In this issue

Welcome to the new edition of Offshore Technology Focus. 

No industry is an island, and a sector as bound up with technological investment and ominous climate change warnings as oil and gas knows the value of collaboration better than most. In this issue, we look at some of the more extreme examples of joint operations in the offshore sector, from the billion-dollar merger between BHP and Woodside to ongoing potential for progress within the UK’s oil and gas industry, to see if policymakers and oil companies can work together.

We also cast an eye around the world to see where, for one reason or another, offshore production is not living up to its potential. From a shortage of research and development facilities in Nigeria, to the new government and new policies of Greenland, we ask how best can governments and companies develop a country’s oil reserves, without destroying its environment.

Elsewhere, we look back on the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, and ask why many offshore operators have not made vaccinations a compulsory part of their hiring and employment processes.

We also look ahead to the COP26 summit in the UK at the end of the month, and consider whether the looming climate crisis could be something of an opportunity for oil and gas majors. The international summit could prove to be the perfect opportunity to reassess corporate involvement with oil and gas.

For all this, and our usual array of news coverage, comment pieces and data deep-dives, read on.

JP Casey, editor