Production fears keep on driving oil price higher
OIL hit another record high yesterday, climbing above $122 a barrel amid warnings that supply fears could push prices to $200.
Oil & Gas
IoD to get insight into renewable energy
NORTH-EAST members of the Institute of Directors (IoD) will hear about the region's renewable-energy potential during their next get-together in Aberdeen.
Sustainability and investment
Here's a thought for all those now basking in the Houston heat. Having demonstrated their stupidity in lending on so-called "sub-prime" mortgages, how do we know that the financial institutions won't make - or already have made - the same mistakes in the energy sector?
The haves, the have-nots and hot air
Back in 2002, when I was UK energy minister, I attended a producer-consumer dialogue in Osaka hosted by the International Energy Agency.
The North Sea of the South
As I scribble this month's column, West Texas Intermediate is trading a few cents short of $115 a barrel, Brent is only a couple of bucks below and the oil price has become a hot topic. Big Oil is in the headlines for something else, too: the largest oil discovery made in decades and, before that, at least two finds that may turn out to be super-giant fields.
Lancaster pitching at low-carbon energy
LANCASTER University's marketing blurb says: "It is difficult to open a newspaper without coming across articles on global warming and energy security or an advertisement claiming 'greenness' as a reason to buy particular products or services.
Dundee launches Leadership Programme
MANAGERS in the oil & gas industry now have the opportunity to equip themselves with the skills and knowledge for a senior management role via a new Master's Leadership Programme launched by Dundee University's Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy.
Middle East MIST with more than touch of MIT
The Abu Dhabi government's future energy initiative, Masdar, has set up the board of trustees for Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), and Master's programmes are scheduled to get under way in 2009.
Vision for the North Sea
Smart graduate! Emily Ferguson, a geologist at Maersk Oil, spells out her vision for the North Sea at the Oil & Gas UK Next Generation Conference at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre
Sugar-powered cars – a sweet energy solution?
A BUNCH of American scientists reckon they have come up with a "revolutionary" process for converting plant sugars into hydrogen which could be used to cheaply and efficiently power vehicles equipped with hydrogen fuel cells without producing any pollutants.
T is for thermal energy
THERMAL energy is the total potential and kinetic energy associated with the random motions of the molecules of a material. OK, that's the definition, but what does it mean? Energy's editor first encountered thermal energy at the age of eight in New Zealand, where the family was living way back in the 1950s. Fairly near the town of Rotorua, which is famous for its hot springs and boiling mud pools, we travelled past what, as it later transpired, was the world's first thermal energy power station.
Fuel-cell plane an aviation first
The first manned flights of a fuel cell-powered light aircraft have taken place in Spain. But the tiny plane is dramatically different from the passenger jets we're used to.
Latest purpose-built vessel marks new era for Fugro-Rovtech
FUGRO-ROVTECH Ltd christened its latest purpose-built construction support and intervention vessel in Bergen, Norway.
Riser-based ESPs offer low-cost output boost
Electric submersible pumps (ESPs) located in production riser pipes as opposed to deep underground in wellbores offers a cost-effective means of extending field life, says Centrilift.
Norwegians set new world record with 10km well
On April 8, StatoilHydro set a new world record by drilling and completing a well just short of 10km in length from a North Sea platform.
Shell offering South Uist stake
Fifteen exploration and appraisal wells were active in the UKCS, comprising six exploration and nine appraisal wells, at the time this was being written.
Super semi on tow to Europe
OSLO: Aker Solutions says its Aker H-6e drilling rig hull has sailed from the Drydocks Dubai yard on a 50-day voyage to the Aker Solutions yard at Stord, Norway.
New jack-up for North Sea
LONDON: Workfox has taken delivery of the new-build jack-up drilling rig, Seafox 7, under an exclusive management agreement with Seafox Contractors.
Ensco orders fifth $500m super-semi
HOUSTON: Ensco International has decided to build a fifth Ensco 8500 Series ultra-deepwater semi-submersible drilling rig at the Keppel FELS shipyard in Singapore at a cost of some $515million.
Cash in pipeline for Anthony Nolan
MEMBERS of the Aberdeen section of the Pipeline Industries Guild (PIG) and their guests enjoyed their 14th annual black-tie dinner at the city's Marcliffe Hotel.
Open day focus on new technology
MORE than 100 people were given an insight into a new hard-as-diamond product which could save the oil and gas industry millions of pounds a year.
Seadrill in massive $4.1billion Brazil win
SEADRILL of Norway has won an unconditional letter of award from Petrobras for contracts with a total revenue potential of about $4.1billion over 18 rig years for three new-build deepwater drilling rigs, the West Eminence, West Taurus and West Orion.
Britain still offers a bright future for investors
I AM absolutely convinced that the UK oil&gas market remains a key and exciting place to invest.
Nautronix scores bundle first with NASNet
Aberdeen company Nautronix has just delivered a NASNet acoustic positioning package to Wick in preparation for a pipeline bundle tow-out from Subsea 7's fabrication yard.
Danes taking on Aberdeen locals
Danbor, an offshore logistics subsidiary of AP Moller Maersk, is quietly establishing itself in Aberdeen next door to Maersk Oil's UK HQ at Altens Industrial Estate.