KPMG urges the oil and gas industry to plan ahead for changes to IR35
In the Chancellor’s most recent Autumn Budget the UK government confirmed plans to reform the IR35 tax legislation for the private sector.
Opinion
Decommissioning on horizon for UK’s early commercial windfarms
The winds of change continue to sweep across the renewable energy sector. Technology is moving forward rapidly with step-changes in the size, capacity and efficiency of wind turbines.
North Sea was where it all started for Entier
The basic definition of an entrepreneur is someone who identifies a need and then starts a business to fill the void.
Menopause – the workplace issue nobody wants to talk about
Did you know that around 13 million women in the UK are currently peri- or post-menopausal? The answer is probably not, because despite menopause being an issue that will at some point affect more than half of the population (52% are female), it remains a taboo subject.
Are we on the cusp of the electric vehicle revolution?
With policymakers now proactively pushing the electric vehicle (EV) agenda, the demand for clean transport amongst consumers is growing.
The contrasting private equity approach to North Sea assets and services
After a period of relative quiet, North Sea oil and gas is increasingly in the private equity spotlight, amid renewed confidence that has spurred an appetite for deal making.
Renewables generating a slave labour market
We’ve been here before, at least in the context of the North Sea oil and gas industry.
Litigation finance: Unlocking the value of disputes
The energy sector has long been familiar with disputes, especially lengthy, high-value and high-profile claims. Some of the highest-value arbitral awards in history have arisen from energy-related arbitration.
Oil firms must protect entrepreneurial flair when buying low carbon start-ups
Oil companies are increasingly investing in low-carbon technologies that have the potential to disrupt their core and end-markets.
Route to success is built on solid skill sets
Advances in technology, internationalisation and the transition to a lower carbon future indicates that many positions within the sector will change or evolve.
Offshore wind ramp-up puts pressure on skills
With the recent announcement of the Offshore Wind Sector Deal, the UK is powering towards the goal of ensuring a third of the country’s electricity needs will be provided by offshore wind by 2030.
Opinion: Visions of cheese
Whilst we are seeing a clear uptick in activity and the UK oil and gas industry is certainly on the way up again, the industry must continue to move forward. However, under current market conditions, how can companies capitalise on change whilst remaining stable and sustainable and, more importantly, will there be enough return for all?
Drilling into diversity in oil and gas sector
Just over a month ago, the P&J’s sister publication Energy Voice published an article interviewing new Energy Institute (EI) leader Steve Holliday.
Five problems that data intelligence can solve in the oil and gas sector
Bad Data
No room for complacency with the gender pay gap
The gender pay gap in the energy sector has been attributed in some part to ongoing recruitment problems in the industry, but Erica Kinmond, an employment law and diversity & inclusion specialist, and vice chair of Aberdeen’s Axis Network which promotes equal gender balance in the energy sector, says organisations should also look within to address the issue.
Unleashing the power of hydrogen
Very soon, the Climate Change Committee is expected to call for a ‘net zero’ carbon emission target for 2050. It underlines how serious rapid global warming is and how we should all act collectively as quickly as possible, but even in the face of doomsday predictions there is increasing evidence that an alternative future can be realised, using technology that is both clean and green.
Is Nord Stream 2 at risk?
In February 2019, the EU amended the Gas Directive to extend its scope to apply to pipelines from third countries to the EU. The proposal has primarily targeted Nord Stream 2, a pipeline which would bring Russian gas to Germany bypassing Ukraine and other former Soviet states. The pipeline has been under construction across the Baltic Sea since August 2018.
The UK energy industry and a ‘no deal’ Brexit
The Brexit picture is – currently – still as unclear as ever, with all potential scenarios on the table, including a ‘no deal’ option.
We need an emergency climate bill, but one written with the conviction of a 16-year-old
Greta Thunberg and the Extinction Rebellion (ER) have their critics, but the evidence is clearly on their side. The broadcast media collectively reported the ER protests as “middle-class people disrupt traffic shock” – a lazy cop-out from the real story. It’s a global tale of doing too little too late. Greta ducked school to protest outside the Swedish parliament at the lack of action on climate change. She has been copied by schoolchildren across the world. This makes her an ideal photo opp for politicians, and Westminster leaders were eager to be snapped next to her this week in London. The SNP’s Iain Blackford used the moment to brag: “The Scottish Government’s Climate Change Bill has been hailed as ‘a concrete application of the Paris Agreement’ by Laurent Fabius, the architect of the Paris Agreement. “The bill contains the most ambitious statutory targets of any country in the world for 2020, 2030 and 2040, with the aim of Scotland being carbon-neutral by 2050.” Another architect of the Paris agreement and chief executive of the European Climate Foundation, Laurence Tubiana, has praised the British Government. “This decision to review Britain’s long-term climate target sends a strong message to the EU and other big economies that London is committed to the Paris Agreement, and now it’s time they too considered what more they can do,” he said. Britain sounds like it’s doing the right thing. If only it were enough. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report of 2018 is the benchmark for climate policy, and it reports the world has a decade to restrict global temperature rises. The Scottish Greens report this as “The IPCC… findings add up to one clear, over-riding message that confronts humanity with the most important decision it will ever make: act now, or face climate breakdown.” The IPCC is saying that the game got a lot bigger and we need to do a lot more. Carbon-neutral by 2050 does not cut it. The governments of Edinburgh and London are building a dinghy – what’s needed is an ark. The Greens say the “climate bill... going through the Scottish Parliament now... (is) not strong enough and it doesn’t respond to the latest science coming from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change”. They propose a climate emergency bill which has a 10-point plan: 1. Lead a green energy transition. Scotland is on track to generate 100% of our electricity needs from renewables in the next five years. This is great progress but we need to see similar gains made in generating the energy we use for heating our homes from renewables rather than fossil fuels. 2. Divest all public investment from the fossil fuel industry, including public bodies’ pension funds. 3. Increase funding for walking and cycling, putting Scotland on par with the Netherlands. 4. Better buses and reliable rail that are publicly funded and cheap to use. 5. Develop a district heating funding stream to deliver renewable heat to homes across Scotland. 6. Deliver warm homes for all, ending the scourge of fuel poverty and ensuring all homes achieve at least an EPC Band C rating by 2030. 7. Support climate-friendly farming and land management, including a massive increase in investment in sustainable forestry and peat restoration. Introduce a nitrogen budget for the farming sector to reduce harmful nitrous oxide emissions. 8. Tax single-use plastics. For example, Scotland consumes between 200 million and 800 million single-use cups each year. A 25p levy or tax would result in an annual revenue of £50-200 million and a significant reduction in consumption. 9. Give councils the power to introduce workplace parking levies. 10. Redirect government business support towards environmentally responsible companies. All of the above is necessary, but it does not go far enough. Aviation produces 600 million tonnes of CO2, according to Friends of Earth, amounting to “about 3.5% of global warming from all human activities”. Yet no mention of restricting flights to a personal limit of, say, two a year. And no mention of tablets and mobile phones. In 2016, data centres which make the inherent possible consumed more electricity (over 400 terawatt hours) than the whole of the UK (about 300 terawatt hours) globally. A US study warns that 20% of all the world energy could be needed for data by 2025. To put this into context, the world’s largest data centre is in Virginia, USA, and according to The Guardian just 1% of its energy comes from renewable sources. A research paper published in Nature magazine in 2018 concluded “UK and US citizens need to cut beef by 90% and milk by 60% while increasing beans and pulses between four and six times”. We need an emergency climate bill, but one written with the conviction of a 16-year old girl. Greta Thunberg told Westminster: “You don’t listen to the science because you are only interested in solutions that will enable you to carry on like before.” It is equally applicable to Holyrood.
Norwegian and UK North Sea markets gradually merging
The head of a Norwegian inspection, maintenance and repair group believes that the traditionally separate markets on either side of the North Sea are gradually merging.
We need to make sacrifices to save Earth, but will me giving up cheese really help?
I was having a chat with my grandson Jacob about Dippy the Diplodocus after he travelled from Aberdeen to Glasgow to see one of the world’s most famous dinosaurs.
How a changing breed of investor in the North Sea has led to a re-modelling of legal services
Private equity's lean machines are demanding a shake-up of traditional legal service delivery – particularly in the margin-sensitive oil and gas sector. Stuart Carter, head of oil and gas at Fieldfisher, looks at how law firms are responding to the market's changing needs.
IR35: The clock is ticking down
Employment law can be complex and the energy sector is not immune from the confusion that surrounds IR35.
There will always be exceptions to the gender equality golden dream
I’ve long been a believer in equality between men and women; why would it be otherwise? That women lose out significantly across all sectors of business and industry after the age of 40 especially is crazy.
KPMG: The challenges of assessing third party risk
There is increasing pressure on oil and gas companies in Aberdeen to address the risks associated with counterparties, be it suppliers, agents, vendors, contractors or joint venture partners - the list goes on.