Oil industry making changes at scale and at pace to lower emissions
In February I wrote about the challenges and opportunities of the energy transition, prompted by a speech by Oil and Gas Authority chairman Tim Eggar.
CMS
Revamped oil and gas legal conference attracts 1,000 registrations
A revamped leading legal conference for the offshore oil and gas community has attracted over 1,000 registrations for a week of webinars which will consider the issues facing the sector.
Green hydrogen costs fall, but not quite enough
The cost of electrolysers have fallen sharply over the last decade, but power-to-gas technologies will not be competitive with fossil-based hydrogen before 2030, panelists told a webinar hosted by CMS law firm.
CMS: Leading in a crisis
There are as many opinions of good leadership as there are management books and business schools. For me, the important priorities are being honest, transparent and authentic, having a clear vision of your goal, a clear strategy to reach that goal, and the empathy, energy, commitment and confidence to inspire your team to work collaboratively towards it. It is also important to innovate, to do things differently, to find new ways, to be agile and to be supportive. Communication of all of this is key.
Successful innovation requires good corporate governance
The energy industry is in the midst of a deep and wide-ranging digital transformation. While Covid-19 and lower oil and gas prices have disrupted many investment programmes, the direction of travel is clear – the industry needs to continue to invest in innovation and the development and deployment of new processes and technologies. Not to do so risks being left behind.
HSE’s guiding role amid Covid crisis
Two years ago, on the 30th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster we wrote about the challenges facing the North Sea: the large, experienced operators replaced with new entrants to the world of exploration, production and operatorship, the tight budgets and contractor margins.
Energy transition investment will be ‘propelled’ by Covid-19 says oil and gas lawyer
A leading oil and gas lawyer has added his voice to predictions that Covid-19 will drive a spike in energy transition investments.
UK energy sector needn’t curse ‘interesting times’
The apocryphal Chinese curse ‘may you live in interesting times’ could well apply to the current situation within the oil and gas sector.
Stick to letter of the law
The challenges of the combination of Covid-19 and the fall in the oil price continue to place enormous stress on the industry. While those offshore have remained at their workplaces, albeit in smaller numbers and under strange and difficult circumstances, in order to maintain production from the UKCS, others who have now spent two months working from home are beginning to consider a return to the office or work site.
Cut your deal according to your cloth
Innovation will be increasingly important to companies trying to do deals in the North Sea once prices start to rebound, CMS’ managing partner in Aberdeen, Norman Wisely, has said.
CMS: Lockdown’s legal issues
We are all getting used to the challenges of the lockdown. As it becomes clear that this situation is going to continue for some time, we need to consider the legal implications of the stress caused to businesses by the double blows of Covid-19 and the oil price fall.
How we respond in a crisis defines us
None of us have been in a situation remotely like this before. The rules and the facts are changing daily and it can be overwhelming to try to keep up with developments.
CfD set to make a big difference for UK renewables sector
With the Government committing an apparent volte face on its renewable energy policy, the sector is now gearing up for what could be a whirlwind of activity when it comes to UK onshore wind developments.
Push for diversity and inclusion at CMS
The oil industry has some great female role models among its leaders – just here in Aberdeen, Deirdre Michie and Colette Cohen spring immediately to mind.
Energy Transition: Changes, challenges and opportunities
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.
The messy business of the energy transition
Oil and gas companies do have some advantages in terms of tackling the energy transition, but there are pitfalls along the way and the process will be messy, speakers at a CMS event launching a new report said.
European oil firms leaving US counterparts behind in energy transition race, CMS report says
European and Chinese oil and gas firms are well ahead of US rivals in the energy transition race, new research has found.
2020 – A busy year ahead
Following the result of the general election, we can now expect to leave the EU at the end of January, although very little will change on that date as we will move into a transitional period when existing EU rules and trade terms continue to apply in the UK.
‘This cannot continue’: OGA ready to wield powers to conquer transaction drag
The UK oil and gas industry’s regulator is ready to wield its powers to tackle the “transaction drag” hindering efforts to get oilfields into the right hands.
CMS: Intricacies of interim terms
Reviewing the past year is made much easier for me by our annual publication on legal developments in oil and gas, the latest edition of which came out in September.
Decommissioning: turning trash into treasure
As decommissioning becomes a significant part of activity on the UK Continental Shelf, more businesses are taking the opportunity to expand their existing offerings to include decommissioning-related services.
Leasing round could bring ‘new entrants’ to Scotland’s offshore wind market
The last couple of weeks have been busy ones for the offshore wind sector in the UK.
North Sea capacity dispute shows OGA walking difficult tightrope, lawyer says
The Oil and Gas Authority’s (OGA’s) probe into a capacity dispute between two operators shows the regulator is walking a difficult tightrope, an Aberdeen lawyer said.
Carbon capture usage and storage – is it time?
Carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) is often described as a key part of energy transition, with the ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing energy supplies.
UK could adopt Norwegian tax system to incentivise exploration
One of the big challenges facing the UKCS is the need to increase the amount of exploration activity – the eight exploration wells drilled in 2018 represented the lowest level of activity since 1965, although there have been some notable recent successes such as the massive Glengorm gas discovery announced by Total in January and the technical success rate over recent years has averaged more than 50%.