OPEC chief says the search is on for new members of the oil producers’ group
Haitham al-Ghais, secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), speaking at the Energy Asia Summit on June 26, 2023.
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The secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Country signaled that the influential producers’ alliance is actively open to recruiting new members.
Asked if he is trying to expand the OPEC coalition, the organization’s Secretary-General Haitham al-Ghais told reporters on Wednesday: “I am, yes.”
The organization currently has 13 members, predominantly based in the Middle East, North and West Africa and South America. At stake for the group of oil producers is a battle to reconcile an outlook of tighter crude supply in the second half of the year, current macroeconomic worries, and inflationary concerns. OPEC members coordinate the amount of oil they output in an effort to influence prices.
Ecuador exited the group in 2020 because of political circumstances, but in May was invited to rejoin the OPEC ranks, according to a letter from al-Ghais shared by the Ecuadorian energy ministry.
“The Organization sees as a top priority that Ecuador joins the OPEC family again,” the letter said. The Ecuadorian ministry did not reveal its response.
Al-Ghais would not be drawn into disclosing the names of potential new members. He mentioned recent visits paid to oil-producing countries, however, including allies that currently implement a joint production strategy with OPEC countries, in a group known as OPEC+.
“I was in Malaysia, I was in Brunei,” he said, stressing that he had not necessarily invited these countries to join the organization. “I was in Azerbaijan, I was in Mexico.”
Previous speculation about Guyana’s potential membership saw OPEC state in late June that, while the South American country is “an emerging player in the international oil market with significant potential,” it had not been invited to join.
Asked about the requirements to become an OPEC member, al-Ghais said: “They have to be a net [oil] exporter, substantial, they have to have similar goals as OPEC. This is all mentioned very clearly in our statute. And I think many countries that I just named actually fit this profile. So … work in progress.”
Unanimity
The OPEC secretary-general addressed reporters following an OPEC seminar conference in Vienna, where energy and oil ministers met on the sidelines.
No new policies were announced, but ministers expressed appreciation for the additional oil production cuts of OPEC+ members Saudi Arabia, Russia and Algeria.
On Monday, Saudi Arabia announced that it would extend its voluntary 1-million-barrels-per-day cut initially outlined for July into August, while fellow heavyweight Moscow said it would trim its exports by 500,000 barrels per day next month. Algeria also said it will reduce its production by 20,000 barrels per day in August.
All three countries and several other OPEC+ members in April declared a separate set of output cuts totaling over 1.6 million barrels per day, which they have extended until the end of 2024.
Al-Ghais emphasized that the voluntary reductions enacted by some OPEC+ did not suggest divisions in the policy views of coalition members.
“When people can sit down and go through an agreement that goes all the way through, with a clear vision, into 2025, I think that’s a sign of unanimity,” he said.
“These are sovereign country decisions. They are extra. We appreciate them … It does not in any way insinuate that there is a fragmentation.”
Focus on investment
Echoing the comments of other OPEC officials, al-Ghais has also been advocating for simultaneous joint investment in fossil fuel projects and in renewables, in an effort to avoid energy supply deficits. Despite what he perceives as global underinvestment in hydrocarbons, he said that the OPEC alliance can still answer any potential supply crisis.
“Part of the decision to reduce production is also good because it gives us more spare capacity, and OPEC has always managed to step up in case of any shock globally,” al-Ghais said.
“Spare capacity is tight, I would say … And our countries are investing. When I talk about underinvestment, most of our countries, if not all of them, are investing … But it’s a global responsibility. OPEC cannot shoulder this on its own. We have to have everybody step up.”
Suhail al-Mazrouei, energy minister of the United Arab Emirates, likewise stressed focus on investment and availabilities.
“What’s important is not the price, what’s important is the level of investments that are coming to the market to balance the longer or the medium-term view of the supply,” he told CNBC’s Dan Murphy on Wednesday. “If something worries me, that’s what worries me, the medium to long-term supply. Not the demand.”
The International Energy Agency in May foreshadowed an intense supply crunch, noting “tighter market balances we anticipate in the second half of the year, when demand is expected to eclipse supply by almost 2 mb/d.”
Kia owners were supposed to get access to Tesla Superchargers on January 15, but that timeline was recently delayed. Some owners had figured out a loophole to charge, but it turns out, that loophole is now closed.
It’s been a busy time for the North American EV industry’s transition to NACS, the charging standard originally advanced by Tesla and now standardized by SAE.
We’ve recently seen several brands added to the “coming soon” list, and even beyond that, VW and Honda have both made their own announcements that access is coming soon.
But this past couple weeks were supposed to be even busier, with Kia having previously planned to roll out Supercharger access on January 15th, according to an announcement the company made back in September. Unfortunately there was a delay, and Kia owners will have to wait until later this quarter for official support.
In the meantime, though, owners had found that you could trick the system into letting you charge by telling it that you have a Hyundai. Hyundai and Kia both build their EVs on the same E-GMP platform, so there are a lot of similarities between them.
Kia, like Hyundai, is also in the process of shipping some of the first vehicles with a native NACS port, with the 2025 EV6 including a native NACS port, much like the 2025 Ioniq 5 does. So this similarity seemed to be able to trick the Supercharger network, and Kia EV6s could charge on it for a little while, assuming use of a third-party adapter.
Last week, we reported on this loophole, and were hearing of many owners who had success charging.
But that method no longer works, according to several Kia owners. Now, when attempting to charge at a Tesla Supercharger with an EV6 and adapter, the Tesla app will tell you “Unknown error occurred – Your vehicle is not able to charge at Superchargers at this time.” This has been confirmed to be the case even on Supercharger sites that were previously working.
Probably one of the reasons for this is the use of third-party adapters. While third-party adapters are available, manufacturers are always wary when owners use non-verified equipment – especially when it’s related to the most expensive part of the car, the battery.
Kia themselves told us that “warranty coverage may be impacted by use of a third party or aftermarket adapter, and we expect to have our authorized version available in late Q1 2025” when we contacted them about our previous article (though we’re not sure how that would shake out legally – there are a lot of laws covering car warranties and what can and cannot void them).
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen some mix-ups with Supercharger access. Last November, Tesla announced that Nissan cars had access to Superchargers, but it turned out they jumped the gun. Everything is hunky-dory now for Nissan, and it seems like a bunch of new brands will gain access in the coming months, but we expect a few more fits and starts along the way (chaos tends to happen when you fire the whole Supercharger team for no reason).
But, once EV6s do gain access to Superchargers, we expect to see them show exceptional charge performance. The EV6’s cousin, the Ioniq 5, recently showed that it can charge faster than a Tesla, even on Tesla’s home turf. The EV6 should be able to accomplish similar feats, once it is unleashed onto North America’s biggest charging network.
If you’re looking to buy one of the fastest-charging EVs on the road today, use our link to check local dealers and get in line for when they get the new 2025 Kia EV6s in stock.
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Jaguar Land Rover’s investment arm InMotion Ventures has invested $2 million in rare earth magnets recycling company Cyclic Materials, bringing its Series B funding round to $55 million.
Jaguar Land Rover’s InMotion Ventures has invested in a range of technologies including supply chain traceability, battery repair, reuse and recycling, and now, rare earth magnets recycling.
“Cyclic Materials is leading the way in creating a sustainable supply chain for rare earth elements (REEs) and critical materials,” said Mike Smeed, managing director at InMotion Ventures. “Their innovative technologies address a vital need for rare earth magnets recycling, supporting the automotive industry’s transition toward a cleaner and more resilient future.”
Cyclic Materials says it will use the investment to accelerate the expansion of its operations across North America and Europe, boost its processing capabilities, and refine its recycling technologies.
This Series B extension builds on Cyclic Materials’ earlier $53 million round that already has the backing of BMWi, Microsoft, and Hitachi.
Rare earth magnet recycling
Rare earth magnets are a type of permanent magnet made from alloys of REEs, which are part of a set of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table. Rare earth magnets, particularly neodymium magnets, are essential in electric traction motors in EVs. Their strong magnetic fields help deliver high performance and efficiency, which extend an EV’s driving range and reduce battery load.
Rare earth magnets can also be found in everything from data centers and wind turbines to cell phones and power tools.
However, less than 1% of REEs are currently recycled, while the global demand already exceeds supply and is projected to grow threefold by 2030. Ontario-based Cyclic Materials says its proprietary MagCycle and REEPure technologies recycle REEs from a wide range of end-of-life products, establishing a circular supply chain for recycled Mixed Rare Earth Oxides.
Read more: Solar overtakes coal in the EU, and gas declines for 5th year running
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Nissan plans to buy 20 GWh of batteries from SK On, enough to power around 300,000 EVs to be sold in the US. However, after delaying EV production in the US again, when will the new EVs finally arrive?
Nissan revealed plans to invest $500 million in its Canton, Mississippi, plant almost three years ago to prepare the facility for its newest electric vehicles.
Production was initially set to begin in Canton this year, but Nissan pushed the start date back until 2026 last January with concerns over profitability and EV demand. According to the Madison County Journal, the company is now pushing the start date until 2028.
Just yesterday, an Automotive News report claimed Nissan was also canceling plans to build a smaller electric SUV in the US. The SUV was expected to sit between the LEAF and Ariya.
The smaller electric SUV was expected to be the fifth EV built in Canton, following a pair of Nissan and Infiniti electric sedans. Nissan spokesperson Brian Brockman said the company was focusing on other, more profitable projects that would see more demand.
Nissan to buy batteries from SK On for new EVs in the US
Despite the delays, the automaker is still expanding its supply chain in the US to prepare for the upcoming EVs.
A Nikkei report on Thursday claimed that Nissan secured a battery supply from SK On for EV models sold in the US. Nissan agreed to buy 20 GWh of batteries, or enough to power roughly 300,000 EVs.
The automaker will reportedly begin installing the new SK-supplied batteries by 2028, which is when it plans to start building EVs in the US.
Nissan’s battery supply deal comes as the company looks to establish a domestic supply chain for EVs in the US.
Although Nissan announced plans to team up with Honda in December to keep pace with EV leaders like BYD and Tesla, it doesn’t expect to realize any substantial benefits until around 2030.
Nissan Motor’s, including Infiniti’s, US market share has dropped 2.1% over the past five years to just 5.8%. In 2024, the automaker sold just over 31,000 electric vehicles in the US, including roughly 20,000 Ariya models and 11,000 LEAFs.
Honda, which began delivering the Prologue just last March based on GM’s Ultium platform, sold over 33,000 models last year.
The new battery supply deal is a start, but in 2028, Nissan will face an influx of new EV models with which it will have to compete.
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