Durham University News

Member states of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the UN agency that regulates international maritime affairs, are meeting on December 5-16 to discuss how to accelerate the industry’s climate mitigation efforts.An initial strategy – agreed in 2018, when the industry’s emissions were roughly the same as Germany’s – targeted a 50% reduction in shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and included a noncommittal aim to phase out emissions in line with the 1.5℃ temperature…

The oil and gas industry is currently enduring one of the most challenging periods in its history. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly accelerated an existing decline in global demand for hydrocarbons, resulting in the lowest oil prices for 30 years. This has left the industry facing the dual challenge of ensuring successful and safe working conditions and practices for employees while maintaining the economic viability of assets.How can operators maintain, or even raise…

New research led by the National Oceanography Center (NOC) has discovered how fast-moving waterfalls under the sea control the shape and behavior of submarine channels. These underwater channels are the offshore equivalents of rivers, but can be much larger. Submarine channels can extend for tens to thousands of kilometers offshore, providing an important conduit for the transfer of sediment, nutrients and pollutants, such as microplastics, to the deep-sea. Avalanches of sediment…

Researchers have deployed high-tech robotic sensors disguised as boulders for the first time to measure the initiation and evolution of the huge, hard-to-measure seafloor avalanches that regularly damage global networks of seafloor telecommunication cables.The so-called "smart boulders" revealed some surprising findings that will help inform where best to lay the seafloor cables that keep the internet running. Published this week in the journal Nature Communications, this research shows that submarine avalanches of rock and sand…

San Leon Energy, the AIM listed company focused on oil and gas exploration in Europe and North Africa, announces the spud of the Rawicz-12 appraisal well yesterday on the 742 km2 Rawicz Concession in Poland’s southern Permian Basin. The well, which is operated by Palomar Natural Resources (“PNR”), is targeting the previously-discovered Rawicz gas accumulation in the Permian Rotliegendes sandstones. The well is estimated to take 45 days to reach a total depth of 1,900 meters and is being drilled by Poland’s Exalo Drilling. A full testing program is planned immediately after drilling and completion of the well, assuming positive results. PNR holds 65% and is operator of the concession, with San Leon holding the remaining 35%.

Dana Gas PJSC, a publicly-listed natural gas company in the Middle East, has announced the appointment of Patrick Allman-Ward as the new Group CEO for the company with effect from September 1, 2013. The company, which is listed on the Abu Dhabi Exchange (ADX) and recently announced the successful refinancing of its $1 billion sukuk, conducted an extensive executive search process after the retirement last year of its CEO, Ahmed Al-Arbeed, who remains a Member of the Board. The incoming CEO Dr.

Oil and gas industry offers ex-military personnel chance for a challenging second career. A former soldier has swapped foreign battlefields for the oil and gas industry, highlighting the vital role transferrable skills can play in addressing talent shortages within the energy sector. Duncan Harwood spent five years in the armed forces, leading soldiers on tours of Iraq and Northern Ireland, along with managing construction sites in the Falkland Islands. The 32-year-old has now joined Aberdeen-headquartered independent energy consultancy ADIL as a subsea project engineer.