Energy Voice – Out Loud

EVOL: Subsea Expo extravaganza!

This week the Energy Voice team has been on the show floor at Subsea Expo in Aberdeen's P&J Live. The annual Global Under Water Hub event hosted those from across the energy sector as floating wind was high on the agenda.
 
Aberdeen Features lead Ryan Duff sat down with Yvonne Telford, research director for north-west Europe energy market intelligence at Westwood, and spoke about the cost of decommissioning. Additionally, she addressed the recent court ruling that will result in Equinor and Shell filing new environmental impact assessments for the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields. 
 
Next up, news editor Erikka Askeland spoke to Aleks Jurczak, director of strategy and marketing for MDL, on the show floor about "blurring" lines between the different energy sectors, namely oil and gas, wind and decommissioning. Keeping herself busy, Erikka then spoke to Adam Reed, global leader of offshore renewables and upstream energy at Allianz Commercial, at the Energy Voice stand.
 
Finally, Ryan caught up with Richard Knox, CEO of Verlume, to discuss a recent project that saw his firm partner with two other Aberdeen businesses to deliver power to a Canadian oil field while its FPSO left for maintenance and how the technology they developed can be rolled out across the pond. 

EVOL: Supermajor slump, apprentice appreciation, and Porenco's Poseidon

This week Ryan Duff, Erikka Askeland and Michael Behr discuss jobs jobs jobs! How are firms trimming the fat, where are they getting new talent and is there enough people in the industry to deliver net zero?
Erikka kicks off proceedings by talking through BP's change in direction. The supermajor announced a new strategy in its Q4 results following a dip in profits and the announcement that it would be cutting 7,700 jobs globally. BP has not been alone in its redundancy drive as Ithaca Energy also announced "inevitable" cuts this week. 
Next up, Ryan discusses National Apprentice Week as the industry announces a wave of initiatives to bring young people into the industry. Additionally, ECITB and ORE Catapult launched a scheme to promote cross-sector working in oil and gas and wind. The government is also claiming to back "good jobs" as it unveiled a plan to give wind developers additional funds if they commit to UK manufacturing.
Finally, Michael has been looking at CCS, namely Perenco kicking off injection at its Poseidon project. The French firm has claimed a UK record as it was the first to perform a CO2 injection as it tested how the greenhouse gas would behave in its reservoir. CCS is also set to play a big role in creating jobs and offers an opportunity for oil and gas workers to continue doing very similar work, however, the sector is seeing pushback from sceptics. 

EVOL does the loco Mocean

 
This week Energy Voice reporter Mat Perry takes us down under to his homeland to find why Scottish wave technology firm Mocean is riding high in the Australian surf and why GB Energy should be paying attention.
The Micheal Behr goes to China and give insight into the debate – should we be making sure the world’s largest wind turbine developer Mingyang doesn’t get fed up with delay and take its plans for a factory in Scotland home, or should the European industry be very scared?
Ryan Duff reports from the show floor of the Offshore Energies UK HSE conference and meets Lucy Easthope, the UK’s leading expert on disasters and how to recover from them.

Rosebank and Jackdaw uncertainty, Serica's shopping, and ‘modest’ Morecambe

There's plenty going on in UK energy this week as Shell and Equinor's court case came to a close just in time for Ryan Duff to come back from his holiday and discuss with Mat Perry and Erikka Askeland.
First up, Mat explains why all sides have claimed victory following a ruling at Scotland’s Court of Session which overturned approvals for the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields. The ball is now in Ed Miliband's court as he has to write the rulebook on how UK operators calculate downstream emissions.
Ryan has been chatting with Serica CEO Chris Cox who is "always looking on the bright side of life," according to Erikka. Cox has discussed his intentions to double down on UK mergers and acquisitions after his firm previously looked to Norway. With assets being too expensive across the border and optimism that things can only get better, Cox is shopping in the North Sea. 
Finally, Carbon credits crunch Spirit Energy as it asks for “modest, pragmatic” support from the UK government. Erikka discusses how the firm which is celebrating 40 years of production from its Morecambe hub this month is running into issues with its CCS ambitions for the site. 

EVOL hits the road

We are on the road this episode of Energy Voice Out Loud. But first Energy Voice news editor Erikka Askeland and features lead Ryan Duff discuss the late delivery of long-awaited the energy skills passport. Then we head to Glasgow where Mathew Perry and Michael Behr dish the latest on the industry from the floor of the Scottish Renewables Offshore Wind Conference. Also, we take over the studio at the E-FWD breakfast event – also in Glasgow, where Mat got the chance to grill Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, and Erikka talked with Dr Marie Macklin on efforts to energise the Halo regeneration of Kilmarnock

EVOL: Miliband's musings, EDF economics, Hunting headache

The Energy Voice Out Loud team of Ryan Duff, Mathew Perry and Jessica Mills Davies dive into the week's headlines.
 
Mat has been listening to UK energy secretary Ed Miliband as he committed to discussing the UK government's oil and gas licence ban with operators and industry stakeholders. The Labour politician also touched on grid connection and how a first come first served policy may not be the best approach for the UK to meet its net zero targets. 
 
Next up Jess has been keeping an eye on nuclear. This week EDF's auditor claimed that the bill for Hinkley Point C is set to exceed £40 billion. The French energy giant's auditors also said the firm should delay its investment in UK nuclear power project Sizewell C. This comes as ECITB shared data that the nuclear workforce has exceeded that of oil and gas in the engineering and construction industry. 
 
Finally, Ryan discusses UK hurting for Hunting. The firm has continued to rally against the UK's tax regime as oil and gas operators slash spending in the North Sea as it announced a restructuring plan which will impact operations in the country as well as the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Hunting employs around 200 people across its three UK sites, however, it was unable to confirm how this process will impact headcount. 

EVOL X Hexagon

Listen in to Hexagon experts, Edgardo Moreno, Mark Wilson and Rick Standish, explain how Hexagon has grown its global services footprint integrating leading technologies in visualisation and data to become a leader in digital twins.  
In this wide-ranging discussion with Energy Voice news editor Erikka Askeland, hear how Hexagon is working closely with operators of late life assets to improve monitoring in a cost-effective way.

EVOL: Welcome to the 2025 rollercoaster

The Energy Voice Out Loud team of Erikka Askeland, Mathew Perry and Ryan Duff welcome the new year in the first recording of this popular podcast series in 2025.
Ryan looks at the latest political wrangles over SSE Transmission plans for its Tealing to Kintore overhead lines. Mat discusses the latest investments in battery energy storage projects in Scotland, this time on a disused coal mine South Lanarkshire. Last but not least, Erikka looks at what’s coming up next in 2025, taking in some of the bleak midwinter views of the energy supply chain, expectations for offshore wind and the inauguration of Trump.

🎄Four EVOLlers enter, but who will emerge the winner?

Ho ho ho – holy moly it’s the Christmas quiz! It’s the time of year when, once again, the intrepid team of Energy Voice Out Louders put down their news-gathering hats and grasp the turkey-stuffed cracker-wielding gift-wrapped brain teaser that is the annual quiz.
The contestants are “roustabout” Ryan Duff, Michael “the bulldozer” Behr, Mat “powerline” Perry and Jess “divining” Davies – but who will emerge triumphant? Follow along at home and see if you can do any better!
This is the last episode of EVOL for 2024. We’ll kick things off in the new year but, for the time being, enjoy!  

EVOL X Centurion

In this special episode, listen toRoger Esson, head of sales UK, Europe and Caspian set out the remarkable journey of Centurion Group, as it moved decisively from oil field services to supporting customers in critical industries across remote locations around the world. Energy voice news editor Erikka Askeland also speaks to Jenny Stark, head of corporate projects for Centurion, on what they are looking for in the acquisition strategy.