Cobus Loots, CEO of Pan African Resources, on delivering sector-leading returns for shareholders. Watch the video here.
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I forgot to add - the £100k a year includes subsidies. Sometimes called income tax which we all pay. I plucked the figure out of the air but I may still be close.
Continuing on from M's link 07:49
"Building renewables projects will see the UK energy industry shift towards a greater share of technical and vocational occupations, which tend to pay lower salaries than in professional occupations such as engineering.
Salaries in the renewables sector also tend to be lower than in the oil and gas sector."
Those dusting solar panels, polishing windmill blades and collecting dead birds will just have to demand higher wages. How does £100k a year sound Ed?
Romaron - clearly isnt right as you say - assume they are extrapolating bp/shell /etc profits and just counting them all as north sea - lazy rubbish but politically it works
Frac - re buybacks and sellers - on motivation of sellers i dont know - you can have big buy plans like buybacks actually trigger sellers as they know there is a buyer out there but whatever the case the buy backs are working as we are buying circa 5% of the shares back (roughly 15 mil in 300m market cap) so its going to have a concussive effect eventually (we hope). Byt even at these low buy back rates we’d be worse off if we hadnt had them in place so all in all its a positive with more to come imo
This doesn't sound right - "That’s just a fraction of the £36 billion in the profits oil companies made from the North Sea last year." Same as Labour they pluck figures out of the air.
Done, Romaron. But i wouldn't turn up at the demo.
Don't like reading this kind of articles, though : https://www.energyvoice.com/renewables-energy-transition/wind/uk-wind/553829/tens-of-thousands-of-jobs-in-scotland-rest-on-a-just-and-fair-energy-transition-by-2030-rgu/
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend" - maybe Unite are not actually Labour's enemy but Labour will listen to them.
Sign the petition. Echoes of the the miner's strike. I'd turn out for Unite in a demo.
I’ve signed at last something we can fight back hopefully it will shake them up a bit.
Https://www.unitetheunion.org/campaigns/oil-and-gas-no-ban-without-a-plan
Shared from the Harbour BB
I’m surprised there’s a willing seller … TBO someone must still think AB is going to take on more debt and with wants out or thinks lower later ….
European utilities cut renewable targets as high costs and low power prices bite
Trend of scaling back and reviewing plans highlights difficult economics of transitioning away from fossil fuels
https://www.ft.com/content/625042f5-131e-434c-9d11-af0d39e8cb60
Lex in depth: how the hydrogen hype fizzled out
Once viewed as a superfuel that could decarbonise large chunks of the economy, the likely uses are shrinking dramatically
https://www.ft.com/content/14a60649-172a-45c1-99a9-039f481430e7
So three weeks has gone since E informed us about the repurchasing scheme.So far, E or ML has bought 3,1 million shares in E for 500,000 GBP. Paying on average 0,1607/share.
UK Treasury spokesman’s baloney simply underlines the truism that able accountants obtain work in business and accountancy firms, the less than able wind up in the Treasury or HMRC.
The whole fiasco just re emphasises the point that politics is too important to leave to politicians., or the self interested charlatans who pose as politicians today.
Er? - ""The temporary windfall tax on oil and gas firms actively encourages investment to create jobs and grow the economy – the more investment they make the less tax they will pay," a spokesperson for the UK Treasury said."
I need help. Can somebody explain the logic of this?
Hi Frac - my interest in politics has come late in life. Blame it on EPL. It means that sometimes I have a fresher more naive approach to the backroom machinations. Having said that the majority of people are also pretty ignorant of the games being played. There are so many conflicting interests and positioning going on that I get lost. Expediency as always rules and many of these alliances are temporary until the election.
With all this going on you need to trust science, costs and common sense. Miliband is betting the house on technological advances. Presently he's losing but quite easy to advertise that for example "today our energy was 100% renewable/clean" which of course doesn't include tomorrow or yesterday and of course includes interconnectors (foreign energy). NZ has enough acolytes and flag wavers to suck this up without enquiry. That's the science.
Costs - where is the cheap electricity? The 9X lie is out there and on record.
Common sense - maybe it will make a comeback.
R , back to your friends answer on Ed being humoured , the same is said for MS Grahams intervention : RELEVANCE … As I posted earlier in the week what do the unions need to do to regain power ? We’ll first wait for a Labour government and second Spring a real trap to ensure populous relevance ( hence the heavy nod to the miners demise) !! The levelled North ( that’s the defunct mining , Steel & heavy industry of our powerful past are union first immigration second !!! Graham is probably smarter than Starmer just not a politicians favourite so positioning for power with the people !!! Hats off to her that’s what I say !!!!!!
Https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2024/05/19/john-robsons-history-of-the-97-scam/
Next time someone uses the 97% argument you can explain that was a lie/misrepresentation that crept through. The 9X did for a while but once they saw the evidence piling up they stopped using it. The 97% has become embedded. Its still a massive lie.
I was in the West End yesterday and needed to cross the road from South side Piccadilly to North side after visiting Fortnum's around 3:30. I couldn't. There was a line of protestors taking up the whole road and I couldn't see the beginning or end. They were going from Regents Street to Trafalgar Square. It was a March for Palestine and there were a lot of people. It was well organised but apart from the crowd the route was lined by police. I asked how long the march was so I could cross at beginning or end. They didn’t know and weren’t from London anyway. Another policeman said the tube was the best option and I crossed via Piccadilly Circus.
A couple of points. The march was hardly mentioned on the news. I’ve read 25,000 protestors and I can believe it. The costs of policing it must be huge. It was very well organised and I imagine there were many activist groups involved who join any protest march. It puts juststopoil in perspective – irrelevant. The last time I saw them [JSO] was also in Trafalgar Square and they had half a dozen lost souls around a banner.
Protesters will always go for the march grabbing the most media attention and jso are fading away but damage has been done. I’m not even sure that the late support from Unite is of benefit. Their General Secretary, Sharon Graham, is a Corbynista and wants to nationalise O&G. Mind you she wouldn’t answer Trevor Philips question ”would you nationalise BP?” on Sky this morning.
It is a favourite argument of green campaigners: Britain should go further and faster than other countries in the race to net zero to show climate “leadership”. This has always been dubious. Why would India, China, or any other developing economy deny its people improved living standards just because the UK was doing so?
But now even Western countries are starting to turn against the worst excesses of the green movement. The new Dutch coalition has released its programme for government, and at the heart of it are a swathe of pro-consumer, pro-energy security policies.
A false conclusion drawn from the recent local and mayoral elections in the UK is that there is no market for politicians who promise to unwind burdensome environmental policies. The failure of Susan Hall – who campaigned on scrapping the expansion of London’s ultra-low emission zone – to win in the city has been taken by some as a vindication of Sadiq Khan’s costly green agenda. It has also been described as a warning to the Tories to shift to the “centre” on net zero.
But Ms Hall significantly outperformed the Conservatives’ national vote share, in a city that is widely considered to be a Labour stronghold. The real lesson of her campaign is that a clear, compelling pledge on a policy that imposes considerable costs on many households galvanised support behind the Conservatives at a time when their national popularity had plummeted.
Rishi Sunak has to some extent recognised this, with his decision to push back the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars to 2035. But it was only a half-measure, since the Government has kept strict quotas on the proportion of electric cars that manufacturers must sell. There could be similar issues with the sale of boilers: ministers have only delayed the introduction of a boiler tax.
The Dutch government, as an EU member, will have to fight tooth and nail to see many of its new policies enacted because of bloc-wide climate targets. The UK has no such restriction on its freedom for manoeuvre. While Labour persists in the delusion that rapid decarbonisation can be achieved, before the requisite technology is ready, without being extraordinarily costly, the Conservatives should stand up for prosperity and the consumer.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2024/05/18/the-tories-should-go-to-war-on-net-zero-excess/
The simple answer is to put 2/3 p tax on all corporations making £1bn + profit! A corporate wealth tax
“There must be a plan now to save these jobs. Communities will be devastated. It’s not just the oil and gas areas, it’s the surrounding areas too.”
Sir Keir previously said his party would continue licences still in operation but would not grant new ones.
However, Unite said this policy was “dangerously premature and reckless”.
The so-called No Ban Without a Plan campaign comes as Labour drafts its election manifesto.
One of Unite’s key aims is to ensure the pledges made by the Opposition, such as to halt new drilling and raise the windfall tax, are not written into any formal election pledges.
It sets the stage for a major battle across Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), which must approve the manifesto.
Unite has two delegates on the NEC, as does the GMB, the other main union for oil and gas workers. Both are threatening to undermine any manifesto embodying the pledges.
Speaking to the Press Association, shadow Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said Labour had a “non-negotiable commitment to a proud future for the North Sea”.
Ms Graham said: “Why would we pull the plug on new licences and new jobs when there is clearly no viable plan for the replacement of North Sea jobs right now. In the 1980s, the decimation of Britain’s coal mines shattered lives and destroyed communities, forever.
“If Labour fails to learn these lessons in the North Sea it will be a historic betrayal. Unite will not stand by and watch workers thrown on the scrap heap.”
Union chiefs are pursuing a campaign against Sir Keir Starmer in six key Scottish constituencies
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/05/17/union-backlash-over-labours-plans-to-shut-down-the-north-se/
Labour’s plans to ban new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea have been branded “dangerously premature and reckless” by its biggest union donor, Unite.
Union chiefs are pursuing a campaign against Sir Keir Starmer in six key Scottish constituencies, all of which are heavily reliant on the fossil fuel industry.
The rebellion could threaten Labour’s hopes of seizing the seats at the next election, as Unite seeks to mobilise local offshore workers and their communities.
Unite is demanding the Opposition ditch plans to abolish all new oil and gas exploration and boost the existing 75pc windfall tax on oil and gas producers by a further 3pc.
Without abandoning these policies, it has warned companies will exit the North Sea and destroy 30,000 jobs in the process.
It comes after US oil giant Chevron confirmed on Thursday it is quitting the North Sea after 55 years, as it claimed it was no longer viable to operate there.
Unite’s attack on Labour could serve as a significant blow to Sir Keir if it dents his party’s hopes of winning at least an extra 20 seats across Scotland.
It has targeted six key election constitutes as part of its campaign, including Aberdeenshire North and Moray, Aberdeen North, Alloa and Grangemouth, Bathgate and Linlithgow, Falkirk and Orkney and Shetland.
Sharon Graham, the union’s general secretary, said: “We don’t want the oil and gas workers in Scotland to become the coal miners of our generation.
“We’re clearly saying to Labour, ‘don’t let go of one rope before you get hold of another’. There’s a situation now where 30,000 oil and gas jobs will be going over a cliff edge by 2030.
Maybe Stifel is referring to all jobs, inside and outside the O&G sector, as how can 100,000 jobs be lost in a sector which has 74,100 jobs?
Investment bank Stifel had previously released analysis which estimated 100,000 jobs could be lost under a “worst-case scenario” which assumed the Labour party committing to no new drilling in the North Sea, which it has not yet done.
Https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2024/05/18/labour-and-unite-go-to-war-over-oil/
OEUK says O&G jobs have plunged from 117,900 to 74,100 in 10 years. Over the same time the number of job's in Scotland's low carbon/renewable sector has grown from 23,200 to 25,700 (and I imagine that includes dusting solar panels and polishing windmill blades).
juststopEdlying - at least you don't have to collect dead birds under offshore turbines so that's a bonus.
I think this adds a bit of colour to the discussion. Yesterday I had lunch with an old friend who is a staunch lifelong Labour supporter. He accepted that parts of Labour are ideologically driven and mistakes have and will be made. I’ve convinced my friend over the costings of renewables and their intermittency which are ignored by the Labour crusade. I then asked him why Labour tolerate such an incompetent left wing ideolog like Ed Miliband whose track record is pathetic. His demonic attack on O&G started with coal-fired power stations in 2009 finishing off the work Thatcher started. My friends did throw me because he is one of the most fair-minded and unprejudiced people I know. He said “it’s because he’s Jewish”. It threw me. He wasn’t being anti-Semitic but stating the facts about the Labour Party and the problems caused by Corbyn and his anti-Zionist approach. With Ed on board Starmer has appeal to the Corbynistas and a defence against any residual antisemitism in the Party. Then there is the bonus that the Greens and climate activists warm to him.
Another point to consider. It is pretty pointless arguing about O&G from the “essential” perspective or even energy security. Few things are more important to life than water yet it is expected to be sparkling spring water delivered to our homes for free. There have been corporate abuses (Macquarie with Thames) but fundamentally not enough has been spent on infrastructure. Up until the 1960’s rain water and sewage ran jointly. The release of sewage into rivers and the sea is mainly because they act as an overflow. If you didn’t have that option many would have what you put down the toilet come straight back to you in times of heavy rainfall. Then you have these “wild water” swimmers demanding our rivers to be as clean as tap water. I’d like it too but as with spotlessly clean air there is a cost that the politicians pretend isn’t their responsibility. I’m sure that what we see in overseas hotels as tourists doesn’t often extend to the hastily erected shanty towns surrounding many exotic locations. They are banging on about nationalising water and everything else. It too has mixed results but you can’t get away with paying Zero and you either pay through your taxes or accept that a company won’t do it unless there is a profit to be made. The parallels with O&G are obvious but once again the media is following the outrage narrative about "them" and that most disgusting of words "dividends".
Good report from Stifel, and you can call be cynical Syd from Southend, but my worry is Labour will be happy to bank the extra tax now and then think up some other revenue-raising scheme later in their expected Parliament. Going against this thinking is the pressure building from the Unions, who must know to continue with investment is about fiscal policy as much as licensing.
“EPL a ‘multi-billion-pound’ paradox
Stifel said raising the Energy Profits Levy windfall tax represents a “multi-billion-pound paradox”.
The higher tax rate would initially generate £6.5bn in tax revenue up to 2029, but would lead to lower tax takings than the current regime from 2030 onwards.
“Over the remaining life of the North Sea, we estimate the UK loses c.£20bn of tax payments if the UK North Sea is forced into this accelerated rate of decline,” the report states.
Under this scenario, Stifel forecast that the UK would see its competitiveness for investment “dramatically eroded further”, with investment “almost completely ceasing” by the early 2030s.”