UK Government figures last week projected tax revenues from North Sea oil and gas would plunge by more than previously predicted in the next 30 years. This year the Treasury will raise about £11.2billion in taxes from the sector. Aberdeen University petroleum economist Professor Alex Kemp says the predictions may prove to be well wide of the mark.
In the aftermath of the Macondo incident it was rapidly recognised that, perhaps because of an impressive record of drilling without incident, the offshore industry had failed to focus on the potential impact of a well control incident in deepwater.
Is the TAPI (Turkmenistan - Afghanistan - Pakistan - India) pipeline finally about to go ahead?
Exploration and production (E&P) activity is gaining momentum across the south-western regions of Africa and in particular South Africa. Favourable geology for oil and gas off the country's west coast, high levels of foreign direct investment (FDI), legislative changes and updates to the tax regime are continuing to improve South Africa's investment in oil and gas prospects.
One of my favourite publications is the annual BP Statistical Review of World Energy, the 2012 edition of which has just been published. It gives energy consumption and production statistics for all the regions in the world and for many individual countries.
I like to think I'm fairly well educated, worldly and reasonably au fait (that's French) with how and why certain things happen particularly when it comes to industrial and business issues even when those issues are of a political nature.
You might well have heard the expression "feeling liverish" meaning feeling a bit out of sorts especially after having eaten or drunk too much. Western doctors might well disregard the expression and consider it to be an old-fashioned and obsolete description but, in the Far East, a link is made between feeling apathetic and miserable with having a sluggish or overloaded liver.
The hydrocarbons landscape is going through dramatic changes and worries over peak oil appear to have been pushed to one side for now.
BP is not a company that has needed to seek its problems over the past few years. Aside from the near-catastrophic experience of the Macondo incident, the Russian joint venture TNK-BP has been a thorn in the super-major's side for the last five years.
Those of you who turn to Energy to escape from the interminable debate about Scotland's constitutional future may be in for a disappointment.
Skills, training and workforce safety are at the heart of the oil and gas industry, no matter which role you play or country you work in.
The announcement that Cairn Energy will buy Nautical Petroleum is good news for an already buoyant North Sea, coming hot on the heals of Cairn's acquisition of Agora Oil and Gas.
In UK waters, 10 mobile units are currently employed on E&A drilling operations - exploration wells, including a single sidetrack, account for three of these while seven appraisal wells including two sidetracks are active.
I take it pretty much for granted that if you're an "Energy" reader then you're someone that's curious about what goes on in the world.
Big questions are being asked at the moment about how competency should be defined within the oil and gas industry.
Since 2000, macroeconomic stability and growth potential in the energy sector have contributed to investors' increasing willingness to invest in Kazakhstan according to Ernst & Young's second "Attractiveness Survey" of this Caspian state.
We probably all have hobbies or special interests. My elder daughter often berates me for the amount of time in my life I have spent watching football, either live or on television. Sadly, that must add up to years' despite my being an Inverness Caley Thistle and Scotland supporter.
The Scottish Government has launched an oil and gas industry strategy which targets higher long-term recovery rates, increased exports and £30billion annual sales by 2020.
An oil & gas industry strategy for Scotland, targeting higher long-term recovery rates, greater exports and £30billion supply chain annual sales by 2020 is plain commonsense.
It's only a few months since I talked in this column about shale gas around the world but already there have been some significant further developments.
One would not normally link the 1962 Neil Sedaka hit with the oil and gas sector but never has the line "Breaking up is hard to do" been more apt than in 2012.
I think we are all guilty of making up our minds on Nigeria without actually knowing a great deal about either the place or the people.
Oil and gas service companies operating out of the UK, and in particular Aberdeen, have not been slow to recognise the huge potential in the emerging African offshore hydrocarbon sector.
This summer, the entire country will be gripped by a spectacular showcase of sporting achievement, with the greatest show on Earth, the Olympics and Paralympics, and the biggest prize in European football, Euro 2012.
We may have been enjoying the recent spells of warm, sunny weather but perhaps when we changed into our summer clothes we might have noticed that they were a bit more of a tighter fit than last summer!