In this issue

Welcome to the latest issue of Offshore Technology Focus and the first on our new platform. We’ve given our magazine a bit of an upgrade to make sure we offer you the best possible reading experience across all devices and screen sizes. Inside, you can still find our usual in-depth coverage of the big stories in the offshore oil and gas industry, comment on market developments from our industry analysts, and exclusive data from GlobalData.

Use the navigation arrows on the edge of the page to swipe through the magazine. You can also use the menu button in the header to see this issue’s content at a glance and jump directly to a section or article.

We hope you enjoy the new reading experience. Here’s what we’ve got lined up in this issue:

The question, “is natural gas a green power source?” may imply a simple answer in the negative, considering the non-renewable nature of gas, but the issue is more complex. With natural gas notably less environmentally harmful than energy sources such as coal and oil, some have called for gas to be included in legislation aimed to decarbonise Europe’s energy, mix, arguing that gas occupies a unique place between other fossil fuels and renewables, both relatively established and relatively less harmful. 

The debate seems similar to older discussions about the role of nuclear power in the world’s future energy mix, with increasingly desperate climate targets forcing companies, governments and decision-makers to consider a more sophisticated means of defining power sources than simply stating “fossil fuels bad, wind farms good”. But is natural gas truly deserving of the same social status and legal protections as truly renewable power? And what precedent could the decision ultimately set for the future of natural gas? We dig deeper into these questions in this issue.

Elsewhere, we speak to smart process imaging company Rocsole about its use of artificial intelligence and predictive technologies, as the offshore industry comes to rely ever more heavily on technology that would once have been considered “emerging”, but is now a core component of many industrial sectors. 

We also go around the world to investigate some of the biggest stories in the oil industry. From exploration off the coast of Egypt to unrest in Kazakhstan, many of the world’s leading oil producers face more questions than answers as both national energy grids and the global energy mix face an uncertain future. 

For all this, and our usual range of news, views and analysis, read on. 

JP Casey, editor