Energy Voice – Out Loud

EVOL: Offshore wind in focus – Ming Yang, transmission charging and AR8

This week’s episode features Energy Voice’s Ryan Duff and Ed Reed in our opening discussion, then reporters Mathew Perry and Michael Behr with their thoughts from Offshore Wind Conference 2026 in Glasgow.
 
Up first, Ed, Ryan and Floyd team up to tackle the trials and tribulations in the offshore and floating wind sector, as the £1.5 billion Ming Yang project gets paused and XCLL pivots from manufacturing to cable laying. 
 
Next, Michael Behr sat down with former Corio Generation CEO Jonathan Cole as he returns to the offshore wind sector in his new role as ambassador for the Global Wind Energy Council. We discuss the evolving offshore wind landscape, from the UK’s political consensus, transmission charging and, his thoughts on Chinese involvement in the UK.
 
And to round things off, Mat and Mike chat through the best points from Offshore Wind Conference 2026 – transmission charging and AR8 are the big takeaways, especially as any potential reforms look unlikely to come into play for this year’s auction.

EVOL: ScotWind struggles, Kemi in Aberdeen, and Scotland surveyed

This week, there was yet more news of troubled Scottish wind projects as West of Orkney "paused" as it lambasted transmission charges, as we play our full conversation with Kemi Badenoch and True North talk us through its latest polling. 
 
This week’s episode features Energy Voice’s Ryan Duff and Michael Behr, and Mat Perry in our opening discussion and news editor Erikka Askeland join in at the end to talk with Energy Voice Out Loud familiar voice Allister Thomas. 
 
Up first, Michael talks us through why the front-runner ScotWind project, West of Orkney, hit the bricks this week as it bemoaned transmission charges after missing out on a contract for difference in Allocation Round 7. What does this mean for the future of offshore wind in Scotland? Our trio of journalists discuss. 
 
Next, Ryan caught up with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and shadow minister for energy security and net zero, Andrew Bowie, about energy bills and what the opposition would have done differently with AR7. 
 
Finally, Erikka spoke with True North's Allister Thomas about a recent poll of unprecedented scale asking people across the North of Scotland what they really think of the march of energy infrastructure and the answers might surprise you.

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?