Termites may hold key to green fuels manufacture, say scientists
If any of you are fans of David Attenborough's wildlife programmes on the BBC then you might have seen his visit to a termite mound in Africa.
Windfarms and birds can co-exist, says British NGO
WINDFARMS pose less of a threat to farmland birds than previously feared, new research has found. A British Ecological Society study blows a hole in claims that birds and windfarms don't mix. Indeed, it may be that windfarms could help reverse dramatic declines in biodiversity on European farmland by offering havens to wildlife.
Smart, cheap, green energy
FOR many in Britain, central heating is part and parcel of normal life, but it is expensive to run and is a major drain on the Bank of Mum and Dad.
Listen here – if you can
It's a sobering fact that if you lose your hearing it's gone for good - time and quiet won't bring it back. Regardless of your age, if your working environment has dangerous levels of noise, you are in danger of permanently damaging your hearing.
$550,000-a-day C Kirk Rhein contract cancelled because Burgundy can’t pay
Transocean has cancelled a $550,000-a-day rig lease to Burgundy Global Exploration of the Philippines, the company having failed to lodge the required escrow.
2008 pretty good despite price seesaw
During a record year in which the oil price averaged around $100 a barrel overall, the UK sector saw the highest level of exploration and appraisal drilling for a decade.
Appraisal success for Lundin
LUNDIN Petroleum has successfully completed the first Luno appraisal well on production licence PL338 in the Norwegian North Sea, block 16/1.
Island declines Celtic Sea option
ISLAND Oil & Gas has declined its option with Lansdowne Celtic Sea to farm into its SEL4/07 encompassing part blocks, 49/11(p), 49/12(p), 49/13(p), 49/17(p) and 49/18(p), in the Celtic Sea offshore Ireland.
Statoil planning Arctic attack
STATOILHYDRO is preparing for fresh operations in the Arctic and is planning a new drillship tailored to Arctic conditions which can be employed for exploration and development drilling in the northern Barents Sea.
Authorities paving the way to US east coast offshore exploration
THE Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) is planning to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for geological and geophysical studies offshore the US Atlantic seaboard.
Solar power plant a world first
TORRESOL Energy, the strategic alliance between Spanish engineering group SENER and Masdar, Abu Dhabi's multi-faceted renewable energy initiative, has secured a £170million (171million euros) financing deal which will allow construction to commence on the Gemsolar project in Spain.
Solid Jubilee job for OHM unit
Rock Solid Images, a unit of troubled Aberdeen group OHM, has started a 940sq km (274sq mile) rock physics-driven seismic inversion that encompasses the Jubilee field offshore Ghana in which UK-listed Irish independent Tullow has a large stake.
Signal to make key components for Noble
SIGNAL International has been chosen to manufacture key components for use in a drillship reliability upgrade programme being implemented by Noble Corporation. Houston-headquartered Signal said the $50million agreement covered three Noble drillships - Noble Leo Segerius, Noble Muravlenko and Noble Roger Eason - and that it would fabricate the components at its shipyards in Mississippi and Texas.
Offshore Awards deadline extended
The deadline for companies planning to enter the Scottish Offshore Achievement Awards has been extended to Friday, February 6.
Ghana and Uganda storm oil club
Ghana and Uganda are each at the threshold of a multibillion barrels energy dream as the result of a spectacular run of oil discoveries by Irish group Tullow in partnership with others.
Remote MWD Murchison trial a success
Last year, CNR took a bold step in the North Sea by deciding to team with Schlumberger to remote manage the drilling of a well sidetrack in its quest to sustain production from the ageing Murchison field.
Global LNG tanker fleet reaches 300
It took 34 years for the in-service fleet of LNG carriers to reach 100 vessels and a further eight years for it to break through the 200-vessel barrier. Now, the 300-ship mark has been reached just over two-and-a-half years later, according to LNG World Shipping.
North Sea’s biggest parking lot
The rigs are back in the North Sea's biggest parking lot, with the likelihood that at least six will be resident in the Cromarty Firth by the spring. Also parked pending being worked on is the base of the Hutton TLP platform, which had been en route from Murmansk, in Russia, to the US Gulf of Mexico for further use. The Hutton TLP was built at Ardersier and Nigg, with the two main sections married together in the Moray Firth.
Rewiring Britain and green jobs? Gettaway
A few years ago, phrases like "renewables revolution", "re-wiring Britain" and "green jobs" used to trip off my tongue. Indeed, I coined quite a few of them.
Tough times in prospect for north-east
The oil&gas industry in the north-east of Scotland has done much better over the last few years than I expected. The reasons for that have been successes in overseas markets rather than the domestic North Sea market.
Bridging the generations to build the ideal operator
Oil & Gas UK is reaching out to young oil&gas professionals to ask them how the upstream petroleum industry should be changing to keep up with shifting aspirations and expectations of the younger generation.
Plank, 86, calls it a day at Apache
Apache's founder and chairman, Raymond Plank has finally packed his pipe rack and vacated his office at company HQ in Houston after five decades of building the company into one of the largest and most successful American oil independents.
Training body boss urges no let-up
The UK's Oil & Gas Academy is pushing on relentlessly with both overseas expansion and pumping the message out that there can be no retrenchment in the North Sea because of the current run of low oil prices.
Think positive – somebody has to
The European Commission recently issued a report on the prospects for the EU economy which said that, because of its overdependence on financial services, the UK will be one of the hardest hit of all the 27 member countries.
Seeking to squeeze every fiscal pound from ageing cash cow
Oh, dear, do we really need another inquiry? Given the nature of the business, the North Sea oil&gas industry is among the most intensively monitored of all by the UK Government - the Treasury especially as it seeks to squeeze every fiscal pound it can from this ageing cash cow.