There's plenty going on in UK energy this week as Shell and Equinor's court case came to a close just in time for Ryan Duff to come back from his holiday and discuss with Mat Perry and Erikka Askeland.

First up, Mat explains why all sides have claimed victory following a ruling at Scotland’s Court of Session which overturned approvals for the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil fields. The ball is now in Ed Miliband's court as he has to write the rulebook on how UK operators calculate downstream emissions.

Ryan has been chatting with Serica CEO Chris Cox who is "always looking on the bright side of life," according to Erikka. Cox has discussed his intentions to double down on UK mergers and acquisitions after his firm previously looked to Norway. With assets being too expensive across the border and optimism that things can only get better, Cox is shopping in the North Sea. 

Finally, Carbon credits crunch Spirit Energy as it asks for “modest, pragmatic” support from the UK government. Erikka discusses how the firm which is celebrating 40 years of production from its Morecambe hub this month is running into issues with its CCS ambitions for the site. 

Ho ho ho – holy moly it’s the Christmas quiz! It’s the time of year when, once again, the intrepid team of Energy Voice Out Louders put down their news-gathering hats and grasp the turkey-stuffed cracker-wielding gift-wrapped brain teaser that is the annual quiz.

The contestants are “roustabout” Ryan Duff, Michael “the bulldozer” Behr, Mat “powerline” Perry and Jess “divining” Davies – but who will emerge triumphant? Follow along at home and see if you can do any better!

This is the last episode of EVOL for 2024. We’ll kick things off in the new year but, for the time being, enjoy!  

In this special episode, listen toRoger Esson, head of sales UK, Europe and Caspian set out the remarkable journey of Centurion Group, as it moved decisively from oil field services to supporting customers in critical industries across remote locations around the world. Energy voice news editor Erikka Askeland also speaks to Jenny Stark, head of corporate projects for Centurion, on what they are looking for in the acquisition strategy.

Christmas may be looming but the news just keeps on coming! In this festive video special edition of Energy Voice Out Loud Ryan discusses CCS permits, Erikka tackles North Sea shenanigans and Mat chats about Bernard Looney's return to energy. 

The week saw the NSTA grant a UK first CCS permit that will allow the infastructure to be installed at the East Coast Cluster. This came about as the Northern Endurance Partnership made a final investment decision on the Tack 1 winning carbon storage development. 

Erikka had one hell of a morning rounding up Serica's acquisition of Parkmead assets, “serious misconduct”'s farm down of its Earlham and Orwell developments and Connaught selling out of UK gas field to Reabold. One thing's for certain, the UK North Sea is going to be a much different beast in 2025. 

Finally, Mat has been looking into former BP CEO Bernard Looney's return to energy as he was appointed to the board of board of ADNOC subsidiary XRG. Looney left BP amid scandal involving personal relationships with with colleagues and misleading the company’s board but is set to make a return following his appointment to a tech firm earlier in the year. 

Ryan, Mark and Michael throw the script out the window as we discuss the partnership between Equinor and Shell. The new tie-up could create a North Sea production powerhouse, but are the oil majors looking to protect themselves from the Rosebank and Jackdaw lawsuits, and what will the competition watchdog have to say?

We also discuss the new Scottish budget. It left the ScotWind pot untouched and promised a raft of benefits for offshore wind and the energy transition, though it remains to be seen if it can deliver Scotland’s green ambitions.

And finally, Mark’s been chatting with Xlinks, the company looking to connect the UK and Morocco with a massive 4,000km subsea cable – just the first step in its vision for a “global grid”.