Big oil eyes South Korean offshore wind
News that South Korea aims to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm by 2030 follows moves by major exploration and production companies to establish a foothold in the nascent market.
News that South Korea aims to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm by 2030 follows moves by major exploration and production companies to establish a foothold in the nascent market.
The downturn brought by the Covid-19 pandemic and the accelerating energy transition has created a new reality for the world’s oil and gas industry, whose production will peak lower and earlier than expected before the 2020 market crisis, a Rystad Energy analysis shows.
Coal-fired power generation is projected to surge in India as the expanding wave of renewable energy capacity cannot keep up with electrification growth in the South Asian country, home to the world’s second biggest population.
New upstream oil and gas projects worth about $15 billion will be sanctioned in Australasia this year, according to Rystad Energy’s forecast, marking a huge boost compared to the $1.2 billion committed to new projects in 2020.
Upstream merger and acquisitions (M&A) deals are expected to rebound in Asia Pacific this year after plunging to their lowest level this century in 2020, when the pandemic and collapse in oil and gas prices killed activity.
With pressure from net-zero obligations now mounting, coupled with a growing awareness that it has a valuable energy transition role to play, the North Sea oil and gas industry would at last appear to be taking electrification of UKCS infrastructure seriously.
The rapid transition under way in energy means that now more than ever the sector must grasp the opportunities presented by technology.
Offshore wind and hydrogen are “good ingredients but a bad cocktail” according to Rystad Energy, with high costs remaining a “showstopper”.
A top petro-economist said today that the Covid-19 mutation had left an “open question” about the direction of Brent crude prices in the coming weeks.
The direction of travel appears clear; around a quarter of the current offshore floater rig fleet - ships and semi-submersibles - will be sent to the scrapyard near-term.
A trade union boss has warned predictions that 8,000 jobs have been lost in the oil and gas sector due to the latest downturn are likely to be very conservative.
Brent crude neared $50 per barrel this morning after the Opec cartel and its allies agreed to a more gradual easing of production cuts next month.
Increased funding from the EU and national governments have boosted the prospects for carbon capture technologies in Europe. Three projects in the Netherlands, Norway and UK could be operational by 2024.
The Covid-19 pandemic has devastated global oil and gas project sanctioning this year and will cause total committed spending to drop to around $53 billion from 2019’s $190 billion, Rystad Energy says.
The UK Government has set a goal to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Oil extended losses after its biggest one-day drop in more than two months as growing doubts over the strength of the global demand recovery along with continued weakness in stocks soured market sentiment.
Latin America is emerging as a green powerhouse, with some of the strongest renewable capacity growth expected globally in the coming years.
A few dots near the bottom corner of the world map in the southern Atlantic, the Falkland Islands were once at the forefront of a new era for the oil industry as companies scoured the planet for resources.
The oil market turmoil brought on by Covid-19 has led to lower-than-anticipated activity and delayed projects, forcing the industry to deploy cost-cutting measures. A Rystad Energy analysis of the top 50 oilfield service (OFS) firms shows that staffing is set to reach its lowest level in more than 10 years, with the anticipated revenue per employee also declining towards the previous downturn’s level.
Oil firms must seize the opportunity presented by the Covid-19 pandemic to grasp the nettle and embrace digital technology and data analysis, industry experts have said.
Oil prices rose past $40 per barrel mark on Wednesday amid speculation that quotas for international production cuts could be kept higher for longer.
The UK is poised to lead the way as operators increase spending on North Sea decommissioning work amid low oil prices, according to a new report.
Western Europe’s maintenance, modification and operations (MMO) market will likely take a major hit in 2020 a Rystad Energy impact analysis has revealed, thanks to severe spending cuts and Covid-19 transportation restrictions. Spending in Norway is expected to fall to $3.4 billion this year – an 18-year low – while UK spending is on track to fall to $2.9 billion, the lowest level seen since at least 1990.
The devastating effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on global oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) companies is better understood by looking at the industry’s expected total annual revenues for 2020.
A barrel of Brent crude could cost less than a cup of coffee before long as fears about dwindling storage space sink in, an analyst has said.