The Netherlands' new coalition government has placed nuclear power at the heart of its climate and energy policy. Some EUR500 million (USD564 million) has been earmarked to support new nuclear build in the period to 2025.

Constructing nuclear power plants in Poland was "a good way of fighting climate change" agreed 78% of people, with only 17% in disagreement.

The programme includes €6.9bn of state funding, and €9.5bn of private investments.

The country will allocate DKK16bn (€2.2bn) towards carbon capture and storage subsidies in two phases over the coming decade, starting in 2022.

The Belgian government released its hydrogen strategy in October and Equinor said the H2BE project would help Belgium deliver on the strategy.

Brent fell 91 cents, or 1.2%, to $72.79 a barrel, WTI fell $1.05, or 1.5%, to $69.68 a barrel.

Globally, renewable electricity capacity is forecast to increase by over 60% between 2020 and 2026, reaching more than 4 800 GW.

Specifically, the daily amount of gas exports was significantly increased in November and December under the mutually beneficial arrangements between Gazprom and CNPC as compared with the schedule for 2021 that had been approved earlier.

It is unusual for European LNG prices to surpass spot LNG prices in Asia, which relies on LNG imports much more than Europe, and especially in peak winter when demand from Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan is at its highest, supporting the typical Asian premium.

The Dec. 12 LNG stocks were well above 1.42 million mt held at the end of December last year, as well as the four-year average of 1.71 million mt at the end of that month, according to METI data.