Piper Alpha was an oil platform located in the North Sea about 120 miles (190 km) north-east of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Limited (OPCAL) and began production in December 1976, initially as an oil-only platform, but later converted to add gas production.
North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea.
Eni S.p.A., acronym for and formerly legally known as Ente nazionale idrocarburi, is an Italian multinational energy company headquartered in Rome. It is considered one of the "supermajor" oil companies in the world, with a market capitalization of €50 billion, as of 31 December 2023. The Italian government owns a 30.5% golden share in the company, 1.99% held through the Ministry of Economy and Finance and 28.5% through the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.
Energy in the United Kingdom came mostly from fossil fuels in 2021. Total energy consumption in the United Kingdom was 142.0 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2019. In 2014, the UK had an energy consumption per capita of 2.78 tonnes of oil equivalent compared to a world average of 1.92 tonnes of oil equivalent. Demand for electricity in 2023 was 29.6 GW on average, supplied through 235 TWh of UK-based generation and 24 TWh of energy imports.
The production of renewable energy in Scotland is a topic that came to the fore in technical, economic, and political terms during the opening years of the 21st century. The natural resource base for renewable energy is high by European, and even global standards, with the most important potential sources being wind, wave, and tide. Renewables generate almost all of Scotland's electricity, mostly from the country's wind power.
Subsea technology involves fully submerged ocean equipment, operations, or applications, especially when some distance offshore, in deep ocean waters, or on the seabed. The term subsea is frequently used in connection with oceanography, marine or ocean engineering, ocean exploration, remotely operated vehicle (ROVs) autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), submarine communications or power cables, seafloor mineral mining, oil and gas, and offshore wind power.
Bristow Helicopters Limited is a British civil helicopter operator originally based at Aberdeen Airport, Scotland, which is currently a part of the U.S.-based Bristow Group which in turn has its corporate headquarters in Houston, Texas, U.S. In 2020, Bristow Group was merged with Era Helicopters, a large U.S.-based commercial helicopter operator that was previously a division of Era Aviation, with the two companies then continuing to use the Bristow name.
Norway is a large energy producer, and one of the world's largest exporters of oil. Most of the electricity in the country is produced by hydroelectricity. Norway is one of the leading countries in the electrification of its transport sector, with the largest fleet of electric vehicles per capita in the world.
The Forties Oil Field is the second largest oil field in the North Sea, after the Clair oilfield, which is located 110 miles east of Aberdeen. It was discovered in 1970 and first produced oil in 1975 under ownership of British Petroleum, now called BP.
Deepwater drilling, or deep well drilling, is the process of creating holes in the Earth's crust using a drilling rig for oil extraction under the deep sea. There are approximately 3400 deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico with depths greater than 150 meters.
Petroleum industry in Guyana is rapidly evolving. Guyana has emerged as one of the newest petroleum producing regions in the world, achieving its first commercial grade crude oil draw in December 2019. Crude oil is sent abroad for refining.
BP p.l.c. is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. It is one of the oil and gas "supermajors" and one of the world's largest companies measured by revenues and profits. It is a vertically integrated company operating in all areas of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and extraction, refining, distribution and marketing, power generation, and trading.
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange. A core component of Big Oil, Shell is the second largest investor-owned oil and gas company in the world by revenue, and among the world's largest companies out of any industry. Measured by both its own emissions, and the emissions of all the fossil fuels it sells, Shell was the ninth-largest corporate producer of greenhouse gas emissions in the period 1988–2015.
Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), formerly known as Oil and Gas UK (OGUK), is a trade association for the United Kingdom offshore energies industry. The current Chief Executive is David Whitehouse.
The oil and gas industry plays a central role in the economy of the United Kingdom. Oil and gas account for more than three-quarters of the UK's total primary energy needs. Oil provides 97 per cent of the fuel for transport, and gas is a key fuel for heating and electricity generation. Transport, heating and electricity each account for about one-third of the UK's primary energy needs. Oil and gas are also major feedstocks for the petrochemicals industries producing pharmaceuticals, plastics, cosmetics and domestic appliances.
Wood Mackenzie Limited, also known as WoodMac, is a global provider of data and analytics for the energy transition. Wood Mackenzie’s services include data, analytics, insight, events and consultancy across the renewables, energy and natural resources sectors.
Energean plc is an international hydrocarbon exploration and production company, with a focus on natural gas. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange as well as the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Carbon storage in the North Sea includes programmes being run by several Northern European countries to capture carbon, and store it under the North Sea in either old oil and gas workings, or within saline aquifers. Whilst there have been some moves to international co-operation, most of the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) programmes are governed by the laws of the country that is running them. Because the governments have pledged net zero carbon emissions by 2050, they have to find ways to deal with any remaining CO2 produced, such as by heavy industry. Around 90% of the identified storage geologies for carbon dioxide in Europe are shared between Norway and the United Kingdom; all of the designated sites for storage are located in the North Sea.
The oil industry in Scotland was largely created upon the discovery of North Sea oil. The country is one of the world’s leading oil producers, and in 2020, oil and gas contributed £13.8 billion to the Scottish economy and supported 100,000 jobs. Commercial extraction of oil on the shores of the North Sea dates back to 1851, when James Young retorted oil from torbanite mined in the Midland Valley of Scotland.
Green Volt is a proposed offshore wind farm in the North Sea located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) off the East Coast of Scotland, which will use floating turbines. When consented in April 2024, it was the world's largest floating offshore wind farm at 560 MW from 35 turbines each rated at 16 MW. It is described as "Europe’s first commercial scale floating offshore wind farm".
