Electricity policies in shambles
It has been a mixed month for the electricity industry in Scotland. On the negative side, DONG Energy announced its withdrawal from the joint venture planning to build a new coal-fired power station at Hunterston.
Oil & Gas
The road to Copenhagen
There is a great deal of anticipation and momentum building as we near the Copenhagen meeting in December.
Firms re-evaluate business models
With the UK economy back from the brink, some companies are showing signs of emerging from a crisis of financial uncertainty and starting to plan again for the future.
Plato Alliance a ‘step-change’
THREE E&P (exploration and production) learning companies, IHRDC, Nautilus and NExT, have forged the Plato Alliance, which is designed to deliver an "unprecedented" learning opportunity for professionals in the industry. Launched in Houston, the Plato Alliance is designed to offer the talents of the most experienced learning providers in the business worldwide.
Hot-house climate means methane hike
UNUSUALLY high temperatures in the Arctic and heavy rains in the tropics are thought to have driven a global increase in atmospheric methane in 2007 and 2008 after a decade of near-zero growth, according to a new study.
Energy crops set to power ahead in Britain
GROWING the energy crops, short rotation coppice (SRC) willow and miscanthus grass, could help the UK to reduce carbon emissions and benefit wildlife, according to researchers from the UK Research Councils' Rural Economy and Land Use Programme.
Willy Wonka puts the vroooom factor into Heath Robinson
Can the idea of "green motorsport" actually work? Yes, according to Dr Kerry Kirwan at the University of Warwick, who led the research team that designed and built the world's first "wholly sustainable" Formula 3 racing car.
Nuke mini battery has huge potential
BATTERIES can power anything from small sensors to large systems. While scientists are finding ways to make them smaller yet even more powerful, it turns out that problems can arise when such batteries are larger and heavier than the devices they power.
Bankers to show up at Share Fair 11
Later this week, oil&gas industry key players will unveil their plans for the next 18 months at one of 2009's most important events.
Rotech Subsea embark on 200th project
Mass-flow excavation (MFE) company Rotech Subsea is celebrating a significant milestone in its eight-year history by embarking on its 200th project.
Looking to a healthy future
If the oil&gas industry is to succeed during current economic and climate difficulties, it is vital that it attracts well qualified and talented workers.
Technip beats off competition to Goliat
THE Norwegian arm of Italian energy major Eni has awarded Technip an engineering, procurement, construction and installation contract for the Goliat field worth about $300milion.
BJ bags KPO services contract
BJ SERVICES, which has a major presence in Aberdeen, has secured a contract with Karachaganak Petroleum Operating (KPO) to provide a range of process services in Kazakhstan.
Angola success for Total
TOTAL has discovered oil on block 17/06 in the deepwater sector of the Atlantic offshore Angola.
First US Gulf FPSO nearing completion
THE first floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) for the US Gulf of Mexico is almost ready to leave its builders in Singapore.
Wind of change blows through Bucksburn
ABOUT 120 people attended the unveiling of a new wind turbine at the premises of FIS Chemicals in Bucksburn, Aberdeen
Big names get together for awards night
THE outstanding achievements of the offshore contracting sector were celebrated at a black-tie event at The Marcliffe at Pitfodels last week.
‘Marriage of complementary skills and technologies’
STATOILHYDRO and US group Tierra Geophysical are to jointly develop seismic imaging software intended to improve the Norwegian petroleum company's ability to assess exploration and production targets in areas of complex geology. Tierra has spent years optimising its "finite difference propagators" - a family of algorithms - and combining that with StatoilHydro's imaging expertise and experience is considered to be an "ideal marriage of complementary skills and technologies".
Scots and US firms make seismic connection
ABERDEEN company ffA has teamed up with US firm OpenSpirit to provide what they describe as "multi-vendor connectivity" to users of ffA's 3D seismic analysis products using the OpenSpirit software development kit. ffA says its SVI Pro and SEA 3D Pro seismic analysis applications will be able to reach out to any OpenSpirit-enabled data store to access data and share interaction events with other geotechnical software.
Project results joining up the dots to maximise value from reservoirs
Many people in the upstream oil&gas industry will know that better integration between disciplines such as petroleum engineering, geology, geophysics and geomechanics is required to achieve maximum value from reservoirs.
Norway pumps yet more cash into carbon challenge
NORWAY is raising its carbon game by planning to invest close to £380million (3.5billion NOK) in capturing and storing greenhouse gases next year, according to finance minister Kristin Halvorsen.
ICoTA clan to gather later this month
WELL intervention: rejuvenating the North Sea is the theme of this year's ICoTA conference, with the keynote to be delivered by Leo Koot, MD of Taqa Bratani, which company is playing a key role in that process. However, arguably at this time, it is StatoilHydro which probably has the most ambitious well revamp programme in train in the North Sea (see Page 17).
First launch of $800m rig series
WHILE most new drilling tonnage is built in East Asia, the US continues to build, too. The first of four $200million Rowan EXL Super 116E jack-up drilling rigs has just kissed the water for the first time at the Keppel AmFELS Yard in Brownsville, Texas.
£8million marine project launched
THE UK's Energy Technologies Institute has given the green light to an £8million project that will produce tools capable of accurately estimating the energy yield of major wave and tidal-stream energy devices.
GE gets smart with new subsea centre
GE OIL & Gas has further expanded its subsea portfolio capabilities with today's official opening of the new GE Oil & Gas, Drilling and Production business unit devoted to subsea and remote technologies.The expansion at Nailsea, near Bristol, is appropriately called the Subsea Monitoring and Remote Technology Center (or SmartCenter).