The Australian National University’s decision to withdraw A$16 million in investment from seven resources companies, including gas producer Santos, has been praised by divestment campaigners and condemned…
Scotland may become more like Norway than you think.
Thomas Berg
Scotland’s referendum debate has so far centred mainly on practical issues and medium-term choices like currency, new entities’ share of public debt, and membership of the EU. Far less has been said about…
While there may be gold beneath the surface, it’s hard to reach.
Wu Hong/EPA
Britain’s energy-hungry population is highly dependent on oil and gas, which powers around two thirds of the UK’s energy needs. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) projects that by 2030…
Plenty of gas in Siberia just found a market.
Dariusz Delmanowicz/EPA
After ten years of negotiations, Russia’s Gazprom and the China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) have announced they have signed a 30-year gas contract. Russia will from the end of this decade supply…
Mexicans are taking matters into their own hands.
Esther Vargas
In 2013, Mexico signed into law an important and controversial set of structural reforms, one of which opens the way for foreign companies to profit from Mexico’s oil holdings. An article in The Economist…
The Shale UK Summit conference is underway in London, bringing together geological, petroleum, engineering and energy economics experts. Despite all this expertise, and although much of the fracking technology…
Can CCS cast a new light on fossil fuel-fired power stations?
Alan Murray-Rust
Despite the evidence that shows greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels are leading to changes in the planet’s climate, the development of large scale technologies to slow or stop these effects has…
New horizons for offshore oil and gas development.
Flickr/arbyreed
The offshore energy industry is a market sector that must remain innovative to stay competitive to secure Australia’s energy future. Latest statistics show Australia’s total petroleum output has an annual…
While we don’t know much about oceans off north west Australia, we know they’re important.
Australian Institute of Marine Science
How do we get the most out of our marine reserves? The government is in the process of reviewing Australia’s network of marine protected areas. The review focuses on zones that exclude recreational fishers…
There’s more oil down there, and it’s the regulator’s job to make sure it comes up.
AP/PA
For decades the UK has been accustomed to filling its coffers with the bounty from North Sea oil and gas, and the jobs and tax receipts it has brought. At one time exports helped balance the books and…
Quantum mechanics has been hailed as the next big thing in technology. And quantum computers are a media favourite. But there is a little-known quantum technology that can peer beneath the earth, which…
Yasuni’s frogs are unimpressed with your lack of conviction.
Geoff Gallice
When the Ecuadorian Congress this month voted overwhelmingly to allow drilling for oil underneath the Yasuni National Park, it signalled the failure of a novel conservation proposal unlike any the world…
Drilling in Balcombe and in Lancashire, pictured, has caused a frack load of fuss.
Cuadrilla
Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Davey, reignited the row over fracking this week, when he insisted this method of extracting shale gas was no “great evil” and could act as a bridge to a “green…
The single well drilled in Balcombe caused more protest than thousands drilled in the US.
Gareth Fuller/PA
While the discovery of what appear to be substantial gas resources under UK soil is an intriguing opportunity for the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the country’s energy companies, lessons…
Grangemouth refinery: keeping the home fire burning.
Andrew MillJigan/PA
Don Fullerton, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The runaway train of 73 oil tankers that derailed and exploded in the small town of Lac-Megantic in Quebec, Canada last week left 15 dead, around 50 missing, and shows how dangerous transporting oil can…
The offshore industry need not be so dangerous if safety is put first.
PA
The explosions and fire that completely destroyed the North Sea oil rig Piper Alpha and cost 167 workers their lives remains the world’s worst offshore oil disaster. Saturday, July 6, marks 25 years since…