British Gas owner Centrica has released a statement warning of higher energy prices for its customers. Centrica specifies the forward wholesale gas prices for the coming winter, which are 25% higher than the prices from last winter, as the main reason for the probable price rises. Centrica said in the statement that the earthquake and nuclear crisis in Japan, coupled … Read More
Chris Huhne defends North Sea tax
Energy secretary Chris Huhne has spoken against concerns that North Sea taxes will jeopardise the UK’s energy security and cost jobs Chris Huhne faced fellow MPs yesterday regarding the taxes on North Sea oil and gas companies, put into place by George Osborne’s recent budget . Huhne argued that the impact on jobs and and investment would only be “marginal”. … Read More
Centrica threaten North Sea gas field closure
Centrica has threatened to close one of the UK’s major gas fields over a tax dispute Centrica has closed three gas fields in Morecambe Bay for one month of maintenance, but has claimed it may not re-open one of them due to increased taxes. George Osborne increased the tax on supplementary gas production from 20% to 32% in this year’s … Read More
BP plans return to Gulf as profits drop
BP first quarter profits are lower than last year, after selling off production to help pay for the damages of the Gulf oil spill. BP announced yesterday that its “replacement cost” profit had fallen from $5.6bn in the first quarter of 2010 to $5.4bn (£3.3bn) in 2011. This is despite oil price being 31pc higher in 2011 than in 2010.
CBI warns UK of green energy failure
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned that the UK is failing to attract low-carbon investment The CBI warned today that Britain is failing to attract enough the investment required to build a low-carbon energy infrastructure. They claim that the energy sector will require £150bn of private investment alone over the next 20 years, to replace the third of … Read More
UK Coal reports third year of losses
The UK’s biggest coal producer has reported a third consecutive year of losses Doncaster based company UK Coal has reported a losses for a third year running, the last two of which have seen losses of over £100m. UK Coal has three deep mines in Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and the West Midlands.
Shale gas may be dirtier than coal
Study suggests new method for obtaining gas from shale beds could be more harmful to the environment than coal Shale gas refers to gas obtained from shale beds through a new and more complex process of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”. “Fracking” consists of blasting water, sand and various chemicals into a shale bed two to three kilometres below ground, to … Read More
High oil price affecting demand – IEA
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said the current high price of oil is beginning to affect demand. The IEA has said the global demand for oil has been slowing over the last few months, due to very high prices. Despite their concerns, the IEA did not change it’s global oil demand growth forecast, which is at 1.4 million barrels … Read More
Oil prices at two and a half year highs
Oil prices have risen to a two and a half year high due to supply concerns and the strength of the dollar The drop in the strength of the dollar means that other commodities such as gold and silver have also risen in price. Other commodity prices are also on the increase, such as food, metal and cotton.
Chris Huhne has talks with oil companies
The Energy Secretary yesterday met with the major oil companies to discuss the new taxes on oil and gas extraction in the North Sea Executives from the big oil companies are said to have had “Full and Frank discussions” with Chris Huhne, in a bid to get their concerns over last week’s budget recognised. They have warned that tens of … Read More