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romaron, an interesting observation on the secondary impacts of a large infrastructure project – the largest in Europe – extending way beyond the 20m wide track. A 5-mile pipe to provide water for tunnelling works. I’d have never guessed. I’m sure there will be a variety of ‘oddities’ along the route.
I come out as a fan of HS2, but I will also leave aside the cost, benefits, of the HS2 argument. However, you use your local example to point to a conclusion.
You say, “I suggest there is less environmental damage using existing forms of energy because the true cost is often hidden. I was for HS2, now I'm not so sure.
There's a lot to be said for the dense energy and multiple applications of oil. It'll be around for many decades yet.”
The true cost is hidden from whom? Rest assured there will have been a detailed assessment of the ‘carbon costs’ of the HS2 construction – jobs must be found for all of those environment scientists leaving our universities. Green jobs to use the parlance. (Parasites are a cost but can have a benefit. I just hope the likes of Nicola Sturgeon doesn’t lose sight of the need for a ‘host’.)
A move to a lower carbon future will incur a capital cost and an additional environmental cost in the short term. Hidden or not, that should not come as a surprise to anyone. But when you consider the ‘current carbon cost’ assessment of the alternatives to HS2, car 7x and domestic flights 17x, I find it hard to support the status quo.
Yes, oil is a dense energy, but so too is coal. The environmental cost of burning it is too high.
Oil has multiple applications. Yes, and it is a finite resource. For a hundred years or so most of it has been burned. Perhaps it should be reserved for its other properties, some unique to oil. There are multiple ways of achieving proposition.
Talking of burning through a finite resource. Enquest has <10 years of 2P resource. This year it is being extracted and sold at only a little above current cost. Below cost if we include capital, but those costs were borne by previous holders of Enquest equity. AB will be giving some consideration to resource replacement before any dreams he may have of selling up. At least I hope he is!
Talking of dreams.
The legacy of HS2 will be an uninterrupted land route running the effective length of the country. Today we envisage rolling stock travelling at 200 mph. I can only image what might be ferrying passengers in 30-, 50- or 100-years’ time.
On a par with the thanks we give to our Victorian ancestor’s legacy of rail, water and sewage networks, future generation may be offing thanks to today’s decision on HS2. Sod the NIMBYs.
This is an angle that the environmentalists pretend doesn't exist and they are as guilty of NIMBYism as the next person. One nearer to home (very near to me in fact) is HS2. I'm not going to get into the fors and againsts of HS2 but rail travel is normally considered more environmentally friendly than driving to places.
I live in EN4 and if you google it you can see Beech Hill - Camlet Way. I regularly walk this route and it has had traffic control for months as Barhale dig up the road along the A1000.
I asked what it was for and told "water". They have now turned into Beech Hill and there were signs for a temporary blockage of the whole road so I asked if it was them. It wasn't but they told me that they would be closing or limiting access to this route for about a year as they continued westward towards Barnet. One of the operatives said it was for HS2 and I thought he was winding me up. I live miles from the route of HS2. A surveyor there then joined in. Apparently East is Thames Water whilst as you go West it is Affinity Water. My house is served by Affinity.
Apparently Affinity Water doesn't have the resources (reservoirs) to handle the requirements of HS2. Tunnelling uses a lot of water so they are purchasing it off Thames. This is in effect a pipeline so a weak association with oil but definitely a consideration. Other forms of energy have their negatives too which are mainly - unsightly and expensive - not usually vote winners.
If you look on the map you could argue why they don't use the green spaces and woodland slightly South (Trent Park - Hadley Wood)? I don't know either but the operative did say that tunnelling is a requirement to avoid knocking down mature trees and deep enough to avoid damaging the roots. Sounds expensive to me so I imagine ripping up the roads is the cheaper solution and most of us just meekly accept the disruption caused by this.
I suggest there is less environmental damage using existing forms of energy because the true cost is often hidden. I was for HS2, now I'm not so sure.
There's a lot to be said for the dense energy and multiple applications of oil. It'll be around for many decades yet.
The cited Norsk article is an advert. All energy sources have their problems:
https://www.worldoil.com/news/2020/6/19/local-protests-force-slowdown-in-norwegian-wind-power-plans
Local protests force slowdown in Norwegian wind power plans
"The proposed changes include that permits are valid for a shorter time before construction starts, height restrictions on turbines and noise requirements, in addition to local acceptance of the projects. For instance, a turbine can not be closer to a house or cabin than four times the height of the turbines.
Norway’s Petroleum and Energy Minister, who presented the white paper with the proposed changes on Friday, felt the wrath of protesters herself. Only a week ago, Tina Bru experienced being blocked physically from attending an event on the west coast while being pummeled with insults, she wrote on her Facebook page.
“It’s legitimate to be opposed to wind power, both in principle and where you live -- I understand that wind power can stoke strong feelings and heated debate,” Bru said at a press conference on Friday. “But I reject harassment, threats and vandalism.”
When you see news stories like this one you wonder - what is the future for crude oil?
We always assume that change is a long way into the future but technology to reduce carbon use is advancing at lightning speed and will be with us much sooner than a lot of people think.
https://www.norsk-e-fuel.com/en/
... was going to be the subject on the basis that where BP and Shell swim we have little option but to follow. The oil narrative and sentiment is largely about the majors and it is about as encouraging as Trump's current polling is to the GOP. But there is another view and that is from the private sector and if you stretch your imagination the large holding of AB and the EBT allows this. Today in the Sunday Times they list the top 100 Private Companies with the biggest sales.
Ineos are still ranked No. 1 and more a chemical manufacturer but at No. 33 is Chrysaor with sales of £ 1,852 mio and Neptune at 37 with sales of £1,726 mio which we are closer to. This is where it gets interesting. Both are owned by global investment groups that must have initially been attracted in the opportunities to raise capital and turn it into a saleable product. Indeed, Neptune were planning an IPO this April whilst a quick glance at EIG [owns 90% Chrysaor] shows that they put Energy companies they have an interest in into categories Active and Realised.
What this means is that there are no message boards for either but it is an interesting way to look at EnQuest. Nobody is happier than me that the traffic on this board has reduced because reading the posts of the likes of steve1964 are wasted seconds of your life that you'll never get back.
AB is still under 60 and without a male heir. He has his foundation but I wonder if he too has ambitions other than EnQuest? It's possible that his aim is to get EnQuest to a valuation that he considers fair and could sell his holding to the likes of those who bought into Neptune and Chrysaor. They are backed in turn by pension and insurance companies. If they have confidence in a money stream they will invest.
Oil is cyclical and the cycle is much longer than many direct retail investors are prepared to accept. The narrative on fossil fuels is unlikely to improve greatly but in (say) 5/10 years time there is an acceptable mix of energy then surviving companies will be valued almost on an annuity basis. Until then we will just continue making money so there'll be a gradual increase in the share price as the winnowing out of uneconomic fields and companies continues creating a shortage of producers and reserves.
Build it and they will come.