In August 2021 Marine Scotland released “The Offshore Wind Energy for Innovation Projects and Targeted Oil and Gas Decarbonisation (INTOG) Planning Specification and Context” report for public consultation. Within a year , Marine Scotland had identified areas it considered suitable for such developments and on August 10, 2022 the INTOG leasing round opened for applications, closing on November 18.
In looking back at 2022, it is hard to overstate some of the significant developments affecting the oil and gas industry.
"Looking ahead to 2023, it's pretty clear that what we are looking for is boredom”, says Addleshaw Goddard partner and co-head of oil and gas, Paul Jones, after the turbulence of the past 12 months.
Companies active in the energy sector would not be blamed for losing sight of their ESG strategy in 2022; the energy industry’s pre-COP 26 focus on climate-change action has been somewhat superseded by the race to balance the energy transition with security and affordability of supply.
OEUK’s Diversity and Inclusion Report last year, which garnered the views of some 1600 people from over 100 organisations in the UK Oil and Gas industry, made for sobering, if unsurprising, reading.
A judicial review decision in Scotland’s Court of Session over the summer provides further evidence of a growing wave of post-COP26 challenges to governments over their commitment in delivering on net zero pledges.
Experts have said the UK North Sea is the “highest risk” location in the world for legal disputes to erupt in the oil and gas sector.
For the last few decades the ONS conference in Stavanger has focused on the energy industry’s direction from the perspective of North Sea exploration and production business – this year, ONS 2022 will focus mainly on energy transition.
It is expected that the legislation introducing the new energy profits levy – better known as the windfall tax – will pass through parliament later this month, before taking effect from when it was originally announced 26 May.
The energy trilemma: mentioned in almost every session at last month’s OEUK Industry Conference held in Aberdeen, the balancing act between security & reliability of supply, affordability and sustainability is clearly at the forefront of industry considerations today.
Before any discussion of how the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is impacting our sector, we must first acknowledge the devastating effects on the people of Ukraine of the indiscriminate shelling of civilian targets, the war crimes being perpetrated by Russian troops and the massive displacement of the population both within and beyond Ukraine, which is something most of us have never seen in Europe in our lifetimes, as well as the enormous courage and resilience of the Ukrainian nation.
The war in Ukraine has caused many businesses to rapidly reassess projects in Russia, involving Russian nationals with ties to the Kremlin or the importation of Russian goods. This may stem from an ethical or reputational perspective, or to ensure compliance with sanctions.
Do you know how your company is going to reach net zero by 2050? If we are to achieve that aim, every single business is going to need to play its part.
In January the High Court comprehensively rejected arguments brought by three environmental campaigners under the banner “Paid to Pollute” against the OGA Strategy.
A new report from law firm CMS finds that 75% of energy companies are considering an acquisition and/or divestment this year, as European energy M&A sees its strongest performance in 15 years.
A trio of high-profile losses is unlikely to stem “concerted attempts” by protestors to challenge the North Sea oil industry in court.
Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa, with the government highly dependent on oil revenues. As such, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is crucial to the country and the state.
It’s been 20 years since Ørsted (at that time called Dong Energy, and very much a major oil & gas company) commissioned Vindeby in Denmark, which was the world’s first offshore wind farm. It took another 10 years from this modest start (5MW, powering just 2,200 homes) for the offshore wind industry to really start to take off.
With COP26 now in the rear-view mirror, Energy Voice has assembled a panel of experts to give their verdicts on whether the summit really was a climate change turning point.
A unique aspect of how the oil and gas industry operates is the concept of the mutual hold harmless indemnity – this is a legal tool for risk allocation by which each party to a contract agrees to take the risk of injury to its own personnel or damage to its property even if caused by the other party.
There were some welcome developments during COP26, not least the deal announced between the US and China to work together to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C, in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement.
If anyone needed any evidence that decommissioning is accelerating they need only look at the BEIS table of approved decommissioning programmes.
As we approach the COP26 Climate Conference which begins in Glasgow on 31st October, it feels as if the oil and gas industry has never been more in the political spotlight.
Would you have guessed that the OGA has already been with us for six years? The extensive powers it was given in the Energy Act 2016 have been in force for nearly five years: those include the ability to impose sanctions on companies for breaching a licence or their obligations under that act, or for failing to comply with the OGA Strategy.
Bosses from all corners of the energy sector have shared their thoughts on the UK Government’s flagship Hydrogen Policy.