Energy Voice – Out Loud

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?