Lots on offer in bounteous Brazil
I have just returned from the Rio Oil & Gas Conference, and as any visitor to Brazil will testify, it is hard not to get a little carried away with this fascinating country.
Powering forward – the future of Britain’s energy utilities
The Government has taken a bold lead of late in committing the UK to deep and challenging cuts to our carbon emissions.
‘Surf City’ HQ statement of ambition
Today, Taqa starts moving into its new UK headquarters at Aberdeen's "Surf City", a satellite town more correctly known as Westhill.
Prospects website’s energy pages in need of an overhaul
ENERGY has just visited Prospects, the UK's "official graduate careers" website to check out what it says about jobs in Britain's energy sector and has come away deeply concerned about the quality of information presented.
Perth-born Scott squares up to the challenges of the world of work
A recent participant in Shell's STEP programme has already been promoted to run a division of a coatings company that could save industry millions of pounds replacing old and worn equipment.
Test car with added H vroom
AS THE price of fuel for the parental taxi soars and concerns grow about the impact of car culture on the environment, a team of scientists from the University of Sunderland have come up with a hydrogen-powered car which they believe is a significant step forward in creating a mass-produced green machine.
Paper industry inspires Canadian carbon capture
UNIVERSITY of Calgary climate-change scientist David Keith is working on a device that could efficiently capture the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, directly from the air using near-commercial technology - apparently.
Scots face fiercely fought final
A few weeks ago, Meldrum Academy won the UK final of OilSim, the international oil&gas investment game.
Continuous seismic monitoring for heavy oil production
FRENCH group CGGVeritas has revealed that it has perfected a seismic monitoring solution for managing steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) production of heavy oil.
‘MagLev’ pump to boost gas recovery rates
A NEW project is under way that aims to develop a downhole pump based on the principles of magnetic levitation.
If the mask fits …
Most people working with potentially hazardous chemicals or substances would never dream of working without respiratory protection such as a face mask.
Q4 and E&A wells keep on coming on the UKCS
INTO the final quarter of 2008 and a total of 59 exploration and appraisal wells have started on the UKCS so far, an increase of 14 spuds over the same point in 2007 and a level of activity not reached until the start of December that year. Additionally, 36 sidetracks have so far been initiated this year.
Yet more Brazilian strikes
ANADARKO Petroleum has made a major "pre-salt" oil discovery on the Wahoo prospect in Brazil's prolific Campos Basin with its 1-APL-1-ESS well drilled on block BM-C-30 in some 1,417m (4,650ft) water depth. Preliminary results, based on wireline logs, indicate at least 60m (195ft) of net pay with similar characteristics to the nearby Jubarte 1-ESS-103A well.
Pridden plans to hammer offshore track record
SUBSEA UK will have offshore renewables squarely in its sights at its new Subsea Europe conference in London, to be staged on October 30. This is aside from its main market - offshore oil&gas.
Oil&gas suppliers causing concern
RECORD activity levels, scarcity in personnel and resources, coupled with rising costs, have taken their toll on customer satisfaction levels, with some oilfield suppliers taking a hammering while others excel, according to Douglas-Westwood analysts.
Be on guard, Kain warns supply-chain companies
West Africa remains a major security headache for the oil&gas industry, particularly Nigeria, the managing director of AKE warned delegates of a conference in Aberdeen late-September.
Quick wins forecast for Wedgetail
ABERDEEN company Stable Services is predicting early wins to the tune of £2million for a new well reaming tool that has been successfully tested in BP's Clair heavy crude field west of Shetland.
Well intervention to be critical conference issue
Well intervention will be the future of the North Sea long after the last production wells are drilled simply to keep hydrocarbons production going, according to Chris Nussbaum.
Technology facilitator weaving a global co-operation web
The UK North Sea's Industry Technology Facilitator is primed to play a leading role in the generation of new oil&gas sector technologies worldwide by drawing together counterpart organisations from North America, Norway and Brazil at a summit in Aberdeen this week.
Houston – or anyone who can be bothered – we have a problem
Do you ever read BBC economics chap Robert Peston's blog on the BBC website? I do because it provides some interesting insight into how the City is thinking or - as recent events would seem to prove - not thinking.
Pipeline investment crucial to feed Europe’s habit
FRESH pipeline investment is crucial in Europe if gas is to be brought to markets from increasingly remote producing regions, warns the International Energy Agency.
Creating meritocracy no mean task
Taqa - in Arabic, it means energy - burst on to the North Sea stage less that two years ago, and it was only launched in 2005 as a joint-stock company in Abu Dhabi and 51% owned by the government-owned Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA).
Like it or not, EDF is best option
From my decidedly pro-nuclear perspective, I find it difficult to discern any negatives in the news that EDF, the French state electricity company, is taking over British Energy, owner of eight civil nuclear sites around the UK.
It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world
Jings, what a crazy world - it must be when one of the UK's largest hedge funds, Man Group, goes squealing to the regulator asking for protection from fellow piranhas bent on tearing it to shreds.
But who can regulate the regulators?
As I write this, banks, building societies and other financial institutions are collapsing all around.