Climate, in brief

The world's oil stocks have lost nearly 1 billion barrels since shipping through Hormuz was disrupted. [1]

Sultan Al Jaber, head of Adnoc, the UAE's state oil company, said so on Monday. [1][2] He spoke at Adipec, one of the world's largest energy conferences. [2]

Diesel stocks in some markets are at their lowest for the time of year in 35 years, he said. [1]

Lower stocks leave the world less oil to draw on if the fighting flares again. [3]

Brent, the price two thirds of the world's oil is sold at, was close to $110 a barrel. [4]

Energy economists call it demand destruction when a price climbs high enough to make people use less. [3]

Industry bosses think high prices have cut oil use by about 3 million barrels a day. [3] Using less, along with oil drawn from stores, helped limit the price spike. [3]

When strawberries cost twice as much, a family buys fewer, and some weeks buys none at all.

Adnoc told Reuters its figures were wrong, but did not say what was wrong or give its own. [2]

Adipec runs in Abu Dhabi until Thursday. [2]

A second pipeline to Fujairah is due in 2027, doubling what the UAE can export that way. [4]

The fight over the Strait of Hormuz has drained about 1 billion barrels from the world's oil stocks, Adnoc's chief says. [1]

The UAE, outside OPEC since May, piped oil around the strait and at times sold more than before the war. [4][2]

Outside OPEC it can pump as much as its pipeline and ships can move, while war cut its neighbours' sales. [2][4]

How the 1 billion barrel figure was counted.

The National's report of Al Jaber's speech names no data source, and Semafor's writer gives the same round figure. [1][3]

How much oil the UAE really pumps.

OPEC's figures say 3.917 million barrels a day of crude in September and the IEA expects 4.4 million; Adnoc calls Reuters' data wrong but gives none. [2]

How much the Habshan to Fujairah pipeline can carry.

One report in The National says 1.5 million barrels a day and another says 1.8 million; Semafor also says 1.8 million. [4][44][3]

Cyclone Murasu came ashore near Ongole, in India's Andhra Pradesh state, on Tuesday morning. [17]

Its strongest steady winds were 100 to 110 km an hour, India's weather office said. [17]

It is the second cyclone to hit the area in a week. [17]

Arnab killed at least 5 people and flooded about 200,000 acres of crops. [17]

Thousands of people were moved to safety, and trains and some flights were stopped. [17]

Schools and colleges closed in at least 8 districts of the state. [19]

The storm uprooted thousands of trees and damaged power poles and crops, DW reports. [19]

The weather office warned the sea could surge up to 1.5 metres onto the coast. [17] Rain could flood low-lying areas. [17]

Forecasters grade cyclones by strength, from severe cyclonic storm down to depression. [19]

Murasu landed as a severe cyclonic storm and was expected to drop two grades by Tuesday midnight. [19]

Heavy rain was expected across south coastal Andhra Pradesh for the next 12 hours. [19]

How much damage Cyclone Murasu did.

AP and DW describe fallen trees, broken power poles and flooded crops, but neither gives a count of deaths or homes hit. [17][19]

Electric trucks were 50.3% of all heavy trucks sold in China in September. [12]

That is 33,100 electric big rigs in one month, 37% more than a year before. [12]

In 2024 they were 13.6% of heavy truck sales. [12] In 2025 they were 28.9%. [12]

China's government had set a goal of 40% by 2030. [12]

China's diesel use is on track to fall by about 230,000 barrels a day this year. [12] That is the estimate of Kpler, an energy data firm. [12]

Trucks are where diesel is burned, so the switch shows up in China's oil use. [12]

Fleet owners judge a truck by its cost per kilometre: the price, plus fuel and upkeep. [12]

A study by the ICCT, a transport research group, found electric trucks about 19% cheaper per tonne-kilometre in good conditions. [12]

A cheap printer can cost more in the end if its ink is dear.

This spring's war-driven fuel prices pushed some fleets to switch, but Electrek says that explains only part of it. [12]

In China, electric trucks were half of September's heavy truck sales, and diesel use is falling. [12]

It supplied 60% of the batteries in China's electric heavy trucks and is buying into the biggest battery-swap network. [12]

How much of China's switch to electric trucks will last.

Electrek says this spring's fuel price spike explains only part of it, and electric trucks are still about 8% of the trucks on the road. [12]

Electric trucks were half of all heavy trucks sold in China in September, and China's diesel use is set to fall by about 230,000 barrels a day this year.

Four planned UK data centres are considering gas power while they wait for the grid, BBC research found. [9]

Data centres are warehouses full of computers that run online services, including AI. [9]

Last week's UK Budget let them make their own power while they wait for a connection. [9]

Running flat out, the four would need 1.3 gigawatts and emit about 4.1 million tonnes of carbon a year. [9]

That could be more than Manchester, Liverpool and Southampton emit together, the BBC calculated. [9]

Developers want grid connections of 72 gigawatts. [9] Britain's peak demand last year was 45 gigawatts. [9]

Some developers were told they could wait 10 years for a connection. [9] A gas plant at Wapsey's Wood could run until about 2040. [9]

Ofgem, Britain's energy regulator, says the grid is 'at capacity' in a lot of places. [9]

So a new user must wait for new lines, and these sites would burn gas until then. [9]

When a car park is full, new cars circle or park on the street until a space opens.

The UK government says on-site power will be 'tightly controlled' and 'time-limited'. [9] The four say they will switch to the grid once it can supply them. [9]

Burning gas on site lets them open years before the grid can reach them. [9]

They would get gas turbines, noise, air pollution and heavy water use on their doorstep, a campaigner said. [9]

How long UK data centres would burn gas.

The UK government calls on-site power 'time-limited' without saying for how long, and one site expects no grid power before about 2040. [9]

William Nordhaus, a Yale University economist, died on 30 October aged 85. [20]

He created climate economics in the 1970s: the study of how warming changes the economy. [20]

In 2018 he shared the Nobel prize in economics with Paul Romer. [21]

The Nobel committee cited his way of weighing climate's long-term damage against the cost of curbing it. [21]

His model has underpinned dozens of rules around the world to limit fossil fuels, the New York Times reports. [21]

He died of glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, Yale said. [21]

'He was a leader of the field,' said Sarah Kapnick, climate adviser at JP Morgan, a big US bank. [20]

Economists call it pricing climate damage: counting the harm from warming in money. [20]

His model set the future damage from warming against what cutting emissions costs now. [21]

Fixing a leaking roof costs money today; leaving it costs a ruined ceiling later.

China's clean-energy exports this year will likely avert about 450 million tonnes of CO2 a year once installed. [14]

That is roughly what Brazil emits in a year, says CREA, a research group in Finland. [14]

In the first 9 months, China's electric car exports rose 61% and wind turbines 45%. [14] Battery exports rose 39% and solar equipment 22%. [14]

The energy crisis from the Iran war drove up demand for renewables abroad. [14]

China's clean-energy exports to Southeast Asia jumped nearly 160%, says Ember, an energy think tank. [14]

The report was released last Thursday, 29 October. [14]

'This is a pivot point for the outlook of global energy and global emissions,' said Lauri Myllyvirta of CREA. [14]

The 450 million tonnes is an estimate: it counts only once the goods are installed and running. [14]

China's clean-energy exports this year are expected to avoid about as much carbon dioxide as Brazil emits in a year, once they are installed.

The UN climate summit, COP31, opens in Antalya, Turkey, on 9 November and runs for 2 weeks. [22]

Australia leads the talks while Turkey hosts the meeting, an unusual shared presidency. [23]

No new treaty or big declaration is planned, New Scientist reports. [22]

Turkey wants countries to get 35% of their energy as electricity by 2035. [22] Today the share is about 23%. [22]

Only 150 parties, behind three quarters of world emissions, have sent new climate plans. [23]

Last year's COP30 in Brazil failed to agree to move away from fossil fuels. [22]

Poorer countries say they cannot cut emissions without more money, while rich ones cut aid. [22] Britain's aid is set to fall by £6.5 billion. [22]

Critics say the need for every country to agree has left the summits short of direction. [22]

Whether Turkey's electrification goal will bind anyone.

New Scientist says it is not yet known if it will be a voluntary pledge or pushed into the main deal. [22]

Singapore and Indonesia said they will set up a joint task force on the haze from Indonesia's fires. [24]

It followed a meeting last week in Jakarta between Singapore's foreign minister and Indonesia's president, Prabowo Subianto. [24]

Haze in Singapore and Malaysia used to last a few days. [24] This year it has lasted weeks. [24]

A strong El Nino has dried out Indonesia's forests and peat, making the fires hard to put out. [24]

In Malaysia, some people began boycotting Indonesian products after a lawmaker called for sanctions. [24]

The smog has brought breathing illness and headaches across maritime South East Asia. [24]

ASEAN, the South East Asian group, signed a haze agreement in 2003. [24] Critics say it cannot punish the companies behind the fires. [24]

ASEAN set a goal of a haze-free region by 2020, then moved it to 2030. [24]

Adnoc Gas said on Tuesday it will sell up to 1.6 million tonnes of LNG to France's TotalEnergies. [25] The deal runs for 5 years. [25]

LNG is liquefied natural gas: natural gas turned into a liquid. [25]

TotalEnergies, a French energy company, already owns a stake in Adnoc Gas. [25]

Asia took about 65% of the world's LNG imports in 2025, the IEA says. [25]

Europe has become a big buyer as it replaces Russian pipeline gas. [25]

TotalEnergies says the supply, from between Europe and Asia, makes it one of the main LNG suppliers. [25]

Neither company said what price the gas will sell for. [25]

Adnoc aims to sell 47 million tonnes of LNG a year after 2030 through a new trading arm. [25]

Exelon, a big US power company, may spend $3 billion to $7 billion on batteries. [26]

They would store 1.5 to 3.5 gigawatts of power. [26] That is on top of a $1 billion battery planned in New Jersey. [26]

The New Jersey battery would be the largest on the PJM grid, which serves the US Mid-Atlantic and Midwest. [26]

Exelon's boss, Calvin Butler, says PJM is not adding power plants fast enough. [26]

Exelon says customers would gain from lower grid prices and tax credits passed on to them. [26]

In some US states, a company that runs the power wires may also own batteries. [26]

New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware allow it, so Exelon can plan its batteries there. [26]

New Jersey's utility board is expected to decide on its battery early next year. [26]

Los Angeles' city council voted on 28 October to stop oil extraction and ban redrilling or deepening wells. [16]

Existing oil operations in the city must be phased out within 20 years. [16]

The vote affects hundreds of active wells and thousands of idle ones, many in working-class areas. [16]

CIPA, a California oil industry group, calls the ban an unlawful taking of private property. [16]

The council first tried in 2022, but oil companies won in court. [16] A new California law now gives cities that power. [16]

Residents near wells report headaches, nausea and breathing problems. [16]

California's oil regulator collected $1 million of $36 million in fines on idle wells in 2025. [16]

Campaigners now want the 20-year timeline shortened. [16]

Why a well's cleanup money has to be set aside before the drilling starts

A firm earns its money while the well pumps or the panels work

The cleanup bill comes at the end, often decades later

By then the firm may be sold, bankrupt or gone

Whoever is left, a tribe, a city or taxpayers, pays to seal it

So regulators make firms set money or a plan aside at the start

A cleanup bill that falls due decades from now gets paid only if money is locked away while the firm is still earning.

California's oil regulator in 2025: fines charged to owners of idle wells, and what it actually collected.

The firms that drilled them are gone, so a $91 million federal grant now pays to plug wells that cost up to $500,000 each.

California makes owners of idle wells pay fines, but its regulator collected $1 million of $36 million owed in 2025.

Since 2022 its solar farms have had to save money for their own removal, and big ones will now also file disposal plans in advance.

It only works if the money set aside matches the real bill; set it too low and the public still pays the rest.

The oil from wells like these was sold and burned long ago, in the cars and homes of people like us.

Under the 20-year phase-out, some wells near their homes can keep running for years. [16]

Who pays to plug Los Angeles' idle wells.

A Carbon Tracker report says the bill falls to taxpayers by default, even if all future oil profits in California went to it. [16]

The Osage Nation in Oklahoma has plugged about 160 abandoned oil wells since its program began. [15] Between 70 and 80 were this year. [15]

An orphaned well is one whose owner has disappeared, so nobody is left to seal it. [15]

About 2,300 orphaned wells are recorded on Osage land. [15]

Plugging one costs $40,000 to $500,000, depending on its condition. [15]

The tribe's federal grant is about $91 million over 5 years. [15] Asked if that was enough, Adam Peltz of the Environmental Defense Fund said, 'No, not even close.' [15]

A leaking well can threaten water, and high methane raises the risk of an explosion, Grist reports. [15]

The US Bureau of Indian Affairs now says wells with no owner are 'not a federal function'. [15] The tribe asks whether all of them are now its problem. [15]

Plugging permits that took 120 to 130 days now take 1 to 2 weeks. [15]

The firms that drilled them are gone, so a $91 million federal grant now pays to plug wells that cost up to $500,000 each.

How many orphaned wells the Osage Nation really has.

Many old wells were never recorded, and crews keep 'finding new wells every quarter section'. [15]

Japan proposed that solar owners throwing away 50 tonnes or more of panels must file a plan first. [27]

Its environment and industry ministries put it to a study group on 30 October. [27]

Japan passed a law in May to push the recycling of old solar panels. [27] Today panels are treated as waste, and often go to landfill. [27]

Since July 2022, subsidised solar projects of 10 kW or more must save for their own removal. [27]

Panel waste could peak at up to 500,000 tonnes a year in the 2040s. [27]

Regulators use a threshold to decide who faces the strictest rules. [27] At 50 tonnes, 7,398 sites would be covered; at 40 tonnes, 8,368. [27]

The 50-tonne line catches 38.3% of expected waste; the 40-tonne line, 38.7%. [27] So the higher line spares smaller plants while catching almost as much. [27]

A shop checks ID only for buyers who look under 25, so most shoppers walk straight through.

Perovskite panels, which Japan is pushing hardest, are left out because no way to recycle them exists yet. [27]

The rules are due around spring 2027, and the law takes effect around December 2027. [27]

Since 2022 its solar farms have had to save money for their own removal, and big ones will now also file disposal plans in advance.

DOGE, the Trump administration's cost-cutting team, removed $468 million from tribal projects, Brookings found. [7]

About half of it was for environment and natural resources. [7]

In Kotzebue, an Alaskan town, a $20 million grant for wind power was cancelled in May 2025. [7]

The town gets 75% of its power from diesel. [7] Residents spend about 20% of their income on it. [7]

Wind would have cut its diesel share to about 40% to 50%, its energy manager said. [7]

The Hopi Tribe lost a $25 million grant for solar panels on 600 homes. [7]

'Right now, with the Iran war going on, the diesel prices are very high,' said Chad Nordlum. [7]

With the wind grant cancelled, every rise in world diesel prices lands on their power bills. [7]