Daily Archives: December 4, 2019

Natural gas will begin flowing from Leviathan, Israels largest offshore natural gas field, within two weeks, with exports to Egypt and Jordan following shortly thereafter, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said Monday.

Binyamin Zomer, vice president for regional affairs at Texas-based Noble Energy, the lead partner in Leviathan, confirmed the news. Before the end of the year we will start supplying the domestic market, and in the weeks right after that we will export to Egypt and Jordan, he told the annual Israel Energy and Business Convention in Ramat Gan.

The Leviathan partners have signed multibillion-dollar export deals to Egypt and Jordan. Steinitz told the conference that despite opposition from environmentalists, there was no reason Israel shouldnt also be exporting gas to Europe.

Zomer said that because of Leviathans lifespan, all export options were under consideration, including delivery by undersea pipeline to Europe. As to concerns about air pollution from Leviathans rig, he said that it met the strictest standards and that gas would mean a net gain for the environment.

Im sure the public understands that the biggest impact of the Leviathan rig will be when you can close the coal stations in Hadera, he said, referring to generating plants of the Israel Electric Corporation.

Zomer said that with the development of the smaller Karish and Tanin gas fields by the Green energy company Energean, competition was ramping up in the industry. No one knows at what range prices will settle, he said. Its a function of supply and demand and were already seeing new prices.

The IEC is buying gas from the Tamar field at $6.30 per million British thermal units, but it has signed an agreement to buy from Leviathan at $4.80. Karish and Tanin have been signing deals at between $3.50 and $4.00

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Natural gas of Israel's largest offshore field to start flowing within two weeks - Haaretz

The HMRC does not have the staff to investigate all the offshore tip-offs it gets, after being swamped with a staggering 5.7 million pieces of information about overseas bank accounts held by three million British citizens.

The information is coming from 100 countries under common reporting standards (CRS) agreed by the international Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The standards are designed to stop tax evasion, or avoidance, by making governments aware of overseas money held by their citizens.

However, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) does not have enough people to follow up on the information, according to the tax consultancy BDO, so is instead sending out a series of "nudge" letters to the people named asking them to send details of their financial affairs in an attempt to uncover incidents of tax evasion, The Times first reported.

HMRC has come under pressure to more actively investigate taxpayers with hidden offshore assets since the 2016 Panama Papers scandal. There is currently an open parliamentary inquiry into whether HMRC is sufficiently able to tackle tax evasion and avoidance.

The UK tax office made 540 requests to overseas authorities for information on UK taxpayers last year, an increase of 24% on the previous year, as it intensifies its crackdown on hidden offshore assets, says Pinsent Masons, the international law firm.

Pinsent Masons says that HMRC is increasing its investigations overseas into taxpayers it believes are hiding assets. Investigations can lead to penalties of up to 200% of the tax HMRC believes is owed.

UK investors in offshore funds are coming under increasing scrutiny by the tax authorities. HMRC believes there is a significant group of UK investors misreporting their income and gains from investments in offshore funds, and, as a consequence, their overall UK tax liability.

HMRC have begun to send out compliance letters to tenants of residential property that they believe is owned by an overseas company or trust (called a non-resident corporate landlord). The purpose of the letter is to enable HMRC to gather information to make sure that the landlord is paying the correct amount of tax.

HMRC's approach to hidden offshore assets is laid out in its No Safe Havens' strategy, which was launched in March this year. In this strategy document, HMRC says it will use criminal investigations to send a strong deterrent message to taxpayers.

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HMRC lacks staff to investigate over 5.7 million offshore tip-offs - International Investment

Wind industry specialist recruiter ERSG has secured a contract to be sole supplier of fabrication management personnel to two undisclosed offshore wind farms in Asia.

ERSG has also agreed terms with an unnamed company building floating wind foundations to supply contractors for the entire project lifecycle.

Project planners and turbine package managers have already been deployed, ERSG said.

The company said that will a global portfolio of candidates and a physical presence in Taiwan, it is well placed to provide both local and ex-patriate professionals to the projects in Asia.

ERSG chief executive Jim Ryan said: ERSG has a strong reputation for delivering highly skilled contractors in offshore wind for a number of years and our presence in the APAC region has enabled us to assist with the industry growth supplying both local and ex-pat candidates to our clients there.

We are in a strong position going forward in to 2020 when many of our existing and new clients will look to us for support and guidance.

ERSG announced it had opened an office in Taiwan in July.

The company said in June that it would be collaborating with Taiwan Offshore Windfarm Service Corporation on the provision of staff to the offshore wind sector on the Asian island.

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ERSG to build Asian offshore wind teams - reNEWS

Orsted has reorganised its offshore wind business around four regions in a shake-up that sees Duncan Clark take charge in the UK and current country manager Matthew Wright leave the business.

The global offshore wind sector leader said the new regional structure UK, Continental Europe, North America and Asia Pacific creates a more scalable organisation for Orsteds international expansion which combines market proximity with global scale and efficiency.

The changes, effective from 1 January, mean the cross-business unit portfolio responsibility of the UK country chair role is no longer consistent with this new focus and Wright will depart.

Clark who as programme director has steered the 1.2GW Hornsea 1, the worlds biggest offshore wind farm into operation and is now leading the even larger Hornsea 2 becomes head of region, UK with an end-to-end accountability for the offshore wind value chain there, said Orsted.

The UK is Orsteds biggest market, with 6.3GW of projects either operating or under construction in British waters.

The Danish group is increasingly looking beyond Europe, however, with growing portfolios in markets such as Taiwan and the US.

Orsted said under the new structure each region will be responsible for market and project development as well as asset management, while construction and operation activities will be delivered from Orsteds global EPC and O&M organisation.

The company recently put Declan Flanagan in charge of a newly-created Orsted Onshore unit to lead its growing roster of land-based wind and solar operations.

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Orsted in global offshore wind shake-up as Clark takes UK top job - Recharge

The crane vessel Saipem 7000 will conduct the installation activities at the Neart na Gaoithe wind farm offshore Scotland.

(Courtesy Saipem)

Offshore staff

SAN DONATO MILANESE, Italy Saipem has won two contracts for wind farms offshore Scotland and Taiwan with a collective value of 750 million ($831 million).

EDF Renewables has awarded the company an EPCI contract for 54 steel foundation jackets, two steel foundation jackets for the offshore electrical substations, and the transportation and installation of the relevant topsides for the Neart na Gaoithe (NnG) wind farm offshore Scotland.

These jackets will be manufactured partly at a Saipem-owned yard and partly at fabrication facilities in Scotland. The jackets will be placed on piles at depths ranging from 40 to 60 m (131 to 197 ft).

The crane vessel Saipem 7000 will conduct the offshore installation activities.

The NnG offshore wind farm, 15 km (9.3 mi) off the east coast of Scotland, will be deployed over an area of 105 sq km (40.5 sq mi) and will be capable of generating around 450 megawatts of electricity.

This is the first turn-key project awarded to Saipem in the offshore wind farm market.

The second contract is for the Formosa 2 wind farm offshore western Taiwan. It is being developed by a partnership between Macquaries Green Investment Group and Swancor Renewable Energy.

The scope of work entails the supply of material and fabrication of 32 foundation jackets. Construction works are scheduled to start in early 2020.

12/03/2019

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Saipem 7000 to install NnG foundation jackets offshore Scotland - Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

Here are a few pointers to consider when it comes to allocating some of your assets to international investments.

Investing offshore is not a single event, its a journey

Closely associated with weak domestic confidence this year has been the debate about the appropriate allocation to international assets. With much better returns from global markets especially US equities over the past decade, you often hear the argument that you should sell all your local investments and only invest offshore. This is a sentiment-driven view that assumes that the future will play out exactly as the most recent past. A more reasoned response is to implement a well-considered long-term investment programme, informed by your own circumstances, that appropriately diversifies your risks across jurisdictions, geographies, sectors and companies.

Its easier to achieve your desired result if you remain committed

The more time you give your investment to grow, the more likely you are to do well as a result of both market outcomes and the value that can be added through active management. However, many South African investors do not invest for long enough to experience the full benefit of staying the course in their long-term investment programme. The average unit trust investor holds their investment for less than the recommended five-year minimum investment period before withdrawing. This is largely due to our instinctive urge to act in response to recent market or fund outcomes. Constantly selling the most recent losers and buying the most recent winners is a near-certain way to achieve less than optimal results.

Its easier to remain committed if you invest in a multi-asset fund

Investors who make their own asset allocation decisions may find that it is difficult to make consistently good decisions over time. They may be tempted to switch into or out of an asset class at the wrong time for emotional reasons.

Good asset allocation often requires you to do the opposite, as you tend to achieve better results when you sell after a period of above-average returns (as prices have gone up) and buy after a period of below-average returns (and prices have fallen). Yet it is a skill that requires considerable experience and discipline. So, it makes sense to leave it to the professionals who spend every day focused on identifying the best long-term opportunities available in global markets.

By giving your fund manager a broader mandate by way of a multi-asset fund, they also have more tools at their disposal with which to achieve your desired result.

There will be good years and bad years, and no one knows the sequence

Local and global risk assets performed poorly in 2018, with local equities down 8.5% in rands, while global equities returned 5.0% in rands (-9.4% in US dollars). Conversely, 2019 has been a good year for risk assets, with local equities up 9.2% in rands and global equities up 25.9% in rands (up 22.9% in US dollars) for the year to date. Yet many investors continued to invest conservatively, as though they were still experiencing 2018 returns, thereby missing out on the more recent strong returns from both local and global equities.

But it isnt advisable to try to time the markets or switch between asset classes to capture returns in the short term. The good news is that you dont have to implement regular extreme portfolio movements to get the best results. When investing in a multi-asset fund, you may not capture all of the market upside in any given year, but over time, the highs and lows smooth, and you benefit from positive returns across asset classes while spreading the risk of possible underperformance in any one asset class. The smoother path makes it easier for you to stay the course over the long term.

Two decades of disciplined, multi-asset investing

We offer three multi-asset funds for investors who want more international exposure as part of their long-term investment programmes. The funds have track records ranging between 10 and 20 years and allocate across all or most assets to international investments, while remaining easy to use and access, as they are established in South Africa.

Coronation Optimum Growth has the longest track record and the ability to invest anywhere in the world and in any of the listed asset classes. The fund benefits from our wide research coverage across local, developed and emerging markets. It, therefore, is a sound multi-asset class solution for long-term investors not subject to retirement fund investment restrictions, and who are looking for a larger exposure to offshore assets but still require their fund manager to decide on the allocation between domestic and foreign assets.

Since inception in March 1999, the fund has delivered a return of 14.4%* p.a., outperforming global equities with significantly less volatility. The benefit of wider diversification and judicious portfolio management is reflected in the outcome that this return was achieved at significantly less downside risk than both the local and global equity markets.

To read more about giving your money access to the best opportunities globally by visiting Coronation Offshore. DM

The information contained in this article is not based on the individual financial needs of any specific investor. To find out more, speak to your financial adviser.

Coronation is an authorised financial services provider.

*Returns are quoted as at end-October 2019. For more detail about this fund, please download its comprehensive factsheethere.

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Investing offshore: Keeping things simple helps you stick to your investment plan - Daily Maverick

Location of the Etame 9H well on the Etame field offshore Gabon.

(Courtesy VAALCO Energy)

Offshore staff

HOUSTON VAALCO Energy has completed its latest development well on the Etame field offshore Gabon.

Etame 9H, which included around 1,000 ft (305 m) of horizontal section in the Gamba reservoir, came online at a stabilized rate of 5,500 b/d of oil, with no hydrogen sulfide. Production is higher than the pre-drill estimate.

Drilling has since started on the Etame 11H horizontal development well with start-up anticipated in late January.

Planning is also under way for a workover to replace an electric submersible pump in Etame 10H, and drilling of the SE Etame 4P appraisal wellbore from the Southeast Etame/North Tchibala platform to assess a Gamba step-out area on Southeast Etame.

The latter, if successful, could confirm additional development well locations in the Gamba reservoir.

12/03/2019

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VAALCO continues production boosting measures offshore Gabon - Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

The world of energy is changing. With societys expectations of a strong political and industrial action to the threat of climate change, and renewable technologies becoming more attractive from a financial standpoint, the oil and gas industry finds itself examining where, and how, it will fit into the future mix. That examination, and the discussion around the energy mix, often pits oil and gas as a competitor with renewables, or an outright opponent, but the two sides may have a lot to offer each other.

While it only accounts for 0.3% of global power generation today, a number of analysts have pointed out the potential of offshore wind as a commercially viable renewable energy source. In its 2019 outlook on offshore wind, the International Energy Agency estimated that global capacity will increase 15-fold over the next 2 decades, turning it into a $1.0-trillion business.

Much of the focus for offshore wind is on generating electricity for municipalities, but it could also serve as a compliment to conventional oil and gas projects, primarily through platform electrification.

According to Wood MacKenzie, approximately 5% of offshore wellhead production globallymore than 1.7 million BOE/Dis used as fuel to power platforms, reducing sales volumes and producing emissions of around 200 million tonnes of CO2 each year, the equivalent of the total CO2 emissions of Vietnam. In a world where carbon pricing may become more commonplace, renewables offer potential long-term cost savings.

David Linden, director of power and renewables consulting at Wood Mackenzie, said that offshore wind platforms offer numerous possibilities.

It is a different range of opportunities, whether its onshore or offshore, and other areas being looked at as well, the concepts being developed. If the industry thinks about all those different optionsand there should certainly be many different ways you can make this happenits just a question of what is sensible to your platform, Linden said.

Any push into the renewable space will bring forth some discussion of economic feasibility, and right now the numbers look good for wind power. According to a report from BloombergNEF released in October, global benchmark prices for offshore wind have dropped 32% in the past year and 12% in the past 6 months. Global benchmark prices hit $78/MWh for the second half of 2019, driven primarily by lower equipment costs, but US developers are bidding closer to, or even surpassing, that total.

As subsidies for offshore wind expire in the coming years, platform power generation may be a viable source for long-term supply agreements. Malcolm Forbes-Cable, vice president of upstream consulting and supply chain lead at Wood Mackenzie, said that, depending on the region, it is an economical investment right now. He cited the UK governments latest Contracts for Difference (CFD) auction round this past September, where offshore wind prices ran as low as $51.29/MWh. That price marked a 30% drop from the lowest strike price seen at the previous CFD auction in 2017.

In the North Sea, with the latest CFD rounds, the amount of subsidy you get is basically equal to the power price. This suggests that people believe the cost of wind is equal to what you would get in the power price anyway, which then suggests that the market doesnt need subsidies. There are many other incidences like that around the world. Theyre still supported by subsidies in some parts of the world, but thats shorter term, and certainly if you were to think about how offshore winds going more generally, even if it has a 10-year support mechanism, the reason why people are investing in it now is because they believe costs will come down after that period of time, said Forbes-Cable, author of a paper, Why Powering Oil and Gas Platforms from Renewables Makes Sense, published in October that outlined the field-level benefits of offshore electrification.

According to Wood Mackenzie, the levelized cost of energy for diesel fuel generation offshore is between $133 to $166/MWh. If an offshore platform could offer demand north of 5 MW, that might enable an operator to negotiate a 10-year power supply deal as low as $40 to $44/MWh as early as 2025. With market spot prices expected to reach $72 to $77/MWh in that same time frame, an operator could theoretically cut its electricity bill in half by switching to renewable power generation.

The IEA said that the evolution of capital costs for power generation technologies will depend on whether there is a sufficient pipeline of projects to create the momentum needed for technology to develop at an appropriate scale. It estimated that global average upfront capital costs for offshore wind will drop more than 40% by 2030, but this total is based on a 15% drop in capital costs for every doubling of global capacity. Capital costs are likely to be lower in places with enough projects of sufficient size to achieve economies of scale.

Part of what youre doing is to try to understand whether somethings going to be economical or not, Linden said. In isolation, youre basically taking a model and asking is there a certain level of production that you need when you take into consideration your wind speed, your costs, and other things? For it to be commercial, you need it to be a certain size. For that thing to make sense, you might not be able to just take it and go, this is all perfect. The powering of the platform might not be the only source of demand that you need to make this happen.

Most of the worlds offshore wind farms have been constructed using a fixed approach, where turbines are installed on platforms secured to the seafloor by concrete or steel pillars. Purpose-built workboats often facilitate the installation of these facilities, and the platforms are usually built to match the specific needs of the location where they are installed. Floating systems involve the installation of a turbine on a steel and concrete floating foundation that is tethered to the ocean floor by a type of anchoring system largely adapted from deepwater drilling platforms.

Both systems send energy through undersea cables, but floating structures allow operators to generate wind power farther from shore in deeper waters, as most fixed structures are only suitable for water depths of 150 to 250 ft. This could open new markets currently unavailable for offshore wind development. Floating structures are also less intrusive to the seabed than fixed structures.

When we were thinking about this, the original thought was, well, you could connect a platform to a wind farm from shore. Thats very doable. And then we started thinking about other parts of the North Sea, and if you start looking at them, most of them are much farther from shore. How do you connect over long distances? The economics of that become challenging because your cables are the principal cost there. The farther out you go, the greater the expense that comes, Forbes-Cable said.

Despite their promise, floating wind technology is still in a fairly nascent stage of development. It has yet to be employed as a commercially viable method of wind power generation, and there are some technical barriers. For instance, the IEA said that operators are looking for ways to use low-cost monopile foundations instead of higher-cost jacket and floating foundation; monopiles have become standard for the majority of projects installed in shallow-water depths

In terms of floating wind, that technology is not quite ready, or rather its not as commercial as just sticking it in shallow waters. I think youve got that engineering challenge, but thats definitely being worked on and I bet well have all sorts of floating wind farms as we push them further and further from the coast, Forbes-Cable said.

According to the US Department of Energy, the global pipeline for floating offshore wind energy reached 4,888 MW in 2018 over 38 announced projects, but only 46 MW came from projects currently in operation. The department said there are 14 projects with approximately 200 MW of capacity under construction in 9 countries, each of them having achieved either financial close or regulatory approval. However, the industry still faces the challenge of reducing costs in floating wind from expensive demos to viable commercial models. To that degree, economies of scale will need to develop to help drive costs down.

Where the dollars are going is fixed wind. What youre starting to see is oil and gas companies putting money into that, not necessarily for platform electrification, but purely from a dollars perspective. Part of thats to do with the fact that scaling matters, and offshore wind can create scale in that space, while they have very little competitive advantage with onshore wind or solar PV [photovoltaics]. It makes a lot more sense, if companies are to get into renewables, to get into the offshore wind sector. Floating wind is purely a derivative of that, Linden said.

While few US-based operators have expressed any interest in using wind energy to power their offshore platforms, Equinor has made significant strides in the space. On 11 October, it sanctioned Hywind Tampen, an offshore wind farm that is poised to be the worlds first supplier of electricity generated by floating wind turbines to oil and gas platforms.

Located between the Snorre and Gullfaks platforms in the Norwegian North Sea, approximately 87 miles from shore in water depths of 850 to 980 ft, the wind farm will consist of 11 wind turbines based Equinors Hywind technology. Hywind is a floating wind turbine design based on a single floating cylindrical spar buoy moored by cables or chains to the seabed. It uses a ballasted catenary layout with three mooring cables that have 60-tonne weights hanging from the midpoint of each anchor cable to provide additional tension.

Wood Mackenzie said that the wind farm will provide around 35% of the power demand from Snorre and Gullfaks. That number figures to increase during periods of high wind, but power generation from hydrocarbon-fueled turbines will still be required. Regardless, Equinor estimates that Hywind Tampen will help reduce its carbon emissions by more than 200,000 tonnes/year.

Equinor installed a demo of the Hywind technology offshore Karmy, Norway, in 2009 with a 2.3-MW turbine. In 2017, it launched the 30-MW Hywind Scotland pilot park approximately 15 miles off the coast of Peterhead, near Aberdeen. Hywind Tampen will have a total capacity of 88 MW when it comes on stream in late 2022.

Equinor estimates the total investment in Hywind Tampen as around $540 million. Linden said that the project is something of an outlier in the industry, in that floating wind is a small portion of the overall market. While it has expressed interest in developing floating wind farms off the coast of California, and it owns offshore wind leases on the US East Coast, Hywind Scotland is still the worlds only commercial floating offshore wind farm.

Having talked to Equinor about this, theyre very clear that they think they have a commercial solution, as in a solution they can build and use effectively, Linden said. Its not necessarily cost-competitive, but its there. Theyre taking on the risk themselves. Theyve had to find partners to help finance this. Theyre taking on the technology risk themselves, and theres still a bit of distance to go. The engineering challenge is being solved, but theres still a lot of different questions being asked. Until it becomes commercial, will people take on the risk to try and finance a project like this effectively?

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Offshore Wind: The New Frontier in Powering Platforms? - Oil and Gas Facilities

A new year isaround the corner and we all know how hard it is to stay committed to resolutions.Keeping a simple, manageable approach helps though. Investing offshore is nodifferent. Its easier to achieve your goal if you stay committed. And itseasier to stay committed if you choose a multi-asset fund. It gives you thecomfort and ease of having a fund manager making your portfolio decisionsacross countries and asset classes.

So, what shouldyou consider when you invest offshore?

Investing offshore is a journey, not a single event

The futuredoesnt play out exactly as the most recent past, so its best to ignore themarket sentiment of the day and focus on the long-term, diversifying your risksacross jurisdictions, geographies, sectors and companies. The more time yougive your investment to grow, the more likely you are to experience the fullbenefit of staying the course.

Its easier to remain committed if you invest in amulti-asset fund

Makingconsistently good investment decisions over time requires considerableexperience and discipline. So it makes sense to leave it to the professionalswho spend every day focused on identifying the best long-term opportunitiesavailable in global markets.

There will be good years and bad years, and no one knows the sequence

Witha multi-asset fund, you can benefit from positive returns across asset classesover time while spreading the risk of possible underperformance in any oneasset class. While you may not capture all of the market upside in any givenyear, this approach makes it easier for you to stay the course over the longterm.

Twodecades of disciplined, multi-asset investing

Coronation offers three easy-to-access internationalmulti-asset funds with track records between 10 and 20 years.

Coronation Optimum Growth has the longest track record and can invest anywhere globally in any listedasset class. The fund has returned 14.4%* p.a. since inception in March 1999, outperforming global equities with significantly less volatility.Find out more by visiting Coronation Offshore.

The information contained inthis article is not based on the individual financial needs of any specificinvestor. To find out more, speak to your financial adviser.

Coronation is an authorisedfinancial services provider.

*Returns are quoted as at end-October 2019. Formore detail about this fund, please download its comprehensive factsheethere.

This post was written, sponsored and provided by Coronation.

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Offshore investing - Why keeping it simple can be the best approach - Fin24

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China has been proactive when it comes to snapping up offshore oil projects abroad, with a $16bn dealsigned in Nigeria this year and a major exploration deal in the Philippines. We look at Chinas international oil ambitions.We also examine what recent discoveries mean for Guyana and whether it has moved beyond frontier country.

President Trumps decision to open up Alaska to more oil exploration has prompted both upset and delight but what does the future of oil actually look like for the region? Elsewhere, as the move towards renewables continues,we plot some of the key locations that have now banned drilling, and those still pursuing it.

Also, the UK Oil and Gas Innovation Centre announced 640,000 in funding for the University of Aberdeens workon technologies to improve offshore drilling. We learn about the implications for drilling in the North Sea and beyond.And after years of downturn,signs of recovery are gradually emerging for the offshore support market. We ask if the recovery can last.

Finally, we talk to Terra Drone about how drones could help during oil spills and examine whether oil and gas firms have a legitimate role to play in supporting decarbonisation in light of Oil and Gas UKs roadmap to offset emissions.

Chinas international offshore oil footprint

Willing to take risks in places others often wont, China is a keen financer of global offshore oil and gas projects.Where can Chinas money be found and what are the benefits and drawbacks of its foreign investment?Heidi Vellainvestigates.

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Offshore Guyana: no longer frontier country?

New major oil discoveries in offshore Guyana have propelled the country from a mere frontier to an oil and gas hot spot. But with elections looming and all eyes focused on the oil prize,Heidi Vellaasks what these new finds will mean for Guyana, and how will they be exploited?

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The future of Alaskas oil

US President Donald Trump recently opened one of Alaskas great wildernesses up to oil exploration. The question of who will do the drilling and who will receive the majority of profits is up for debate, while the measure itself will still have to get through environmentalists in the courts. So what does the future of oil look like ina land on the frontlines of climate change?Scarlett Evansfinds out.

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Shifting sands: mapping the areas turning on or off oil

In recent years, countries have banned oil and gas for environmental reasons and to pursue renewables; at the same time, other nations are actively embarking on new oil and gas exploration as they seek to grow their economies and build energy security.Yoana Cholteevamaps key locations that have stopped drilling and the ones opening to it.

Read more.

Inside the University of Aberdeens offshore drilling of the future project

In August, the UK Oil and Gas Innovation Centre announced 640,000 in funding for the University of Aberdeens Centre for Applied Dynamics Research (CADR).Scarlett Evanstalks toVahid Vaziri,a research fellow at the University of Aberdeen and CADR member, about the innovative partnership.

Read more.

Recovery room: is the offshore services market bouncing back?

After years of decline as demand plummeted, signs of recovery are gradually emerging for the offshore support market.Julian Turnertalks toMhairidh Evans, principal analyst, upstream supply chain research at Wood Mackenzie, about the oil price, sustainability and securing project financing.

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Eye in the sky the role of drones in oil spill management

Having eyes on the ground, is essential to any effective disaster management plan. Having them in the air, however, looks set the be the next big thing in the offshore oil and gas industry.Andrew Tunnicliffeconsiders the critical role drones can play after an oil spill.

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UK offshore industrys blueprint for net-zero: cleaning house or greenwashing?

Oil and Gas UK has released a report into how the industry can contribute to the UKs target of net-zero emissions by 2050, but doubts remain about the bodys commitment to limiting harmful emissions. Here, representatives from OGUK and the Union of Concerned Scientists give their perspective on the roadmap.

Read more.

The mass construction of solar panels across the worlds deserts has long been touted as a solution to the energy crisis, but the solution has rarely proven practical so far.So what needs to be done for it to be viable?

China and South Korea have plans to build an ocean-floor power network to connect their electricity grids and create a pan-Asian electric power system. We investigate the merits of the idea.And with biopowers eco-credentials dependent on its fuel, we look at palm oils use in biofuel and what it means for regulation.

Elsewhere, with the collapse of Evo Morales regime in Bolivia, we consider the impacts of political uncertainty on one of South Americas few countries with access to nuclear power. We also speak to experts to find out what role mountains could play in long-term energy storage.

Finally, we examine Nigerias new electrification grant, improving utility billing managementand a virtual reality nuclear waste removal crane.

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Triumph of the yuan: read more in the latest issue of Offshore Technology Focus - Offshore Technology