ABERDEEN'S Robert Gordon University (RGU) has become the first UK university to hold Masters level graduation ceremonies in three overseas locations for students on corporate oil&gas industry-related programmes. Cappings have been held in Kazakhstan, Algeria and, most recently, Venezuela.
ENERGY is a key element in four new degree programmes just launched by Aberdeen University with a view to the first intake of students kicking-off their studies in September, 2009.
There are some very smart young minds working in the renewables sector these days - witness the work of Jesus Lopez Taberna, who very recently successfully defended his PhD thesis on how to protect wind turbines against sudden dips in grid voltages.
AMERICAN researchers have created a new material that overcomes two of the major obstacles to solar power: it absorbs all the energy contained in sunlight and generates electrons in a way that makes them easier to capture.
The land yacht based on a simple frame with wheels and a small sail has been around for a long time and it was only a matter of time before something revolutionary happened to bring the concept into the 21st century.
NO FEWER than 126 pupils from 24 schools and accompanied by 13 teachers have just competed in the 2008 Maths in the Pipeline contest.
Aberdeen-owned MCS has just completed trials that could lead to BP adopting apparently more cost-effective inspection methods to establish the integrity of rigid subsea pipeline infrastructure associated with its deepwater assets.
As the largest provider of offshore medicals for Oil & Gas UK, one of the most common reasons we at Abermed give for failing the examination is being overweight or obese.
OFFSHORE Brazil may be the current star, but large new hydrocarbon finds have lately been reported on both sides of the Atlantic, in particular offshore Angola and, stretching the definition of Atlantic a bit, the US Gulf of Mexico.
US AGENCY NOAA (National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration) and the National Science Foundation have commissioned the first comprehensive national study of how carbon-dioxide emissions absorbed into the oceans may be altering fisheries, marine mammals, coral reefs and other natural resources. The work will be carried out by the US National Academy of Sciences.
AKER Solutions, in joint venture with WorleyParsons and CB&I, has received a letter of intent to the value of $31million for the Kashagan Full Field Development FEED (front-end engineering and design) contract from Agip KCO, operator of the Kashagan consortium, Kazakhstan North Caspian Operation Company.
INDUSTRY, government and community representatives were given an update on how Amec is faring at the annual external stakeholder event at Aberdeen's Marcliffe Hotel.
IT WAS party time at the opening of larger and newly refurbished offices for Solstad Offshore (UK) at Salvesen Tower, Aberdeen.
Scotland risks losing its position as the global leader in wave and tidal power unless steps are taken to put in place vital infrastructure, according to the head of a green-energy trade body
Ithaca Energy, a Canadian oil and gas explorer focused on the UK North Sea, has agreed a deal to sell 25.25% of all its assets to Dyas UK for £40million in cash.
Where this will take the country's energy strategy from here is unclear, but some observers believe China is unlikely to push too aggressively in other areas of possible controversy, such as the widely disputed Spratley Islands (Nansha islands, in Chinese) in the South China Sea, and the Diaoyu (Senkaku, in Japanese) islands, over which it contests ownership with Japan, in the East China Sea.
BRITISH Gas firm Centrica said yesterday it planned to tap shareholders for £2.2billion to fund the acquisition of a 25% stake in nuclear generator British Energy (BE).
LAST year, PetroChina announced its Jidong Nanpu discovery in Bohai Bay, which could be China's biggest oil find in 50 years, at an estimated 7billion barrels.
OMV is seeking to reduce its exposure to risk at the Tornado prospect west of Shetland by farming out a large chunk of the licences which it straddles prior to drilling early next year.
LONG talked about, the three biggest players in the global gas game are joining forces to create an Opec-style cartel. This, in turn, will drive up gas prices, especially in Europe.
AMEC'S Australian-based joint venture, Clough AMEC, has been awarded a contract by Chevron to provide engineering services for its oil production facilities at Barrow Island and Thevenard Island offshore Western Australia.
Meanwhile, the NOCs have been investing heavily in expanding their refinery capacity away from a dependence on light sweet crude, the mainstay of domestic production, so as to take advantage of a wider range of resource investments around the globe.
IRANIAN president Mahmud Ahmadinejad has inaugurated the South Pars phases 6, 7 and 8, and phases 9 and 10 are expected onstream within a few months, according to the Iranian News Agency.
THE UK's Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF) hosted a pioneering global technology summit in Aberdeen that has set the wheels in motion for greater collaboration between the world's leading technology organisations.
Leading energy banker Matt Simmons is warning upstream oil&gas against knee-jerk reactions, especially cutting back on investment and jobs - battening down the hatches.