Mental health and youth unemployment: hidden impacts of COVID-19
COVID-19 has had a terrible impact on society’s physical health.
Opinion
Westminster’s Net Zero plan is ambitious but policy action is needed now to deliver real change
It’s been talked-up for months, but last week the Prime Minster finally fired the starting gun on what he promises will be a bold, ambitious race to radically transform the UK into a green economy.
Time is running out – the energy sector’s Generation 2050 speak up
With COP26 less than a year away, an intergenerational climate emergency requires intergenerational action. We have over 1,000 young energy experts that can help shape the climate debate, writes the Energy Institute’s Sinead Obeng AMEI
Energy transition: How to protect your intellectual property
The oil & gas sector has a vital role to play in transitioning to net zero by 2050, and in mature basins like the UKCS, much can be achieved. Innovation and technology will be key to unlocking many of these opportunities.
Global insights give companies an edge
As a technology-focused energy impact investor, EV Private Equity is committed to building innovative world-class companies. Experience has shown us that achieving that ambition requires global reach, unique insights and a strong mindset that transcends geographical and territorial boundaries.
Take the initiative and find nimble solutions
None of us can predict for certain what the supply chain of the future will look like, yet we all have to plan for future changes to make sure our businesses move forward in step with the world around us.
Keeping the lights on – A national imperative
While some aspects of our everyday life changed significantly during the pandemic, two things have remained constant, our ever-increasing energy demands and questions around the capacity of our ageing energy infrastructure to meet this demand. That makes the Energy White Paper crucial and its continuing delay a problem.
Seismic acquisition has been lagging for too long
If the rising cost and environmental pressures experienced by the oil and gas exploration sector this year have shown us anything, it is this: it is time to make the impossible affordable.
Zero hour: Four ways governments can unlock green businesses at COP26
In the “business-as-usual” version of 2020, global leaders should have been gathering this week in Glasgow for the most important meeting on climate since the Paris Agreement five years ago.
Looking through the fog of energy transition
This current “oil crash” is the 6th that has occurred since the start of the 1980s. Some were deeper, some were longer, but on average these events have occurred every 5 years one way or the other.
Addressing the pricing methodology: Ukraine can’t afford to miss this chance
Ukraine’s energy sector is undergoing a deep period of uncertainty. The global pandemic is adding strain to an impaired sector, with issues concerning market operations that have remained unaddressed now reaching critical status due to the absence of concerted governmental and regulatory action.
The business case for diversity and inclusion
Diversity and Inclusion is on every boardroom agenda - which continues to be highlighted by movements such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter.
How to be a top dog in decommissioning
With its prominence in the current news agenda there is no doubt that decommissioning in the North Sea has arrived.
Our industry is evolving, so must our trade associations
As Chair of the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers, I have had the privilege to work with some of our industry’s brightest minds, on some remarkable projects and be reminded of the hugely positive role our sector can play.
Trump’s Iran policy can be an opportunity for Biden
The next U.S. president will have to come to terms with “the will of the Iranian people” and end the economic war against the Islamic Republic, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a speech Thursday. Bluster aside, there is a kernel of truth to his prediction — and President Donald Trump’s Iran policy may make negotiations easier for President-elect Joe Biden.
Time to adjust and embrace new thinking
It’s fair to say 2020 has been an unprecedented year. Imagine how unlikely it would have seemed this time last year if someone had said wearing masks in a shop would now be essential, handshakes a distant memory and that we would need to brave the October chill outside the Chester Hotel and Dutch Mill to enjoy a drink?
Political input needed for Western Isles’ link
The 20 year saga of connecting – or not connecting - the Western Isles to the National Grid via a subsea cable across the Minch has taken a new and dramatic turn which should surely change the terms of the debate.
Targeting floating offshore wind growth
The recent announcement by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson on his plans to drive renewable growth and make the country a world leader in offshore wind may be a turning point for the UK in seizing the opportunity to lead a low-carbon transition.
No change without the oil industry
In the UK and particularly in Scotland the oil and gas industry remains a major employer. It is also one of the very few providers of high value, high skilled jobs we have left and still offers a wide range of opportunities.
Cost efficiency, the pandemic, oil prices and a silver lining
Cost efficiency. That is easily one of the most common phrases of the year with heads of business, peers, media and even family members using it when considering expenditure in 2020. To substantiate my thinking, I ran a social listening audit on conversations around cost efficiency and streamlining, paired with oil and gas, energy transition and net zero and found that conversations had increased by 7 percent from 2019 until present, which I fully expect to rise by the year end.
Collaboration the key to a successful UK decommissioning industry
It’s around this time of year that Oil and Gas UK releases its eagerly-awaited annual Decommissioning Insight report. The study was first launched to enhance knowledge of the decommissioning market. It shows an industry with intellectual capability that needs to be shared to maintain competitiveness and efficiency.
Don’t bank on it? Why institutional lending to oil and gas should continue
As banks taper lending to oil and gas projects amid a wider push for "sustainable investments", Fieldfisher energy specialists Paul Stockley, Oliver Abel Smith and Dougall Molson consider how fossil fuel companies can contribute to the sustainability agenda.
The folly of failing to properly compare technologies
The UK’s Hydrogen Task Force recently published a report that claimed investing in hydrogen could unlock £18bn in Gross Value Added by 2035.
UK signals more assertive sanctions regime – Implications for the energy sector
There are signs that the UK’s sanction regime is poised to become more aggressive following the disentanglement from the EU. The close of the Brexit transitional period on 31 December 2020 marks the end of the UK’s obligation to enforce EU sanctions. From 1 January 2021, the UK’s sanctions regime will be independent, with sanctions imposed pursuant to a new framework introduced under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA). It is important that UK companies, including those in the energy sector, anticipate the UK’s changed regulatory landscape and are aware of the potential for new sanctions in due course.
How to show resilience in a competitive jobs market
The last six months have been some of the most difficult in living memory. With COVID-19 set to cast a shadow for some time yet, many firms will be taking a more cautious approach to recruitment – focusing on hiring those able to help build vital resilience into the business.