Hurricane warning, Total’s energies and Doonies Farm

There’s a storm brewing over at Hurricane Energy with one of its major shareholders suggesting the board doesn’t have “skin in the game”. Crystal Amber says the relationship has “deteriorated dramatically,” so the EVOL team take this opportunity to dive into the potted history of the west of Shetland operator. 

Next up, just as Total unveils its brand new clean, green “TotalEnergies” rebrand, the firm is being targeted by NGOs for trying to build a massive heated oil pipeline in Uganda. Will it get built or will banks buckle under the pressure? 

And of course we can’t miss the Chancellor’s Budget this week. A £30million-plus package for Aberdeen’s oil-energy sector transformation. Not everyone is baaa-hind the plans though…

Energy Voice helps organisations understand the geopolitical, economic and financial factors that underpin market events, and give you a view on what’s coming over the horizon. As a listener to this podcast, you can get a free trial of energyvoice.com, giving you two weeks of unrestricted access to the latest crucial news and insight. The trial is entirely without obligation – we don’t want your credit card, and there’s no auto-enrolment at the end. 

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Sales, sales and South African sales

Super-majors continue to drift away from the North Sea, with HitecVision-backed NEO striking a deal to acquire ExxonMobil’s assets. The buyer was staying mum about decommissioning liabilities, as yet impervious to Allister’s probing questions. 

Malaysian companies have also been moving into the North Sea but have also been reluctant to shed much light on plans, driving Mark to doorstep one company. It’s a long way from home but there’s still room to run. 

Sasol had something to celebrate this week after bouncing back from a terrible 2020. The South Africans still have an emissions problem but, in step with the rest of the industry, they are starting to talk the energy transition talk. 

Energy Voice helps organisations understand the geopolitical, economic and financial factors that underpin market events, and give you a view on what’s coming over the horizon. As a listener to this podcast, you can get a free trial of energyvoice.com, giving you two weeks of unrestricted access to the latest crucial news and insight. The trial is entirely without obligation – we don’t want your credit card, and there’s no auto-enrolment at the end. 

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10 Point Pod 02 – Hydrogen

Hydrogen is sometimes seen as a panacea for all problems and challenges that the energy transition may pose. But is it all it’s cracked up to be? And what colour hydrogen is the best colour? 

The element offers a range of uses, among which is a role as intermediary, providing stored energy that may be able to power industry, fuel heavy transport and heat homes. Watch out natural gas; hydrogen is coming to eat your lunch. 

Tackling these points are Tim Calver, UK&I Executive Director for energy and infrastructure advisory at EY, and special guest Dr Graham Cooley, CEO of ITM Power, joining Energy Voice Out Loud regular Ed Reed. 

The UK government’s 10 Point Plan puts hydrogen at number two. EY and EVOL will continue running down the numbers in their 10 Point Pod series, with nuclear up next.

Energy Voice helps organisations understand the geopolitical, economic and financial factors that underpin market events, and give you a view on what’s coming over the horizon. As a listener to this podcast, you can get a free trial of energyvoice.com, giving you two weeks of unrestricted access to the latest crucial news and insight. The trial is entirely without obligation – we don’t want your credit card, and there’s no auto-enrolment at the end. 

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Hotel hell, Shell-shock in Nigeria and Indonesian optimism

Intrepid podsters one-and-all waded into the thick of the Covid-19 quarantine debate this week – should Scottish oil workers have to do time in hotels on return from overseas jobs? Or should they just hop on a train from London and hope for the best? 

Shell’s travails in Nigeria and various courtrooms were also placed on the altar of discussion. But should the major stay or should it go? 

And Damon Evans made his bow with a stoater of a debut, lifting the lid on what looks set to be a momentous year for the Indonesia upstream sector. 

Energy Voice helps organisations understand the geopolitical, economic and financial factors that underpin market events, and give you a view on what’s coming over the horizon. As a listener to this podcast, you can get a free trial of energyvoice.com, giving you two weeks of unrestricted access to the latest crucial news and insight. The trial is entirely without obligation – we don’t want your credit card, and there’s no auto-enrolment at the end. 

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Blown away by BP, Qatar LNG, and batteries

On EVOL this week, in association with OGUK, big oil is making moves into the UK offshore wind scene, with BP paying top dollar for its entry. The team assess the implications for the market – and the upcoming ScotWind leasing round. 

Next up is Qatar Petroleum giving the green light to the world’s largest LNG plant. The Middle East nation is looking to reclaim the throne as the world’s largest LNG exporter, but there are also CCS and environmental elements to consider. 

Rounding us off, a ‘well-kent’ serial entrepreneur is making a splash with battery technology in Aberdeen – and he’s set his sights high. 

Energy Voice helps organisations understand the geopolitical, economic and financial factors that underpin market events, and give you a view on what’s coming over the horizon. As a listener to this podcast, you can get a free trial of energyvoice.com, giving you two weeks of unrestricted access to the latest crucial news and insight. The trial is entirely without obligation – we don’t want your credit card, and there’s no auto-enrolment at the end. 

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Fueling the decarbonisation flame – EVOL ✕ Deloitte

The scale and complexity of decarbonisation and the drive to net zero emissions can make comprehending them a very difficult task. There are a seemingly unlimited number of variables at play, ranging from what form the future energy mix will take to who is going to fork out for it. In this special Energy Voice Out Loud Xpertise Series episode, in paid partnership with Deloitte, head of renewables Daniel Grosvenor tells us what technologies he thinks will be at the forefront of the transition, as well as the financial forces that will be driving them. We also look to ahead to COP26 later this year, and set out what government and industry needs to do to ensure Glasgow puts on a showstopper of a summit. 

Energy Voice helps organisations understand the geopolitical, economic and financial factors that underpin market events, and give you a view on what’s coming over the horizon. As a listener to this podcast, you can get a free trial of energyvoice.com, giving you two weeks of unrestricted access to the latest crucial news and insight. The trial is entirely without obligation – we don’t want your credit card, and there’s no auto-enrolment at the end. 

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Floating, talking and greening

How much of a problem is a two-foot crack in a ship West of Shetland? Clearly not one to prompt action in the first four years after the problem was reported. Who knows whether the latest HSE improvement notice will have any greater impact. 

The shadow cast by the Glasgow-hosted COP26 shindig in November is lengthening, with the Scottish government saying it would no longer lend its weight to efforts to export hydrocarbon technologies and services. 

One way around this potential problem would be broadening into new energies, a move which is growing in credence. A move into greater efficiency would be a first step, as talked up by SDX Energy recently, although some are going further and buying into renewable energy projects. 

Energy Voice helps organisations understand the geopolitical, economic and financial factors that underpin market events, and give you a view on what’s coming over the horizon. As a listener to this podcast, you can get a free trial of energyvoice.com, giving you two weeks of unrestricted access to the latest crucial news and insight. The trial is entirely without obligation – we don’t want your credit card, and there’s no auto-enrolment at the end. 

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Resurgent ’Rona, operator skulduggery, and ‘stranded’ gas

With constant helicopter flights rumbling overhead, Aberdeen has started to feel like a ’Nam movie again. That’s because Covid appears to be resurgent in the North Sea once more, but what about matters onshore, and the prospects of Offshore Europe gracing P&J Live in September? 

Operators seem to have got up to their ol’ nefarious tricks in 2020, using Covid as an excuse to make suppliers’ lives miserable, if some of the more juicy anecdotes of a new report are to be believed. 

Cold water was also poured from a height on the hopes and dreams of landing the bounty of massive offshore gas finds on South African shores. 

Energy Voice helps organisations understand the geopolitical, economic and financial factors that underpin market events, and give you a view on what’s coming over the horizon. As a listener to this podcast, you can get a free trial of energyvoice.com, giving you two weeks of unrestricted access to the latest crucial news and insight. The trial is entirely without obligation – we don’t want your credit card, and there’s no auto-enrolment at the end. 

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10 Point Pod 01 – Offshore wind

The UK Government announced its 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution amid much fanfare in November. The points laid out in the strategy pave the way to the UK’s net zero future. But what are they? Why have they been identified? And what impact will they have on the energy sector and the wider economy? 

Leading the global energy conversation, Energy Voice has teamed up with EY to answer these questions and more in our brand new podcast boxset series, building towards a definitive briefing document for the industry in time for COP26. 

The 10 Point Pod will run over the course of the next 10 months, and analyse the nuance of each point in order ahead of the climate conference in Glasgow. 

Point 1 in the plan is ‘Advancing Offshore Wind’, so for our launch episode we have Benj Sykes, Vice President, UK Offshore at Ørsted as our guest speaker. He joins EVOL regular Ed Reed alongside Andrew Perkins, UK&I Corporate Finance Partner at EY, to delve into the detail of the Government’s offshore wind ambitions, examine what the UK can export to the world as well as what it can learn from others, and help everyone in the sector, no matter whether they work in fossil or renewable energy, understand the challenges and opportunities in making offshore wind really work for Britain and across the globe. 

You can read the EY Consumer Sustainability Report, mentioned in the episode by Andrew Perkins, at ey.com/en_uk/power-utilities/consumers-hold-the-key-to-a-greener-future.

Subscribe to the Energy Voice Out Loud podcast today to make sure you hear not just all the episode of the 10 Point Pod, but the team's regular insider weekly updates too.

Energy Voice helps organisations understand the geopolitical, economic and financial factors that underpin market events, and give you a view on what’s coming over the horizon. As a listener to this podcast, you can get a free trial of energyvoice.com, giving you two weeks of unrestricted access to the latest crucial news and insight. The trial is entirely without obligation – we don’t want your credit card, and there’s no auto-enrolment at the end. 

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Exxon Exit, Ridin’ with Biden and Germanwings legacy

This week’s EVOL kicks off with news of NEO Energy entering exclusive talks to buy Exxon Mobil’s North Sea portfolio. The sales process has been rumbling on for well over a year, so will this bring it to a close? And how has Covid impacted the asking price? 

It has been a busy week in the Land of the Free, with Total exiting the American Petroleum Institute and a new administration in the White House. We look at how that affects the energy landscape and whether oil producers will, in fact, be Ridin’ with Biden. 

We round off the episode with news of a laudable mental health initiative for oil and gas helicopter pilots, which was galvanised by the tragic events of the Germanwings 9525 plane crash in 2015. 

Energy Voice helps organisations understand the geopolitical, economic and financial factors that underpin market events, and give you a view on what’s coming over the horizon. As a listener to this podcast, you can get a free trial of energyvoice.com, giving you two weeks of unrestricted access to the latest crucial news and insight. The trial is entirely without obligation – we don’t want your credit card, and there’s no auto-enrolment at the end. 

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