Innovative thinking can help infrastructure deals proceed
Decommissioning and security related issues have been one of the principal barriers to upstream oil and gas mergers and acquisitions activity in recent years.
Opinion
Have reports of the death of CCS in the UK been greatly exaggerated?
Yesterday's news regarding the withdrawal of the £1 billion capital subsidy by a government who only six months ago were firmly committed to CCS as part of their election manifesto was a shock for many people across the energy industry.
Autumn Statement 2015: Unfinished business?
With the Autumn Statement announced this week, Derek Leith, UK head of oil and gas taxation at EY, continues in the role of Energy Voice’s guest editor. Follow along each day as he spells out the challenges and triumphs the industry faces.
Mixed bag for energy sector in Autumn Statement
It was refreshing to see so much attention being paid to the Energy sector in the Autumn Budget.
Osborne’s shale push makes no sense with oil price so low
In a performance that most magicians could only dream of aspiring towards, Chancellor George Osborne delivered an alleged austerity autumn statement that both mesmerised and left red-faced the Chairman Mao little red book-waving Labour opposition.
Cresswell: The Tories stuff CCS – Peterhead project must now be in doubt
Carbon capture in the UK has been hung out to dry by the Cameron Government via some chancellor’s Autumn Statement fine print issued by the Department of Energy & Climate Change.
Opinion: Is this the sector’s era of change?
We live in challenging times. I’m sure like everyone else you read on a regular basis headlines about yet another round of consultation over jobs at risk, or doom and gloom for the North Sea - or global - oil industry.
Autumn Statement 2015: Can Chancellor offer fresh fiscal support?
As the Autumn Statement is announced this week, Derek Leith, UK head of oil and gas taxation at EY, has taken up the role of Energy Voice’s guest editor. Follow along each day as he spells out the challenges and triumphs the industry faces.
Opinion: Sad day for Scottish marine-energy
Having worked closely with each other for over six years, we are deeply disappointed to hear that Aquamarine Power has ceased trading.
Consumers unsure how much their fuel bills cost
New research released today reveals that while many of us are aware of the cost of a TV Licence, many of us fail to anticipate how much our energy and other utility bills are.
Autumn Statement 2015: Guest editor Derek Leith says we need reassurance
As the Autumn Statement is announced this week, Derek Leith, UK head of oil and gas taxation at EY, has taken up the role of Energy Voice’s guest editor. Follow along each day as he spells out the challenges and triumphs the industry faces.
Opinion: Will the Autumn Statement bring some respite for the renewables sector?
On 25th November, the Government will announce a joint Spending Review and Autumn Statement. Economic security, national security and opportunity have already been identified as the major themes, but with the Paris climate change conference just around the corner, could there be some respite for the hard pressed renewables sector?
Opinion: Another fine mess in the making
At last, one sensible decision from energy secretary Amber Rudd. I am among those who welcome the shutting down of all UK coal-fired plant by 2025, unless retrofitted with CCS. That seems clear and unequivocal. Since no-one is prepared to invest in heavy-duty clean-up technologies, the operators of the remaining coal-fired plant effectively wrote the death warrant themselves. On Tuesday evening, there was a fascinating documentary on the box about UK power generation. Basically the focus was Ferrybridge in Yorkshire, which is operated by Scottish & Southern Energy and clearly on its last legs.
Opinion: Paris attacks and commodities, history shows us what to expect
Geopolitical developments often have a major impact on oil prices since they can affect oil supply directly and since the threat of future supply disruptions can also build a risk premium into oil prices. As a notable example, in the early part of 2014, conflicts in Libya and Iraq led to temporary outages in their oil production, keeping world prices high, even as supply elsewhere in the world continued to ramp up. When production from those two countries came back on stream, that was an important trigger for the plunge in oil prices later in the year. Notice how much oil price spiked at the historical times of war.
Opinion: The need to level the energy playing field
One of the key questions in the often-polarised debate on renewable energy, in public, in parliament, and in the media, is “Can we afford it?”
Opinion: Saudis continue to play long game as oil price pain endures
The world crude oil price has been fluctuating around a low-level of $50/barrel for three months, now the prospect seems even gloomier as the International Energy Agency projects that 41% of the world market will continue to be taken by OPEC countries until 2020, with the rest of the world stagnating their production.
Opinion: Land rights in onshore oil and gas exploration
Securing appropriate sites in the early exploration phase is crucial to the growth of the shale industry in the UK, and it is important for a number of reasons. Unlike the United States, where population density leaves large open swathes of bare agricultural land available, the UK is constrained by more designations, EU-backed incentive and protection schemes and a chequered history of mining and industrial activities. In addition – when having to consider the geology, PEDL licence blocks and the financial reality of coming to terms with landowners – basic land availability is becoming an increasingly important issue.
Opinion: UK is ‘losing balance’ on energy policy
This year’s downgrading of the UK’s Energy Trilemma Index rating by WEC, from AAA to AAB might seem a surprise to some given the UK’s past leadership in attempting to tackle pressing issues related to the energy transition, but for those of us living in the UK, it has been clear for some time that the country is losing balance on energy policy.
Opinion: Shell and BG – the industry is ready for through-cycle investors
Established oil and gas investors have long been aware that in this market you need to take a ‘through-cycle’ strategy, managing the up cycle in the knowledge that tougher times are always on the horizon. The execution of the strategy in down cycle, organic or inorganic, can play a decisive role in determining the winners when the market recovers. And the market will recover.
Opinion: Did you know the planet was saved this week?
You may not have noticed it, but the planet was saved this week.
Opinion: Considering the wider implications of low oil prices
The effects of lower oil prices are far-reaching, varied and still hotly debated.
Opinion: Scottish Government should focus on energy policy fit for the future
Recently we’ve heard suggestions that the SNP’s flagship £10 million wave-power prize should be scrapped. But given the history of The Saltire Prize it's no surprise that it has run into problems, with no-one even likely to come close to meeting the qualifying criteria by the 2017 deadline. From the start it looked like another of Alex Salmond’s pipe dreams and a PR stunt for the nationalists.
Opinion: Logic will get you from A to B- imagination will take you everywhere
Logic will get you from A to B, imagination will take you everywhere - Einstein. The development of smart sustainable cities, a drive towards a behavioural shift to one planet living and tangible investment in the empowerment of our cities and their people. In the EU, there are 14 million people working in the construction industry, only 12% of them are women. The industry is already facing a huge skills gap - we need to focus on developing a diverse range of people into strong environmentally focussed professionals. People who will change our industry from the inside out; turning it into the industry of the Built Environment.
WMO chief says climate action needed now to keep warming “manageable”
The head of the World Meteorological Organisation has said immediate action must be taken if mankind is to keep global warming at manageable levels.
Les Linklater: Remember, Remember the 5th of November
The infamous Guy Fawkes belonged to a group who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. The plotters hid a large amount of gunpowder in a cellar beneath the House of Lords in an assassination attempt on the King. However, the authorities received a ‘tip off’ and searched the Palace of Westminster in the early hours of the 5th of November where they found Fawkes guarding the gunpowder.