Although the recent data breach of four million customers has placed Talk Talk in the media limelight, it’s by no means the only organisation to have had its security compromised in 2015. Every second of everyday a hacker is trying to infiltrate company networks and, with alarming regularity, we are seeing them succeed.
Despite this, it’s not all doom and gloom. The Talk Talk, Ashley Madison and Barclays breaches have generated more than just concern and panic. They have generated awareness. The more businesses know what to look out for and know how to protect themselves, the less likely a hacker is to succeed.
Knowledge is power, as they say, and in this case it couldn’t be truer. Simple precautions can help, and everyone can benefit from straightforward advice.
At a time where oil and gas companies across the globe are being affected by the commodity price downturn, many have developed and implemented contingency plans which have seen the selling off of low-profit subsidiary companies, enforced wage cuts, the loss of experienced personnel, a reduction in marketing budgets, and even the cutting of apprenticeship and graduate programmes.
It’s a bit of an understatement to say that there’s a huge cloud over the whole industry right now as chief executives worry about keeping their businesses afloat but it’s that last example, the loss of the next generation of oil and gas workers that we need to put higher up the industry’s priority list if we are to ensure the sector has a sustainable future.
In order to secure the future of the North Sea oil and gas industry, we need to continue empowering and encouraging a steady pipeline of talent to come through even in challenging times. Past experience has shown us that ignoring this can lead to bigger and more costly issues in the long term.
One day, it would be great to write something positive about the current UK government in the energy context. But so long as it carries on the way it is, that won’t happen.
Last month, I laid into chancellor George Osborne for the nuclear deal cooked up with the Chinese. The sycophantic fawning that occurred during the state visit of Xi Jinping (“Xi Dada”, or Uncle Xi), with yet more major UK opportunities peddled in Beijing’s direction was nothing short of disgusting.
Indeed, Osborne, with his haircut reminiscent of the BBC’s casting of “I Claudius” donkey’s years ago and which one is advised signifies power, has rather dominated the energy stage of late.
Located in late 1970 and brought onstream 40 years ago, Forties was the first major oil discovery made on the UK Continental Shelf, not counting the Arbroath field discovered in 1969, which was also a BP prize, though not developed until the 1990s.
The United Kingdom is home to some of the most renowned scientists in the world. Yet if you asked many people they might find it difficult to name anyone apart from Stephen Hawking.
Ask them to name a female scientist and I think they would struggle but we have some exceptional scientists in Dame Athene Donald, Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Dame Carol Richardson amongst others.
Encouragingly, more women than ever before are working in science, technology and engineering occupations, according to official data. The Labour Force Survey reveals that nearly 800,000 women work in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematic occupations, 104,000 more than in 2014.
Before the Energy Transitions Commission was even launched here in Houston a few weeks ago, environmentalists had already dismissed it as a public relations ploy by major oil companies and other peddlers of fossil fuels.
They immediately questioned the climate change credentials of companies like Shell, which is one of the leaders of the initiative to help meet the energy needs of growing world population without damaging the environment beyond repair.
Just a few weeks ago, activists from the environmental community took to their kayaks and posed for pictures in front of Shell’s Polar Pioneer rig moored in Seattle. Paddles raised in defiance, they decried the company’s plans to drill in the Arctic.
The Government has been relentlessly strangling the UK’s green energy sector, arguing that this is all part of their campaign to reduce energy bills for consumers. Now, not only are we risking inflating our energy bills in the future, but we are also at risk of handing control of our future energy security to China.
Are you in this to be liked?
Have you asked yourself how well you managed the cost reduction exercises in your business this year?
This recession has cut deeper and lasted longer than most of us ever expected, but that doesn’t mean we have to wait for it to be over to be liked.
Most leaders in this market have been through recession and subsequent headcount reductions several times. Many will admit that managing redundancies is the toughest thing that they have had to do in their careers.
By Professor Alex Russell, Professor Peter Strachan
Sir Ian Wood’s analysis in 2012 that the North Sea industry was not viable when Brent crude was $114 a barrel and that drastic action had to be taken to save the industry is a sobering thought.
During the current difficult period faced by the UKCS oil and gas industry, collaboration between the various parties in the offshore industry has been identified as one of the key factors in ensuring that the oil and gas output from the UKCS is maximised.
There has been recent discussion in Energy Voice about some of the ways in which this can be done – and some of the problems being encountered, including the publication of some very interesting survey results published by Deloitte.
Looking at these things in terms of their legal and contractual dimensions, there might be lessons to take from the way that the (onshore) construction and engineering sector has dealt with these issues in the last decade or so. In that area, particular forms of standard form contracts and the use of “good faith” obligations have been at the centre of trying to ensure
collaborative working – with some success.
I don’t know about other readers, but I am confused by the recent spate of reporting regarding helicopter “incidents” in outlets other than Energy Voice and the P&J.
At time of writing, 5% of the UK’s electricity consumption is coming from wind. Another few per cent is powered by other renewables, mainly long-established hydro; 39% from gas, 21 from nuclear and 22 from coal.
There has been a lot of talk recently about the ‘barriers to entry’ for girls studying science and mathematics at school.
Whether it is not feeling smart enough, not knowing about the different career options or just not having the support and role models to encourage and inspire them to take that leap of faith to study science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects, girls are not pursuing STEM careers in the same way boys are.
The North Sea has continued to make headlines over the summer; mostly for the wrong reasons. But amid the doom and gloom of media reports lamenting the terminal influence of a low oil price, there have been glimmers of good news.
The U.S. energy industry missed an opportunity to help shape the Obama Administration’s climate change policy. Big producers like Exxon Mobil and Chevron have largely shunned efforts by their European counterparts to develop a common stance on climate change that could influence policy.
The news that so many girls growing up in Scotland don’t think they are smart enough or too weak to pursue a STEM career is a wake-up call for everyone involved in helping these young women make choices about their future.
