Latest News

Oil-bearing Sand and Gas Discovered in Greenland

rh@cliffordtalbot.co.uk (Richard Hopkins) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:04:14 GMT

Cairn Energy, the Edinburgh based oil and gas exploration and production company, has confirmed that gas and oil-bearing sand has been discovered off the coast of Greenland - a discovery which will alarm environmental campaigners with the Arctic expected to become the latest scene of mass extraction of natural resources.

Already attending site is Greenpeace's ship Esperanza, protesting about the permission granted to Cairn Energy to drill for oil in a sensitive environment. The Esperanza has been subjected to a challenge by a Dutch warship - whose captain is enforcing a 500-metre exclusion zone around the two wells in place, but the presence has been noted and reported across the world.

With the Deepwater Horizon oil spill still fresh in the memory, concerns are being raised about the potential of another huge spill - and an oil spill in the as yet 'untouched' Arctic would have repercussions that could prove disastrous. The Deepwater Horizon leak was by no means unique, as unfortunately oil spills do happen.
With hundreds of thousands of active oil wells in the world all working as intended, there have been approximately 500 major oil spills (each with more than a million gallons spilt) in the last 50 years. Certainly any oil spill is terrible news, but on the whole the success rate of clean extraction is better than some would have us believe.

Of course this new find - and subsequent seemingly urgent need to extract, with work already underway - begs the question "what happens when fossil fuels run out?". As yet there is no answer to this question, but clearly the need to find and fund alternative fuel sources must remain a priority for those responsible.

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Recent Changes to Gas Data

rh@cliffordtalbot.co.uk (Richard Hopkins) — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:01:45 GMT

Xoserve, the gas industry data manager, has identified an industry wide issue in relation to Correction Factors relating to a small number of gas meters that consume over 732,000 kWh (25,000 Therms) per year.

The Correction Factor compensates for pressure and temperature at a point of delivery and is used during the conversion of the volume of gas to energy (kWh) for invoicing purposes. For some meters a generic Correction Factor has been used which is less accurate than using a specific Correction Factor and this may have had an impact on invoiced volumes for some customers.

All gas suppliers within the UK are affected by this and are waiting for Meter Asset Managers to investigate the issue fully. Initial indications showing that it may take 18 months to 2 years to resolve the issue, as many sites will require a visit from an engineer to ensure that an accurate Correction Factor is calculated from the location of the meter.

Once the accurate Correction Factor has been confirmed, your gas supplier will use this in the calculation of all future meter readings. In some circumstances historical invoices may also need reconciling. However, the gas supplier would only make a retrospective amendment to invoices on a pass-through basis and only if they were to be charged by the Gas Transporter.

We will be updating any affected clients in due course, but if you require further information in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact one of our Utilities Consultants - we can advise if your gas supplies are above the threshold and likely to see changes.

Turnaround in Government Policies Affecting Local Councils

rh@cliffordtalbot.co.uk (Richard Hopkins) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:24:53 GMT

From Monday 16th August Local Councils will be able to sell generated renewable electricity to the grid. Upon privatising electric back in 1990, which saw the Central Electricity Generating Board dismantled and replaced by three major companies; Powergen, National Power and the National Grid Company - Local Councils were restricted from selling any excess renewable electricity into the grid (other than that generated from combined heat and power). As a result of this policy revision, not only will we see more available renewal capacity, but also, according to the Department of Energy & Climate Change, local authorities in England and Wales could gain up to £100 million per year in extra revenue.

The electricity markets are now a very different animal when compared to the early 90's - with many companies, such as Bizz Energy, emerging and failing, and many more takeovers being seen, most recently and noticeably - EDF's takeover of British Energy in 2009. From the original three above, you can now chalk up in excess of 70 suppliers coming and going over the last 20 years, all to give end users more choice in the markets.
And that's where we come in. With valuable relationships in place with the majority of suppliers, we're able to source best prices with a prompt turnaround in order to give our clients the best possible service and most up-to-date and thorough reports. We liaise with all the major suppliers and many of the smaller ones. We're constantly monitoring their performance and we review our supplier lists at regular intervals; if any supplier, no matter how big or small, fails to meet the high expectations and service levels we and our clients expect, they will be informed of this and be given the chance to improve or face being struck off our list - we don't take commission nor do we have preferred suppliers so you can be guaranteed of impartial, expert advice at all times.

In order to take advantage of our expert Energy Procurement, as well as Utility Management and Energy Consultancy, get in touch now using the links on the left for a no-obligation chat

Savings For Our Clients

sjc@cliffordtalbot.co.uk (Steve Clifford) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 12:43:09 GMT

Some good savings recently from our diligent approach:

£9,160 where a supplier charged on incorrect meter readings
£4,696 where we successfully negotiated a new contract to be backdated six months
£14,021 by amending incorrect meter readings

Just a few examples of savings we find daily for our clients.

Does your Utility Consultancy find regular savings? If not join us and reap the benefits from our highly experienced Utility Consultants.

Predictions of Energy Price Spike Emerge

rh@cliffordtalbot.co.uk (Richard Hopkins) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:02:37 GMT

Although we've seen a steady fall over the last fortnight from recent (admittedly not-that-high), high energy prices some business experts have predicted that there could very well be a price spike with oil prices potentially reaching $200 per barrel (currently sitting at $75 per barrel) as early as 2013. These claims were made after not merely studying current and historic price trends, but also considering other factors such as the energy usage of emerging countries, the remaining extractable fossil fuels and the planet's reliance on them, and the infrastructures in place to deliver the power to where it is needed. Despite Liquefied Natural Gas proving very successful, the slow uptake and modest output of renewable energy and the cost and waste implications associated with nuclear power, it seems that the dependence on gas and oil is not going to change much in the near future.

Another fossil fuel, shale oil, is touted as the next big thing but, despite plentiful reserves (it is predicted there is up to 3.3 trillion barrels available) extraction of this fuel peaks much quicker than traditional fuels and most of the associated recoverable gas is extracted in the first few years. This makes the economics less attractive that conventional extraction methods.

The predictions are contained in the report - Sustainable Energy Security: Strategic Risks and Opportunities for Business (by Lloyds and published by Chatham House) - which also reflects on the September 2000 fuel tax protests in Britain and the ensuing chaos as truckers and farmers created blockades at oil depots around the country - not something we look back on with much fondness. As petrol stations began to run dry and supermarket deliveries were halted, the general public resorted to panic buying and subsequent 'rationing' was enforced. While these predictions are merely that, predictions, we must expect an eventual increase in gas and oil prices, and the best possible advice is to be prepared.

As experts in Energy Procurement our Utility Consultants continually monitor utility prices and research the market in order to better predict future prices. This can be incorporated into budgets which we compile for clients - allowing them to be prepared and not have any nasty surprises should the markets shoot up.

North Sea Gas and Oil Exploration

sjc@cliffordtalbot.co.uk (Steve Clifford) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 06:51:53 GMT

The North Sea is set to see new exploration over the coming years. The Government has recently reported an increase in license applications to record levels. Bids have recently been received for 356 areas for developing North Sea gas and oil. This news is a boost for North Sea gas and oil following a fall in investment due in part to the financial crisis.

It is estimated that there are about 18 million barrels of oil in the Bacchus oil field alone in the central North Sea area.

BP Making Good Progress in the Gulf of Mexico

sjc@cliffordtalbot.co.uk (Steve Clifford) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:22:10 GMT

Live television coverage broadcast across the world has shown a new cap being placed on the leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. BP is quoted as saying that its next step will be to carry out tests to ensure there are no other leaks from the well and that the cap itself does not leak under pressure although they are delaying them because both BP and US Coast Guard officials believe further analysis was needed before pressure testing could begin. These tests, including monitoring, could last from six hours to two days. Meanwhile, oil will still leak into the Gulf. The old cap, removed on Saturday, did not have a tight fit and allowed crude oil to escape.

It is also reported that one of two relief wells being drilled adjacent to the leaking well, is only about 100 feet from the leaking well. These relief wells are meant to intercept the oil from the leaking well and divert it away from the broken pipes causing the leaks and into new pipes.

Utility Broker Charges are High

sjc@cliffordtalbot.co.uk (Steve Clifford) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 09:09:48 GMT

During an investigation for a new Utility Bureau Service client of ours, it came to light that the commission being paid by the electricity supply company to the Utility Broker who formerly acted on behalf of this new client, was about twice as much as we are now charging as a fixed fee.

As we all know, any commission that all Utility Companies pay to a Brokers, is added to the prices at the time of tendering so that clients pay for the commission but don’t know how much it is as there is no legal obligation to disclose it. Therefore, in this instance and in the majority of all other cases, the client ends up actually paying more for the Broker than paying us a fixed fee. However, the client thinks that they are saving money as the many Brokers claim that their service is free or self financing. In addition, our own approach is a much more comprehensive service as we take over all of the procurement and billing duties (checking, validation, chasing credits etc) whereas, most Brokers do not. The end result is client’s of ours get a much better Utility Consultancy service but at a much lower overall cost.

It is about time Government introduced legislation to stop this practice as many organisations are led to believe that using a Utility Broker is cheaper than using our type of Utility Consultancy.

To find out more about our approach, contacts us today.

Unwelcome Impact of England's World Cup Exploits

rh@cliffordtalbot.co.uk (Richard Hopkins) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:26:32 GMT

While most of us just want to forget about the recent displays by the National team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, it is interesting to note the effects on the market at the times of England's recent matches. Fortunately for most (if you can consider it as 'fortunate'), the majority of England's games were outside of normal office hours - but the effects of the Slovenia game at 14:00BST on Wednesday June 23rd saw a lot of staff from all lines of work absent from their posts which gave an irregular market movement and resulted in suppliers withdrawing prices as a knee-jerk reaction (something some of the players were missing perhaps...).

Although market movements can very rarely be put down to single events, the fact that some traders and suppliers were among those absent from work (of course, being the expert energy consultancy we are, we had all hands on deck at all times!), and with many production lines reducing output during the game - the blip in usage and the inability to communicate using the normal procedures resulted in a 'better safe than sorry' attitude as suppliers covered their backs and pulled prices at short notice. This, of course, will have resulted in a lot of wasted time and subsequently duplicated work for those looking to secure business at that time.

In order to take the stress out of utility procurement and utility management, get in touch today and see what we can do for you.

China to get “Tough” on Energy Efficiency

sjc@cliffordtalbot.co.uk (Steve Clifford) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 10:12:52 GMT

Recent reports indicate that China is to get “tough” on companies who do not meet Energy Efficiency targets.

The current Chinese target is to reduce the energy intensity of the economy (defined as the amount of wealth produced per kWh of energy consumed) by 20% between 2006 and 2010. In the previous four years to date, the reduction achieved is said to be 14.38%.

Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, is apparantly stressing his willingness for the Chinese Government to take drastic action to ensure the target is met - although clearly, there is not much time left. Wen also declared intentions to shut down older coal fired electricity generating units among a number of other measures to increase energy efficiency of utilities.