The UK has opened for consultation its assessment of a new financing model aimed at reducing the cost of new nuclear power plant projects by having consumers pay upfront through their energy bills. A solution is needed urgently because nuclear energy is seen as a vital part of the government's commitment to cutting the country's carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. Seven of the UK’s eight existing nuclear plants are set to be retired by 2030.

The UK obtained 19% of its primary energy from low-carbon sources last year, with 39% of this from nuclear power, but this was 7% lower than in 2017 due to outages at Dungeness B and Hunterston B towards the end of 2018, official statistics published today show. Nuclear capacity was broadly the same as in 2017, at 9.3 GW.

The Alfanar Group, one of Saudi Arabia’s largest industrial conglomerates, has announced that it will set up a renewable energy office in the UK, through its subsidiary ‘Alfanar Energy UK Ltd.’ The new subsidiary will be headquartered in London, tapping into the UK’s highly skilled workforce and creating up to 30 jobs.

The UK government must show it is serious about its legal obligations to tackle and prepare for climate change, the independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said today as it published its Reducing UK emissions - 2019 Progress Report to Parliament.

As part of its larger increment programmes for Marjan and Berri, Saudi Aramco has awarded Saipem two EPCI contracts worth more than $3.5bn.

Ukraine in January-June 2019 increased transit of natural gas through its gas transportation system (GTS) by 6.1% (by 2.591 billion cubic meters) compared to the same period of 2018, to 45.079 billion cubic meters, according to recent data from JSC Ukrtransgaz.

Ukraine and Russia have been in dispute over gas issues for years, which escalated after a pro-Russian leader of Ukraine was toppled in 2014.

The head of state-run energy firm Naftogaz, Andriy Kobolev, has said that Ukraine needs to increase its gas reserves by 18% this year to cover its winter needs and to guarantee transit to European consumers.

British Royal Marines seized a giant Iranian oil tanker in Gibraltar on Thursday for trying to take oil to Syria in violation of EU sanctions, a dramatic step that drew Tehran’s fury and could escalate its confrontation with the West.

A gradual economic recovery is underway. Recent increases in wages, pensions, and social assistance; and measures to reduce tax and debt burdens are expected to boost nonoil growth to 2.7 percent over the near term.