Absoft sharpens focus on North Sea
ABERDEEN-BASED software consultancy Absoft has created a new business unit dedicated to the North Sea oil&gas industry as part of a key element of a restructuring programme.
Gassco to continue carbon storage project
SOLUTIONS for transport and storage of carbon dioxide captured at Karsto and Mongstad are to be developed by Gassco in co-operation with Gassnova SF and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD).
Alaska’s governor threatens to sue over polar-bear ban
IT RANKS as the most incredibly selfish act that Energy has yet encountered - the State of Alaska is to sue the US Interior Department at the US District Court in Washington to prevent the listing of the polar bear as a threatened species.
Helium costs climb as diver demand soars
Every cloud has a silver lining - and offshore oil & gas industry divers could soon be reaping the benefits of a double rise in raw commodity prices for oil and helium.
Is Petrobras on course for another sub-salt mega-find?
Petrobras has notched up another significant sub-salt discovery offshore Brazil in the Santos Basin ultra-deepwater block, BM-S-8.
BMT buys out Dutch marine environmental specialist
The UK's BMT Group has acquired ARGOSS, a specialist provider of marine environmental information services using satellite observations, meteorological and oceanographic data.
A question of attitude
Contrary to much that has been written about the differences between generations regarding their attitudes toward work and their engagement in their jobs, these variations are actually relatively small, according to research just completed by Sirota Survey Intelligence
Ukraine and Russia – fields of potential or acres of problems?
You may not think of Ukraine as a country with great potential for oil & gas exploration, especially in light of the yearly reports of Russia threatening to cut off supply to Ukraine because of its gas debts. These disputes cause some panic in Ukraine and more in Europe.
There’s plenty of hot air and ideas, but where’s the real stuff?
Gosh. Has another year gone by already? Another All-Energy show hung on the line. How frightening. So what happened? Have we made any real progress in developing a Scottish renewables technology sector?
Road fuels a vexed question
The price of road fuel is again becoming one of the hottest political topics in the land. Just having paid £88 to fill my car with diesel, I share in the sense of aggravation.
Carbon capture a chance lost
This month, the Policy Exchange expects to publish a new report on how the Government can make carbon capture work in the UK by setting in place the incentives industry needs to make this happen. This is vital if New Labour is to live up to its pledges on greenhouse gas emissions.
HS & E – night night, sleep tight
Dateline - December, 2001; location - a drilling rig working somewhere offshore India; incident - "bed bugs on the rig, can't sleep".
Norwegian breakwater concept could harvest wave energy
The idea of embedding turbines in breakwaters to convert wave energy into electricity is not new. However, Norwegian company WAVEenergy is developing a variation on the theme that demonstrates considerable innovative flare.
StatoilHydro digs into pocket to fund floating turbine trial
StatoilHydro is to build the world's first full-scale floating wind turbine and test it over a two-year period offshore Karmoy, Norway, with start-up scheduled for autumn 2009.
Jubilee bonanza off Ghana
Up to four floating production ships (FPSOs) may be needed for the huge Jubilee multi-fields project offshore Ghana, according to Bob Daniel, Anadarko senior VP worldwide exploration.
Government caught out over oil price surge despite warnings
On May 22, in the UK's House of Commons, UK Energy Minster Malcolm Wicks claimed that the huge increase in oil prices during recent months had caught everyone by surprise.
Worry of renewables bubble bursting
A GLOBAL renewables bubble may be developing as bidders compete for assets and send prices up sharply, a survey of more than 200 industry executives compiled by accountants KPMG found.
Blank looks as fuel poverty bites
The world is facing an energy and climate crisis, of that there seems little doubt, though there is a body of opinion which claims these linked themes are hype and that there is no solid basis to either.
Marine renewable energy: the research agenda and Supergen
Momentum is building towards a new world of sustainable energy, one where there will be heavy emphasis on renewables. But while some technologies such as wind turbines and photovoltaics are increasingly commonplace, marine renewables remain in relative infancy.
Taming the mighty Severn – barrage debate rekindled
Academics don't agree on it; there's more than one than proposal, and no certainty that any or all of them will be built. And the cost could be £15billion or more. It is, quite literally, the largest renewable energy project ever proposed in the UK, and it has been around for years.
Sustainability and investment
Here's a thought for all those now basking in the Houston heat. Having demonstrated their stupidity in lending on so-called "sub-prime" mortgages, how do we know that the financial institutions won't make - or already have made - the same mistakes in the energy sector?
The haves, the have-nots and hot air
Back in 2002, when I was UK energy minister, I attended a producer-consumer dialogue in Osaka hosted by the International Energy Agency.
The North Sea of the South
As I scribble this month's column, West Texas Intermediate is trading a few cents short of $115 a barrel, Brent is only a couple of bucks below and the oil price has become a hot topic. Big Oil is in the headlines for something else, too: the largest oil discovery made in decades and, before that, at least two finds that may turn out to be super-giant fields.
Lancaster pitching at low-carbon energy
LANCASTER University's marketing blurb says: "It is difficult to open a newspaper without coming across articles on global warming and energy security or an advertisement claiming 'greenness' as a reason to buy particular products or services.
Dundee launches Leadership Programme
MANAGERS in the oil & gas industry now have the opportunity to equip themselves with the skills and knowledge for a senior management role via a new Master's Leadership Programme launched by Dundee University's Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy.