Among the critics of shale-gas extraction is energy investment banker Matt Simmons. He argues that the shale phenomenon endangers water resources and provides a means for gung-ho stakeholders to book reserves, and that production profiles are economically questionable.
Shale gas has been around for a long time, with first commercial production in New York in the late-1920s. Now it is back in fashion, fuelled by tax breaks.
Since the announcement earlier this year of the successes of the Blackbeard, and particularly the Davy Jones exploration well, drilled by McMoRan Exploration Company, there has been significant press attention given as to how such large, deep gas plays could be extracted from shallow-water regions in the Gulf of Mexico.
Oh, joy of joys. It's election time again and, despite the effort and mental pain involved, I feel it's my duty to provide you with unbiased (relatively speaking) advice on which one of the parties aiming to take power at Westminster will be best for the energy sector.
Whoever wins the UK general election, and whether that victory is hung or clear-cut, the new administration will be looking for large sums of money wherever they may be available.
Safety is very much in the headlines just now, not least because of the mass grounding of commercial aircraft in Europe because of the currently active Icelandic volcano, and which was, for several days, from the perspective of an aviation turbine, not good news.
There is a resurgence of diving in the North Sea, not just because of a revival of interest in their use by the oil&gas industry, but renewables, too.
Light bulbs which last 100 years, are frugal with energy and fill rooms with brilliant ambience may become a reality sooner rather than later, thanks to work carried out at the US's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Scottish marine technology solution provider Nautronix has developed a solution to overcome the issue of "scintillation" (solar activity interference) for vessel station-keeping with a new application of its acoustic positioning system known as NASNet.
In the oil&gas industry, you cannot not begin by trying to look at the global picture, according to Sir Ian Wood.
President Obama has stated the intent to open up US Atlantic, plus further Gulf of Mexico and Alaskan, waters to oil&gas exploration, but it will be at least seven years before any commercial production is achieved, according to analysts IHS Cera.
Brinker is celebrating one full year of zero failures for its multi-award-winning rigless thru-wellhead workover services that are claimed to be redefining the way operators approach well integrity issues and workovers.
Just a few weeks ago, Weatherford's well test facility at Aberdeen Science & Technology Park was dominated by a 220-tonne, 33.5m (110ft) tall bright yellow beast of a thing.
CLIPPER Windpower Marine has started construction of an offshore wind turbine blade manufacturing facility in what is a coup for the English north-east.
NEPTUNE Deeptech of Stonehaven is almost certainly in line for a slice of the work generated by ScottishPower Renewables' Pelamis P2 order as this company (formerly Ross Deeptech) has a long-running relationship with Pelamis. The company has played a central part in the manufacture of the prior five Pelamis machines - four P1 units, each of which is fitted with three power modules - and the first P2 unit, which features four power modules.
GLASGOW-BASED civil-engineering contractor George Leslie has won the £3million contract to carry out a major quayside upgrade at the former offshore fabrication yard at Methil - now Energy Park Fife. The upgrade is part of a wider £13million investment announced last year in a bid to assure a role for Scotland in renewables-related manufacturing.
Pelamis Wave Power Limited (PWP) has secured a second order for its Pelamis P2 wave energy converter from ScottishPower Renewables. This follows an earlier order from E.ON for the first P2 machine, which is currently in the final stages of manufacture/ integration at PWP's Leith facility and is due to be installed at the European Marine Energy Centre (Emec) in Orkney later this year.
Even before the UK has a competent first-generation carbon-capture demonstrator up and running, the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has initiated the search for organisations or consortia to bid for a major project which could establish an advanced CO2 capture-technology demonstration project within 10 years.
Global investment in oil&gas continued throughout the downturn, with 2009 investment back near 2007 levels following a record 2008, according IHS Herold data (see story on Page3).
The past few months have seen a stream of oil&gas deals involving Chinese NOCs. In August 2009, Sinopec announced the completion of its takeover of Addax petroleum for $7.2billion.
AFTER a busy reporting month, announcements from two stock-market darlings are worth reflecting on.
This will be a critical year for the UK sector of the North Sea (UKCS). Output is currently declining at worrying rates. The latest statistics from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) show UKCS oil production falling at an annual rate of minus 5% and gas production at a massive minus 16%.
With only a week passed since the first anniversary of the tragedy of Flight 85N, I felt it was timely to use this column to reflect on helicopter safety and look at the work of the Helicopter Task Group over the last 12 months.
A NEW course has been launched by the Energy Centre at Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University. The MSc Asset Integrity Management (AIM) is designed to equip students with the skills and competencies to manage assets using an optimised business, safety and compliance approach.
For as long as Energy's editor can remember, parents involved in the North Sea have appeared reluctant to encourage their offspring into the oil&gas industry.
