Member Info for HeavyMallard

The split in the Labour ranks on NZ still rumbles on and gives us some lingering hope of an early end to the EPL. This now has widespread support from Reform, the Tories and the SNP and even Labour - for instance Wes Streeting has lined up with the GMB, Unite, Reeves, Peter Kyle and Blair and a pro North Sea camp might come to the fore during a leadership contest. I made the following comment on the DT article regarding Gary Smith's schizophrenia on the issue.

"Labour’s ban on oil and gas drilling in the North Sea is “economic madness” says Gary Smith. Labour opposes North Sea drilling, whereas Reform supports it. Yet Gary Smith's bizarre conclusion is "We’re very clear, Reform is no friend of trade unionists" So he supports his enemy and shuns the help and support of his friends. The shriveled brain of the dedicated leftist is a mystery indeed. Should have gone to Specsavers Gary."

Are we about to find out what happens when the oil flow is interrupted? https://youtu.be/fmbZwxEnAFc?si=2oxEEQDFg1ldbTCT

Thanks EV. This article should be printed out and stapled to Mad Mullah Millband's forehead. This is what happens when you run out of gas and oil distillates. A few solar panels does not save you from total economic collapse. Sadly we are headed in the same direction. Our refineries are closing and our aging gas power stations are not being replaced.

"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there .. "

You are not wrong. North Sea oil provided a financial lifeline to the UK economy in the late 1970s, generating hundreds of billions in tax revenue and helping to fund public expenditure during industrial restructuring. While it boosted the tax revenues and provided energy security, it did not solve long-term problems, as revenues were spent on day-to-day costs rather than creating a sovereign wealth fund like Norway.

"Long term that may be directionally sensible"

Have to disagree with you there - completely barmy more like. In this country renewables are unreliable, intermittent, de-stablising and and eye-wateringly expensive as a source of power. They are also difficult to integrate into our grid without considerable unnecessary expense in terms of grid expansion and require duplication of generating capacity or storage on a massive scale. Net Zero is a scam based on fantasy and lies and is causing untold damage to the economy, killing jobs and squeezing household budgets.

Some of those green jobs are largely vapourware. For instance SeAH Wind in Teeside (only opened with much fanfare in 2025 by the royal airhead KC3), which makes components for wind turbines, has just lost two major contracts and is cutting its workforce in half. Probably will be out of business entirely before long. Jobs are not only being lost in NW Scotland in the O&G industry but across a range of other industries, the common theme being either energy downstream (Lindsey Refinery and Grangemouth chemicals) or high energy consumption (Steel, Ceramics etc). The reason is high energy costs caused by renewables. So much for the Green Industrial Revolution. Not only are we destroying our countryside, we are destroying our economy.

Or great leader says he is not planning on resigning and he is going to try and rescue his failing premiership. One the planks of his (intended) King's Speech is going to be 'energy security'. Almost everyone in the country (OEUK, Reform, Tories, SNP, BCC, AGCC, HM Treasury, Unite, GMB, TBI, IEA etc etc) except for Milliband as his fellow NW cronies (Rayner, Powell, Burnham etc) knows that the EPL has to be scrapped if the NS is to experience a revival and produce some measure of energy security. The PLP must get Starmer to resign immediately after the May 7th elections. If they just try to unseat him he has an automatic place on the ballot and there is a leadership election. So, we may see something to our advantage in the next King's Speech (13th May) .

There maybe something to the speculation on a possible switch from the EPL to the OGPM (Openly Gouging People's Money). Reeves has been meeting with O&G execs and has committed to 'more drilling' . Initially I though this was just hot air as there was no mention of changes to the fiscal regime. Her pro-NS stance does put her directly at odds with Milliband, who is part of the Rayner/Burnham/Powell leadership cabal - Mainstream, which is reckoned to be a shoe-in to provide the next leader. Why would Thieves go up against the new PMs group ? Maybe because she now has nothing to lose with Starmer a dead duck and because she finally sees the folly of Labour's dumb energy policy. There is certainly plenty of support for drilling on the left (Unite, GMB, TBI etc) and they could form a centerist/Blue Labour challenge to Mainstream with NS drilling as the wedge issue. With backing from union affiliates (who outnumber party members by about 20 to 1) who knows, they might even win. Probably a complete load of nonsense, but you never know.

We have spent £250 bn on Net Zero so far and decarbonised about 15% of our power needs. This has, according to Tony Blair Institute, put us in a worse position regarding price and security of our energy mix and caused damage to our economy.

The answer, however, according to TBI seems to be that we do even more of the same expensive waste of effort. Funny sort of 'think tank' if this is the best they can do - more tank than think. The even dedicated eco-fascists like Rowlett and TBI do seem to be realizing that the wheels are coming off NZ and are worried that their Green wet dreams are about to crumble. I do like a bit of schadenfreude - keep those drill bits sharpened AB, we're going to need them.

Good spot Frac. This quote, in the article, from a lefty academic caught my eye "Green jobs is a somewhat nebulous term, and it would appear that there is little concrete evidence of what these jobs actually are" The Left, Guardian, TBI and the Unions are really beginning to wet themselves as they see the wheels coming off their beloved Net Zero and support for expensive, uncontrollable and unreliable renewable fade away. One day they will come begging for our oil - I can't wait. Net Zero - it's costing the earth, not saving the planet.

US Destroyers (the lynchpins of carrier defense and long range precision attacks) of carry around 90 offensive and defensive missiles and after 5 weeks of combat many will have empty tubes and need to be replenished. Most supplies and armaments can be replaced at sea by supply ships - Destroyer missiles cannot. They need to sail from the Arabian Sea to Diego Garcia (and back) until things can kick off again. That is why a 14 day ceasefire was agreed to.

You are correct, we are reliant on O&G (and all of the distillates and petro-chemicals that flow from them). The real lesson is that we are reliant on them for a reason - there is no viable alternative. That is what the Iranian blockade of the Gulf really demonstrates - build all the windmills you like and create as much unreliable and expensive electricity as you please, but the world still runs on fossil fuels and even small disruptions to supply are potentially disastrous for the whole of mankind.

I commented on this DT article as I cannot stand the Tory's rank hypocrisy. They still support decarbonisation and Net Zero just not the 2050 target.

"Change of heart or cruel deception?

This statement is somewhat at odds with Ms Coutinho's record over that last ten years when she supported and agreed with May, Johnson, Sunak and Hunt when they set out to decarbonise the economy and destroy our Oil & Gas industries (as of 2026 mission accomplished btw). The last Government, of which she was a prominent member, baked the Net Zero cake, iced it and then put a cherry on top. Net Zero enshrined into law, ZEV mandates, the Windfall tax (EPL), the ban on fracking, the Boiler tax, Carbon Taxes, and regulatory straitjackets on fossil fuels and massive subsidies for renewables, are all Tory inventions and pursued with vigour by Coutinho and her colleagues.

Only Reform have a credible plan to stop Net Zero - do not trust a word that Coutinho says on the subject - she and her party have considerable form as a Net Zero adherents."

There are other potential targets for the 31st MEU. There are plenty of islands in the Strait of Hormuz which could be useful as forward fire bases or to provide ground based anti-missile cover for passing ships. The Tripoli is also useful as a potentially expendable (25% the cost of a full-fat carrier) forward operating base for F35s to provide a CAP for convoys. Next week could get interesting, I just hope we get to the 25th before it all kicks off !

Not really surprised that there was no respite from the EPL today. At least some idea that high taxes and energy prices might not be good for the economy seems to have penetrated even the thick skulls in HMT, as they seem curious to meet and discuss. Still hanging in for the possibility of something positive from FY results and better production stats, whatever our suicidal Government comes up with.

Net Zero - it's costing the earth, not saving the planet.

Hi AIM and Ron. Yes I mentioned this because it shows that, for all the green blather from DESNZ, CCC, NESO and even NSTA they are beginning to quietly acknowledge that renewables really don't cut it and need fossil fuels to provide peak demand, backup and inertia. Many of our existing CCGTs are nearing their sell-by dates and will have to be replaced - some before 2030. At that point Millibrain is going to look even dumber than ever. Agree that we will still be burning LNG rather than NSG but maybe one day we will get lucky !

Net Zero - Its costing the earth not saving the Planet

"Ed Miliband has opened the way for a fleet of new gas-fired power stations to back up Britain’s wind and solar farms. He has told the National Energy System Operator (Neso) – the UK’s grid operator – that by the end of the decade it must keep 40 gigawatts (GW) of spare generating capacity on standby for days when wind and solar cannot keep the nation’s lights" https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/07/16/miliband-to-unleash-new-gas-plants-to-cover-unreliable-wind/

We are currently running at 28 GW demand, so 40 GW is a lot of capacity , especially as it exceeds our current max gas output of around 29 GW.

Net Zero - It's costing the earth, not saving the planet.

Moodys says " EnQuest should generate annually in 2022 and 2023 Free Cash Flow (FCF) of $300 million and $200 million respectively" This is quite strange as the 2022 H1 shows that we actually already had "Strong free cash flow generation of $332.1 million" suggesting we are going to be cash flow negative for 2022 H2 to the tune of $32.1 million. This is of course complete and total nonsense from the Ratings agency - I give them a TFN rating. They seem to live in there own make believe world.

Good job they were nonetheless positive about our creditworthiness - ENQ2 even went up a bit on the back of it. It really is good to see official acknowledgement that the HYN and the rump of the 7% RB (ENQ1) are deemed to easily funded at redemption from the new RBL, the 2027 debt and available cash, hopefully leaving some left over for enhanced shareholder returns!