Founder Favourites: Richard Farleigh on what playing chess, investing and starting a business have in common
As oil prices remain depressed, could this signal the end of the shale revolution? November 5, 2014 Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, says Yes. A period in which crude oil prices were below $80 per barrel would begin to hurt the US shale industry. Over the past four years, the average price of US-produced WTI crude has been north of $95 per barrel, and while this has triggered [...]
Ineos targets 2018 for £2.5bn shale payout September 28, 2014 INEOS hopes to begin its £2.5bn shale gas payout in 2018, following chairman Jim Ratcliffe’s pledge to give back six per cent of revenues from its shale gas business to homeowners, landowners and local communities The chemical company intends to establish so called Ineos shale gas communities – 100 square km areas each boasting 200 [...]
UN climate change summit: Cameron to focus on shale gas extraction September 23, 2014 Today, world leaders including Prime Minister David Cameron have gathered in New York for the UN climate change summit. UN leader Ban Ki-moon, who is hosting the event, said the talks are ‘not to talk, but to make history’. He has asked more than 100 global leaders to make pledges for cutting greenhouse gas [...]
A fracking great win for Cuadrilla backed farmers August 28, 2014 It often feels as though fracking firm Cuadrilla doesn’t have many friends in the countryside. But yesterday a fracking court case came to a conclusion, which saw local farmers and landowners team up with Cuadrilla to get rid of the protesters on their land. The frackers had some backers. Local landowners from Lancashire went to [...]
Fears of threat to UK house prices from shale gas fracking rejected by government August 25, 2014 The government has stuck to its guns over fracking despite claims that the practice could be damaging to property values. The Department of Energy & Climate Change (Decc), led by minister Ed Davey, told City A.M. shale exploration would have no impact on house prices, despite suggestions homes near drilling sites could be put into [...]
John Wood looks to US shale industry boom to help growth August 19, 2014 BRITISH energy services firm John Wood Group said yesterday that it was banking on the US shale industry to drive growth, after its production services business helped offset weakness in other divisions in the first half of the year. First half earnings were virtually flat at $243.9m (£147m), but the company said it expected a [...]
Ineos moves into UK shale gas exploration as it joins firms seeking to frack August 18, 2014 Ineos has joined the dash to frack with the acquisition of a 51 per cent share of the Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL), as the company looks to take part in the nascent shale gas industry in the UK. The petrochemical company, the fourth largest in the world, announced its move into shale gas [...]
Anti-Cuadrilla fracking activists No Dash For Gas digging in wrong spot August 18, 2014 Anti-fracking campaigners No Dash For Gas didn’t quite achieve their goal yesterday pitching up on the wrong floor of the North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce to protest about Cuadrilla. The fracking company rents one of the Chamber’s floors, but protesters set up shop on a different level. “They have been informed of the [...]
Westminster and Holyrood set to clash over fracking August 15, 2014 Moves to liberalise the regulations for fracking natural gas face a rough ride north of the border, with Scotland's energy minister Ferus Ewing pledging to oppose plans that would prevent householders from objecting to drilling under their homes. The Department of Energy and Climate Change is running a consultation over whether to allow companies to [...]
Short-sighted political populism risks missing shale gas’s potential benefits August 14, 2014 The Department of Energy and Climate Change’s consultation on allowing fracking companies access to shale gas 300 metres below the ground closes today. Its overarching aim is to stop landowners forming legal blockades – a form of Nimbyism causing significant impediments to shale gas exploration in parts of the country. This is undoubtedly a sensible [...]