It’s OPITO’s follow up to its UKCS Workforce Dynamic Review in May, which suggested that over the next two decades around 80,000 workers will leave the sector by 2035, and in order to fulfil its ambitions strategic action has to be taken. That includes bringing in at least 10,000 posts that do not exist today,…

The argument is between the Shipowners’ Association and the Safe and YS unions – though as of writing, neither side had yet spoken to the other. Safe says that pension rights should be equal for all employees – whether a new joiner to the company or a person who has had many years of experience.…

Child mortality rates were high and one of the main factors was that there wasn’t enough fresh milk around to feed them. A man who had no children himself dedicated the early part of his career to saving other people’s. Henri Nestlé, a qualified pharmacist, combined cow’s milk with grain and sugar and produced a…

“A new era in UK energy” One of the most significant points in the calendar came in September, when energy from offshore wind became cheaper to generate than energy from nuclear power stations. And even more impressive was the fact that this had occurred so quickly. When companies were awarded contracts to generate power in…

“Building one or more artificial islands in the middle of the North Sea sounds like a science fiction project, but it could actually be a very efficient and affordable way for the North Sea countries to meet the future demand for more renewable electricity,” said Torben Glar Nielsen, CTO of Energinet. Dogger Bank, an artificially-developed…

Every cloud has a silver lining.. The North Sea operator Ineos declared force majeure on all shipments of crude oil, natural gas and condensates on its Forties pipeline system – after a leak was detected. It carries around 40% of the UK’s North Sea oil and gas output. It’s a nightmare for Ineos which only completed…

Led by Saudi Arabia, it embarked on its all-out production battle with US shale drillers 17 months ago in a bid to wrestle back control of the market and increase prices. This month as al-Naimi claimed Saudi Arabia was only trying to stabilise the market, prices crashed beneath $45pb mark, far lower than what most…

Uruguay is quietly producing 95% of its electricity from renewable energy sources, at a time when the world’s most powerful nations were arguing in Paris over relatively small changes to their own fossil fuel usage. As a result it emits only 0.06% of all greenhouse gas emissions. It is remarkable when you consider that 15…

  Last week oil prices fell to levels not seen since 2004, with Brent crude hitting $36.05pb which is a fall beyond even that set on Christmas Eve in 2008 following the financial crisis. In June 2014 producers were getting $115pb. There are several reasons for this – excess production, stockpile glut, expectations of a…

The old stories tell us that many years ago there were two giants, one in Scotland called Angus and another in Ireland called Fionn. They planned to fight in a bid to decide who was the biggest giant and to reach each other they each set about building a causeway from their shorelines to the…