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.
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.
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.
Diversity and Inclusion is on every boardroom agenda - which continues to be highlighted by movements such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter.
With its prominence in the current news agenda there is no doubt that decommissioning in the North Sea has arrived.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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. 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.
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.
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 UK’s Hydrogen Task Force recently published a report that claimed investing in hydrogen could unlock £18bn in Gross Value Added by 2035.
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.
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.
The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered one of the most disruptive periods on record for energy markets, with almost a third of global oil demand wiped out as millions stayed home amid lockdown measures and travel bans.
This article is intended as a quick legal guide of some key points for busy Energy executives who need to manage business risk exposure when global supply chains are disrupted.
Potential pitfalls await those unprepared for the push towards diversification from conventional energy writes Gregory Brown, Maritime Strategies International.
COVID-19 has changed the world in many ways and energy hasn’t been excused. In early 2020, there was a perfect storm of excess supply and massive reductions in demand. Since then, the market has become far more balanced and the oil price seems to be tightly bound in a narrow price range.
My sources are indicating that the UK Government’s Energy White paper will make much of the role of hydrogen, particularly as a replacement fuel for space heating.
I like this. Despite Donald Trump’s vitriolic hatred of turbines. In August, more than 100 governors, mayors and government officials across 40 American states declared their support for the wind industry during American Wind Week 2020.
As we head into the autumn with renewed uncertainty on how the coronavirus pandemic will manifest, and continued concerns for our families, our community, our businesses and the economy it is a constant reminder that change is the norm like never before.
The North Sea represents some of the best-in-class and most innovative work of the oil and gas industry. Here, significant progress in reducing gas flaring is already making a vital contribution towards delivering “net zero”, and Norway stands out as genuinely world-class.