Oil Giants Dip Their Toes into the Electric Deep Waters…

Indicators of vertical integration are expected to emerge…

Glory, glory, hallelujah! Going deeper…

Talks with President of China Xi Jinping…

Vladimir Putin held talks, via videoconference, with President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping.

President of Russia, January , 2025,12:30 PM,-Ogaryovo, Region

“We jointly support the development of a more just, multipolar global order, and work to ensure indivisible security in Eurasia and the world as a whole,” Putin told Xi in remarks carried by Russian state TV. “Joint efforts by Russia and China play an important stabilizing role in global affairs.”

Zelenskiy Says Europe Must Secure Energy Independence…

January st, 5. Ukrainian Presidentodymyr Zelenskiy emphasized that Europe must take greater measures to ensure that no single country is dependent on a sole energy supplier, “especially not.” In a speech at the World Economic Forum’s annual in Davos, Switzerland, Zelenskiy, “President Trump is going to export more energy but Europe needs to step up and do more long-term work.” (Source: Bloomberg)

Davos 2025: Special Address by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission

Jan 21…

The third foundation is energy. Before the start of Putin’s war, Europe got 45% of its gas supplies and 50% of its coal imports from Russia. Russia was also one of our largest oil suppliers.

This energy appeared cheap, but it exposed us to blackmail. So when Putin’s tanks rolled into Ukraine, Putin cut us off his gas supplies.

And in return we substantially reduced our dependency on Russian fossil fuels in record time. Our gas imports from Russia went down by roughly 75%. And now we import from Russia only 3% of our oil, and no coal at all anymore.

But freedom came at a price. Households and businesses saw sky-high energy costs and bills for many are yet to come down. Now, our competitiveness depends on getting back to low and stable energy prices.

Data centres represent a critical aspect of this transformation…

As significant energy corporations continue to achieve unprecedented milestones, traditional oil and gas companies strategically navigate a sector where they enjoy specific competitive advantages: the rapidly expanding global demand for energy. Due to environmental concerns and technological advancements, the shift from fossil fuels to renewable electric power sources has become increasingly unavoidable.

The Owner of Non-Man and Other Tales… Second edition, revised and expanded…

Help us make a dream come true…

From a young age we listen to the instructions of the elderly in the sense that we must be able to choose our path in life. It’s a nice metaphor.

There are those who, complying with this, prepare themselves to travel the highways of life, provide themselves with fast engines and soft seats.   Others, simpler, choose secondary roads where the speed does not produce so much vertigo and the tolls are cheaper. Many have to join forces and travel the kilometers in collective buses that force the touches and strident music. And there are too many who have no other option than to walk along the humble paths crossing puddles or boulders and threatened by wild beasts or insects. This is the vineyard of the Lord, and everyone can make use of their free will. Say.

Reading the stories of Germán Toro Ghio one discovers that there are also those who chose all paths. And they also added the alternatives of lifts, elevators (and descenders), cliffs, flying devices and perhaps how many more.

With its eight stories, The Owners of No Man’s Land takes us to a world so real that, unfortunately, we tend to forget it.  From the first story, he (Germán) rides the maelstrom of a roller coaster in which he mixes the discomforts of a Moscow hotel with the adventures in the Nicaraguan jungle.  He is a de facto witness to the invasion of the USA army in Panama and his cousin of millenary stubbornness at the same time, without us being able to deduce which of the two experiences was more dangerous.  He celebrates supposed birthdays in the company of an aphonic Fidel Castro (what a contradiction!) in a city of Havana corroded by sea salt or political blunders.  He walks through one of the most unusual borders in the world, the one that divides the island of Hispaniola.   He witnesses the sun sheltering us with unusual loves, in this case, his friend “Pepe” who, on a streak of good fortune, attracts them to a stale gypsy princess and a one-eyed gypsy king in the nights of Madrid and prologues his luck in the world of love to an island called Grinda in the Stockholm archipelago where Alexander’s honey captivates.

Germán also takes us to a café in Paris where Ernest Hemingway is in existential conversations about life, accompanied by the sweet notes of a Santa Teresa rum, which invades the soul with harmony and helps the journalist and writer try to persuade some young gang members to change the course of their lives, in this world of violence, organ trafficking, and arms.  He evokes the spirit of the Nicaraguan poet and priest Ernesto Cardenal, particularly in his mesmerising “Ode to Marilyn Monroe”.  This remarkable work invites him to explore the labyrinth of the mind’s afflictions, guided by the brushstrokes of legendary artists such as Sorolla, Munch, Botero, and Modigliani.  Alongside this artistic journey, we encounter the candid whispers of Truman Capote in his poignant “Unanswered Prayers”, which lays bare the frailties of our contemporary society, political systems, and monarchies.  Ultimately, Germán leads us to a heartwarming conclusion with the charming figure of “il Nono”, a grandfatherly character we all wish we could have known.

The book is magnified by experiences that have taken place outside the battlefields, far from palaces and ambitions.  In other words, the principle of freedom of expression is paramount, even when individuals may endure defamation’s repercussions.  With these stories, Germán Toro Ghio allows us to taste something of everything he keeps in his cupboard, and I hope he will continue to cook and deliver in successive books.

*Juan Forch, Puerto Octay, Chile

  *Film director, writer, and political scientist is renowned for the 1990 "NO" campaign. / https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/movies/oscar-nominated-no-stirring-debate-in-chile.html

PayPal at gjmtoroghio@germantoroghio.com

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O gods, women, and men with the souls of gods and goodwill, we request your solidarity and support for launching the second revised and extended edition of “The Owner of Non-Man Lan and Other Tales” in November 2025. We have already contacted a senior editor at Penguin Random House in London to help us create a remarkable and distinctive book handcrafted to serve as an exceptional corporate gift.

Thanks in advance…

Gratitude is a vital aspect of our existence…

In a world that’s constantly growing and grappling with inflation, the art of blogging faces its fair share of hurdles.  To keep our content top-notch during these challenging times, we’ve poured resources into top-tier software, licenses, and stunning copyrighted images, among other essentials.  But fear not, we’re not navigating this journey alone! Just last week on “X,” actions like “liking” or “retweeting” have become your secret weapons—free and private, thanks to “Musk” your support through these simple yet impactful gestures is not just a token of appreciation but a significant contribution that shapes our journey!

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Thank you for being a part of our journey!  Your generous support is truly invaluable to us!  It plays a crucial role in helping us achieve our goals and make a positive impact.  Thank you for being such an important part of our journey!

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Not Angela, not…

Oil Majors Flirt With Electricity

As power generators such as Vistra soar, oil-and-gas giants are dipping their toes into a business where they have some natural advantages…

  The Wall Street Journal, by Jinjoo Lee, January 21, 2025.

Artificial intelligence has suddenly made electricity a hot commodity. No wonder major oil companies want a piece of it. 

Both Exxon Mobil XOM -0.66%decrease; red down pointing triangle and Chevron CVX -1.43%decrease; red down pointing triangle said last month that they are talking to potential data-center customers on deals to supply natural-gas-fired power paired with carbon-capture technology. Exxon is working on a power-plant design with at least 1.5 gigawatts of capacity—enough to power more than a million homes. TotalEnergies TTE -0.61%decrease; red down pointing triangle, which has a power business, last year bought 1.5 GW of natural-gas-fired power plants near Dallas and Houston in Texas.

Exxon and Chevron have shied away from the wind and solar business for good reason: They have no experience in it and the expected returns are too low. But gas-fired power seems like a natural fit.

Major oil companies have plenty of experience in building and operating natural-gas-fired power plants to support their own energy-intensive operations, such as refining, natural-gas liquefaction and petrochemicals. Exxon said in its latest corporate update that it has developed 5.5 GW worth of power projects since 2001. Major oil companies might, in some cases, have more recent experience building power plants than large independent power producers: Many of them haven’t built power plants from scratch since the early 2000s, notes Hugh Wynne, co-head of utilities and renewable energy research at SSR.

Major oil companies also are able to move fast—something tech giants value. They can site power plants near the source of fuel—near their own oil and gas fields—and sell electricity directly to data centers without needing to connect to the grid. And oil companies have lots of experience building off-grid power to support operations in far-flung places. That means they can bypass the lengthy process of connecting to the grid or building out a pipeline. In fact, it would be a natural fit for places with a lack of pipeline capacity—such as the Waha hub in Texas—where natural-gas prices often turn negative.

Another advantage: giant balance sheets and prodigious cash flow from their oil-and-gas business and disciplined spending. Investors would rather get cash returns than see major oil companies invest vast sums in oil and gas projects but could be open to investment in growth markets. Ultimately, this means major oil companies can fund power projects cheaply and quickly compared to raising project-level financing. Their scale should also come in handy when negotiating with equipment providers or engineering contractors.

Of course, the big question for major oil companies is whether returns from the power business are enough to meet their high hurdles. TotalEnergies’ integrated power segment, which also includes wind and solar, generated a return on average capital employed of 9.8% in 2023 compared with 18.9% for the overall business. Its goal is for the power business to reach returns of around 12% by 2028, which would be equivalent to TotalEnergies’ oil-and-gas returns when Brent crude prices are around $60 a barrel—about 25% cheaper than they are today.

The return profile will ultimately depend on what major oil companies’ power exposure looks like. TotalEnergies’ integrated-power segment includes wind, solar and gas-fired power, as well as gas and electricity trading, for example. It still is unclear how much Exxon expects to get out of the power-generation business itself: It sees power plants as a means to expand the carbon-capture and sequestration business. “We don’t bring a lot of value creation to the power generation step in and of itself,” said Chief Executive Darren Woods in the company’s latest corporate update.

There are a few ways major oil companies might be able to squeeze out higher returns. One is if they can negotiate hefty premiums with tech companies for speedy access to off-grid power. Amazon.com and Talen Energy’s regulatory snag last year showed that siphoning electricity from grid-connected power will come with roadblocks. Fast access to a new, off-grid power plant removes those potential headaches.

Adding the ability to capture the carbon and bury it could command an extra premium, though the technology hasn’t yet been proven at scale. There are generous subsidies for the technology under the Inflation Reduction Act. Carbon-capture technology has been used with some success at coal-fired power plants, but it hasn’t been deployed at a commercial scale for natural-gas-fired power plants, according to Wynne of SSR.

Another option would be to indirectly benefit from data centers’ higher power demand by owning power plants that connect to the grid in deregulated markets such as Texas, California or PJM Interconnection. Those are markets where power-plant owners can profit from electricity price volatility. Plenty of power-plant owners have been burned by that volatility, but major oil companies are used to cyclical risks and have the balance sheets to weather them. TotalEnergies follows this model, selling about 30% of its electricity production to the wholesale power market without customer contracts.

The world’s energy demand is inevitably moving from hydrocarbons to electrons. Power-hungry data centers could very well help major oil companies stay relevant.