Before America's Twitter-loving president made it to the Oval Office, a recurring theme was that the U.S. should have gotten hold of Iraq's oil after toppling Saddam Hussein. There's this:
As Noble Group Ltd. sells once-core businesses to stave off creditors, it's been running down stocks of grain, gas, power, oil and petroleum products. There's one crucial commodity, though, that ran out long ago: trust.
It’s easy to take for granted the journey to work, especially if you do the same trip every day.
During her speech to the Conservative Party conference on October 4, 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May announced plans to cap standard variable tariffs (SVT).
The recent appointment of a new OGA head of decommissioning raises hope that a fresh pair of eyes might question current plans for late-life assets.
Brent crude's brief flirtation with a $60 price level already seems to be fading. OPEC and its friends are facing their last chance to swing sentiment in the oil market this year. They shouldn't get too precious about it. What ministers say at their Nov. 30 meeting may have little bearing on what they actually do, but it could have a big impact on prices.
The National Audit Office's ("NAO") new review into the high profile failed procurement by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority ("NDA") pulls no punches. With a total cost to the taxpayer of more than £120m, what are the lessons for procurers, contractors and the courts?
Electric vehicles are a fascinating subject and not a day goes by without Tesla or a major OEM touting their latest designs and the virtues of electrification of their light vehicle fleet. That excludes Marchionne, Ferrari’s CEO, who famously retorted that ‘you’ll have to shoot me first’ before the supercar brand develops a vehicle without the roaring sound of an internal combustion engine.
Early-stage technology companies need funding to develop their concepts, and in the oil & gas industry that’s an additional challenge due to the complex nature of the systems and equipment involved. But is adequate funding available for oil & gas industry innovation in the UK?
The UK Government will publish its first autumn budget next month and this is traditionally a time for reviewing the nation’s finances and proposals for taxation.
The US Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA), enacted in May 2015, calls for the president to issue a certification to Congress every 90 days regarding Iran's compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). If the president fails to issue the certification, INARA provides an expedited process for re-imposing US-Iran sanctions that were lifted under the JCPOA.
Recent increases in domestic electricity prices – including last month’s massive 12.5% hike by British Gas – have fuelled the current debate on energy prices. The recent price cap on energy bills proposed by the prime minister last week is welcome relief for many domestic consumers stuck on expensive standard variable rate (SVR) tariffs.
The UK Government published its new data protection bill and in doing so removed any lingering doubts that it would continue to uphold EU privacy rules regardless of Brexit.
Shaping a sustainable, fair and competitive energy market for the future is a major challenge for both Scottish and UK Governments. Technology outpaces policy; our needs and capabilities are changing as fast as in the era of electrification. Yet the ghost of fuel poverty stubbornly refuses to be slain.
The drama around President Donald Trump and Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal has grabbed the oil world's attention. This gaze should shift west. Rising tensions in northern Iraq could have a much more immediate impact on oil flows that could lead prices higher, and squeeze producers and refiners.
The world's oil majors, beset by intimations of demand for their favorite product leveling off, seek comfort from an invisible friend.
At the launch of the government’s long awaited Clean Growth Strategy the focus was clear. Clean Growth is about building a better Britain for the next generation. Green politics have always been caught up in the cross generational conflict of who pays. Now, prosperity and low carbon are no longer a compromise but aligned objectives for the economy. While it doesn’t quite crystallise the fossil in fossil fuels, the Strategy does provide a much needed energy boost to the previously embattled green power sector. Perhaps this is the government waking up to the concerns of the incoming (as opposed to outgoing and aging) generation of voters whose rude political awakening post-Brexit, and mass mobilisation during the recent election, have made everyone take notice, but in a way that doesn’t matter. The future will be greener.
I have very much enjoyed a series of stories and quotes used in presentations and discussions in recent months, delivered to an audience today, for which there is as much relevance as when they were first written in the early 1970s.
That fact Airbus Helicopters’ chief executive Guillaume Faury flew in a Super Puma H225 aircraft to Helitech International 2017 in London a few days ago did not escape my attention.
The global malware attack which petrified the NHS earlier this year, and a number of high profile cyber attacks before and since, has thrown into sharp focus that IT security is a health and safety issue.
The recent announcement by the Scottish Government of their ideas for Scotland’s economic future certainly got my attention. The First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said in a speech just prior to the announcement that she believed that Scotland had to lead the “key technological and social changes of the future”. Significantly, she added that she wants Scotland to be “the inventor and producer of the innovations that will shape the future, not just a consumer of those innovations”.
The recent announcement by the Scottish Government on fracking was no surprise. No amount of evidence-based material would have countered entrenched public opinion. Opinions formed through exposure to very poor media reporting and scaremongering.
Digitisation – def. The process of changing from analog to digital form.
The biggest current recruiter in upstream? Digitalization, by a distance. Technology is already playing a part in downstream’s recovery from its lows a few years ago. Upstream, urgently seeking structural solutions to its down cycle is following at quickening pace. Digitalization is becoming central to the plan.
The electricity grid is in a state of flux. Low-cost renewables and the increased use of distributed energy generation represent profound challenges to the operation of a grid built on the assumption of power being provided predominantly by large, centralized generation sources, and consumed as soon as it is produced. In particular, the old model of stable baseload power being supplemented by gas and hydro for peaks in demand is giving way to a world where renewables predominate, supported by other, flexible generation assets for when the sun isn’t shining or the wind not blowing. The severe pressures on power utilities in Europe and elsewhere (and their share prices) reflect the magnitude of this transition.