Covid-19: Not everyone’s working from home
The burden of the COVID-19 pandemic weighs heavily on us all.
Opinion
Upstream oil and gas in an uncertain world
Green shoots in the oil and gas market predicted at the start of 2020 have fallen by the wayside. It was meant to be the year when the industry, particularly in Europe, got serious about ESG credentials and planning for a carbon free future.
Net-zero energy: How oil and gas fits in
‘Put a tiger in your tank.’ - The public face of oil and gas looks very different today from the end of the last century, when this popular slogan reappeared. In the past messaging has laid the blame for manmade climate change at the feet of the oil and gas sector. As an industry we have never shied away from our responsibilities to operate, and that does not change today but there is drive and energy to ensure that we operate in a more sustainable manner. The UK’s 2050 commitment to net-zero carbon emissions will spur wider change, creating new sources of energy and new opportunities.
At $30 oil, offshore drillers may be out of options
With the oil price crash and COVID-19, the near-term outlook for the offshore rig market is on a lot of minds.
Big Oil’s triple whammy
It has become clear to me that the oil and gas industry is not just confronted by the perfect storm, rather it is the perfect hurricane.
CfD set to make a big difference for UK renewables sector
With the Government committing an apparent volte face on its renewable energy policy, the sector is now gearing up for what could be a whirlwind of activity when it comes to UK onshore wind developments.
Contracts for difference: levelling the playing field for wind and solar
Along with industry, we welcome the recent consultation on allowing onshore wind and solar to compete for CfD’s in future Allocation Rounds, the next being scheduled for 2021.
North Sea ‘already battening down the hatches’ over oil price-quake
I can imagine the expletives uttered the length and breadth of the North West Europe Continental Shelf as folk across the offshore oil & gas industry woke up this morning … from operators right down the food chain to the smallest service companies.
Being logical about oil and gas contracts amid the coronavirus outbreak
As cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) increase around the world, industry continues to experience the effects. In particular, Chinese manufacturers in some areas have stopped operations due to factory shutdowns which in turn is starting to affect supply chains. As lead times catch up with supply constraints we expect this to become problematic in the weeks to come.
A Budget to achieve net zero?
This is a Budget like no other in recent times. Delayed due to a surprise general election, the first under Prime Minister Johnson, being delivered by a Chancellor appointed less than a month ago, and happening within a challenging geopolitical and economic environment.
Recycling challenge is in the air for Big Wind
News of thousands of wind turbine blades in the US being cut up and sent to landfill as the only practical means of disposal was reported recently.
D&I: Reasons to be Cheerful
As tonic for tumultuous times, erstwhile frontman of the band Talking Heads and renaissance man David Byrne launched a website and social media presence called Reasons to be Cheerful.
Scotland’s oil and gas sector should prepare for evolution, not revolution
We’re just days away from the UK Budget and this year’s spending plans are leaving us all questioning what to expect. With a new Chancellor, a new majority Conservative government, the build-up to COP26, and a flurry of Brexit transition negotiations, there’s a lot of second-guessing about the UK’s direction of travel after March 11.
Maintaining the bedrock of the energy industry’s future
I joined the oil and gas industry more than two decades ago, in a year of low oil prices. Securing a job with an energy consultancy felt like a great prize, especially considering that the majority of my fellow geology graduates had chosen to take a different path; largely unrelated to their degrees.
Hydrogen fuelled vehicles contribute to an equitable society, battery vehicles don’t
The announcement by the UK Government last month that it intends to ban the sale of petrol, diesel and hybrid cars by 2035 may well be a distraction from the utter mess it’s making of the arrangements for the United Nations COP26 summit in Glasgow later this year.
Energy companies urged to prepare now for new UK work visa rules
The UK’s new points-based immigration system from January 2021 will impact how energy businesses recruit, onboard and retain non-UK workers at all levels of skill and experience.
Going beyond greenwashing
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group has pledged to stop lending and offering underwriting services to major oil and gas producers if they do not have credible transition plans in line with Paris climate agreement targets.
‘It takes leadership to improve safety’: Parallels between F1 and oil and gas
The parallels between offshore oil and gas and Formula 1 might not be immediately apparent to all. As a sport, Formula 1 has always been a passion of mine.
‘If a roomful of middle-aged, middle-class, middle managers can’t crack this diversity thing, then, quite frankly, who can?’
Aberdeen recently played host to another diversity and inclusion (D&I) event.
It’s an oil and gas digital revolution: So, who wants an iPod?
Through all the buzzwords and jargon, we all recognise the value that the widespread adoption and effective application of digital technology will have in the upstream oil and gas sector.
‘Time someone said something about the IR35 industrial rip-off’
Energy Voice has been running regular articles about the pending HMRC changes that will see the current IR35 arrangement altered to prevent, we are told, tax avoidance.
The Path for Green Hydrogen: Hope or Hype?
Across the energy landscape hydrogen is generating a buzz, with major players praising its decarbonisation potential.
How we resource oil and gas projects has to change
Skills shortages have plagued the cyclical oil and gas industry for decades and it seems that lessons from the past are never learnt. As we emerge from one of the deepest and longest downturns in our history, yet another skills gap is looming and, this time, a confluence of factors will make it imperative that the industry radically changes the way it resources projects.
Offshore bio-hydrogen: Worth a look?
Hydrogen as an energy vector is receiving much more media and scientific press attention. I am a keen proponent of hydrogen as a key enabler for decarbonising heat and power but I have difficulty with the proposed schemes for hydrogen production offshore – as reported by Energy Voice, December 2019.
It’s getting personal – the changing face of customer experience
The quality of the customer experience in the UK energy sector is a topic that attracts increasing attention, manifesting itself in a range of consumer surveys and press commentary.