The idea behind voluntary offsets is simple: if your activities lead to the release of X tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, then you pay to offset an equivalent amount.
As the oil and gas sector’s biggest markets are set to shrink over the long term, because of moves to decarbonise the economy, a logical question for leaders in the industry is where to seek revenues in future.
The UK’s Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme has played a key role in developing the country’s offshore wind industry – 65% of operational and EPCI capacity is now supported by a CfD. Industry experts were closely following the results of the fourth CfD auction; would the scheme remain as popular as in previous years?
Each month, Westwood's subsea team provides a global update on subsea tree awards, with data sourced from, and analysed using, the new SubseaLogix service.
A review of offshore oil and gas (O&G) engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) activities in the first half of 2022 has been a mixed bag, emboldened by Brent oil price averaging $70/bbl in 2021 and $107/bbl in 1H 2022, there were high expectations for an influx of offshore EPC awards.
Rig activity in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, which comprises Southeast Asia and Australia, has become much busier in 2022. In Southeast Asia, however, all that activity is not completely due to increasing rig demand from operators.
Onshore pipeline installations have dropped dramatically in recent years, with the industry badly impacted by public opposition, political decisions and depressed oil and gas (O&G) prices.
March saw Chevron Singapore Pte Ltd launching a carbon offset programme for its Singaporean Caltex brand. It’s a neat idea. Customers feeling queasy about their vehicle emissions can use their petrol pump loyalty points to offset their greenhouse gas footprints through investments in carbon reduction schemes approved by the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), an independent verification programme.
Offset schemes such as this hold considerable promise for companies that cannot immediately switch to zero-carbon operations.
We kickstart Series Four of the Energy Transition Now podcast, just as RenewableUK begins first day of the Global Offshore Wind 2022 conference and exhibition in Manchester, UK.
To keep on topic, this week we're delighted to be discussing the opportunities and challenges of floating offshore wind with Alex Gauntt, Supply Chain Director of Cierco Energy.
Exploration activity over the last decade has been impacted by two major oil price crashes and a global pandemic, which have resulted in large fluctuations in drilling costs, exploration performance and discovered volumes. Despite the maturity of the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), Norway continues to be a global hotspot for exploration.
Higher oil prices in the first half of 2022 and its impact on oil market fundamentals is already showing a material uptick in offshore exploration and production (E&P) investment and rig count. This will drive considerable demand for Offshore Support Vessels (OSVs) over the next two years, encouraging owners to reactivate their idle fleets.
The pressure is rising to reduce emissions from upstream operations. The last few years has seen a reduction in total emissions and improvement in emissions intensity as companies have focused their attention on operational advancements and efficiencies.
Oil and gas exploration in 2021 was remarkably resilient despite the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerating energy transition. The high impact well count was maintained year on year, but performance dropped significantly both in terms of discovered resources and success rates.
Saudi Aramco’s initial push to nearly double its jackup fleet by the end of 2024 will result in 31 new contract awards, the majority of which are for long idled or stranded newbuild rigs
Europe’s recently difficult relationship with Russia took a turn for the worse at the end of last month. Citing a failure to pay for supplies in roubles, Russian energy giant Gazprom halted all exports of gas to Poland and Bulgaria. That action, which the Financial Times described as part of the Putin administration’s “efforts to weaponise energy supplies over the invasion of Ukraine,” added urgency to Europe’s attempts to sever its dependence on Russian fossil fuels.
Since the oil and gas downturn of 2014 there has been significant pressure on drilling service costs, including land rig day rates.
One of the most significant costs on any onshore oilfield is the cost of hiring a rig to drill the well.
Westwood Global Energy Group has released its latest tranche of comprehensive quarterly offshore market reports and with it can reveal a few interesting offshore themes that emerged from the first quarter of 2022.
In the 19th episode of Westwood’s Energy Transition Now podcasts, David Linden speaks with Tara Schmit, at Lloyds Banking Group, on "Financing the Energy Transition"
The key story of the last three months has been the rapid rise in oil and gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In December 2021, Brent oil prices averaged $74 a barrel, and by March 2022 they averaged $118, highlighting just how dramatic an impact the invasion had on global prices.
Two significant oil discoveries announced by Shell and TotalEnergies in February 2022 have opened multiple new oil plays offshore Namibia. The excitement is understandable, but how significant could the breakthrough prove to be and what challenges need to be overcome to realise the potential?
As part of its updated energy strategy to increase energy security and accelerate the energy transition, the UK is expected to increase its offshore wind targets, which currently stand at 40GW by 2030 and 100GW by 2050.
In the 18th episode of Westwood’s Energy Transition Now podcasts, David Linden speaks with Amy Bower, at Africa Oil Corp, on "The Energy Transition in Africa"
The invasion of Ukraine has shocked the world and, with it, energy markets. Commodity prices have increased sharply, sending consumer prices to politically unpalatable levels. The conflict has also increased the debate around energy security, especially in Europe, where action against the Putin administration has been hobbled by the need to carry on importing Russian gas (and to a certain extent oil).
In the 17th episode of Westwood’s Energy Transition Now podcasts, David Linden speaks with David Hughes, at New Normal, on "Why Petchems won't save oil demand"
In the 16th episode of Westwood’s Energy Transition Now podcasts, David Linden speaks with Sally Walker, Consultant at Clarity Leadership, on "The implications of an increasing dependency on data and technology"
At the beginning of January 2022 Brent prices were at $78 a barrel, well above the nadir of 2020 when they reached a low of $9 a barrel. What has been seen since has been well outside of most forecasts, with Brent prices breaching $100 a barrel on the 24th of February 2022.
In the 15th episode of Westwood’s Energy Transition Now podcasts, David Linden speaks with Martin Siegert, Co-Director at the Grantham Institute, on "What Antarctica tells us about climate change"
Some things are certain in the quest for a low-carbon energy system. Wind and solar will have a major role to play, for example. Hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage will be key for hard-to-abate sectors. But then there are areas where there is still a question mark. Nuclear energy is one of those.
Despite the energy transition, the E&P sector has so far maintained the high impact well count. Whether this will continue beyond 2022 is the question.
Offshore wind development across US states has not been uniform, with states such as Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey far more visible in terms of ambition and development pipeline Click play to watch our infographic on the US offshore wind pipeline capacity by state.
For oil and gas leaders, the challenge is how to go from villain to hero without resorting to self-immolation. A case in point: should we increase investment in natural gas when the European Investment Bank thinks “gas is over”?
In the twelfth episode of Westwood’s Energy Transition Now podcasts, David Linden speaks with Jamie Beard, Executive Director, Geothermal Entrepreneurship Organization (GEO) University of Texas at Austin
In the eleventh episode of Westwood’s Energy Transition Now podcasts, David Linden speaks with Kentaro Hosomi, Chief Regional Officer (CRO) EMEA, & CEO Mitsubishi Heavy Industries EMEA.
Choosing the right path in the transition is not easy, and at times even confusing. We take a look at one of the emerging concepts that some companies are pursuing: ‘green’ barrels.
In the sixth episode of Westwood’s Energy Transition Now podcasts, David Linden speaks with Clara Altobell, VP ESG and Business Innovation, Serica Energy.
In the second of Westwood's Energy Transition Now podcasts, David Linden speaks with Iman Hill, Executive Director at the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers.
How do 'clean energy Supermajors' and 'oil and gas Majors' really compare in ambition and approach to renewable power generation, and what possible implications does this have?
We start the year off with our review of 2020 high impact exploration activity, and a look into key wells to watch for 2021, summarised by Westwood's Head of Global Exploration & Appraisal, Graeme Bagley.
Westwood’s analysis of 3 E&P peer groups – the five Supermajors, four selected National Oil Companies (“NOCs”) and 17 selected US Shale producers, suggests that 2021 capital expenditures are likely to remain relatively flat or decrease slightly compared to 2020, at a US$50/bbl Brent (US$45/bbl WTI) oil price assumption.
After a turbulent 2020 for the oil and gas industry, 2021 is expected to see a modest rise in investment in the UK and Norway offshore sectors, assuming a US$50 per barrel average oil price. Exploration activity could recover to 2019 levels and investment in new developments is set to increase.
With the Energy Transition gaining pace, several Exploration and Production (“E&P”) companies have adjusted their business models; both to reduce emissions and to mitigate climate-related business risks.
This oil and gas, potentially, worth more than $65[1] bn and costing an estimated $24bn to discover, represents 40% of the volume found in high impact discoveries in the period. Where is this resource located? Why is it stranded and how big an opportunity does it represent?
This note gives a preliminary assessment of the Premier Oil & Chrysaor deal, from each company’s perspective and the outlook for the merged company and the wider North Sea M&A market.
Video on demand for Westwood's October 2020 webinar on the Macro Outlook on crude supply/demand, E&P behaviour/s, upstream M&A and the summary outlook for our core business areas.
Westwood Global Energy Group has appointed David Linden to the newly-created role of Head of Energy Transition. The announcement comes as the company commits to helping the energy industry successfully navigate decarbonisation.
The report covers the historic period of 2014-2019, wherein the land drilling rig market was severely impacted by the reduction in drilling activity seen during the previous downturn, particularly in the North American market.
Adaptability is in our DNA – whether that’s flexing to client needs or understanding market circumstances – and it is what I believe has led Westwood Global Energy Group to where we are today.
Graeme Bagley presents presents the results of a study of over 500 wells drilled since 2008 with DHIs reported pre-drill and compares actual success rates against global exploration benchmarks for all wells.
Following the double whammy of the collapse in the oil price and the Covid-19 pandemic, exploration plans are being redrawn and the well count is expected to drop by as much as 35% on 2019 levels.
Jamie Collard shares analysis on frontier exploration performance over the past decade, focusing on its contribution to the search for new super basins.
With Brent trading well below US$30/bbl the resilience of the oil & gas sector is once again being pushed to its limit. What does this mean for the UK and Norway upstream sectors?
RigLogix has contacted a number of rig owners and operators and the consensus seems to be that it’s going to get worse before it gets better, especially if current conditions persist.
More oil and gas were discovered in stratigraphic traps than any other trap type in the last decade. Excelling in stratigraphic trap exploration is now the key to top quartile exploration performance.
Significant cost reductions have improved E&P cashflows and should drive increased offshore tendering activity in 2020. Pricing is expected to remain competitive, however, and contractors will need to remain focussed on profitability.
Westwood has investigated success rates for exploration wells which targeted the five direct hydrocarbon indicators (DHIs) most commonly reported by companies pre-drill.
