Exploration
Download Ebook: Arctic Oil and Gas, Myth or Reality?
Andreas Østhagen is the Norway Director for The Arctic Institute and works on the geopolitics of Arctic oil and gas potential resources. With the region above the Arctic Circle estimated to account for as much as 25% of the world’s undiscovered but recoverable oil and gas reserves, it is a key focus for oil and gas. […]
UK Government to Cut Tax for Ultra High Pressure, High Temperature Fields
Amidst a number of recent announcements regarding the taxation of the North Sea oil & gas industry, the UK government has launched a consultation on a new ‘cluster area allowance’ for firms investing in ultra-high pressure, high temperature oil and gas fields, as reported by RigZone. The allowance would reduce tax from 62% to 30%. […]
Gas
EU Sanctions Aim at Russia’s South Stream and Yamal Projects
Last week, EU foreign ministers asked officials to present proposed sanctions against Russia. The restrictions regard Russia’s access to capital markets, defence, dual use goods and sensitive technologies, including in the energy sector. The EU’s sanctions aim at Gazprom’s South Stream gas pipeline project, and at Novatek’s Arctic Yamal liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility. […]
Guest Blog: A New Horizon – Decommissioning in UK North Sea
This guest blog has kindly been contributed by Richard Heard, Managing Director of Strategic Decom. Richard co-founded Xodus Group in 2005 and joined Oil & Gas UK in 2011 to lead a number of major decommissioning initiatives on behalf of industry. In 2014 he founded Strategic Decom, a specialist decommissioning consultancy. A New Horizon – Decommissioning […]
National Companies
EOC to Acquire Offshore Support Fleet from Ezra
Ezra and EOC to create one of Asia Pacific’s largest offshore players EOC Limited earlier today entered into an agreement with its largest shareholder Ezra Holdings Limited as they plan to consolidate the EMAS offshore support fleet. Ezra Holdings Ltd will sell its offshore marine supporting operations to Oslo-listed affiliate EOC Ltd for $520 million […]
Economic Sanctions to Russia Could Challenge Yamal LNG Project
Economic sanctions to Russia could compromise Russia’s Yamal liquefied natural gas project, a senior executive at France’s Total told the Financial Times. Yves-Louis Darricarrere, head of Exploration and Production at Total, said sanctions on Western technology exports could represent a serious challenge, as Russia is dependent on Western technology for LNG liquefaction. Following Russia’s […]
Independent
Greenpeace: “Stop Playing with Shell”
Greenpeace wants LEGO to break its relationship with Shell, which sees the toy company distributing 16m Ferrari-branded toy cars at Shell petrol stations. Activists believe LEGO should commit to the environment and do not cooperate with Shell, due to its drilling operations in the Arctic. Ian Duff, Greenpeace’s Arctic campaign team leader, said: “Climate change […]
What are the Prospects for the North Sea’s Midstream Sector?
Investment in infrastructure in the North Sea is beginning to attract interest from infrastructure specialists and pension funds, as reported by Reuters. This investment in the midstream sector will be seen by many as a positive development towards securing the North Sea’s future. This year’s Wood Review also stressed the importance of attracting midstream partners […]
Mexico
Download: Mexico’s Energy Reform – How to Participate in the Tendering Process
David Jiménez, Partner, Corporate Finance and Infrastructure at KPMG in Mexico spoke at the Mexico Oil and Gas Briefing. Download his white paper and find out: General overview of the energy reform The role of PEMEX The basic contractual models to conduct E&P activities in Mexico How to participate in the tendering process The key […]
Download: “Mexico O&G – Making Sense of the New Legislation: A Roadmap Forward”
Herbert Smith Freehills participated at the Mexico Oil and Gas Briefing in London. Download the presentation “Mexico Oil and Gas – Making Sense of the New Legislation: A Roadmap Forward” and find out: The most relevant aspects of the energy reform What the main effects of the reform are What it is going to happen […]
Downloads
Download: Top 15 Influencers in the North Sea Oil & Gas Industry
As the North Sea becomes an increasingly mature basin, the industry is coming up against major challenges including declining production levels, rising costs and decommissioning. However, there are still significant opportunities and many have presented an optimistic outlook if the industry becomes more collaborative and efficient. So which leading figures are defining strategy for securing the region’s […]
Where Are We Heading? National Grid Report Explores UK Energy Future Scenarios
As shown in the Future Energy Scenarios report by the National Grid, the power supply landscape is expected to change dramatically in the next 20 years. This report examines four possible scenarios for UK’s energy future, taking into account the political, economic, technological and social factors that will shape the UK’s energy landscape over the next […]
Iran
Iran Offers Europe “Big Volumes” as Russia Threatens to Cut Supply
This weekend, Iran’s oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has announced the Islamic republic’s willingness to supply natural gas to Europe and help the continent diversify its energy supply away from Russian gas. Iran has the world’s second largest natural gas reserves, and this announcement is most welcome at a time when Europe’s energy security is […]
60 Seconds with Thorsten Ploss from EY on Iran’s Oil & Gas Industry
At the Iran Oil & Gas Briefing in London on the 25th of March Thorsten Ploss from EY Bahrain spoke about financing Iranian oil and gas as well as technology transfer and local content. During a break, we asked Mr Ploss for his thoughts on Iran’s oil and gas sector. What do EY see as […]
Videos
Oil Industry Excited about Arctic
Financial Times – The frozen north is estimated to hold 30 per cent of the world’s undiscovered gas and 13 per cent of undetected oil. Richard Milne reports from the Island Innovator rig in the Barents Sea on whether the Arctic will be the next big oil region. Keep up to date with The Oil […]
What Is the Future of Natural Gas?
Michale Stoppard from IHS Energy discusses the future of natural gas. Watch the video and find out: Where the growth prospects for natural gas are What the future production centers for natural gas are What role LNG will play in the future global gas market What the prospects for unconventional gas beyond North America are […]
Financing
The North Sea Investment Landscape
Despite the North Sea having reached peak production in the early 2000s, investment grew to £13.5 billion in 2013, hitting record levels. Some operators have recently made significant commitments in the region. Enquest and Apache, for example, are both planning to spend more than £1 billion on North Sea activities in 2014, as reported by […]
UK Treasury Announces Review of North Sea Oil Tax Regime
In a move seen by many as a crucial step towards securing the North Sea’s future, the UK Treasury has announced a full review of the North Sea tax regime, as reported by the Financial Times. The review will consist of 12 weeks of discussion about the future of the tax regime with the industry […]
Human Resources
People Killed in an Explosion at GAIL India site
It has been reported that a gas pipeline of the state-run company GAIL India exploded in Andhra Pradesh killing 15 people and injuring 10 more. Investigations have been opened to understand what caused the blast. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently expressed his intention to accelerate the development of major energy projects in India. But, […]
Increasing Visibility of Risk in Operations with Big Data
How to improve health, safety, and environmental impact of oil and gas operations? That is the question Australian oil and gas operators are now trying to answer by investing in big data technologies. For large oil and gas operations such as LNG production, numerous control systems are required to control well-flows, liquefaction process, storage, loading, […]
Other Recent Posts
The report “Shale Gas Development in Argentina. A Change to the Traditional E&P Business Strategy” was written by Gustavo Fabian Acosta and Noelia Denisse Chimale from the Instituto Tecnológico of Buenos Aires. Download the report here. In this paper an analysis will be presented of the level of unconventional resources, specifically shale gas, in the […]
Ineos, the Swiss owner of the Falkirk-based petrochemical plant, won a £230m loan under the UK government Guarantee Scheme. This will allow it to raise funds and invest in a new terminal at Grangemouth, to import, store, and process ethane from American shale gas. Just two months before the Scottish independence referendum, the UK government […]
Lundin’s chief executive Ashley Heppenstall has said that “Norway has been an extremely succesful oil province and I think the next frontier is the Barents Sea”, as reported in the Financial Times. What more could be clearer than that – Norway is a key area for Arctic E&P operations. The Arctic region has been estimated […]
