Accelerating the ban on carbon-emitting cars demonstrates the UK’s commitment to tackling climate change – now the hard work creating a national charging network begins, says Maria Connolly, partner and head of clean energy at UK law firm TLT.
As BP Plc’s new chief delivers his vision to transform the company on Wednesday, investors and activists want to know just how much appetite he has to take on the existential crisis facing the oil industry.
Richard Pugh, Investor at equity investor BGF, discusses why an upturn in the subsea sector may not be plain sailing and outlines why is it crucial to get your funding ducks in a row from the outset.
Even before the deadly virus struck, another menace confronted the global energy industry: the warmest winter anyone can remember.
The unseasonably warm weather in the northern hemisphere has undercut liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand and, combined with the steady rise of global supply levels, has resulted in record-low prices. Adding insult to injury, the coronavirus epidemic in China has reduced business and industrial activity, with January’s LNG imports dropping by about 10% year on year.
Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold.
Towards the end of this year, a final investment decision is due to be taken on the NorthConnect project which by 2024 would import surplus hydro electricity from the Hardanger region of Norway into Scotland, at Boddam, via a 400-mile interconnector.
Judges and tribunals are increasingly being asked to determine claims involving climate change related issues. The trend has gained momentum in recent years in light of the global climate movement with a notable increase in climate change related claims brought by States and local governments against energy companies.
The current energy transition is shaking the foundations upon which the oil and gas industry is built. In the UK, one such foundation is the Oil and Gas Authority’s maximising economic recovery UK (MER UK) strategy.
At the heart of the IR35 tax reform is £700 million each year in tax avoidance by personal service companies (PSCs), according to HMRC.
The UK Continental Shelf’s attractiveness to investors results from a combination of compelling attributes: A competitive fiscal regime, a highly skilled supply chain and the remaining billions of oil and gas barrels that are still out there.
Don’t know about you but my patience with certain politicians, the oil and gas industry and indeed a few entire countries is running just a tad thin nowadays. Why? Because I am not seeing the progress in dealing with climate change that I should be seeing.
Since mid-January, the Brent Crude oil price dropped about 10%, from $65 to $57 as of Friday morning. The reason for this is the outbreak of the new coronavirus in China. How can a virus affect the price of oil?
I agree with Scottish Government Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse on many things: the imperative to tackle the UK and Scotland’s climate emergency; the essential role deploying renewables plays in doing so; and the crucial need to achieve this roll-out at the lowest cost possible to energy consumers.
The topic of immigration has been front page news this week across the UK. In Scotland there have been calls for a 'Scottish visa' and devolution of immigration powers. The UK Government also announced this week that a new global talent visa category will open from 20 February 2020 to encourage scientists, researchers and mathematicians to come to the UK. And yesterday, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) reported on its recommendations for the new single skills-based immigration system which will come into effect following the Brexit implementation period. All change then on the immigration front.
The debate around fossil fuels and the impact on climate change is getting increasingly polarised. What we urgently need is a more informed debate based on facts and evidence.
Data science is about recording, storing and analysing massive amounts of data in order to extract useful information and uncover intelligent information for organisations. In recent years, companies across all sectors have been implementing data science in order to become more efficient and the oil industry has not been an exemption.
A few months ago I approached Sainsbury's with the following suggestion:
How reverse mentoring is helping build the workforce of the future and advance the energy transition
I shouldn’t have been surprised but I read with utter dismay coverage of President Trump’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos. This statement horrified me –
For the Permian Basin, the future is bright – and getting brighter all the time. In fact, the McDonald Observatory in Texas has noted an increase in average sky brightness due to artificial light from 14% in 2015, up to 43% in 2019. The reason is flaring.
The procedures surrounding offshore assurance and verification have altered little since they were established following the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988. However, the characteristics of the modern oil and gas industry mean there is now a critical need for a change in approach.
Big Oil doesn’t have a choice; either it gets serious about the necessary transition to low carbon energy or mounting public fear fuelled by the impacts of the deepening climate crisis will eventually force drastic change.
I was recently reminded of a new year’s resolution that I made some years ago - one which I’m successfully keeping to this day. Back then, I committed to making the transition towards a greener, more sustainable personal lifestyle. But here’s the clever bit: I figured it would also be OK to carry on pretty much as before with all my current behaviours. So, no really big changes required and certainly no tough decisions to make. Now, maybe it’s just me, but expecting the oil industry to get right behind the energy transition whilst sticking with MER does feel kind of similar.
I recently addressed a room of industry leaders and when deciding what to say, I thought I'd begin by discussing one of the defining issues of our time: the dual challenge of providing more energy with fewer emissions.