Category Archives: Offshore

New York Times

Germany Strikes Offshore Wind Deals, Subsidy Not Included New York Times LONDON European governments have spent large sums of money in recent years subsidizing giant offshore wind projects in hopes of creating a clean source of energy that could eventually pay for itself. Now that moment may be here and a lot sooner ... Germany Trumpets First Subsidy-Free Offshore Wind FarmGCaptain Dong Energy breaks subsidy link with new offshore wind farmsFinancial Times German offshore wind park to be built without subsidiesDeutsche Welle CleanTechnica -KSBY San Luis Obispo News -SouthCoastToday.com all 27 news articles »

Read more:

Germany Strikes Offshore Wind Deals, Subsidy Not Included - New York Times

The Ontario government says it has paid a $28-million award that a NAFTA tribunal ruled was owed to a wind power company over a provincial offshore wind moratorium.

Windstream Energy had a 300-megawatt project planned in eastern Ontario when the provincial government abruptly enacted the moratorium in February 2011.

The company took its complaint to a NAFTA tribunal that partially ruled in Windstream's favour, awarding it about $25 million in damages for unfair and inequitable treatment as well as about $3 million in legal fees.

Payment was due within 30 days of the Sept. 30 ruling and Windstream went to court in February to ask it to enforce the award.

Windstream was also seeking the interest it was awarded 2.7 per cent, compounded annually, from Nov. 1, 2016 until the date of payment.

The total paid was $28,095,332, which includes about $240,000 in interest, according to a spokesman for Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault.

Thibeault defended the moratorium despite that cost.

"Part of that is making sure that we get things right and that's why we're asking the (Ministry of the Environment) to further study some implications that are relating to offshore wind," he said. "We don't want to have (offshore wind turbines) up and then realize that there's something that we would have to do to take these down that has even bigger complications."

Five government-commissioned studies have been completed since 2011 on impacts on fish, other environmental impacts, sound and decommissioning requirements. The Liberal government is now looking to an Ohio-based offshore wind project in the Great Lakes for more data.

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown said he's concerned taxpayers are footing the bill for government errors.

"If you look at all the staff time, legal costs that went into this, the bill could be much larger, so it's just another example of a government that has their mistakes, their miscalculations everyone else in Ontario is paying for it," he said.

NDP deputy leader Jagmeet Singh said provinces should, in general, have the autonomy to make policy decisions, but this one could have been handled better.

"With this government we've seen opportunities where the government could have saved taxpayers from spending enormous amounts of money like the gas plant scandals," he said.

The government's decision to cancel two gas plants prior to the 2011 election came at a cost of up to $1.1 billion.

Trillium Power Wind also had an offshore wind project in the works at the time of the moratorium, and that company has sued the Ontario government for $500 million for misfeasance in public office.

The Liberal government is also under criminal investigation stemming from Trillium's claim. The company alleged in the lawsuit that government officials destroyed documents after the company sued over the government's cancellation of a Lake Ontario wind project and the provincial police are investigating.

None of Trillium's allegations have been proven in court.

In its statement of defence, the government says it was a coincidence that the moratorium and cancellations were issued just before Trillium's financing was set to close.

View original post here:

Ontario pays $28-million awarded to wind company over offshore wind moratorium - National Observer

While the doldrums of winter terrorizes the offshore angler, March bookmarks the beginning of the prized offshore fishing season in the Palmetto State. From the springtime, well into the height of the summer sizzler, an entire gamete of pelagic and bottom dwellers arrive with a hearty appetite within reach of Charlestons offshore armada. For anglers looking for a quick cure for cabin fever, an offshore adventure into the crystal blue waters of the Atlantic is the perfect medicine.

If Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto had been fortunate enough to have rigged ballyhoo, a couple Penn Internationals and a set of outriggers, he may never have discovered Charlestons inland treasures because his April 1540 sailing coincided right when the offshore grounds fill with a true cache of culinary riches.

Captain Gasper Marino of WadmacallitFishing Charters is a modern day conquistador who operates out of a 57-foot custom Carolina boat rigged to the hilts with all the bells and whistles needed to load up a giant fish box with tasty treasures. From tuna, wahoo, sailfish and dolphin to grouper, snapper and trigger fish, Marino is dialed in on Charlestons offshore medley as soon as they arrive.

Beginning in the early spring, wahoo become very active and we get a big push of adult black-fin tuna that can be as big as 20 to 30 pounds, according to Marino, who operates out of Mount Pleasant. Blackfin tuna arrive from Florida migrating through our waters on their way to North Carolina.

Mid-March is the beginning of the northern migration within reach of South Carolina offshore anglers. For Marino, a temperature break is not his primary indicator the fish have arrived.

I catch tuna in a wide range of temperatures ranging from the 60s to well into the upper 70s. The bait is the key. I look for heavy concentrations of bait I typically find several miles nearshore of the Stream itself, he said.

Tuna are voracious opportunistic feeders similar to other top level predatory game fish. Tuna use the Gulf Stream as a travel guide along their northern journey. Typically, tuna move inland into shallower waters trailing warm water plumes or spinoffs from the Gulf Stream that creates ideal conditions for forage for bait fishes, especially during March and April season. Plankton is attracted to the cooler coastal water lower in salinity and more nutrient rich.

A freshly rigged bait is ready for trolling.

We will often cover a lot of ground when tuna fishing to find them day after day. But if you find the bait, you will find the tuna, Marino said.

During the active migration, tuna will be anywhere from 45 to 65 miles from shore and can move great distances day to day. Marino hedges his bets by adjusting his target area by five to 10 miles north of where he caught them the day before.

While tuna may be the target, wahoo will find these bait-filled waters as well to make a living. Marino uses a tactic to catch both wahoo and tuna that incorporates a heavy spread of options from his 10 to 14 rods rigged with various skirted and naked ballyhoo on heavy monofilament and at a variety of depths and distances from the boat.

Every day is different and there is no equation to it at all; its trial and error. Sometimes skipping bait is what they want and other days, you need to keep the baits below the surface, he said.

He mixes up weight sizes from 1/16th to one-ounce heads and he makes adjustments based on his success throughout the day.

Beyond tackle, bait quality is Marinos most important success factor.

We procure bait from a company that handles the bait better than all of the competition. The fresher and better-handled bait gives us an advantage, he said.

As the spring progresses toward summer, another pelagic favorite shows up off Charlestons coastlines. Dolphin arrive offshore that quickly brings an entire new squadron of anglers into the big blue waters. Dolphin migrate into South Carolina waters in the late spring in a big way where double-digit catches are reached in a very short amount of time. Marino relies on his network of anglers across Florida and Georgia to pinpoint when the dolphin will arrive off the Charleston coast.

I keep an eye out on what is happening in South Florida and once they start catching them in Savannah, it will be a matter of days when they will be in our waters, he said.

Differing from wahoo and tuna, dolphin are temperature-dependent fishes that prefer 74- to 77-degree waters. But, they can be anywhere from 40 to 70 miles offshore this time of year and knowing what to look for is critical for blitzing these ferocious schooling fishes.

An angler prepares to gaff a dolphinfish.

On a normal dolphin trip, we expect to run 70 to 80 miles. We look for currents, color changes, weed lines, floating objects or just anything different. We will not start fishing until we see something different and if the fish dont bite right away, we pick up and move to another spot, he said.

Dolphin will eat anything that moves or resembles food and their metabolisms require it to fuel their astronomical growth rates. Dolphin are among the fastest growing fish in the ocean, which requires a high-calorie diet, and being choosy isn't part of their character. Therefore, Marinos typical bait buffet he uses for wahoo and tuna can quickly double for nailing a school of dolphin with a couple exceptions.

I pull the baits a little closer to the boat and I start using teasers to attract the fish to the boat, he said.

The dolphin run usually gets hot and heavy during the middle of May and will continue for three to four weeks well into the month of June at the start of the summer season. After the major migration of dolphin and blackfin tuna travel northward into North Carolina and Virginia, Charlestons offshore trolling bite quickly gets reduced to sporty anglers with an arousal for an entirely different target, the legendary assortment of billfish.

From July through August, we still catch a few tuna, wahoo and dolphin trolling our ballyhoo spread, but its the marlin and sailfish that keeps our trolling charters in action, he said.

Marino will switch his tactics to dredge fishing using different types of teasers that run deep. Billfishing isnt always action-packed like the spring rush, but a good day pulling lures and fighting a 500-pound marlin can make a lifelong dream a reality.

We can have great days trolling in summer for marlin. One of my best days was in the middle of July when we caught three blue marlin, he said.

For many offshore aficionados, trolling a 13-rod set for pelagic species is what makes their engines purr. But, there is an entire underworld filled with dozens of different bottom-dwelling species one can catch any time of the year and its the best way to guarantee a cooler-full of fillets to take back to the dock.

For Marino, his bottom-fishing charter requests take off during the height of the summer when most of the ocean fishes have migrated north. Yet, the summertime fishing isnt the only time these fish are available.

We have good bottom fishing off Charleston 12 months out of the year. Whatever is in season is what we will target and the spring and summer bite is always good, he said.

From grouper and snapper to triggerfish and sea bass, the fishing can be epic at a wide range of depths.

We have good bottom fishing between 30 and 250 feet deep along the continental shelf. As you go deeper, the species mix changes, he said.

For the best success bottomfishing any time of year, Marino has learned to target small sections of structure that few other anglers would choose to make a drop.

Anglers toll for tuna aboard the JABEZ.

The small reefs and rock piles are usually the best because they are unknown to most offshore boats, he said.

Large reefs, rock piles, ledges and other live bottom areas easily detected on GPS charts are well known and likely fished out. The best bottom fishing places are less noticeable.

Bottom fish species make a living scavenging the reefs for food. They will eat just about anything from live fish and crustaceans to chunks of cut squid. Marino will use a wide variety of baits and lures throughout the day to see what brings the most bites.

I use bucktails and butterfly jigs, as well as cut fish and live fish, but the best all around bait is cut squid, he said. Everything down there will eat cut squid.

The spring and summer months offer pure passion in the waters off the coast of Charleston where offshore anglers earn their keep out of the blue. Charlestons offshore playground kicks off strong early in the spring and shifts into high gear as the peak of the summer arrives where few days pass without high hopes on the way out and big smiles on the return.

Follow this link:

Out of theblue: Offshore season heats up - Charleston Post Courier

April 13, 2017 12:12 ET | Source: DONG Energy A/S

In the first of two German auction rounds, the Bundesnetzagentur has today awarded DONG Energy the right to build three offshore wind projects in the German North Sea. DONG Energy submitted six projects in the bid and won with the following three projects which have a total capacity of 590MW:

OWP West (240MW) Borkum Riffgrund West 2 (240MW) Gode Wind 3 (110MW)

The three projects are planned to be commissioned in 2024, subject to Final Investment Decision by DONG Energy in 2021.

Samuel Leupold, Executive Vice President and CEO of Wind Power at DONG Energy, says: Were pleased with being awarded three projects in the first of two German auction rounds, and we have good opportunities to add further capacity to our winning projects in next years German auction. Todays results contribute to our ambition of driving profitable growth by adding approximately 5GW of additional capacity by 2025.

Breakthrough zero bid For two of the projects OWP West and Borkum Riffgrund West 2 DONG Energy made bids at zero EUR per MWh, i.e. these projects will not receive a subsidy on top of the wholesale electricity price. The Gode Wind 3 project was awarded based on a bid price of EUR 60 per MWh.

Samuel Leupold says: The zero subsidy bid is a breakthrough for the cost competitiveness of offshore wind, and it demonstrates the technology's massive global growth potential as a cornerstone in the economically viable shift to green energy systems. Cheaper clean energy will benefit governments and consumers and not least help meet the Paris COP21 targets to fight climate change. Still its important to note that the zero bid is enabled by a number of circumstances in this auction. Most notably, the realization window is extended to 2024. This allows developers to apply the next generation turbine technology, which will support a major step down in costs. Also, the bid reflects the fact that grid connection is not included.

Samuel Leupold continues: Financial discipline is key to us. We are of course reflecting the projects exposure to market risk in the cost of capital applied. We see a solid value creation potential in this German project portfolio and will now begin to further mature the projects towards a Final Investment Decision (FID) in 2021.

Volker Malmen, country manager in DONG Energy Germany, says: Making green energy cheaper than black has for years been part of DONG Energy's strategic ambition. Offshore wind is fully capable of replacing retiring power plants and to become the backbone of Germanys energy transition, and I hope that todays encouraging results will inspire an accelerated and higher volume build-out of offshore wind in Germany and motivate the electrification of transportation and heating.

DONG Energy will be responsible for the turbines, array cables and offshore substation, while grid operator TenneT will be responsible for construction, operation and ownership of the onshore substation and the export cable.

DONG Energy currently has 902MW of offshore wind in operation in German waters with Gode Wind 1&2 and Borkum Riffgrund 1 and another 450MW under construction at Borkum Riffgrund 2, which is expected to be commissioned in 2019. In total, DONG Energy operates 3,600MW offshore wind capacity across Germany, UK and Denmark and has a further 3,800GW under construction.

Cost-drivers enabling the zero subsidy bid

Platform change: Significantly bigger turbines probably 13-15MW will be on the market by 2024. With bigger turbines, the developer can increase electricity production while at the same time reduce the number of turbine positions. This contributes significantly to cost reductions during construction (fewer towers and array cables, and lower costs for installation vessels and manpower) as well as during a lifetime of operations and maintenance.

Scale: OWP West and Borkum Riffgrund West 2 will be combined into one large-scale project with the option of adding additional volume in next years auction to further increase the total size of the project.

Location: The projects benefit from average wind speeds of more than 10 m/s, which is among the highest wind speeds measured across DONG Energys portfolio of wind farms. Also, the projects are located next to DONG Energys Borkum Riffgrund 1&2 which means that operations and maintenance can be done from DONG Energys existing O&M hub in Norddeich.

Extended lifetime: The German authorities have approved the possibility to extend the operational lifetime of the asset from 25 to 30 years.

Not full scope: Developers were not bidding for the grid connection in the German auction, which means that grid connection is not included in the bid price.

The above drivers deliver a cost-of-electricity below our forecasted wholesale power price and will allow us to create value and meet our return requirements at the expected market prices without subsidies. Compared to German power price forecasts available from leading research firms, we consider our price forecast to be relatively conservative. We have applied a higher cost-of-capital than in previous projects to reflect the potential increase in market price exposure.

The cost reductions required for a German project without subsidies are fully feasible, both technically and commercially. Towards a final investment decision in 2021, DONG Energy will monitor the key factors which will determine long-term power prices in Germany. These factors include the impact of EU actions to reinvigorate the European carbon trading scheme; the phase-out of conventional and nuclear capacity; the future role of coal in Europe; and the build-out of onshore transmission grids.

The information provided in this announcement does not change DONG Energys previous financial guidance for the financial year of 2017 or the announced expected investment level for 2017.

Further information

Media Relations Tom Lehn-Christiansen +45 99 55 60 17

Investor Relations Henrik Brnniche Lund +45 99 55 97 22 hebrl@dongenergy.dk

DONG Energy (NASDAQ OMX: DENERG) is one of Northern Europe's leading energy groups and is headquartered in Denmark. Around 6,200 ambitious employees develop, construct and operate offshore wind farms, generate heat and power from our power stations as well as supply and trade in energy to wholesale, business and residential customers. In addition, we produce oil and gas, and a process has been initiated to divest this business unit. The continuing part of the Group has approx 5,800 employees and generated a revenue in 2016 of DKK 61 billion (EUR 8.2 billion). Read more on http://www.dongenergy.com.

Related Articles

Read the rest here:

DONG Energy awarded three German offshore wind projects - GlobeNewswire (press release)

OC expresses concerns about offshore...

OCEAN CITY, Md. - In Ocean City, the idea of bringing a wind energy project offshore could soon be a reality.

So far two wind energy companies have expressed their interest, but it appears that it has also created concerns amongst those living in the area where the projects have been proposed.

Mayor Meehan says he's not opposed to the idea of bringing an offshore wind turbine project, he just wants to make sure it is done in a responsible manner that protects the environment, the economy, and the safety of residents and visitors.

"Let's make sure we get this right and address everyone's concerns," says Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan.

Mayor Meehan says one company called US Wind has presented in front of the council. A few weeks ago that company proposed a 1.3 billion dollar wind farm that would be able to power about 500,000 Maryland homes.

Officials from US Wind say the project would include 125 to 187 turbines and would be about 12 nautical miles off the coast of Ocean City.

"It does change the skyline in Ocean City, the vista here. And that is of concern to us because I think people come to kind of get away and look out at the ocean," says Mayor Meehan.

However, Mayor Meehan is not the only one with concerns.

"I'm jut worried about what it's going to look like. Like will you be able to see it from offshore? I don't don't know it is going to affect the tourism," says Charlie Anderson, a resident in Ocean City.

One Ocean City visitor says she sees the benefits of the project, but is worried about how wind turbines could affect local wildlife.

"They do bring environmental factors like they kill birds, they can potentially kill endangered species like hawks and eagles," says Rachel Zinn, from Baltimore, MD.

The concerns have forced the Mayor and council to write a letter to the Maryland Public Service Commission. In the letter, which has been sent, officials discuss their concerns about bringing offshore wind energy projects to the area.

Mayor Meehan says US Wind has reached out and offered to make adjustments to their proposal. One of those is taking their project an additional 5 miles offshore.

"We are aware of their concerns and we want to sit down and help discuss alleviate those concerns," says Paul Rich, the Director of Development at US Wind.

"What it shows is that there is an interest in trying to work out the problems that they see in Ocean City, so I think that's positive," says Mayor Meehan.

The US Wind project is just one of the proposals being considered by the Maryland Public Services Commission.

The second company that has expressed interest in bringing an offshore wind turbine project to Ocean City is Deepwater Wind.

According to the Vice President of Development of Deepwater, the company is looking at a 720 million dollar project.

The project includes 15 turbines that will be about 600 ft , and about 19.5 nautical miles from the coast of Ocean City. If approved, the project could be able to produce enough energy for 35,000 Maryland homes.

Deepwater Wind will be presenting their proposal at the Ocean City Council meeting next Monday at 6 PM.

This meeting is open to the public.

Here is the original post:

OC expresses concerns about offshore wind turbine projects - WMDT

* Shell wants Dutch to target 20 GW offshore wind by 2030

* Shell pursuing green projects after investor, policy pressures

* Shell also advocates use of gas to complement renewables

By Karolin Schaps

LONDON, April 13 Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell said it has urged the Dutch government to come up with bolder offshore wind targets and quadruple the goal for installed capacity to 20 gigawatts (GW) by 2030.

Europe's biggest oil company, which has traditionally invested little in green energy sources, is ramping up renewable energy investments to $1 billion a year by the end of the decade after pressure from shareholders to do so and as it sees governments turning to less carbon intensive and more flexible fuels.

Some of its recent activities in renewable energy include winning a contract, as part of a consortium, to build a wind farm off the coast of the Netherlands and bidding for an offshore wind licence in the United States.

In the Netherlands, where it is by far the largest listed company, it is lobbying the government to raise its long-term offshore wind target to give investors clarity on priorities further out.

"We need to lower the costs of development, but we would also want the Dutch government to come up with the policy for a further rollout of 10-15 GW in capacity for the period until 2030," said a spokeswoman for Shell in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands is lagging other European countries in renewable energy investments and was ordered by a district court in The Hague in 2015 to cut carbon emissions by 25 percent within five years after losing a court case brought by environmental campaigners.

The government has since launched a programme to speed up renewable energy projects, including tenders to build 4.5 GW of offshore wind farm capacity and more beyond that.

As part of a group of the Netherlands' largest companies, Shell has called on policymakers making up the next Dutch government to adopt a comprehensive climate law that will help the country meet targets set out in the 2015 Paris climate accord.

Shell said in its sustainability report published on Wednesday that it is "helping" policymakers in the Netherlands to find an energy mix that allows reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The oil major, which operates the Netherlands' largest operating gas field in Groningen jointly with Exxon Mobil, is also pushing for the use of gas to complement erratic renewable energy production.

The Dutch government has capped the amount of gas that can be produced from the Groningen field because of related earthquakes and wants to continue winding down output as part of its emissions-cutting plans.

"The largest contribution Shell can make to reducing emissions globally in the near term is to continue to grow the role of natural gas," Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said at an industry event last month. (Editing by Susan Fenton)

* Shell pursuing green projects after investor, policy pressures

* S&P, Fitch downgrades came after cabinet changes (Adds quotes, details)

Read more from the original source:

Shell lobbies Dutch government to quadruple offshore wind target ... - Reuters

After dropping to $47 a barrel about 10 days ago, WTI oil prices closed above $53 a barrel Monday night.

This is welcome news following growing fears that the OPEC production agreement was failing. If OPEC and its non-OPEC supporters could not act in concert and meet their commitments to cut output supporting higher oil prices, then there would be little hope the cartel would ever be effective. The latest OPEC reporting data, supported by independent media surveys, shows overall adherence to the production cuts even if not all participants have met their promised individual output cut targets.

Even more important, late Tuesday afternoon Saudi Arabia told OPEC that it would like to see the production cut agreement extended for another six months.

As oil prices crossed the magical $50 a barrel threshold, the oil industry breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Yes, the price rise is being helped by seasonal demand crude oil prices traditionally rise at this time of year as refineries return to work and begin producing gasoline supplies for the summer driving season but global oil inventories are being drawn down.

Iran offers an interesting data point regarding that draw down. It was one of the few OPEC countries allowed to boost its production within the organizations agreement. Now, its exports have exhausted its floating oil storage reserve, meaning to sustain its five million barrels a day of exports, it will have to rely solely on domestic output, which is substantially below its export target. Thus, Iran will inadvertently subtract further from OPECs reduced supply commitment.

Ongoing geopolitical issues in Libya and Nigeria also are driving OPEC supply reductions. Libya has shut down exports due to problems at one of its major fields that appears to be related to an attack on the pipeline that transports crude oil to the port. It is impossible to predict when steady supply from Libya will resume. Venezuelas output is also at risk of shrinking or disappearing altogether due to the political and economic turmoil in that country.

A recent report from oil consultant Wood Mackenzie offered more good news for the offshore business. The report found that breakeven prices for five billion barrels of pre-sanction deepwater reserves (which will generate a 15% internal rate of return) is now below $50 a barrel, down from prior breakeven estimates of greater than $70. The lower price brings these projects into direct competition with onshore shale plays, offering oil companies increased planning options.

Importantly, Wood Mackenzie found that the reduction in breakeven prices was not solely dependent on lower offshore drilling rig day rates. That means many of the offshore cost reductions, and especially those related to organizational changes, should be sustained during the next upcycle. So while the offshore business waits for its recovery to gain momentum, higher oil prices plus offshore cost reductions provide encouragement that a recovery can be sustained.

See the original post here:

Oil bright spots encouraging for offshore sector - WorkBoat (blog)

Bengaluru: HDFC Property Fund, backed by mortgage financier HDFC Ltd, is set to launch a $500 million offshore fund that it has been planning since early 2016, a company executive said. The fund will invest up to 40% in office spaces and the rest in residential projects with a focus on affordable housing.

This will be HDFC Property Funds third offshore fund. Earlier, it raised an $800 million fund in 2007-08 and a $350 million fund in 2014-15, which is in the last leg of deployment.

The new fund, which will make equity and equity-linked investments, has a nine-year fund life and will invest in residential projects, townships and office projects which are in the early stage, greenfield mode. The fund will look to invest in individual projects that are not more than 2 million sq. ft to ensure they are not too large to be developed within a certain time frame. It is targeting an internal rate of return (IRR) of 20-22% and will also look at Hyderabad apart from the other top metros.

The markets were not conducive to raise offshore money in the last year or so. It was important that we made some profitable exits before we went out to raise more capital. But real estate is on a gradual recovery mode and we will launch the fund in the second half the of year, said the fund executive cited above, asking not to be identified.

Indian real estate funds have been finding it tougher than usual to raise money as investors demand a more rigorous due-diligence process in an uncertain environment and large pension funds and global investors seek exclusive and direct partnerships with developers instead of parking money with fund managers who are essentially intermediaries.

Besides deploying money from the new fund, HDFC Property Fund has been pushing for quicker exits for some time now. Last year, it exited its Rs500 crore investment in Lodha Developers Pvt. Ltds project in central Mumbai with almost 3X returns of Rs1,500 crore. Piramal Finance Ltd put in Rs2,320 crore in Lodhas projects, paving the way for this exit.

From its earlier $800 million fund, the firm has already returned Rs3,100 crore to investors and is gearing up for the balance exits, which will return another Rs2,800 crore. The IRR may be lower than expected, but the fund doesnt plan to slow down on exits on account of that, said the fund executive quoted earlier.

It also plans to exit another Lodha project in Hyderabad, where it had invested a smaller amount and an IT project of the Embassy Group, which will be part of the various exits expected over the next few months.

Overseas fund-raising is indeed challenging in the current scenario and the challenge is more when a fund manager is trying to raise an India-specific fund, in which case the past track record specific to India comes into play. However, there is a renewed confidence for India, and LPs (limited partners) are being cautiously optimistic, said Shashank Jain, partner, transaction services, PricewaterhouseCoopers India.

The last few years have seen challenges in exits, which directly impacts the returns that the investors make in a fund. Today, investors clearly look at a fund managers track record in its entirety - from quality of investments, to asset management, the relationships built with the portfolio companies and exit performances. A fund manager which has a successful track record of exits and return money to the investors clearly has an edge in raising fresh money, Jain said.

First Published: Fri, Apr 14 2017. 12 47 AM IST

See the article here:

HDFC Property to launch $500 million offshore fund - Livemint

Click to hear the audio version of this story.

Florida Senator Bill Nelson stopped in Ft. Myers to talk about why offshore drilling is bad for Florida. Speaking at Page Field airports base operations building, he outlined reasons why oil extraction shouldnt be allowed off the Gulf coast.

Nelsons visit comes amidst talks that the Trump administration plans to undo Obama-era bans of offshore drilling in the Arctic and the Atlantic.

Not only do we have our tourism-driven economy on our side, not even to speak of the environment and what we learned from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, he said. Also, thats the largest testing and training area for the United States military in the world is the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.

Nelson said two former Republican Secretaries of Defense side with him on his military argument Robert Gates and Donald Rumsfeld.

Betty Osceola, of the Miccosukee tribe, came to see the senator speak. She said Native Americans voices arent often heard when it comes to environmental issues.

As an indigenous person, were always taught to respect and protect the environment that we live on, she said. And for offshore drilling, Im not in favor of that, because we can see with the last oil spill that occurred off the west coast [of Florida], it was very damaging.

The Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 dumped more than 200 million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico when the oil rig exploded.

Nelson said preventing offshore drilling is an endless fight and that last month a Louisiana senator presented legislation that would incentivize offshore drilling. Nelson said hes going to travel up and down the Gulf coast of Florida to get people to realize the negative impacts of extracting oil offshore.

Go here to read the rest:

Sen. Bill Nelson In "Endless Fight" To Prevent Offshore Drilling | WLRN - WLRN

Common Dreams

Pulitzer Prize Pushes Back Against Trump, Big Ag, and Offshore Wealth Common Dreams Prestigious Pulitzer Prizes on Monday were awarded to investigations that tackled President Donald Trump, Big Ag, and international offshore tax havens, rewarding reporters that took on today's powers-that-be. The Pulitzer Prizes this year came "in the ... Art Cullen of The Storm Lake Times, Storm Lake, IA - The Pulitzer PrizesThe Pulitzer Prizes all 20 news articles »

More here:

Pulitzer Prize Pushes Back Against Trump, Big Ag, and Offshore Wealth - Common Dreams