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The country could become a major player in the global battery production market. A market that is expected to expand considerably in the coming years, particularly with the electrification of transport. India has discovered a lithium deposit estimated at 5.9 million tons in the Jammu and Kashmir region, representing 5.7% of the world's lithium reserves. In 2018, lithium reserves were estimated at around 14 million tons worldwide. The Indian discovery increases these by over 40%. It should be noted that the precise nature of the subsoil is not well known around the world. A more recent American study dating from 2019 announced a global lithium deposit of 80 million tons, in this case, the Indian discovery represents about 10% of the total already known. India has been entirely dependent on imports for its lithium supply. This discovery will change many things for the country. The country will also be able to compete directly with the major lithium mining countries Australia, Chile and China. By way of comparison, the largest lithium deposit in the world is in Chile, with a resource of 9.2 million tons. This figure is not far off the 5.9 million tons of lithium found in India. Lithium is an essential element in the manufacture of batteries used in smartphones and other electric cars, and is also used in the manufacture of solar energy systems. The discovery will help India accelerate its green transition away from fossil fuels. It is often said that electric cars are not a solution in the fight against global warming. One of the reasons given is the high lithium content. Each battery contains several kilograms of this chemical element. Some experts fear that the rush for this white gold will create tensions and shortages, as supply is lower than demand. The world's largest lithium producers in 2020: Bolivia contained about 21 million tons of lithium, compared to 17 million for Argentina, 9 million for Chile, 6.8 million for the US, 6.3 million for Australia and 4.5 million for China. Polluting extraction of Lithium. Another problem with lithium is its polluting extraction, which is not free of pollution. It is a complicated process that requires extensive infrastructure and the mobilisation of various products. Moreover, lithium batteries at the end of their life become waste and are sometimes disposed of in the environment. But this could change in the future, and scientists are working to create lithium batteries that are recyclable. The European Union is currently working to make the lithium manufacturing process more responsible, both by using electric machines in the mines and by using new techniques such as geothermal energy, which is being tested in Europe. In any case, the whole life cycle of the electric car is "cleaner" than that of the combustion car, whether diesel or petrol. Lithium extraction is also much less polluting than oil extraction. However, measures to limit the environmental impact will have to be taken as the electrification of transport will grow considerably in the coming years, and this on a global level. In other words, the demand for lithium batteries will explode and it is preferable that a framework be put in place. The electric car can do without lithium. It should be noted that in the medium term, the electric car will be able to do without lithium in favour of sodium, as is the case with the Chinese battery giant CATL, which is responsible for the battery that allows electric cars to travel 1,000 km, and which is preparing the first sodium battery for 2023.

The price cap on Russian refined fuels will disrupt trade, particularly in Europe. The EU ban on imports of Russian refined oil products, including diesel and paraffin, will disrupt global flows when it comes into force on 5 February 2023, ahead of a complete ban on these products in Europe. Although Western sanctions may force Russia to cut crude oil production and refining, further tightening global supply, some analysts said the product ban could ultimately have little impact on overall availability. Online crude oil price: Brent and WTI market The EU has proposed a $100 per barrel cap on diesel and a $45 per barrel cap on discounted products such as fuel oil, but member states have yet to agree on these levels, with states aiming for an agreement on Friday. Endorsed by the wealthy G7 countries, the European Commission and Australia, the product ban follows a similar measure they implemented on 5 December, banning the sale, insurance and transportation of Russian crude oil unless it is sold below a $60 cap. According to Ian Moore of Bernstein, the problem will be more of a logistical challenge than a supply one. While the ban would leave Russia with more crude to export, there may not be enough destinations to export the surplus to, so Russia may have to cut production by 5-10%, while China and India have strong refining capacity and are also exporters of refined products. The biggest problem may be for Russia to find other buyers, as China and India, which have been keen to buy its discounted crude, have plenty of refining capacity and are exporters of oil products. In fact, this may not necessarily be a handicap for Russia, which can apply large discounts on these products and make them very attractive to non-sanctioning countries. In an attempt to compensate for the lack of European buyers, Russia increased its diesel deliveries to African and Mediterranean ports in January. But a lack of tankers to transport the products and a potential lack of demand could make it harder for Russia to divert refined fuels to third markets. Europe has turned to producers in Asia, the Middle East and the US to diversify its supply sources, but shipping will be more expensive due to longer shipping times. For the time being, supply remains plentiful in Europe, which is heavily dependent on Russian diesel imports as traders have built up stocks in anticipation of Western restrictions. The price cap on refined products is still unclear, as their pricing is far more complex than that of crude oil and is dictated by differences in quality, determined by sulphur and metal levels.

It is definitive: by 2035, no more new combustion engine cars will be sold in Europe. The European Parliament voted on Tuesday in Strasbourg to end the sale of new cars and vans with combustion engines, which generate CO2, by 2035. The vote, which followed an agreement reached last October with the Member States (Council), was won by 340 votes to 279 with 21 abstentions. This agreement aims to achieve zero emission road mobility by 2035 for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. This means a de facto red light on the sale of new diesel and petrol cars by that date. In the meantime, emissions from new cars must be reduced by 55% by 2030 compared to 2021, and by 50% for vans. Jobs at risk? Critics of the deal have focused on the risk of job losses and higher car prices, but Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans, in charge of the European Green Pact, rejects these claims. "The operating costs of electric cars have already fallen and in a few years' time it will be cheaper to buy an electric car than a combustion engine car," he said. The transition has already begun . In the meantime, emissions from new cars must be reduced by 55% by 2030 compared to 2021, and by 50% for vans. In Europe, diesel and petrol cars still represent on average more than 90% of the car fleet, but the transition has begun. The various governments have set themselves the target of making the electric engine the first choice for all company cars by 2026 - 2030, and taxation has started to be adapted. The new legislation is part of the 'Fit for 55' package, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 and put Europe on a climate neutral path by 2050.

Brent down ahead of embargo on Russian refined oil products Crude oil prices fell sharply last week, ending the week below 80 $/b for Brent and 74 $/b for WTI. While the embargo on Russian refined oil products exported by sea came into effect on Sunday, the crude oil market remains bearish, with market fundamentals showing a global oversupply relative to demand that is slow to recover. On a weekly average, Brent and WTI are down by more than 4.5% to $82.9/bbl and $76.5/bbl respectively . The consensus of economists surveyed by Bloomberg as of 3 February is slightly higher with a median Brent price in 2023 of $87.8/b . Several financial institutions (Fitch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley) are forecasting a tightening of the oil market in the second However, several financial institutions (Fitch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley) expect the oil market to tighten in the second half of the year, which could push Brent above $100/b by the end of the year. Online crude oil price: Brent and WTI market Embargo on Russian oil products. More impactful than the Russian oil embargo? After the embargo on coal in August 2022 and on crude oil at the beginning of December 2022, the countries of the European Union have decided to stop importing refined petroleum products (diesel, petrol, naphtha, paraffin, fuel oil, etc.) from Russia as of 5 February. On the same principle as for crude oil, the G7 countries also agreed to set a ceiling price above which the provision of technical assistance, brokerage services and insurance for the maritime transport of these products to third countries is prohibited. For light products, such as diesel, paraffin and gasoline, the ceiling was set at $100/bbl. For heavier oil products such as fuel oil the cap is $45/bbl. According to Argus, the price of Russian diesel is currently trading below this ceiling ($73/bbl Black Sea fob and $80/bbl Baltic fob), with the price of diesel in the US at $45/bbl. According to Argus, Russian diesel prices are currently trading below this ceiling ($73/bbl Black Sea fob and $80/bbl Baltic fob), i.e. $30-40/bbl below the price of European diesel. USA: Crude oil inventories rise again - Rig Count falls Europe: high stocks, falling prices View our full Crude Oil Market Report - Week of 23/01/2023.

China reopens: IEA raises global oil demand growth forecast to +1.9 mb/d Crude oil prices were up last week. Despite a difficult economic backdrop with an increased risk of global recession, the prospect of a significant increase in Chinese oil demand following the easing of its Covid policy and the implementation of an embargo on Russian oil products in early February are raising fears of further oil supply tensions. On a weekly average, Brent and WTI are up by more than 4% to $85.8/b and $80.3/b respectively . The consensus of economists surveyed by Bloomberg on 20 January is for a lower median Brent price in 2023 of $87.5/b, but some institutions (including Goldman Sachs) are forecasting a bullish phase in crude oil prices around $110/b, considering that chronic underinvestment in the upstream oil industry coupled with the Russian oil embargo will not be able to meet the increase in global oil demand. Online crude oil price: Brent and WTI market Chinese oil demand drives global demand For the main agencies (IEA, EIA, OPEC), the driver of global GDP growth and oil demand in 2023 will be the pace of recovery in Chinese demand - a variable, however, surrounded by considerable uncertainty due to the evolving health situation. In its latest report, the IEA estimates that global oil demand could increase by +1.9 mb/d to 101.7 mb/d in 2023. Almost half of this increase could come from China, with demand rising by +0.9 mb/d to 15.8 mb/d. Given the economic crisis, oil demand growth in OECD countries is not expected to exceed 0.5 mb/d (from 1.1 mb/d in 2022) to 55.3 mb/d In China, it is in the transport sector that we are beginning to see this recovery with rising mobility indices in major cities and an increase in domestic flights. The government has also sharply increased oil import and export quotas, prompting refiners to restart their operations. This has resulted in an increase in crude imports, mainly from the Middle East (Iran and Saudi Arabia), with imports from Russia remaining stable at around 2.0 mb/d. On the other hand, according to several sources (Vortexa and Kpler), Iranian exports to China have increased sharply to 1.3 mb/d compared to 0.8 mb/d last September, as the United States seems to be less concerned about the strict application of the embargo on Iranian oil in the current context of global energy crisis. View our full Crude Oil Market Report - Week of 23/01/2023.

Foster + Partners and Buro Happold to design Poland's $8 billion air-rail transit hub. The developer of the $8 billion CPK air-road-rail transit hub has chosen British architect Foster + Partners and consulting engineer Buro Happold as the main contractors for the terminal, rail station and public transport interchange. Foster's design includes a landside interchange plaza, filled with natural light and lush greenery. This plaza connects the platform's three modes of transport: air, rail and road. Grant Booker, studio leader at Foster, said the aim was to create "a model for the future of fully integrated transport design". The selection process The company set up to develop an $8bn transport hub between Warsaw and Łodz in Poland had invited tenders for consultants to oversee the project's design documentation. Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) was looking for a company that will ensure that the design work carried out on the Solidarity Transport Hub by the lead architect and civil engineer is technically accurate and complete. The tender will be the fifth issued by KPC. Previous competitions have been for the lead architect, airport infrastructure designer, lead civil engineer and support infrastructure engineer. Six firms submitted designs for the airport: Pascall + Watson, Zaha Hadid Architects, Foster + Parners, Grimshaw and Chapman Taylor from the UK, and Kohn Pedersen Fox from the US. The CPK, which stands for "Centralny Port Komunikacyjny", or solidarity transport hub, will be built between Warsaw and Łodz. The hub will include an international airport, a 2,000 km network of mainly high-speed rail lines and motorways. There will also be an airport city, with facilities for trade fairs and conferences. It will connect air passengers to a 2,000 km network of mostly high-speed railways and motorways. There will also be an airport city, including trade fair and conference facilities. A world super league The airport will be located in Baranow County, about 40 km west of Warsaw. Construction will start next year and is expected to be completed in 2027. It will have two runways and an annual capacity of 40 million passengers. It will later join the world super league of four-runway airports with a capacity of 100 million passengers. The high-speed rail part will include a line between Warsaw and Łodz and another to Frankfurt-am-Oder. When the platform is completed, CPK hopes it will allow passengers and freight to reach Kraków, Wrocław, Poznan and Gdansk in less than two hours. It adds that the International Air Transport Association predicts that by 2060 Solidarity Airport will attract around 850 million passengers and more than 35 million tonnes of air cargo to Poland. The value of the design contract is €150 million. Foster + Partners' bid was selected from a shortlist of candidates including Zaha Hadid Architects, WSP, Dar Al-Handasah, Perkins & Will and Kohn Pedersen Fox. KPC wanted the design to stipulate a modular construction to make the facility efficient to build and scalable. When the first phase is completed in 2028, passenger throughput will be 40 million, rising to 65 million by 2060.

International Energy Forum predicts oil prices above $100/b Oil prices have been rising steadily for several weeks. The price of Brent crude oil moved around $96/b last week, up significantly by 2.8% (WTI at $89/b; + 1.4%). This upward movement, which continues a trend observed since the beginning of October ($90/b), accelerated last Friday with a price close to $100/b ($99.6/b).The recent uptrend has been driven by an expected change in Chinese policy on Covid, the falling dollar and uncertainty about the effects of European and G7 sanctions against Russia. This upward movement could still be moderated by the economic and financial context. Financial market developments have been relatively bumpy over the past week (Fig. 2), momentarily moving into negative territory due to the FED's comments advocating both firmness to fight inflation but also flexibility on future rate adjustment policy (new 0.75 point increase in the main interest rate decided on 2 November).The market prices of petrol and diesel remain under pressure, even if the price of diesel has fallen back compared to the surges of October. The spread with the Brent price was on average at the beginning of November at +297 $/t (291 $/t in October) for petrol and +340 $/t (520 $/t in October) for diesel (Fig. 9). The IEA, in its annual report, does not anticipate any improvement in the coming months, stressing that "the global refining system is likely to remain tight for several years if demand for middle distillates (diesel and paraffin) continues to grow at the current rapid pace". Online crude oil price: Brent and WTI market The G7 is calling for an increase in production, a call that has so far gone unheeded. With the prospect of a precarious market balance in the coming months (Fig. A4 in annex), the G7 "encouraged" the producer countries to increase their production, a subject taken up in the final communiqué of 4 November. At a conference in Abu Dhabi on 31 October, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates defended the recent decision by OPEC and its allies, including Russia, to cut oil production in the face of economic uncertainty. In addition to the geopolitical context, the link regularly made between the ecological transition and the cessation of investment in exploration and production is probably an important factor at the origin of this latent rupture between consumer and producer countries. View our full Crude Oil Market Report - Week of 11/10/2022 - due out this 17/10/2022.

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigns after failed budget and market turmoil Liz Truss is resigning as UK Prime Minister. She announced a ballot to succeed her "within the next week". She had been in the post for less than two months. It was the backtracking on tax reform that brought her down. The British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced her resignation on Thursday after just six weeks in office, which resembled a descent into hell, triggering a new internal election within the Conservative Party. "The situation is such that I cannot fulfil the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party," Truss, who becomes the shortest-serving head of government in modern UK history, said outside 10 Downing Street. She said a new internal majority vote would be held "within the next week" to replace her. The leader of the British opposition, Labour's Keir Starmer, has called directly for a general election "now", after the announcement of the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss. The Labour leader's new call comes as Liz Truss announced that an internal Conservative party ballot would be held to appoint her successor "by the end of next week".

IMF's gloomy forecast for the world economy reverses the upward trend in crude oil prices crude oil prices. After the sharp rise in crude oil prices in early October, following OPEC+'s decision to cut production by 2 mb/d, the trend reversed last week with the release of the IMF's World Economic Outlook and the IEA's monthly report on the oil market. In one week, prices lost almost $5/b. At the close of trading last Friday, Brent crude oil on the London futures market was trading at $91.6/b and WTI fell back below $90/b to $85.6/b. On a weekly average basis, Brent gained $0.6/b (+0.6%) to $93.8/b and WTI +$0.7/b (+0.8%) to $88.5/b. The consensus of economists surveyed by Bloomberg as of 14 October is stable with a median Brent price in 2023 at $94.6/b. Online crude oil price: Brent and WTI market IMF paints a bleak picture of the global economy In its latest report (World Economic Outlook) published last week, the IMF paints a bleak picture of the global economy, warning that "we are entering a new danger zone". of the world economy, warning that "we are entering a new danger zone". Record inflation (+8.8% in 2022), tighter financial conditions (rising interest rates and the dollar), the war in Ukraine and the persistence of the Ukraine and the persistence of the Covid-19 pandemic are the main factors that explain the slowdown in global growth to 3.2% in 2022. growth to 3.2% in 2022 and 2.7% in 2023, As a reminder, last April, the IMF's growth outlook was 3.2% in 2022 and 2.7% in 2023, 3.6% in 2022 and 2023. View our full Crude Oil Market Report - Week of 11/10/2022 - due out this 17/10/2022.

In Wilhelmshaven, on the North Sea coast, Germany is building its first liquefied gas terminal. This platform, which will be operational by this winter, will be able to supply 20% of the Russian gas imports to Germany. LNG terminals allow the regasification of natural gas imported by sea, which has first been liquefied to make it more transportable. They consist of an offshore platform connected by pipes to the onshore gas network. Berlin has also made three billion euros available for leasing FSRU vessels to equip its terminals, which store and regasify liquid gas. This year, the German federal government has urgently re-launched five projects to compensate for the end of Russian gas deliveries. For years, Germany has mainly imported natural gas from Russia via the Nord Stream 1 & 2 pipelines. This cheap and continuous supply has resulted in Berlin's vigilance and pragmatism not being able to invest in the construction of liquefied gas terminals and large storage capacities for years. From 2023 onwards, the whole package is to deliver 25 billion cubic metres per year, half the capacity of the Nord Stream pipeline. A regasification terminal is being built, which will enable Germany to diversify its sources of supply. The country passed a law in the spring that considerably accelerated the procedures for the rapid opening of the terminals and the construction is progressing rapidly. The terminal should therefore be completed "as early as this winter", Holger Kreetz, chief operating officer of the German energy group Uniper, which is managing the project, told AFP. This extraordinary speed is a sign that the government considers this subject a priority: "Normally, we carry out a project like this in five or six years," added Mr Kreetz. The German pragmatism is reflected in this project, which is to be converted to green hydrogen by 2030, a clean technology in which Berlin wants to become the champion in the coming decades.

Italian company Prysmian Group has begun manufacturing some 725km of submarine cables for the €2.8bn 'NeuConnect' interconnector, which will create the first direct link between the UK and German energy markets and allow the two countries to export surplus energy from wind and other renewable sources with up to 1.4GW of surplus electricity in both directions between the two countries, enough to power up to 1.5 million homes. Miguel Berger, German Ambassador to the UK, said: "As a champion of offshore wind, the UK is a crucial partner for us in pursuing our common goals. NeuConnect will enable our energy networks to share excess power - ensuring that renewable energy is not wasted." It will link the Isle of Grain in Kent, England, to the Wilhelmshaven area of Germany, using high voltage direct current (HVDC) submarine cables laid in British, Dutch and German waters. "When live, NeuConnect will open up new opportunities for the UK to export clean, cheaper renewable energy and reduce our exposure to the volatility of global fossil fuel prices." Construction work on the link is expected to begin this year and be completed in 2028. In April this year, NeuConnect appointed Siemens Energy to design and build converter stations in the UK and Germany. The scheme is privately financed, with more than 20 international lenders reaching financial close on the deal in July. The investors are led by France's Meridiam, Germany's Allianz Capital Partners and Japan's Kansai Electric Power. Project and commercial management will be provided by the consultant Arup and the engineering company Fichtner.

"The future is not so far away," Mark Zuckerberg , the founder of the Californian group, said on Tuesday at a conference on the company's progress in building the metaverse, which is seen as the future of the internet. In October 2021, the "Meta" group launched the metaverse, a new technology in which it has already invested some 10 billion dollars. Admittedly, metavers has not yet been as successful as one might have expected, perhaps due to the limited functionality of its launch. This could change with new equipment such as the virtual reality (VR) headset -- the Quest Pro, a $1,500 tool for professionals -- but also many other gateways, via computers and smartphones. Avatars are coming to Instagram, and Meta is preparing bridges to Teams (Microsoft's collaboration software) and Peacock (NBCUniversal's video platform). By the end of 2021, more than 10 million Quest 2 headsets had been sold worldwide and more than $1.5 billion on the platform, and about a third of the 400 available titles have exceeded $1 million in sales. "You need to be able to reach your friends in the metaverse wherever you are," said chief technology officer Andrew Bosworth. "We want everyone to be able to have the most immersive experience possible, but it's going to take a while before there are enough headsets." As virtual reality improves, so do the apps, with the design getting closer and closer to the real thing. On the Quest Pro, internal cameras reproduce the user's facial expressions on the avatar's face. The metaverse as an advertising platform: Horizon Worlds, Meta's platform for VR creation and social interaction, is struggling to convince. Despite the launch difficulties, we believe that metavers will gradually take hold as the smartphone is certain to be replaced by more intuitive methods such as VR, augmented reality or voice recognition. But Meta is running out of steam. The group is facing bad economic times and competition from the ultra-popular TikTok, among others. And the other tech giants are also entering the metaverse. The market is hoping that Apple will release its first headset next year. "The metaverse is going to come as a surprise," assured Mark Rabkin, Meta's vice president of VR. "It's going to feel like it's a long way off, and then there are going to be compelling use cases, pockets of creators, sections of the population that will spend more time in it.