The hijack of the Saudi-registered supertanker, Sirius Star and the taking captive of its crew, including a Scot, brought the issue of piracy to the fore, highlighting to those for whom such an issue is not an everyday concern that the scourge of piracy is not just a historical threat, but a very real one, alive and thriving today.
The cathartic financial events of recent months have exposed a great many naked emperors - not a pleasant sight, particularly in Edinburgh, where some had been entrusted with running Scotland's major banks.
2008 was an exceptional year for the Industry Technology Facilitator in terms of the numbers of projects launched, levels of funding secured and technology implementations. This has been achieved despite a backdrop of gloomy economic forecasts, oil-price crash and banks reluctant to lend to businesses.
TWO initiatives that could help produce maps of hydrocarbon location, and thus enable more accurate targeting of reservoirs, were launched at the end of June, having been submitted to a call for proposals issued in 2007.
The Europe and Canada head of one of the world's top subsea contractors believes the offshore industry will successfully weather the credit-crunch storm as oil fundamentals are in its favour, even though global demand for this critical commodity is plummeting.
NORWEGIAN company Electromagnetic Geoservices (EMGS) reports the successful launch of the world's first purpose-built EM survey vessel in order to enhance hydrocarbon exploration across the world.
Looking around the room as I stood up to present at a recent Scottish Renewables Forum event in Aberdeen, I was disappointed but, frankly, not surprised by the lack of subsea oil&gas industry people.
Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said it cut all gas supplies to Ukraine yesterday after talks broke down over payments for past shipments and a price for 2009.
Hundreds of millions of pounds of oil and gas exploration and development activity in the North Sea will be shelved next year, the senior partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Aberdeen has warned.
Oil and gas operator Antrim Energy said yesterday it had submitted a field-development plan for the Causeway oil discovery in block 211/23d north-east of Shetland to the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
OPITO - the Oil and Gas Academy's director of international business development is to join GlobalScot, the select group of international business leaders committed to advancing Scotland's success around the world.
Elixir Petroleum said yesterday that the Department of Energy and Climate Change had agreed to a four-month extension of the licence term on North Sea block 211/18b.
Dana Petroleum, the Aberdeen-based oil and gas operator, said yesterday that its Dana Petroleum Norway subsidiary had been awarded interests in eight Norwegian offshore blocks.
AMERICA has seen its position as the most attractive destination for investment in renewable energy nosedive, helping Germany to move to joint first place.
CAIRN India, 65%-owned by Scottish oil and gas operator Cairn Energy, said yesterday it had made another oil and gas discovery in Rajasthan, north-west India, adjacent to its Raageshwari field, which has an approved field-development plan.