OpenAI puts ‘Stargate UK’ on hold in blow to Britain’s AI ambitions OpenAI said issues including the U.K.’s copyright rules and energy prices affect its investment decisions.

OpenAI has put its STARGATE UK project on hold due to concerns about copyright regulations and high UK energy costs.

Previously focus on high energy costs has been related to industrial strategy. Very visible now on AI strategy.

Ed Miliband to approve first major North Sea gasfield project in decade The energy secretary is expected to give the green light to Jackdaw drilling as the Iran war and energy security fears force a shift in government policy

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband reportedly set to approve Jackdaw field but not Rosebank - via The Times, denied by Govt (£) www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Remove VAT from energy bills for three years, Tories urge There has been a renewed focus on energy costs since the outbreak of the war in Iran.

Conservatives call for VAT to be removed from energy bills for three years, saving ~£100/yr for the average household thttps://buff.ly/8J4nEi8

Recent events show the difficulty with political pledges to reduce bills by £x.

Events outside of your control complicate things.

You can run an argument you've achieved it if you adjust for events - but caveats aren't easily understood.

So, the direction of travel announced over the weekend is correct, but action on the flip side is also needed to help navigate the years in between.

/end

None of that requires new exploration licences - the science on that point is clear. But it does require pragmatism about the transition we are actually managing, rather than the one we might prefer to be following on paper.

It also means investing seriously in gas storage capacity, which remains a gap in our resilience.

And it means ensuring that existing North Sea production facilities operate as effectively and efficiently as possible for as long as they are needed.

However it's also more nuanced than this. We will remain dependent on oil and gas to some degree between now and 2050, and likely beyond.

That dependency needs to be managed carefully. That means it would be wise to further diversify our sources of oil and gas supply.

The case for expanding domestic production has always been weaker than its proponents suggest.

UKCS output is too small to move international prices. What we can control is how much our economy needs to consume. This is less a question of price and more of volume.

There has been debate about what we need to do in the wake of conflict in the Middle East and it's impact on energy prices. Expand domestic oil and gas production, or accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels altogether? The government has made a choice clear over the weekend.

Government to go “further and faster” in becoming energy secure The Energy Secretary outlines measures to protect consumers and make Britain energy secure.

This weekend, Ed Miliband set out an accelerated package of clean energy measures in response to events in the Middle East - the right response, with one caveat 🧵

buff.ly/tisTbiO

The impact from the closure of the Straits of Hormuz is felt particularly strongly in Asia, where several countries heavily rely on LNG imports from the region.

Chinese Taipei, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Singapore in particular are exposed.

Chart via @IEA.

Govt doubling down on the energy transition as the solution to energy market turmoil:

- plug in solar from supermarkets etc to be made legal
- AR8 auction brought fwd to July '26
- Fingleton Review findings to extend to renewables

buff.ly/tisTbiO

It doesn't matter now if the US destroys all Iranian military capability or decides to stop or go home.

It's nearly impossible to end this 👇, and this is now - unfortunately - what matters for the global economy.

For a while in Türkiye, Erdogan pursued a policy of cutting interest rates in the face of rising inflation, and that didn't end too well.

My rudimentary understanding of economics tells me this won't end well either.
www.newsmax.com/finance/stre...

Overhaul of nuclear system to speed up building and cut costs Plan to overhaul nuclear system will speed up building, strengthen national and energy security, and cut costs.

Government have approved all 37 recommendations of the Fingleton Review into nuclear power, aim of speeding up building, strengthening national and energy security, and cutting costs.

Details 👇

What?

Thanks, Tom. Very kind.

Russia spends an estimated ~$2.7bn/week on war with Ukraine.

For every two weeks of conflict in the Middle East, Russia is able to fund another week of attacks on Ukraine.

Oil and gas still do most of the heavy lifting. At 80% of the total they remain the largest energy source in this scenario. This underlines why we're so sensitive to international commodity markets - and the sheer scale of the task ahead when people talk about decarbonisation.

Homes are the single source of energy demand in the system. We use 592TWh of final energy in the home each year, more than surface transport and industry combined. Insulation, low carbon heating systems and smart home systems actually have the potential to shift the biggest dial

We waste more energy than we use. Of the 1,859TWh of primary energy that enters the system, we only use around 900TWh of it doing useful stuff, like heating our homes, moving our vehicles and powering our industry. The rest is just lost, mostly as waste heat.

I can't resist a good Sankey diagram, and earlier this week the Climate Change Committee re-published their version of the UK energy system. Three interesting takeaways for those who missed it first time 👇

This, of course, is a boon for Russia at a time when the US is considering easing restrictions on the country's energy exports - and a huge problem for Ukraine, whose people will bear the brunt of the increased revenues.

This, of course, is a boon for Russia at a time when the US is considering easing restrictions on the country's energy exports - and a huge problem for Ukraine, whose people will bear the brunt of the increased revenues.

Putin’s Iran War Dividend Raises Alarm Among Some US Allies The worry in Europe and the Gulf is that energy market disruption will boost Russia’s hand.

"An internal UK government assessment seen by Bloomberg, meanwhile, said a protracted conflict until mid-April could push oil to $130 a barrel and trigger repeated spikes in LNG costs"

buff.ly/N6W2MoK

EPC delay will help fine tune effectiveness - Energy Live News Feedback needed to ensure EPC reforms work for landlords, local authorities and lenders

I'm in favour of requiring energy performance improvements, but...

...telling owners they need EPC C+ by 2030 but also telling them they won't find out what EPC C+ means until the end of 2027 does not work.

Hey Google, define "short-term". Asking for a friend.

Oil hit over $100/bbl for the first time since 2022 overnight as concerns escalated that shipments through the Straits of Hormuz are not going to return to normal anytime soon.

This will feed through to the cost of gas, electricity, petrol and diesel here in the UK.

How the Iran War Could Consolidate China’s Energy Dominance Amid global oil and gas disruptions, China stands prepared for the electrostate era.

China's push toward electrification has reduced its oil exposure, meaning its 1.4 billion-barrel reserves provide 120 days of import cushion. Its dominance of clean energy supply chains also gives it growing leverage as hydrocarbon reliability erodes.