Opinion: The risk of tainted funds
If you suspect a business counterparty is implicated in bribery and corruption what should you do? How do you protect your business from being tainted by the actions of your counterparty? Are your assets at risk?
Opinion
Opinion: Bridging the gender pay gap in oil and gas
The oil & gas (O&G) industry is struggling to bridge the gender pay gap, but come 2018 all companies with over 250 employees will be required by law to publish their gender pay information.
Opinion: OPEC policy is greatest concern for senior executives
As greater and greater detail emerges about the OPEC meeting in Doha this past weekend, only one fact seems to matter – there is no agreement to freeze production.
OPEC: It’s not the picture the West is painting
Living, as I do, in Dubai, it is very interesting, if not completely frustrating, to listen to the response of the United States, and in turn the Western Media, to the collapsed Doha talks to freeze oil output.
Scottish Labour: ‘Time for a coherent energy strategy’
In the lead up to the Scottish election, Energy Voice asked each party to outline their policies on energy. This week the the candidates take on oil and gas. Next week they discuss how they would approach renewables.
Opinion: UK oil & gas tax cuts: A £1bn boost?
The UK government is on a mission to maximise economic oil and gas recovery from the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) as higher development costs for aging oil and gas fields, depressed global oil prices and projections of slower global economic growth put even more pressure on the industry.
Challenges facing UKCS herald greater need for ‘real world’ testing
With the recent news that the UK government is looking to encourage investment in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) with a new competition, it is clear there is still interest in North Sea oil and gas.
Opinion: Overcoming industry issues to improve financial security
The oil and gas industry is in a state of flux and companies are continuing to tighten purse strings in an effort to protect profit margins. Dan Ibbetson from Aggreko examines five of the issues sending shockwaves throughout the sector and why overcoming these could support a company’s ability to compete at the top of the market, now and in the future.
Opinion: Where will you be when the tide turns?
In my experience there are at least three types of managers or business owners.
Les Linklater: You’re so vain, you probably think this blog is about you!
All this emphasis the industry is placing on shared values, principles and behaviours, to unlock the potential future for our industry, has perhaps presented us with the greatest of all leadership and cultural challenges.
Opinion: The truth about hedging
The price of oil is notoriously fickle. We’ve seen the worst of that over the last two years – and you could even say in the last three months.
Opinion: Contractors face decommissioning minefield
Contractors who want to get a slice of the long-anticipated deluge of decommissioning work in the North Sea need to be aware their contracts should cater for unknowns which, if not addressed properly, could see their profits from these jobs suppressed or wiped out.
Opinion: Industry shedding parasitic skin
There is no question about it, we’re in the middle of a significant shift in culture. And it needed to happen. There are few positives to come from low oil prices, but we must take what we can from the predicament we find ourselves in. The industry must come out of this fitter and stronger. We must not waste the crisis.
Rising optimism as UK budget shows support for UK oil and gas
The prolonged slump in oil price has pushed investment in development of the UK North Sea significantly lower, threatening the viability of the industry.
Opinion: $120 oil as soon as 2018?
Today, I’m going to try and tackle the reasoning for my ‘wild’ predictions for oil reaching triple digits by the end of 2017.
Opinion: An energy policy as elusive as a Higgs Boson
UK Energy policy is in disarray.
Opinion: What if we had voted to leave the UK?
Two candidates in the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections have given their view on a report which said every person would have been £1,800 fiscally worse off in an Independent Scotland as a result of the oil price decline.
Opinion: We should focus on the here and now – not the ‘what-ifs’
Two candidates in the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections have given their view on a report which said every person would have been £1,800 fiscally worse off in an Independent Scotland as a result of the oil price decline.
Scotland’s oil and gas sector must build on global reputation
Internationalisation is critical for Scotland’s growth and one of the four themes in the Scottish Government’s economic strategy.
Guest Editor Derek Leith : Measure of tax changes worth will be in the long-term
As the dust begins to settle on another Budget, it is worth taking a few moments to reflect on the likely impact of the fiscal changes that have been announced on the Oil & Gas industry.
Exclusive: First Minister – Budget was ‘missed opportunity’ for North Sea
The North Sea oil and gas industry has pumped more than £300 billion into the Scottish and wider UK economy over the last four decades.
Opinion: Collaboration is key
Whatever situation our industry encounters, fundamentally it lives or dies by how well it drills and maintains its wellstock.
Opinion: Critical to tackle the collapse in investment
Oil and gas companies have made significant in-roads into reducing the cost of production, but this is in the context of some of the highest operating costs in the world. With the oil price falling from the highs of above $100 a barrel in the summer of 2014, those cuts alone cannot go far enough and real fiscal stimulus is needed to drive renewed investment.
Opinion:UKCS doesn’t need hand-outs, it needs a tough-minded business approach
Several years ago I spent time in Australia. Visiting a North Queensland mining community I fell into conversation with an engineer who said something to the effect that one of the biggest problems for the industry Australia-wide was the inability to fight ballooning costs and wage inflation. His further comment was even harder hitting. There were just too many people on the payroll, and too many people very well paid to perform slight-to-unimportant tasks.
Opinion: Budget was ‘hodgepodge’ of measures
The Budget this week was a hodgepodge of measures for the economy with some moves being made to help the oil and gas industry, however, yet again prime opportunities have been missed by the Chancellor to make a more substantial positive impact on the sector.