Worldwide renewable energy employment reached 12.7 million last year, a jump of 700,000 new jobs in one year despite the lingering effects of COVID-19 and the growing energy crisis, according to a new report by International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Norwegian oil and gas player Vår Energi has secured two types of permits from the country’s authorities for two exploration wells located in the Barents Sea off Norway. These wells will be drilled using a Transocean-owned rig.

UK-headquartered and AIM-listed oil and gas company i3 Energy has started drilling an appraisal well in the North Sea with a Stena Drilling-owned rig in a bid to find additional volumes of hydrocarbons beyond those encountered in the original discovery well.

As the current energy crisis sweeps across the world, the CEO of the Saudi oil and gas giant, Saudi Aramco, believes that ramping up oil and gas investments and devising a “more credible” energy transition roadmap is required to address climate priorities and energy security challenges in a bid to usher in a more secure and sustainable energy future.

The UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC) has kicked off research on end-of-life oil fields in the North Sea using the robot submarine Boaty McBoatface with the aim of helping monitor and protect the marine environment and support industry transition towards net-zero targets.

Even though Norway recorded a slight increase in gas production in August 2022 compared to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’s predictions, this is still lower than the figures from last month. On the other hand, the oil output fell behind the NPD’s predictions but is higher than the figures from July 2022.

Abu Dhabi-headquartered oil and gas company Mubadala Energy (former Mubadala Petroleum) has made a new gas discovery in Block SK 320, offshore Malaysia.

Vårgrønn and Flotation Energy have formed an offshore wind partnership aimed at decarbonising the oil and gas industry in Scotland.

Oil and gas company Neptune Energy has hired Well-Safe Solutions, an Aberdeen-based decommissioning services provider, to undertake a decommissioning campaign covering more than 20 wells in the Dutch and UK sectors of the North Sea.

Oil and gas major Shell has restarted production at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility offshore Western Australia after reaching an agreement with the Australian Workers’ Union and Electrical Trades Union.