Whenever I am asked about whether the current downturn has an impact on how the industry manages its risks, I recognise that behind that question there may be concerns that standards could slip amid the drop in oil prices, the drive to reduce operational costs and news about job losses.
The SNP’s energy spokesman in Westminster recently criticised the Scottish Conservatives for “staying silent” on the issue of the North Sea.
With a population of over 1.3 billion, China is the world’s leading energy consumer, and the vast majority of its electricity comes from domestically mined coal. But the Asian nation is cutting its dependence on fossil fuels and replacing it with renewables at breakneck speed to meet rapidly growing energy demands and address acute air pollution issues.
Oil prices continue to be depressed and trading conditions for oil and gas companies remain difficult. In such circumstances, commentators are predicting a new wave of disputes in the oil and gas sector, with new types of dispute (for example, claims brought by liquidators following the insolvency of a counterparty) prevailing. However, market conditions vary across the world, and it would be unwise to assume that conditions in a mature market such as Europe are the same, and/or will have the same consequences, in Asia and South East Asia region. In this article, Richard Power considers whether the Asia/South East Asia region stands on the verge of a new wave of energy disputes, or whether the region's peculiar - perhaps unique - economic circumstances could isolate it from the travails affecting the energy sector elsewhere in the world.
This past year has been extraordinary for renewable energy; the Ren21 Renewables 2016 Global Status Report shows the largest global capacity additions seen to date. As investment in solar, wind and hydro continues to increase and new technologies come to market, the industry’s service needs are rapidly changing. And, in an industry where the life cycle of a solution is critical, service is becoming an increasingly important part of operations.
Beware the friendly Russian bear. While the world's biggest oil exporter has offered growls of support for a hard-won OPEC accord to cut output, that will probably amount to no more than mere noise. And without Russian participation, the agreement may lack teeth.
The Government’s decision on 6th October 2016 to allow hydraulic fracturing sends a clear message on the direction of the UK's energy policy.
While the world is pre-occupied by Donald Trump’s verbal indiscretions, the international oil & gas industry is looking on with interest hoping that the US electorate see through the personal attacks and recriminations to elect a President that can bolster the energy sector.
There have been two positive announcements on CCS this week; the Norwegian Government announced its intention to move forward with the development of three full-scale CCS projects whilst also granting a three-year extension to the Technology Center Mongstad, and the Petra Nova CCS project in Houston is due to begin operation by the end of the year, becoming the world’s largest post-combustion capture project on an existing coal-fired power station.
We have a world leading oil and gas industry in Scotland that the whole of the UK can be proud of. As the energy minister at the newly formed Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy I want to be clear that the UK Government is committed to supporting it.
Saudi Arabia's oil minister actually did it. He stood up and U-turned on behalf of the world's biggest crude exporter, much to the relief of fellow OPEC leaders.
French-based energy company Électricité de France (EDF) has been given the go-ahead by the U.K. government to build a new nuclear plant, Hinkley Point C. S&P’s Director of Utilities, Pierre Georges, discusses why EDF’s credit rating has consequently been downgraded from ‘A’ to ‘A-’.
Oil and gas exploration is a complex field, involving producers, intent on discovering and extracting, and service providers, who develop new and innovative technologies to facilitate this extraction of untapped and increasingly unconventional reserves. But what both have in common is a wealth of intellectual property which needs to be protected but which is also increasingly vulnerable to attack.
Last week, along with many of you reading this, I started my day at the Oil and Gas UK breakfast briefing on their latest economic report.
Last week, the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) published its Decommissioning Delivery Programme – the follow up to its Decommissioning Strategy, which was published earlier this year.
As a song from the memorable show and movie Cabaret reminds us: “Money makes the world go round” and it is certainly crucial for the future health of the UK North Sea.
After weeks of speculation, OPEC showed it still has the power to surprise last week with its announcement of an agreement to cut back oil output for the first time in eight years. While short-term celebrations were rife, the question remains: Was the group just calling our bluff that its informal meeting would amount to more of the same, or will something actually be done?
In June, Exelon Corp. announced that it was retiring two of its most reliable nuclear units, in Clinton and Quad Cities, Illinois, US. This adds to a growing trend of nuclear asset closures throughout the Midwestern and Northeastern US due to declining profitability – the result of low gas prices as well as the proliferation of renewable energy sources; trends that are expected to remain for the long-term. Director of US Energy Infrastructure at S&P Global, Michael Ferguson, discusses why the future of nuclear plant viability in the US continues to dim.
In July, the Oil and Gas Authority launched its Decommissioning Strategy as a way of driving new ways of working across the oil and gas lifecycle. This week, the follow-up Delivery Programme was announced to explain how the Strategy’s objectives will be met moving forward.
The preliminary announcement by OPEC of a deal to cap production between 32.5 and 33 million barrels per day has given a welcome shot in the arm to the upstream market. While the specifics will be announced by OPEC at their November meeting in Vienna, on the face of it, it’s a hugely positive signal for the sector and points to a near term turn in the market.
When the European Commission last month demanded Apple pay up to 13 billion euros in back taxes to the Irish government, it gave the Brexit-battered UK government an opening. Number 10 and the Treasury were quick to stress Britain was “open for business” and they welcomed “any company wishing to invest in Britain and Britain’s workforce.”
In March 2016, Shell Springboard awarded Water Engine Technologies an equity-free grant of £40,000 as the programme’s regional winner.
The UK is set to spend billions on offshore decommissioning and removal. It is generally believed oil and gas companies will pay for this work. This is not the case. The taxpayer will fund a large proportion through tax breaks.
Saudi Arabia and Iran may yet come to terms on some sort of production arrangement, but the outcome of the negotiations in Algeria this week may not do much to rescue oil prices. Following the media spectacle, the oil markets may have to shift their attention back to the supply and demand fundamentals, which are not reassuring.
With its choice for Hinkley Point C - a £100billion boondoggle – its enthusiastic support for expensive and environmentally harmful fracking, and its relentless attack on renewable energy, the UK government’s energy policy is both morally and economically bankrupt, write Peter Strachan, Professor of Energy Policy at the Robert Gordon University, and Alex Russell, Professor and Chair of the Oil Industry Finance Committee. Westminster must reconsider this folly, which will be a disaster for the Conservative party, and embrace the renewable energy transition that can lead us into a clean and economically healthy future.