Scotland’s electricity system could be powered almost entirely by renewable energy by 2030, according to a report by an environmental charity.
WWF Scotland’s report uses independent analysis by an engineering and energy consultancy to test the Scottish Government’s policy to decarbonise the country’s electricity supply over the next 15 years.
It found that an electricity system based on “proven renewables and increased energy efficiency” is a credible way of meeting the target.
A director of a North Sea oil company has been forced to step down after a bungle over the number of votes cast for his re-election at the firm’s annual meeting.
The “proxy tabulation error” has only just been revealed – weeks after Antrim Energy shareholders voted on whether Gerry Orbell should continue on the board.
Mr Orbell is a former chairman of the company, which is based in Calgary, Canada.
Oil’s biggest bust since the global recession was good for a few cases of whiplash.
Just two months ago, Continental Resources Inc. (CLR), the shale driller founded by billionaire Harold Hamm, budgeted for $80-a-barrel oil and planned to spend $4.6billion in 2015.
Six weeks later, with crude down 29% in the interim, Continental cut its 2015 budget to $2.7billion.
The Press and Journal’s Jeremy Cresswell gives a sneak peek of what to expect in January’s edition of Energy. Some of the highlights include an interview with Oil and Gas UK’s Malcolm Webb and Opito’s group chief executive, David Doig. Watch the short clip of what to expect below.
Oil and gas exploration firm BG Group received a boost today as it revealed the Egyptian government had paid it £225 million as the state seeks to repay outstanding debts to the energy industry.
The group also said it was “working with the government on resolving the outstanding receivable balance” of £592 million.
It comes after a year in which Reading-based BG has been dragged down by problems in Egypt as well as the tumbling oil price, and been hit by controversy over pay plans for its new chief executive.
The four major supermarkets have provided some New Year cheer for motorists by cutting their fuel prices.
Asda, Morrisons, Sainsb ury’s and Tesco are all knocking 2p a litre off their petrol and diesel, with the reductions taking effect from tomorrow.
The Asda cuts will mean its customers will pay no more than 107.7p a litre for petrol, with diesel at 114.7p a litre.
Oil giant BP faces being drawn into the foreign exchange (forex) rigging scandal after it emerged that it has been investigating whether its traders were linked to the manipulation of the £3 trillion-a-day market.
The UK-based group said it had carried out a review of its activities after global regulatory probes which resulted in six banks last month being fined £2.6 billion for rigging the market.
Details emerged after reports that members of a BP trading unit were told of planned currency trades hours before they happened.
Oil and gas workers could face cuts of up to 15% in the New Year it has been revealed.
BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Chevron have called for sharp reductions in the rates which contractors are paid.
It comes just weeks after WGPSN said it would cut contractor rates by 10% and salaries would be frozen from January.
According to reports, recruitment group Hays confirmed that the falling oil price has led to pay cuts for contractors.
European Central Bank Chief Economist Peter Praet warned in an interview with German newspaper Boersen-Zeitung that lower oil prices increasingly risk de-anchoring inflation expectations, indicating that quantitative easing is becoming more likely.
The euro-area could see “negative inflation during a substantial part of 2015” amid a slide in the cost of crude, and the Governing Council “cannot simply look through” that, Praet said in comments published.
“Inflation expectations are extremely fragile” and “the risk of second-round effects seems to be greater today than it was in the past,” he said.
Rose Petroleum has spudded the State 1-34 Mancos well in Utah.
The company said it had used a smaller rig for better cost efficiency and will bring in a larger rig in early January to drill the balance of the well to total depth.
Surface casing will be set to 300 feet and once the surface casing is cemented in place, drilling operations will recommence.
Seismic acquisition technology firm Magseis has won a contract with Chevron North Sea.
The contract is for seabed seismic acquisition using the company’s MASS system and Artemis Athene.
A private club in North Dakota’s Bakken shale that once charged membership fees as high as $25,000 and served jumbo shrimp cocktail was evicted this month in a sign that oil’s plunge is undercutting the region’s go-go years.
The Bakken Club was ordered on December 17 to vacate its premises on Williston’s Main Street after failing to pay rent, state court records show.
The club owed $21,598 for rent plus $1,329.90 in late fees, the landlord, On The Spot Development LLC, said in a November 25 complaint. One check bounced.
Oil headed for the biggest annual decline since the 2008 global financial crisis as US producers and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ceded no ground in their battle for market share amid a supply glut.
Futures slid as much as 1.4% in New York, bringing losses for 2014 to 46 percent.
US guidelines allowing overseas sales of ultralight oil without government approval may boost the country’s export capacity and “throw a monkey wrench” into Saudi Arabia’s plan to curb American output, according to Citigroup I
In the final part of our 2014 round-up we take a look at the final few months of the year.
In September, Professor Alex Kemp from the University of Aberdeen, predicted 99 new North Sea oil discoveries over the next 30 years.
Mr Kemp used detailed financial modelling to set out “commercially viable” projects for the industry following the Wood Review.
Wintershall has suspended onshore production in Libya until further notice following unrest in the country.
The company said it had taken the decision following armed hostilities which had taken place at more oil export facilities.
The Libyan National Oil Company (NOC) had declared Force Majeure in mid-December.
The slump in the price of North Sea oil is no excuse for oil companies to cut back on spending on offshore safety measures, north-east MSP Lewis Macdonald said last night.
Mr Macdonald, Scottish Labour’s energy spokesman, added: “The falling oil price is putting severe pressure on oil companies.
“We’ve already heard about proposed job cuts among sub-contractors and of plans to cut wages but there can be no compromise on safety
Coal will remain an important contributor to the UK's energy mix into the mid-2020s at least, a Scottish supplier says.
Fergusson Group's forecast came as it reported increased sales in its most recent financial year in the face of "challenging market conditions across the energy sector".
The London market’s festive rally came to an abrupt halt today amid lower oil prices and fresh uncertainty over Greece’s future in the euro.
With the FTSE 100 Index 57.6 points lower at 6575.9, the top flight is on course to complete its first negative session since December 15.
Commodity firms dominated the fallers board after the price of Brent crude oil dived to a five-and-a-half year low of near to 57 US dollars a barrel.
The 6405/12-1 on PL584 was investigating the hydrocarbon potential of the Lindarormen prospect which is 150km northwest of Kristiansund.
The company said no reservoir sandstones were encountered in the primary objective.
Oil major BP said production has started from the Kinnoull field in the North Sea.
The Kinnoull reservoir, which was developed as part of a wider rejuvenation of the Andrew field area, is tied back to BP’s Andrew platform 230km east of Aberdeen.
The development of the field is expected to allow production from the field to be extended by a further 10 years.
Jupiter Energy has provided an update on drilling at the East Akkar field in Kazakhstan.
Well 19 has been spudded by the company between the J-51 and J-52 wells which have both been producing oil under trial production licenses.
Libyan oil production has fallen below 300,000 barrels a day after Islamist militants shifted attacks to energy facilities including the country’s largest oil export terminal, said Energy Aspects Ltd.
Output is the lowest since May and down at least 65% from a recent high of 850,000 barrels a day in October following the assault on the Es Sider terminal, according to the Energy Aspects estimate. Libya holds Africa’s largest oil reserves.
The fighting last week marked a turning point in the unrest that followed Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year rule, according to Energy Aspects and Eurasia Group consultants.
Commodity-based stocks were lower - causing the top flight index to slump by 38.6 points to 6595 - after the price of Brent crude oil dived to a five-and-a-half year low of near to 57 US dollars a barrel.
The latest fall in the price of oil was accompanied by fears over the eurozone outlook after Greece was forced to announce early national elections due to the failure of the country’s politicians to elect a new president.
A full-scale terrorist hijacking of a North Sea platform was simulated by the UK authorities in the 1980s – and code-named the “Smoked Salmon” exercises.
Declassified files have revealed that the offshore counter-terror mission was run from November 25 to 28 in 1985.
Royal Marines and members of all the armed services were involved in the exercise, as well as the intelligence agencies.
The UK Government abandoned plans to invest extra cash in North Sea safety two years before the Piper Alpha disaster – because it was not deemed a priority.
Newly-released files show that Margaret Thatcher’s energy secretary highlighted the need to spend more on the sector in 1986.
But Peter Walker, the minister at the time, said he had decided against asking the Treasury for any additional money after having “carefully reviewed my priorities”.
