Yippee Ki Yay, energy professionals! It’s that time of year again when we slow down and take in the finer things of life - but first the Energy Voice Out Loud quiz!

We have questions on companies and policy, nukes and nimbys, BP execs and BP ex-execs, all wrapped up in a festive onslaught of bells and surprises.

How will the crack team respond to a barrage of energy news questions? Who will break first? Who will come first - and who will come last? How off the rails will the quizmaster go?

There’s only one way to find out, listen now to the last EVOL of the year. Have an excellent time off, we’ll be back in 2026.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

This Week Energy Voice Out Loud was live on the show floor at the Floating Offshore Wind conference in Aberdeen, where they caught up with industry bigwigs, such as the firms behind the upcoming Green Volt project.

Energy Voice's Ryan Duff and Michael Behr were in attendance alongside E-FWD's Sepi Golzari-Munro.

Up first, Ryan spoke to Barry MacLeod, CEO of Flotation Energy, and Stephen Bull, CEO of Vårgrønn. The trio discussed the future of Green Volt, the world’s largest commercial floating wind farm, following news that CNOOC had bowed out of a deal to offtake power to decarbonise operations on its Buzzard platform. Having secured a contract for difference (CfD) in last year's Allocation Round (AR), Green Volt has no choice but to forge ahead while looking for another oil and gas partner to offtake the power it produces that will not go to shore.

Next, Sepi caught up with Claire Mack, CEO of the organisation behind the Floating Offshore Wind conference, Scottish Renewables on the final day of the event. She also met with Rob Gilbert of GB Energy as it looks to establish itself in the north-east of Scotland.

Finally, Tim Pick, the former UK offshore wind champion and current chair of the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership discusses public and private funding for the supply chain with Ryan. The pair also touch on the Celtic Sea's offshore wind market as we inch closer to turbines being deployed off the west coast of the UK.

We discuss industry demands ahead of this month's budget, Lindsey refinery job cuts, and artificial intelligence (AI) at ADIPEC.

This week’s episode features Energy Voice’s Ryan Duff and Floyd March, while E-FWD editor Ed Reed broadcasts from the ADIPEC show floor in Abu Dhabi.

First up, OEUK and Scottish Renewables teamed up this week to deliver a letter to chancellor Rachel Reeves and energy secretary Ed Miliband ahead of the budget on 26 November. The pair of trade bodies called for tax reform for oil firms, and certainty for Scottish offshore wind projects in Allocation Round 7 (AR7). Labour came into power under a strong anti-oil and gas line, however, it appears to be backtracking somewhat, leaving a little room for optimism for North Sea players. As for wind, there is a lot that needs to be done to get the country on track for its targets. AR7 will need to deliver at least 8.4 GW, but with market uncertainty, there is no guarantee that every firm that secures a strike price will bring its project to fruition.

Next up, we turn our attention to ADIPEC as Ed caught up with Toby Rice, CEO of American gas firm EQT. Their conversation quickly turns to AI, a popular topic among energy firms at the moment. Toby claims that his firm is enabling US firms to go "full throttle" on AI, thanks to the gas it produces. Toby said that the question around where the power needed to support data centres would come from was what was being asked "24 months ago" as he argued renewables are "not going to cut it".

Finally, Floyd gets us up to speed on all things Lindsey after over 100 workers lost their jobs last week. There are still questions to be asked around who will take over the site as a mysterious consortium bids for a public-private partnership with the government, and Phillips 66 has been rumoured to swoop in and change operations at the site. Local politicians and unions have been up in arms over recent redundancies after previous owner, Prax, fell into administration. This story is set to develop over the coming weeks.

We discuss Petrofac's fall into administration and how the services giant fell from grace, the first minister's warning about Reform UK, and Shell and Equinor's third quarter results.

This week’s episode features Energy Voice’s Ryan Duff, Michael Behr, and Mat Perry as they give their two cents on the week's headlines.

Up first, the trio discuss Petrofac's administration and delisting from the London Stock Exchange. The beleaguered Tier 1 firm ended last week on an uncertain note as TenneT ditched a deal on a European offshore wind farm, which ultimately brought to an end Petrofac's restructuring plans. However, this was just the straw that broke the camel's back; the firm has never recovered from scandal and bribery, or the costly contracts it signed around the COVID-19 pandemic.

Next up, Michael tells us about John Swinney's punchy comments concerning Reform UK's renewable energy stance. The first minister claims that Scotland's renewables industry would be led to ruin under a Reform government, as he and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar laid out their stalls for next year's Holyrood election.

Finally, Mat rounds up Shell's third-quarter results as the London supermajor beats analyst expectations. This comes as the firm looks to offload its UK assets to a new independent joint venture with Equinor. Speaking of the Norwegian state-backed firm, its books didn't paint as positive a picture as Shell's. It was revealed that the assets held for sale to form the new North Sea player, Adura, had cost the firm $650 million. However, both European majors have held true to Adura opening its doors by the end of 2025.