Petroleum Review - June 2012
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The transition to a greener future
Dennis Donald, Director, Warrego Energy
TRADING – GAS
Bulls and bears in energy trading
Expensive energy imports are a burden on any economy at a time of budgetary deficit. Crispian McCredie and Ruud Weijermars, Alboran Energy Strategy Consultants, see a trend emerging where energy traders succeed in securing cheaper supply side contracts.
TRADING – CARBON EMISSIONS
EU ETS struggles – but other schemes show promise
When the European Union (EU) set up its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in 2001, the world’s first carbon trading market, advocates heralded a new dawn – carbon pollution could be brought under control in a way that benefited the environment while not damaging industrial interests. The ETS would impose a market price on carbon, forcing huge industrial polluters to factor in emissions into their business plans. However, a low carbon price, the economic downturn and loopholes in the system have led the ETS into choppy waters. There is success on the horizon for other schemes, though, writes Mark Rowe.
DRILLING – UNCONVENTIONALS
Putting all the puzzle pieces together
The development of unconventional resources requires innovative planning, writes Gordon Cope.
DRILLING – FINANCE
Fiscal regimes: UK vs Norway
The UK and Norwegian oil and gas industries share many characteristics, including age, location and their increasing maturity. However, despite these similarities, recent activity trends and future potential varies considerably as fiscal and regulatory differences continue to mould these two countries’ industries. Here, Luke Davis, an analyst at Infield Systems, reviews E&P trends in the North Sea and discusses how fiscal regimes play a key role in shaping the industry.
DRILLING – TECHNOLOGY
Safer, smarter, simpler wells
Shell currently operates some 140 drilling rigs and 17,000 wells worldwide, and expects to drill tens of thousands more between now and 2020. Petroleum Review spoke with the operator about recent technological developments that are being driven by the growing global demand for energy and the consequent move into deeper, more challenging environments offshore and the development of unconventional resources such as shale gas.
DRILLING – WELL INTERVENTION
Challenging convention
The oil and gas industry needs a range of specialised service companies that provide a focused offering to help meet the increasingly complex technical challenges of extracting the world’s remaining hydrocarbons. As this challenge increases, so does the parallel task of maintaining, repairing and optimising the lifetime of the production and injection wells, writes Fraser Louden, Managing Director, Well Intervention & Measurements, Reservoir Group.
CARIBBEAN – GAS
Trinidad and Tobago taking the lead
The Caribbean archipelago – and Central America can be included in this too – are both divided between the ‘have’ and the ‘have nots’ as far as natural gas is concerned. One member of the group, Trinidad and Tobago, is blessed with gas reserves and resources – the rest are not, writes David Renwick in Trinidad.
LATIN AMERICA – BRAZIL
Tough times for IOCs
Unlike Argentina or other countries in Latin America, such as Bolivia, which have taken arbitrary action against international oil companies (IOCs) in the past few years, Brazil is not in the habit of tearing up contracts or confiscating assets. That said, pressure from a strongly nationalist government anxious to use oil as an engine for development is making life increasingly difficult for the IOCs operating in Brazil, writes Patrick Knight.
LATIN AMERICA – E&P
Great prospects, but a tough neighbourhood
The Argentine government’s recent expropriation of Repsol’s YPF subsidiary casts a shadow over new offshore and onshore prospects in parts of Latin America, writes Maria Kielmas.
POWER GENERATION – RENEWABLES
Future role of fossil power generation
Fossil power plants with a highly versatile operating response are the key to integrating renewables into the power grid and are an essential prerequisite if the intended rapid growth of these energy resources is to be accommodated. Andreas Pickard, Siemens AG Energy, examines what the integration of renewable energy into the European power generation market will mean for the design and construction of new power plants.
POWER GENERATION – INDONESIA
Fast track focus on renewables
Indonesia is using two World Bank loans totalling $940mn to build two geothermal power stations and a large pumped storage hydroelectric scheme as part of government plans to boost development of renewable energy in the country. David Hayes reports.
POWER GENERATION – SLOVAKIA
Slovakia’s sustainable mix
With a variable mix of power generation sources, Lubomír Sedlák explains how Slovakia should exceed its 20% renewables target by 2020.
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