Since OPEC announced the production cut deal at the end of November, industry analysts have been warning that rising production from producers outside the deal—U.S. shale in particular—is effectively capping the oil price gains from that agreement.
There is mounting evidence that, in line with the improving fortunes of the upstream oil and gas industry, deepwater fields are back in play and more competitive than ever.
Historically, the US has tended to be ahead of other locations in the oil and gas cycle. What has happened historically in the US has provided an indication of what will happen in the North Sea in the next six to nine months, with most basins tending to follow global trends. Whether this still holds true in the new age of US shale is however the big question on my mind as, like many others in the industry and professional services, I return from the annual pilgrimage to Houston for OTC.
Hurricane Energy’s recent announcement of a major discovery at its Halifax well, West of Shetlands is very significant for the UK oil and gas industry. At a time when investment has been seriously reduced by the low oil price, and in the absence of any significant new finds, it heralds a potential revival in the sector.
I got a wake-up call at a recent customer forum, where global contractors including GE were present: it was stated that a welcome reduction of “safety” incidents could be attributed to ‘talent density’, or a concentration of more experienced workers.
Speaking this week at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance conference in New York, Total SA's chief energy economist, Joel Couse, forecasted that EVs will make up 15 to 30 percent of global new vehicle sales by 2030.
“The centre is here to inspire, accelerate and fund technology that will help the industry to unlock the full potential of the UK North Sea and secure the future of our supply chain.”
Ten years ago, the landscape was very different. Driverless cars were just something you saw in sci-fi films. We didn’t have film streaming services (can you even imagine a life without them now?), and smart phones just made their debut in the market.
A key component of meeting global carbon reduction targets will be the strong development of the renewables sector. But with it comes huge capital requirements. As financiers seek alternative financing models that ease issuers’ access to capital, Trevor D’Olier-Lees, senior director, global infrastructure ratings, S&P Global Ratings, believes the growing use of “bundling” will be part of the solution particularly with respect to distributed generation
The oil and gas supply chain may have gone through a challenging few years, but the industry is on the cusp of another period of substantial change – one we’ve already seen take hold in other sectors. Digital transformation is opening up huge opportunities to operators, service companies, and suppliers – but it’s a double-edged sword.
The rise of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and the convergence of operational technology and information technology is leading to more efficient oil and gas production operations.
It was all so simple. By lifting restraints on output, Saudi Arabia would stop subsidizing high-cost oil producers and halt the rapid rise in U.S. production that was eating into OPEC's market share. At least, that was the logic back in November 2014.
In the last three years, more than 350,000 people are estimated to have lost their jobs in the global oil and gas industry as the prolonged downturn in commodity price morphed from ‘lower for longer’ into ‘lower forever’.
At Elevator we’re currently interviewing for the first cohort of the brand new Grey Matters Programme. Suddenly all the planning turns very real as we start to engage one-on-one with our target group - senior oil and gas people with the experience, expertise and ambition to start new high growth businesses in the North-east.
Big data in the oilfield: how it can be brought to bear on the everyday through predictive analytics?
If insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, then sanity must be the reasonable expectation that repeat actions have repeat effects. What happens then, when long observed causal relationships break down? When an impressively broad OPEC and non-OPEC production cut doesn’t send prices soaring?
With its abundance of mineral wealth and sun-kissed shores, Australia takes pride in thinking of itself as the "lucky country."
The UK offshore wind industry is surpassing all estimations as it continues to mature.
On a global level, 2015 and 2016 marked the lowest level of new conventional oil discoveries since 1952. In 2016, only 3.7 billion barrels of conventional oil were discovered, roughly 45 days of global crude consumption or 0.2 percent of global proved reserves. Globally, exploratory drilling fell by almost 20 percent in 2015 and fell even further in 2016. Russia's exploration activities, which were hit not only by plummeting oil prices but also by a targeted sanctions regime, suffered a double blow during this period. In 2015, only seven new hydrocarbon discoveries were made in Russia, three of them in the Baltic Sea. In 2016, oil and gas companies in Russia discovered 40 prospective fields, however, the 3P reserves of the largest among them, Rosneft's Nertsetinskoye, amounted to 17.4 million tons. This stands in stark contrast with pre-sanction period achievements, for instance, 2014's largest find, Pobeda, is believed to contain 130 million tons of oil and 0.5TCm of gas.
Our individual time frames affect the way we view and understand history – and as an effect, the way we react to our current business climate.
Notwithstanding that oil demand has increased for over 150 years, it will eventually stop increasing. If oil demand were to reach an actual peak, then the top might be easier to predict. As it stands, the forecast models of demand are likely predicting peak demand far later than it will be.
The oil and gas industry makes a very significant contribution not only to our economy, but also to energy security, employment, skills and is a key driver of innovation.
UKAEA chief executive officer Professor Ian Chapman, recently acknowledged the UK as a global leader in fusion research and declared that the UK can lead the way in designing the first fusion power stations. We are in agreement on this, but I believe that private companies also have an important role to play, and that the UK is benefitting already.
I have been a harsh critic of the current decommissioning removal plans; this is on the basis that removal provides little benefit for the environment, the economy or society.
International news services now report that Japan’s Toshiba Corporation (9502.T) is preparing to make a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for its Westinghouse Electric subsidiary. For most of our readers this news evokes little surprise. This is merely another chapter of a slow moving financial and accounting train wreck involving nuclear design and construction firm Westinghouse and its troubled Japanese parent, Toshiba. But like an old, leaky garbage scow there is much to clean up in its wake.