As I write the oil price has fallen 10 dollars in a week. This renewed volatility is a reminder of the sensitivity of our industry to geopolitical and economic issues beyond our control.
Building a safer, more competent workforce, from the North Sea to West Africa, Iraq to Malaysia and everywhere in between, is the moral duty of all of us who work in the oil and gas industry.
A robust programme of occupational health and safety at work enables employees to do their jobs without impediment. When healthy working conditions are achieved, ill-effects can be prevented, and a business is able to operate more efficiently.
As pious hopes go, suggesting that the North Sea should not be used as a political football in the current Scottish constitutional debate must rate pretty high.
The region that lies north of the Arctic Circle accounts for only about 6% of the Earth's surface area but could account for as much as 20% of the world's undiscovered recoverable oil and natural gas resources.
The UK sector currently has nine E&A wells active or in the throes of operational completion ahead of imminent rig moves. The number of wells spudded so far this year is seven (five exploration and two appraisal), with two wells (one each E&A) sidetracked. Six semi-submersibles and three jack-ups are active.
Budgets come and go with monotonous regularity, and in recent years companies with UK oil and gas exploration and production activities have experienced frequent, unexpected and unwarranted tax increases.
It's great being proven right. I've long argued that who owns the companies that make up the energy, or indeed any other, sector is important because if you don't own it then you simply don't control it. The free market ideologues argue that it doesn't matter who owns what provided the jobs are anchored here and it's that attitude which has prevailed in the UK for the last 40 years or so.
Pemex, the Mexican state oil company, has recently called for bids for those interested in exploiting the oil and gas resources of the Chicontepec region of Mexico.
Ten years into my association with UK oil and gas industry's leading trade association, I have growing confidence that a framework is emerging to enable maximum recovery of Britain's offshore oil and gas and to build on the jobs, innovation and exports already supported by the sector.
Controversy over hydraulic fracturing (HF) or "fracking" for shale gas has split the bed-rock of public opinion. Proponents point to the promise that HF will shift the balance in global value chain energy supply.
In Autumn 2014, the people of Scotland will have a chance to vote on Scottish independence. For those of us in Aberdeen, among the many issues to be considered in casting our vote will be the implications for the oil and gas industry.
Industries impacted by recent supply chain disruptions are moving quickly to improve their ability to manage procurement risks. Oil and gas companies can learn from their experiences.
I have met the events of recent weeks in North Africa with great interest and a large degree of disheartenment. As former senior intelligence analyst for the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region, assessing these kinds of attacks was part of my daily work.
No . . . it's got nothing to do with trees but an intriguing economic phenomenon that I have to admit I'd never come across until I heard it being discussed on a recent radio programme.
Getting enough sleep is important for our physical and mental health. When we are asleep our senses and motor activities are suspended and we experience total or partial unconsciousness with our voluntary muscles becoming inactive.
For those unfamiliar with EU-speak, the quite positive response from Oil and Gas UK to the news of political agreement on offshore safety legislation might have seemed a little surprising.
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the oil and gas industry have attracted a lot of publicity in recent weeks. Various bodies have produced reports on the number and value, which appear to have reached record levels in some respects.
Energy has reached a milestone . . . its 10th birthday. Launched in March 2003, it was the successor to the Press & Journal's Offshore Journal which was published semi-regularly throughout the North Sea big boom and monthly from 1992 until replaced by Energy.