Energy Voice – Out Loud

EVOL: AR7 winners revealed

We discuss the winners of Allocation Round 7, as well as Viaro's southern North Sea snub and Petrofac's UK business buy out. 
 
This week’s episode features Energy Voice’s Ryan Duff, Floyd March, Mat Perry and Erikka Askeland as they give their two cents on the week’s headlines.
 
First up, Mat gets us up to speed on the winners of AR7 as he argues that the government deserves a pat on the back. Although, Erikka fights for ScotWind project support as not one of the 12 successful bids came from a project that received a a licence under Holyrood's 2022 leasing round.
 
Next, Floyd talks us through the situation at Viaro as Francesco Mazzagatti's firm was told Shell and Exxon had backed out of a deal announced 18 months ago to sell southern North Sea gas assets. The North Sea Transition Authority has been keeping a close eye on Viaro in recent months having demanded additional information from the operator for this deal and its attempted takeover of rival Deltic. 
 
Finally, Ryan gets us caught up on Petrofac's North Sea business after it announced it would be selling its Asset Solutions division to a US firm on Christmas Eve. The services firm that slipped into administration last year is now set to hold a meeting with its creditors to approve the takeover, which is set to save 3,000 jobs.

EVOL: The geopolitics episode

The first weekly episode of Energy Voice Out Loud in 2026 starts with the big news of the week. E-FWD editor Ed Reed and Energy Voice news editor Erikka Askeland dissect the outlook for industry as President Trump seizes control of Venezuela’s oil industry
Renewables reporter Micheal Behr takes a view on where the wind blows as the UK delays a decision on RWE and Masdar’s plan for a 3GW wind farm on Dogger Bank. What does it mean for sector finances ahead of the government’s imminent allocation round 7?
Finally, North correspondent Floyd March discusses the announcement that Phillips 66 has taken control of the Lindsay refinery on the Humber. The deal looks good for the US refinery giant but not so great for 250 workers at the site, formerly owned by disgraced firm Prax, who only have jobs until the end of March.

🎄 The quiz time special

Yippee Ki Yay, energy professionals! It’s that time of year again when we slow down and take in the finer things of life - but first the Energy Voice Out Loud quiz!
We have questions on companies and policy, nukes and nimbys, BP execs and BP ex-execs, all wrapped up in a festive onslaught of bells and surprises.
How will the crack team respond to a barrage of energy news questions? Who will break first? Who will come first - and who will come last? How off the rails will the quizmaster go?
There’s only one way to find out, listen now to the last EVOL of the year. Have an excellent time off, we’ll be back in 2026.

EVOL: Surfing the M&A wave

In this episode of Energy Voice Out Loud, Aberdeen features lead Ryan Duff gets the rare chance to say "I told you so" as he discusses with news editor Erikka Askeland the details of TotalEnergies' merger with Neo Next - in what has been a rash of UK oil and gas firms walking away from their decades-long status as a North Sea operator in 2025.
Micheal Behr was reports from the subserface and wells conference in Aberdeen - the first Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) event since the autumn budget of doom in November.
Finally northern correspondent Floyd March highlights some of the good news happening for fans of carbon capture and storage in the North West of England.

EVOL: Harbour job cuts, EPL winners and losers, and Lindsey's new bidder

This week’s Energy Voice Out Loud (EVOL) sees news editor Erikka Askeland, renewables reporter Michael Behr, and North West correspondent Floyd March explore what’s been going on in the North Sea.
Adura day, the official launch of Equinor and Shell’s North Sea tieup, quickly turned in Harbour Job Cuts day as the oil and gas producer announced it would shed 100 roles. Harbour put the blame squarely on Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ shoulders for deciding to keep the windfall tax in place up to 2030.
Speaking of the energy profits levy, longtime friend of the show, Panmure Liberum analyst Ashley Kelty shares his thoughts on the winners and losers of the budget. Of course, being a winner means not getting kicked.
And then Floyd catches us up on the Lindsey oil refinery saga and the new player that’s come in making a bid for the shuttered site.

EVOL: Budget 2025, North Sea plan, and decommissioning

Yet another busy news week in UK energy! We discuss the budget and all of its windfall tax implications, the government's North Sea plan, and what the decommissioning industry needs.
This week's episode features Energy Voice's Ryand Duff and Erikka Askeland, as well as Aberdeen University's John Underhill, and Three60 CEO Walter Thain.
Up First, Ryan and Erikka discuss the surprises, or lack thereof, from Rachel Reeves' Autumn budget. With no changes to oil and gas tax and a reiteration of previously announced Grangemouth funding, the areas that are shedding jobs saw little support. However, the green energy sector saw something of a boost, but was it enough?
Next, Ryan caught up with John Underhill about the future of UK licencing and how he came to his suggestion that led to the government's transitional energy certificates measure. But who paid for his study, and will this permitting change extend the life of North Sea producers?
Finally, Walter Tahin tells all about the decommissioning market following an industry workshop at OEUK's Decommissioning Conference in St Andrews. Collaboration is a major theme, building upon Three60 and AF Decom's latest contract with BP.

EVOL: GB Energy ups and downs, CATS out of the bag, and what's the story in Tobermory?

We discuss GB Energy's offshore wind investment and its Aberdeen jobs downgrade, as well as Ithaca's latest North Sea farm in as it forms yet another partnership with Shell.
This week’s episode features Energy Voice’s Ryan Duff, Michael Behr, and Erikka Askeland as they give their two cents on the week’s headlines.
Before the trio dive into the main topics of this week's show, they draw attention to the sad news of a death in the North Sea. It was confirmed this week that 32-year-old Aberdeen-based father Lee Hulse died after falling from a crane on the Valaris 121 rig on Shell's Shearwater field.
There has been a GoFundMe set up to support Lee's family, which you can find here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/lee-hulse?lang=en_GB&fbclid=IwY2xjawOG7ZNleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETA1UHBLbVRaSWNGR0l4WVhPc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MghjYWxsc2l0ZQEyAAEerr0jbc2399ClT0_FUVuPIixXEB4NZ3af1EZPMtK-4KBBkrxE6YouHgNDNkY_aem__AzvLwuuduNxZUOT79I1Pg
First up on this week's show, Michael discusses GB Energy's £150 investment in the 100 MW Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm. This marked the state-backed firm's first investment in offshore energy, however, has it been ambitious enough in its choice of project? This announcement came as CEO Dan McGrail announced his firm will create 300 jobs in Aberdeen by 2030, a considerable downgrade from the 1,000 previously promised.
Next, Michael heads down to Teesside to the CATS Terminal, where he speaks with Kellas Midstream asset support engineer Harry Ford about his work at the site and the opportunities in the energy industry across Teesside.
Finally, what's the story in Tobermory, Erikka lets us know! Ithaca has farmed into Shell's West of Shetland gas field a couple of years after the London supermajor backed out of Ithaca's Cambo project. This comes as Shell looks to form a UK-based independent joint venture with Equinor, which may cause a reassessment on Cambo.

Road to ADIPEC 3: Financing the way forward

In this last episode of the series, recorded on location at ADIPEC, Barclays’ Lydia Rainforth and Zero’s Paddy Lowe join Ed Reed to discuss just how plans can move forward, given differing views on the energy sector.
We dig into where low carbon spending can be done and where can it make the most difference. Shareholders in public companies have not rewarded such plans, is there another way?

EVOL X Bureau Veritas: Building trust in the energy revolution

Bureau Veritas has been managing quality, safety, health and sustainability risks throughout industrial revolutions since it was founded in 1828.
Tune into this special episode of Energy Voice Out Loud and hear how BV’s Market Lead Energy Transition, Darren Taylor, and Head of Nuclear Andy Ward, are building trust in the next industrial revolution and the new technologies what will deliver the transition to clean energy.
Darren sets out how offshore wind, solar, and emerging hydrogen networks are reshaping how we generate and store energy, while Andy addresses the coming “golden age” of nuclear which will provide the low carbon base load we need while looking to harness the energy of the stars.

EVOL: Floating Offshore Wind 2025

This Week Energy Voice Out Loud was live on the show floor at the Floating Offshore Wind conference in Aberdeen, where they caught up with industry bigwigs, such as the firms behind the upcoming Green Volt project.
Energy Voice's Ryan Duff and Michael Behr were in attendance alongside E-FWD's Sepi Golzari-Munro.
Up first, Ryan spoke to Barry MacLeod, CEO of Flotation Energy, and Stephen Bull, CEO of Vårgrønn. The trio discussed the future of Green Volt, the world’s largest commercial floating wind farm, following news that CNOOC had bowed out of a deal to offtake power to decarbonise operations on its Buzzard platform. Having secured a contract for difference (CfD) in last year's Allocation Round (AR), Green Volt has no choice but to forge ahead while looking for another oil and gas partner to offtake the power it produces that will not go to shore.
Next, Sepi caught up with Claire Mack, CEO of the organisation behind the Floating Offshore Wind conference, Scottish Renewables on the final day of the event. She also met with Rob Gilbert of GB Energy as it looks to establish itself in the north-east of Scotland.
Finally, Tim Pick, the former UK offshore wind champion and current chair of the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership discusses public and private funding for the supply chain with Ryan. The pair also touch on the Celtic Sea's offshore wind market as we inch closer to turbines being deployed off the west coast of the UK.