Member Info for romaron

Keith Anderson, boss of ScottishPower (part of Iberdrola, the Spanish group) has hit back at the proposed WF tax. It will "reconsider" its investment plans if the government imposes a WF tax that it regards as unfair on renewable power generation. If equally punitive as the O&G charge then it would slow or reduce investment in UK. He said that any tax needs to include owners of gas fired power stations, nuclear reactors and hydroelectric who are making more money than anybody else.
Then mentioned that pre-sold output meant they weren't actually making excess profits. He argued that renewables deserved a lower tax rate or bigger investment incentives.
Well one of the steps he could take is get Labour and the Green Party to start telling the truth.
As for incentives they're pretty pointless at present to the O&G sector. The EPL rebate is like telling the condemned prisoner that he's gonna be executed shortly but the last meal is excellent.

Being considered according to Energy Voice today. They can certainly afford it as their production costs are 9X cheaper than fossil fuel producers according to activists like Ed Miliband and the Green Party. Talk about hoisted by your own petard.

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/electricity-price#:~:text=Electricity%20Price%20in%20the%20United,the%20United%20Kingdom%20Electricity%20Price.

We know that some days electricity came 100 percent from renewables. However, when the wind doesn't blow and the sun don't shine you need gas. As you can see from the chart that ain't easy to price. It's complicated but the public will be kept in the dark. We just about understand it; what chance the average person? The twisted arguments of Labour and associates will come back to haunt them.

*I think the algorithm is wrong anyway. Why is EnQuest caught up in gas and electricity volatility. We mainly produce oil?

It’s not so much the demand for the company’s equity that drives their price as it is demand for their product. That is not going to change any time soon because the transition will take longer than clean energy investors/activists have decided. That saying the market can be wrong longer than you can stay solvent might apply here. That's the bet.
If juststopoil succeed we'll just buy from elsewhere. Then what? They blockade pharmacists because we buy plastic toothbrushes and syringes? Then they'll attack vintage car drivers; well actually anybody who drive an ICE car, van or truck. Let's face it - if fossil fuels didn't exist they'd find something else to protest about. Getting a job might be an option?
I do love the beatific look on some of their faces. I imagine it is the same look that religious fanatics had as they were tied to the stake. Nutters!

Bit more - "David Burgherr, Research Officer at the LSE’s International Inequalities Institute (III), said: "It is striking to see that George Osborne’s reforms to the non-dom regime did not lead to many non-doms leaving. Our results show that the widely-reported drop in the number of non-doms was mostly driven by previously eligible individuals ceasing to claim non-dom status, even though they stayed in the UK.” Source: https://www.lse.ac.uk/News/Latest-news-from-LSE/2022/d-Apr-22/Non-doms

I actually think we should abolish it and charge an annual membership fee; there must be some benefit from Brexit? If it wasn't for our parents and grandparents we'd all be talking French or German. Our restaurants are now international and world class, our taxis are the best (ever tried hailing a French one?) and Frankfurt might be a past winner of the Concrete Society award but Canary Wharf has more going for it. Our transport system is great if you ignore the current strikes but driving is a nightmare but that's common in all Cities. Italians pursue the dolce vita and London supplies it in bundles. Quite a few prefer it to Italy. They won't go back.

Thanks for the numbers Bastan. Does seem like a budget leak. BP are actually up a tad and Shell flat. Not a good advertisement for London and Ithaca is down 17% within days of its IPO. I hope that the smaller O&G companies are suitably outraged. Juststopoil are winning at present because would you invest in new fields with this lack of commitment towards the sector from government?

Personally I'd be glad to see the back of the facility. If I'm offered a freebie or a cheap offer I'll take it. I might have bought it or engaged anyway. It will end if Labour get in anyway - they are too committed now in their rhetoric. It could easily include AB and probably Linda Cook. It thems are the rules they'd be silly not to take them as would any CFO not taking advantage of tax loopholes. For instance I won't need money at the 60p party due to the drink offers already received. I once got a bonus in gold bullion.
The point is that it isn't necessary to keep it. London as a financial centre has so many attributes that people would remain. Frankfurt and Paris have threatened as financial centres but London is what, the sixth largest French city by population? When non-dom was last threatened (1980's) it was kept to placate Greek ship owners. When have Greeks ever been happy with authorities, or anything come to that?
Places like Saudi Arabia offer big inducements but would you want to work there or more importantly take your wife and kids with you too?
It would do wonders for Central London property prices too. Go around at night and see how many lights are on in residential blocks in Central London. I visited Battersea. Boring but most apartments there were bought by overseas investors. One of the people I was with mentioned that they were talking about it [Battersea Development] when they worked at Security Pacific, some 40 years ago.
I'm not impressed by wealth or personalised number plates but I am by charitable works. You can't fault AB on that front. London will be largely unaffected if non-dom is ended. I am always humbled when people with little give to charity. Somebody on minimum wage helping somebody even worse off gains more respect from me than an ostentatious gift from a billionaire. And of course in percentage terms the people on minimum wage donate more.

Be Lucky

I suppose AB would say something similar about Bressay and Bentley:

"Ithaca Energy (LON: ITH) has hinted at contracts on the horizon for the Cambo oilfield, with “line of sight” to sanctioning the project next year.
Chairman Gilad Myerson said that next month he’ll be “flying abroad to Asia to lock-in slots” on upcoming contracts for the West of Shetland oilfield.
Among the closely-watched deals is a potential EPC contact for the Cambo FPSO, which analysts like Rystad Energy have speculated could still be signed this year.
“There’s a lot of progress behind the scenes. We won’t be able to announce anything of course until the project is fully sanctioned and there’s full board approval. But that should happen soon.
“All the supply chain work is happening behind the scenes in order to support an accelerated timeline for these developments,” Myerson added.
Ithaca’s operated Cambo field, and the nearby Rosebank project which it is partnered in, are targeting a key final investment decision in 2023.
Potential changes to the UK government windfall tax – whether it might be altered to not support new projects – is seen as the “biggest question mark” over reaching FID."
Source: Energy Voice

Made me think. Where's our new Chairman? Could indicate something bigger going on.

"None of this is really in the price anyway." - good point. What is in the price is a continuing attack against the O&G industry in the NS. Kinda the opposite of when bitcoin was rising for no reason other than Tulip mania. You can also argue that maybe they are right and the profits the O&G companies are making is obscene. With current lack of investment $200 is certainly possible but more likely we'll buy oil from the US or ME and take the economic hit. I think we are caught in an algorithm that is actually becoming a bit dated and at some stage will revert/relate to the real world. We haven't had an energy shortage yet. That doesn't mean we won't have one. Minds will change then and I already suspect that people are tired of the rhetoric and wondering why their electricity bills aren't 9X cheaper.

I can't see BBK being developed with this uncertainty. We'll probably just have to take the money and run. If Labour get in then they won't have an O&G industry to tax out of existence with their current policies.

Certainly is. We have a breathing space of 2 years because of our tax credits. Presently we are paying tax on profits of 25%. In the intervening time the limitations of renewable electricity will appear. The promulgation of the inherent cheapness and availablity of renewables (not supported by physics or analysis of pricing mechanisms) by green ideologists like Ed Miliband will have people questioning why their bills aren't lower. Another important point is that our product is hardly used for electricity.

At PM QT Starmer will say something along the lines of "when will the PM end the right of "very rich people to live here but register abroad for tax purposes". On the first occasion the Labour leader added: "I do not need to explain to the prime minister how non-dom status works - he already knows all about that."

I think because of RS's wife's wealth we probably have the best chance of actually ending non-dom status. I don't think it attracts the right people anyway. Call their bluff. The UK is a lot safer than many parts of the world.

Summed up nicely in Dominic Lawson's ST's column. It was mainly about repealing non-dom status and as the son of a Tory Chancellor (still around) he has plenty of excellent contacts.

"As for Hunt's budget this week. I have never known so many kites being flown in advance. All manner of supposedly imminent tax increases have been leaked to the press, covering pensions, inheritance and - this was the latest - an increase in the top rate of tax from 45 to 50 per cent. Yet not a word about the non-doms.
Come on Rishi: do what the reforming chancellor whose photo you had above your desk when you were at No 11 wanted to do all those years ago (Dominic's dad). And at the the same toime save us from Starmer's stuck gramophone needle (he's repeated it at every PM QT)."

*George Orwell said "some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them"
We just have moronic trolls like chilting and Ammu glueing themselves to this board. What a waste of effort they put in and they don't even have the intellectual defence.

I think we wait for the budget and our update. There are some unavoidable choices for the government. Because of the lies propounded by environmentalist lobbyists and activists (who will eventually move on to another "cause", getting an actual job is for the bourgeois) they think we are an easy target. This country has proven with Brexit that bandwagons are convenient and easy. It's the aftermath that brings problems.
Just stop oil is another slogan just waiting for public acceptance. It will unfortunately cause the collapse of many of the pillars of modern and industrial life. As always in politics - expediency rules.

Nearly forgot. The electricity companies who we are told now produce electricity 9X cheaper than gas must be awash with money. My electricity bill hasn't gone down and I'm told wind is FREE. Looking forward to either a massive rebate from them or to see them pay windfall tax. I'd call than win/win.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/energy-firms-face-higher-windfall-levy-on-profits-nxvntvzj6 courtesy of the Harbour board which seems to have cross-infected this board.
This is social media to an extent so headlines are really all that count to many of the new visitors here. Anything longer than one sentence will quickly lose their interest and they have been excited by basicaly, click-bait. I read both the Saturday Times and today's Sunday Times so only in the on-line version? No mention of higher windfall tax in either newspaper but it must be on the menu for potential tax raises. There's nothing new there. But here all of a sudden its an existential threat and we are being victimised.
More likely the halving of capital gains tax relied and lowering the income tax threshold for high earners. Then probaly something for second homes etc...
If they increase the EPL or whatever they want to call it the future of the NS O&G industry will take another massive hit. On the plus side (for me) it means that hospital appointments, flights and funerals will not be missed as juststopoil will have won and the M25 will stay open.
From an EnQuest perspective it means our tax (if true) will go from 25% to 35% until the remaining tax credit from past losses is exhausted ($2.6bn at 30 June). That could give us a couple of profitable years and a breathing space to move our company to a more business friendly location.
I expect our visitors to move back from where they come from tomorrow after getting excited by journalists trying to fluff up the budget on Thursday. Of course it'll hurt! Its's meant to - that's what Covid, inflation and a recession cause. If they can't handle it then maybe they're investment isn't for them or are they just trolls?

Build it - they will come but maybe we've outgrown the NS or aren't wanted any longer. I can't see oil being replaced to any great extent. There are other places to operate from.

Not exactly releveant but throwing this in from my first EnQuest AGM 2015 notes:
"Neil McCulloch knew everything. He explained that there are 5 heavy oil fields in the NS. Alba/Captain – Kraken – Bressay – Mariner – Bentley. Alba/Captain and Kraken flow unaided; the others do not. He said that Statoil haven’t yet managed to get their fields to their economic requirements (confused here because I thought Mariner was sanctioned but I may have misheard). The $15mio for data sold by Xcite to Statoil was pooh-pooed. I got the impression Statoil bought it cheap and for peanuts. He said that EOR is irrelevant for now. After primary extraction you consider it but that is like 10-15 years away.
When I said break-even at $35 he didn’t scoff but thought that possibly it was using an Early Development Plan (EDP) which is a short term (cheap) plan and not suitable for the lifetime (kinda throws a spanner in the works of the “do it like a major” quote by Xcite for Bentley. I retrieved my credibility by producing the MER UK Activity Plan which he avidly read and understood in about a minute. He used to work with Andy Samuels and said this was clearly his work. When I asked if OGA was “tokenism” he said decidedly not. The Industry had asked for this and it had powers and ambitions.
He is such a knowledgeable and polite chap he would have talked all evening but had to get a flight to Aberdeen. He said that c. $50.00 was their cost of production at Kraken."

*Remember they has an extended well test (EWT) at Bentley which would have delivered a lot of info. From a failing memory I think Statoil (Equinor) judged (correctly imo) that developing Bressay was uneconomic at the time and oil was c. $60. They could afford to put Bressay on ice. Xcite couldn't with Bentley and went bust.

I think it possible that BBK might have the scale to make floating wind turbines economic. Equinor is the world's leading floating offshore wind developer and operator.

....and a mask.

Juan, one small correction - I think it's more likely to be one pair of designer pants to go with his athletic body.

*not saying there's a connection but I still can't get out of my mind the late night dick pics I was sent from an unknown number.

I'm not sure that Brent is always a reliable guide. It is a sweet and light fuel. Kraken oil is not.
The SPR is also complicated. It is closer to Western Canadian Select which is around $65 a barrel. The discount is also to do with transport costs into the US but being a fungible commodity it won't be pushing the price of SPR oil higher. In fact the opposite.
SPR "release of millions of barrels of predominantly sour crude has left the U.S. Gulf Coast...awash in crude of similar quality to WCS."
More here: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/under-pressure-whats-weighing-canadian-heavy-crude-2022-11-10/
I'm guessing we have a better average price realised than Brent. Beyond my ken but diesel is between 23-27p higher than 4* at the pump. Not all things are equal in the world of oil.
For all we know the US needed to get rid of its SPR because of sell by dates?

...and it is warm stacked - not cold "Warm stacking is the best option if the rig is inactive for a short period, as it can be redeployed pretty quickly." Doesn't mean it was the right decision but it does give flexibility.