P, and to restricted default, from C, by Fitch Ratings, according to Bloomberg.
This comes after the majority of the country’s creditors agree to defer debt payments for two years.
The debt restructuring plan could save Ukraine around $5.8 billion.
“We view the transaction as distressed and tantamount to default,” Bloomberg reported, citing S&P’s statement.
“Ukraine’s debt restructuring comes amid significant macroeconomic, external, and fiscal pressures emanating from the war.”
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s low-cost airline has recorded an accelerated growth of 120 percent in the number of passengers during the first half of 2022.
The number of passengers has increased to around 4 million during the first half of 2022, up from 1.8 million during the same period last year, according to a statement.
As part of plans to expand its fleet, flynas has increased the number of aircraft to 38 in June 2022 compared to 26 in January 2021, recording a 46 percent growth.
The number of flights operated by flynas increased by 57 percent compared to the corresponding period in 2021.
The first sixth months of 2022 have also witnessed the launch of 16 international destinations from Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Qassim.
"The growth rates witnessed by flynas in all its operations are a result of the strategic expansion plan that we launched at the beginning of 2022 under the slogan, ‘connecting the world to the Kingdom,’” CEO, Bander Abdulrahman Al-Mohanna, said.
He added that the company has signed an agreement this year with the aircraft leasing firm AviLease, a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, in an effort to expand operations and continue launching new destinations.
Under the deal, AviLease will purchase 12 new Airbus A320 neo aircraft, to be delivered in 2022 and 2023, and lease them to the airline.
At an industry event this year in Riyadh, the Saudi energy minister paused at about 9 p.m. in front of some 1,000 people and told them it was bedtime for Amin Nasser, the chief executive of state-owned oil producer Saudi Aramco.
Over a career of four decades, Nasser has earned a reputation for a style of dedication that means he will be making sure he is prepared for the challenges of the day ahead, not mingling into the early hours.
“It was kind of embarrassing you know with protocol and all these things, but it goes to show his work ethic and all that he tends to do to stand out,” an industry source, speaking on condition of anonymity said.
Aramco on Sunday reported a soaring 90 percent rise in second-quarter profit, beating analyst expectations, boosted by higher oil prices, volumes sold and refining margins.
The company expects “oil demand to continue to grow for the rest of the decade, despite downward economic pressures on short-term global forecasts,” Nasser said in Aramco’s earnings report.
The Saudi oil giant vies with Apple Inc. as the world’s most valuable company. It temporarily grabbed the top spot in May, helped by a rise in oil prices to 14-year-highs after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 raised concerns about energy supplies.
While juggling the daily management tasks of a company with 70,000 employees, Nasser has also addressed the questions that surround how to meet the world’s energy needs and become increasingly outspoken on the issue.
In common with other oil majors, Aramco has defended the continued use of fossil fuels during the transition to cleaner energy.
Typically understated and diplomatic, Nasser broke from his usual convention last December to say a lack of spending on oil production could have serious social consequences and investment needed to continue in parallel with developing alternative sources.
Addressing the World Petroleum Congress in Houston, Texas, Nasser criticized an assumption that the world could shift to cleaner fuels “virtually overnight.”
“I understand that publicly admitting that oil and gas will play an essential and significant role during the transition and beyond will be hard for some,” Nasser told delegates.
“But admitting this reality will be far easier than dealing with energy insecurity, rampant inflation and social unrest as the prices become intolerably high and seeing net zero commitments by countries start to unravel.”
For some those comments in the US oil heartland of Texas have proved prescient as high energy prices and global inflation sent world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, knocking on Saudi Arabia’s door in search of extra barrels.
But as drought, record temperatures and flooding have increased global alarm about any new development of fossil fuels, many others say the overwhelming need is for investment in renewable and other domestic sources of energy.
“In some circles he (Nasser) is seen as a climate threat, due to Aramco’s aggressive plans to ramp up production to 13 million barrels per day by 2027,” said Jim Krane, energy research fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute and author of the book Energy Kingdoms.
“But in Saudi circles, he is seen as an innovator willing to diversify Aramco’s successful business model by pushing into chemicals, hydrogen, and decarbonizing Aramco’s operations.”
Under Nasser, Aramco took over Saudi petrochemical giant SABIC under its downstream drive, launched an IPO in a record $29.4 billion listing in 2019, and released the company’s first report on its emissions after decades of secrecy.
The homegrown technocrat was an unknown quantity in the West. In contrast to other Aramco CEOs, he is not a product of a major US university and instead climbed the company’s ranks after receiving a Saudi education.
Nasser began his career as a petroleum engineer. Before becoming CEO in 2015, he held positions including vice president of upstream when he led the company’s largest capital investment program in its integrated oil and gas portfolio.
Nasser has become highly popular at Aramco by promoting a decentralized culture and spending time with both leaders and workers, analysts say.
During the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, he makes a point of visiting an Aramco field or plant every evening and breaking the fast with crews.
One of Nasser’s biggest tests came in 2019 when drones and missiles struck Aramco's Abqaiq and Khurais oil plants and halved Saudi Arabia’s crude output.
The US and Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for the attack. Tehran denied any involvement.
Nasser was at the Aramco emergency unit within seven minutes, said the industry source. He did not micro-manage and gave managers in the field the freedom to make decisions during a high-pressure moment.
“Despite 50 percent of Aramco’s operations being impacted by the attack, within a matter of a few weeks, Aramco was able to restore the bulk of its operations,” said Mazen Alsudairi, head of research at Al Rajhi Capital.
“This was possible because he continued the strong risk management policy of the company that leaves no scope for leniency.”
RIYADH: Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency internationally, traded lower on Sunday, falling by 0.72 percent to $24,566.39 as of 7:59 a.m. Riyadh time. Ethereum, the second most traded cryptocurrency, was priced at $1,990.18 falling by 0.17 percent, according to data from Coindesk.
Dutch detain suspected Tornado Cash developer
Dutch authorities on Friday said a 29-year-old man had been arrested for his alleged role in developing Tornado Cash, a crypto mixing service that the US put on its sanctions list earlier this week, Reuters reported.
On Monday, US sanctions were announced following allegations that Tornado Cash was helping North Korean hackers conceal billions in capital flows.
The online service conceals the origin and destination of digital payments by mixing cryptocurrencies.
The US Treasury identified Tornado Cash as one of the largest crypto blenders as problematic.
In 2019, Tornado was suspected of laundering more than $7 billion worth of virtual currency, according to the Dutch public prosecutor’s office for serious fraud, environmental crimes, and asset confiscation.
According to the Fiscal Information and Investigation Service, also known as FIOD, the man was arrested in Amsterdam on Wednesday. He is suspected of helping facilitate criminal activity, including the theft of funds by a group linked to North Korea.
A criminal investigation into Tornado Cash was launched by the Financial Advanced Cyber Team of the FIOD in June, according to the statement. Tornado Cash had been used to conceal large-scale criminal money flows, including cryptocurrency thefts.
Prosecutors have not ruled out further arrests.
As a result of Monday’s move, all crypto mixer assets in the US were frozen and Americans are generally prohibited from dealing with it.
Credit cards will end in Brazil, says central bank chief
Despite the growth of the open financial system, Brazil’s central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto said on Friday that credit cards will cease to exist soon, according to Reuters.
Since 2021, open finance has been implemented in phases by the central bank.
During an event about cryptocurrencies, Campos Neto said that users would be able to control their entire finances from a single app, rather than having to use multiple banks’ apps.
By using the Pix instant payment system, users will be able to choose between debit or credit payments, allowing them to manage their cash accordingly.
“I think that credit cards will cease to exist at some point soon,” said Campos Neto, noting that banks have already started offering credit through Pix.
Pix was launched by policymakers in 2020 and has already surpassed credit and debit card transactions in Brazil, allowing real-time transfers and payments.
Pix could expand first to Latin America, according to Campos Neto. Canada has also expressed interest in the system, he said.
Despite his opposition to heavy regulation of crypto assets, Campos Neto stressed his concerns about custody concentration, as four companies currently hold 80 percent of crypto assets.
The Brazilian central bank chief said that regulators want to ensure that cryptocurrencies are traded, created, and transacted transparently.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is planning to renew its $3 billion deposit to help Pakistan manage its ongoing current-account crisis and fight rising inflation, Bloomberg reported, quoting people familiar with the matter.
The Kingdom also aims to provide $100 million per month for 10 months in petroleum products as an additional support.
Sources who asked to remain anonymous said that Pakistan’s funding gap has been covered after the Kingdom’s commitment,
adding that the assurance will pave the way for an International Monetary Fund’s loan approval at the end of the month.
They also revealed that Saudi Arabia has been coordinating with the IMF to ensure that Pakistan is always offered complete support.
One of the sources said that the commitment is likely to be announced within the next two days.