In case you missed it, World Mental Health Day was a couple of weeks ago and we saw friends, family, celebrities, and various organisations post their support on social media platforms, but how many actively encourage good mental health practices?
Removing, breaking, and recycling what we can of redundant offshore oil and gas infrastructure is a huge task but worth many hundreds of millions of pounds to those fortunate enough to win the work.
The First Minister committed the Scottish Government to join a growing number of world governments who have expressed the view that unlimited recovery of oil and gas is unsustainable in light of the climate emergency.
I didn’t want to revisit the UK’s carbon capture debacle so soon, but the decision to demote Scotland’s Acorn project to the second division has forced my hand.
“If we were to say from one day to the other that we close down production… I believe that would put a stop to an industrial transition that is needed to succeed in the momentum towards net zero. So we are about to develop and transit, not close down”.
Delegates from around the world are today arriving in Glasgow ahead of a two-week conference that will test the willingness of today’s world leaders to deliver on the promises they or their predecessors made in Paris six years ago.
Last week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson published the UK’s net zero strategy – a mighty 368-page document that attempted to outline how the country will move forward and achieve ambitious emissions targets, including the decarbonisation of our electricity system by 2035.
Employers have been urged to encourage and educate their workforce to get vaccinated, but to stop short of mandating.
On September 16, 1987, a historic event took place in my home country of Canada. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was signed by 46 nations and territories and later ratified by all 197 United Nations members.
Today, connectivity underpins the everyday operations of the energy sector. Without reliable network connections, the lights go off. It's that simple.
The UK Government has announced its choice of the East Coast Cluster and HyNet North West to develop as the UK’s first Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) clusters by the mid-2020s. The Scottish Cluster has been named as a reserve project.
A handful of workers have been flown off a North Sea platform after Covid-19 cases were picked up on board.
I’ve just received a round-robin email from Greenpeace calling on Brits to tweet Boris and kill off North Sea oil & gas right now.
Spiralling gas prices and shortages of fuel on the UK’s forecourts have brought into sharp focus the importance of ensuring policy protects the country’s energy supplies throughout the energy transition.
Extreme and tragic weather has brought the issue of climate change back to the spotlight, reinforcing why the issue needs to be top of the global political agenda.
As we approach the COP26 Climate Conference which begins in Glasgow on 31st October, it feels as if the oil and gas industry has never been more in the political spotlight.
Starting a new job during the pandemic was a daunting task, especially given the uncertainty not just in our industry but globally caused by the pandemic.
Whatever message is drawn, the current explosion of interest in energy policy should ensure that realism impinges upon the rhetoric which will accompany COP26. Virtue alone does not keep the lights on.
“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction,” a quote attributed to John C Crosby, and one which strikes a chord with me.
Is it my imagination or are things looking up a bit on the renewables front here in Scotland?
As in life, the Energy Transition and achievement of Net Zero, in my mind, is about balance.
“Christmas is on … this is a short-term problem” Prime Minister Boris Johnson told journalists recently when quizzed about the gas price surge and the knock-on impacts it might have on food, energy bills – and the imminent COP26 climate negotiations.
Everybody loves a big-budget, blockbuster sequel. Half a century after the original and long-running oil boom adventure, the North Sea is poised to repeat and surpass that success with an even bigger net-zero carbon and renewable follow-up: the £16 billion North Sea Transition Deal.
I have long been an advocate for the renationalisation of energy. My father was a veteran of both the pre-WW2 private electricity industry and post war nationalisation.
As the UK Government works to protect consumers through the global gas price spike, ministers have a simple, no-cost lever to pull on.