Opinion: It’s time for renewables to join the market
“It is time for renewables to join the market* (...)”
Opinion
Opinion: Fostering our future talent
Skills shortages constraining business growth, concerns over the "great crew change", retaining talent - it's hard to miss these headlines when considering the future of the UK oil and gas industry.
Whose grass is greenest?
With just few weeks to go before the independence referendum vote on September 18, many minds may be turning to the promise of a sovereign wealth fund in a newly independent Scotland.
Opinion: Operating in unknown waters
One product of the various inquiries and reports which followed the Deepwater Horizon incident is the EU Directive on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations which came into force in July 2013.
Greater change needed as we face our biggest challenge yet
We need a clear signal that the North Sea is open for business.
Opinion: Bob Keiller on the bystander effect
The bystander effect happens when a group of people don’t step forward or intervene when they should – seeing someone in distress in a public place for instance.
C’mon Scottish Renewables, it’s time to speak out
Last month brought a major announcement from regulator Ofgem that carried the glad tidings of the "green light" for a new £1.2billion link between Caithness and Moray.
More political shenanigans from Westminster
I was disappointed but not actually particularly surprised that the now former minister of state for energy Michael Fallon decided to ridicule the nine months or so of effort that I and my fellow Commissioners put into the production of the report of the Expert Commission on Oil and Gas by calling it "copy-cat stuff".
Supporting dementia care in the workplace
Dementia is often wrongly seen as a condition affecting only the elderly and, as such, unrelated to business.
UK’s onshore licensing mega-gamble
On July 28, the UK government launched its biggest ever onshore energy car boot sale . . . approaching half the land area of the British Isles with its population of 60million or so souls.
Opinion: Job title inflation is not the answer to the skills shortage
For the ill-informed grand job titles like Global President, Regional Vice-President, European Chairman, UK Director, Country Manager, Head and Senior Partner make prospects for increased status seems limitless. We must be near job-title hyperinflation by now. It’s fuelled by the need for non-cash benefits and the desire for credibility without authority. Our HR departments need a non-proliferation treaty to allow them to catch up with what all these titles actually mean.
Opinion: First nail in the coffin for the hydro industry
The feed in tariff accreditation team at OFGEM must have been working all hours of the day and night to process the mountain of applications they got through in June. During the month, 13.25MW of hydro applications were processed, more than doubling the average for the year to date of 5.23MW. This will have a crippling effect on the hydro industry as the bumper month has triggered the threshold for accelerated reduction of the feed in tariff, the main source of support for developing green electricity from the UK’s rivers.
Opinion – Taking business south of the border
Tom Faichnie, partner and energy group member at Scottish independent accountancy firm Campbell Dallas LLP, discusses the opportunities for export of skills and technologies to Mexico as the country opens its doors further to international oil and gas operators and service companies.
Opinion: We must make the most of falling rig rates
With a softening rig market upon us, now is a good opportunity for operators to secure a rig for drilling projects and at a significantly lower cost than the high rates we have been seeing recently.
Deals v holidays : Which wins?
You can’t help having noticed a flurry of corporate acquisitions and investments reported recently. The timing is no coincidence. The school holidays are upon us. Most deal timelines start with an ambitious 10 week plan from when the heads of agreement are signed. There is a lot to do, five types of due diligence to complete, seemingly hundred of documents to agree and a bank to get on board. That’s alongside numerous egos to stroke, and contract realities to explain.
Taking the message to the people with ‘doors open’
Plans were unveiled last month for a major initiative which we hope will shine a new light on the success of the oil and gas industry at a UK level.
Brazil: Land of opportunity?
The eyes of the world are on Brazil now for sporting reasons, currently with the Football World Cup and then, two years later, the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Market short-termism screws up UK power
It is a measure of how precarious our electricity supply industry has become that National Grid has put in place precautionary measures to protect us from the possibility of black-outs in the months ahead.
Big lifts and dangerous small waves
Now the summer's arrived, we're at a time when it's possible to carry out offshore operations and maintenance. So what are ideal conditions?
Opinion: Building for a boom that’s evaporating
Over the past five years, the wealth creation in the Scottish north-east has been conspicuous. This said, the UK is facing a crisis due to reduced production and major cost increases which is simply killing the industry.
Opinion: Capturing the Imagination
The effects of greenhouse gases are beyond dispute. The more CO2 there is in the atmosphere, the warmer the planet becomes.
Westminster – expert in economic camouflage
I recently had an e-mail from a friend of mine containing a link to an article which said "UK R&D funding is strikingly below rivals such as the US and Germany and could be increased by up to 50% to match them".
Is private equity diving into the North Sea?
I expect few of those reading this column will have ever heard of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co, the Blackstone Group or Permira Advisers LLC.
US overtakes UK with its CCS big push
While the UK goes on talking about carbon capture and storage, the US has had a live CCS project operating for more than a year at Port Arthur, Texas.
Opinion: Melfort Campbell on the Oil and Gas Commission report
In developing the Oil and Gas Commission report, it very quickly became clear that current high levels of investment are hiding an undercurrent of reduced investment. Low production efficiency, limited enhanced recovery projects and a reduced backlog of new projects for development point to significant under recovery of UKCS resources.