Member Info for romaron

BLM - just not in Sudan. This is a follow up to the excellent post from Hunbah. I choose Africa because that is selectively chosen by Miliband and friends yet these do-gooders have effectively prevented that continent from access to electricity with inevitable consequences - read on https://www.netzerowatch.com/all-papers/heart-of-darkness

It is a kinda divide and rule with the missionaries of the NZ cult not happy with ruining their own countries they wish to proselytize and damage others. My link is to Geoff Hill who actually knows what he is talking about - the Dieter Helm of Africa if you like. I have actually met him and he is impressive.

We will never win the battle with the extremists because they are zealots who thrive on fib and fantasy. Exactly what religion does (has TripAdvisor ever posted a review on Heaven?)

I would say that renewables are in the Cathedral building stage of evolution and that could last Centuries. Archaeologists tell us of ice ages and tropical jungles with hippos wallowing in our rivers. And we think we can control the climate and tame the sun? The planet will decide - not us.

So we have to live with each other. The fact that Climate activists are almost always of the far Left and enjoy a march or a demo more than is healthy. It also follows that they hate anybody or company that earns or makes a dividend. Their grasp of business and economics is simply childish. Their understanding of engineering, geology, physics and chemistry hardly reaches kindergarten level. They are being found out but there is a lot of capital invested in renewables.

I can't wait for the subsidy tap to be turned off. We can't afford renewables.

Mayors. We've got Sadiq Khan but it's even worse for poor old West Yorkshire - it has Tracy Brabin. Anyway, the pair of them are on holiday in Rio to educate the rest of the world from the pulpit of the world's leading renewable country - the good old UK. Tracy is highly qualified (BA in Drama and appearances in Coronation Street) so I'm wondering how some of her earlier pronouncements on climate change have fared? It is especially pertinent to the BB as we have a strong Scandinavian interest but sad to say I am worried that we are subsidising Sweden. It is even worse than that. It isn't London which can possibly afford it but poor old Swansea is paying the school fees for children in Stockholm! I may have just unearthed a gigantic scandal and I could be in the running for a Pulitzer.

It goes back almost 3 years to 26 Jan 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83yXrUBr2t8 and listen from 35:30. If you are of a nervous disposition I would advise having a responsible person sitting next to you.

My intrepid investigations continue. I am working on a theory that the "climate crisis" and its solutions started as a virus in South Yorkshire near a town called Doncaster.

"For Britain, our exposure to fossil fuels led to the worst cost of living crisis in generations after Russia invaded Ukraine. " Er, we were actually lucky enough to have a scapegoat O&G industry the Conservative and then the Labour government could fleece to mitigate the cost that every other European country also suffered. I'm sure that if they had the internet in the 16th Century they would have labelled Catholicism as the root of corruption and the sale of "indulgences" (a form of subsidy) only reinforcing it. Exactly what Ed is trying to say here. Net Zero has become a religious faith so you only need to rely on core beliefs which morph into dogma and then become unquestionable truths.

No miracles have ever been proven but billions still follow their particular God. Ed's just happens to be Net Zero.

Hobnobbing with the petrostates and dictators.

https://www.agcc.co.uk/news-article/miliband-sets-out-uks-priorities-for-cop30-in-brazil

This looks so well choreographed I wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't been approached by Strictly for advice.

Https://www.agcc.co.uk/news-article/renewables-and-energy-groups-unite-to-urge-end-to-windfall-tax

OEUK are not Regulators of the O&G Industry. Negates a lot of what he goes on to say.

It came out on Friday

https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2025/october/unite-report-uk-energy-companies-making-30-billion-a-year-in-profits

It is full of inaccuracies and half-truths. It is a Communist manifesto effectively. It is prepared by the same people who wrote the previous Nationalisation Report.

I thought Unite were beginning to understand energy. On page 10 of this Report they state that gas extraction from the North Sea has a 53% profit margin but no mention of EPL. How do they expect to save jobs in the NS with this level of ignorance?

Ron SG

Forbes challenges The Guardian as a NZ flag waver. I liked this bit however "Some experts, speaking off the record, argue that while President Lula is committed to defending the Amazon, his views on energy are rooted in the past.

“He sees oil and gas revenues as crucial for attacking poverty and redistributing wealth yet existing oil and gas production has done little to tackle these issues,” said one source."

Well the attack dog at the Environment Committee had his opportunity to rip the Brazilian Ambassador a "new one" at the recent meeting. The obsequious Barry Gardiner could hardly bow lower with his fawning question (15:10:50) https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/a757c621-08fe-4b85-9b8f-f42679013cb2 and I couldn't help but compare how he treats the UK representatives of O&G. Compare this to his treatment of Linda Cook at another committee meeting. He is a cheap, smarmy bully.

But we've already paid £6 bn to Drax in subsidies and that is estimated to rise to £10 bn by 2027 (source ChatGPT) since we turned to burning wood for electricity there. No conflict I suppose because it's tropical wood in Brazil which I guess burns and grows differently to Northern climes wood? Some might say it's all a bit hypocritical but that has become the norm in Green Climate matters. But we march on comrades:

At COP 30 once the main item is out of the way - choosing the venue for COP 31 and maybe provisionally COP 32 (a lot of flights to arrange) we will have a catchy NEW SLOGAN TFFF

TTFN (Ta Ta For Now)

Hi Lochnagary, the NZESC's core purpose is to challenge and critique the government’s approach — even when that means exposing weaknesses or calling for a complete rethink. I am not sure this is true with the current committee. The Chair is a committed zealot and I don't believe he is capable of performing his role - here's a recent example https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=769222362516688

BUT none of this compares to the lies aimed at and the excoriation of Linda Cook CEO of Harbour at another committee back in July 2022 https://parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/09e28c6c-4afa-48e8-aae2-d73485784719

and we know how that ended.

Belatedly the Unions are coming around and I predict that COP 30 will be a disaster for the climate lobby. The zealots will of course continue with their missionary work but people will walk past them. Could juststopoil be revived in current conditions? I think not.

The proponents of NZ will find another crusade and the world will move on. Renewables are here to stay and that is because many countries do not have access to fossil fuels but all have sun and wind.

Today on Kuenssberg Reform attacked NZ and expensive energy. I wish he had referred to the claim that Ed Miliband made on her show on 6 November 2022 “solar and wind power is 9X cheaper than fossil fuels.”

Memories are short so in a small way we can remind others of some FACTS rather than slogans. Economics and common sense back us but there is a decreasing religious fervour that won't go away with the NZ craze. What next? Solve Global Warming and the next mission will be to stop earthquakes and hurricanes?

What comes over loud and clear watching last week's meeting is the hostility to corporate profits and the amazement that you cannot command investment into a sector that is being fiscally punished. Let's see what the budget brings. The silence from Ed Miliband either means he's been muzzled or he'll be let out and go rabid. We shall see.

You owe me Dumbly - I watched it. That is time I will never recover. Was it worth it? If you're a student of politics maybe but for enlightenment it never helped the committee. They will never change their minds - apparatchiks seldom do. The Chair, Bill Esterson is completely biased against O&G and sly digs are peppered throughout. The Lib Dem Wera Hobhouse is straight from juststopoil and the others could barely contain their distaste for O&G - always referred to as the dirty industry. There are 11 members of the committee. 5 for the first half, 2 left leaving 3 for the second half. Obviously far more important matters of state elsewhere explains the poor attendance.

The witnesses were professional although why they invited the Unite woman I cannot guess. You can see how carefully they considered their answers and I can't remember Ed Miliband being mentioned once. The Exxon guy was impressive and easily parried the amateur attempts to undermine the Refinery business and pass blame on the O&G industry. He more or less said that Refinery business was being undermined and more or less uninvestable in the UK (15:43) It was regulatory and financial attacks that gutted the refinery business in the UK. Our energy costs are just too high. EPL needs to go and at least none of the committee defended it. Wera Hobhouse said that Harbour sacked 250 people but still makes a profit and pays dividends. So f..cking what! Isn't that what private enterprise is there for?

One thing that did stick was that overseas refinery competition (ignoring Europe) has Zero carbon cost.

I imagine the committee is really only there for theatre and window dressing so maybe we should pay attention to what wasn't said. I doubt Starmer, Reeves or Miliband take much notice of what they come up with - thank goodness.

Sharon Graham GS of Unite was on BBC news. She said that energy providers and distributors were making £500 profit from our average £1700 domestic energy bills. It resulted in these companies making £30 billion in one year.

Now these figures look plucked from the air but for a change I'm happy to go along with them because we've been having the same treatment for decades. For the sake of impartiality the good old BBC let Sharon get away with her claims. I think they are so used to the culprit being automatically the O&G industry that it slipped through. No doubt Justin Rowlatt will be back to defend Net Zero with even more outrageous claims.

It also confirms that Unite are taking a stronger stance against excessive domestic and industrial energy prices. For now they appear to be on our side. The public love to hear about the leeches (a.k.a. subsidies) attached to our bills. I do hope that Dale Vince responds.

Here's how: https://www.netzerowatch.com/email-your-mp

You're confusing me M - can "dash for growth" = "sprint for Net Zero"?

This is being choreographed. From AGCC this morning commenting on the FT article [which was a leak imo but from which side?] "While no final decision has been made, Treasury officials are reported to be weighing the short-term loss of revenue — around £1billion according to the Office for Budget Responsibility — against the potential for higher growth and future tax receipts if North Sea activity rebounds."

It is either a statement of fact from the O&G Lobby or preparing the ground for Reeves. May even be symbiotic?

Has the OBR got through and finally has more leverage and is listened to?

René Médori, Non-executive Chairman of Petrofac - He was Finance Director of Anglo American plc from September 2005 to April 2017 and retired from the company in January 2018, after more than 12 years. Until December 2017 he was a non-executive director of De Beers and Anglo American Platinum Limited.

Gareth Penny, Non-Executive Chairman of EnQuest

Gareth has extensive experience in extractive industries, having spent 22 years with De Beers and Anglo American, the last five of which he was group chief executive officer of De Beers.

Sticking my neck out here but I'm guessing they know each other.

Tareq Kawash, Group Chief Executive of Petrofac

Tareq is fluent in Arabic and has extensive experience of the Middle East, having lived and worked there for 18 years.

I wonder if he bumped into AB during his time in the ME?

Just saying. If there is any synergy I think these guys will know how to proceed. They also know how to talk to governments. and politicians.

"What God has put together, let no man put asunder" - why not Lochnagary? This is a Venture Capitalist's wet dream. We can't help it that we are strong in more than one part of the industry and considered experts in end-of-life fields. We were divorced from Petrofac and Lundin back in 2010 and have probably nicked some of their personnel over the years. The tax credits are valuable but a good CEO should be able to pat his head and rub his tummy at the same time. This is a situation crying out for decisive action. I doubt there are many actual Independent O&G companies out there either interested or with the skill set to take over the rump of PFC. This is where the Unions need to step up and back the Industry. Talk is cheap.

We have people that could run a rebranded PFC because the old business plan clearly didn't work and there are few complaints about EnQuest performance with their day job. Siemens split their company and they're always bragging about being a 'transition' company. Split EnQuest. We've already got Veri Energy. Why not think bigger. I know we're 'asset rich, cash poor' presently but that would change instantly if this government treated O&G fairly. The big barrier though is of course the present government. I hope we have tabled an offer dependent on certain guarantees from Labour which conveniently we'll know all about within the month. As for the AR7 auction that must be concentrating minds wonderfully. This government has managed to destroy 2 industries for the price of 1. You really do begin to wonder if there is anything in conspiracy theories.

We surely have told Labour that we can help save jobs. I hope they're listening.

A deal involving Petrofac would indeed be "transformational". You would need a top CEO and Chairman to be in a position to scale up and complete the merger. We are a perfect fit. It could only work with Government guarantees because finance would be required and banks don't lend on speculation.