EVOL: Budget bargaining, ADIPEC AI, and Lindsey lament

We discuss industry demands ahead of this month's budget, Lindsey refinery job cuts, and artificial intelligence (AI) at ADIPEC. This week’s episode features Energy Voice’s Ryan Duff and Floyd March, while E-FWD editor Ed Reed broadcasts from the ADIPEC show floor in Abu Dhabi. First up, OEUK and Scottish Renewables teamed up this week to deliver a letter to chancellor Rachel Reeves and energy secretary Ed Miliband ahead of the budget on 26 November. The pair of trade bodies called for tax reform for oil firms, and certainty for Scottish offshore wind projects in Allocation Round 7 (AR7). Labour came into power under a strong anti-oil and gas line, however, it appears to be backtracking somewhat, leaving a little room for optimism for North Sea players. As for wind, there is a lot that needs to be done to get the country on track for its targets. AR7 will need to deliver at least 8.4 GW, but with market uncertainty, there is no guarantee that every firm that secures a strike price will bring its project to fruition. Next up, we turn our attention to ADIPEC as Ed caught up with Toby Rice, CEO of American gas firm EQT. Their conversation quickly turns to AI, a popular topic among energy firms at the moment. Toby claims that his firm is enabling US firms to go "full throttle" on AI, thanks to the gas it produces. Toby said that the question around where the power needed to support data centres would come from was what was being asked "24 months ago" as he argued renewables are "not going to cut it". Finally, Floyd gets us up to speed on all things Lindsey after over 100 workers lost their jobs last week. There are still questions to be asked around who will take over the site as a mysterious consortium bids for a public-private partnership with the government, and Phillips 66 has been rumoured to swoop in and change operations at the site. Local politicians and unions have been up in arms over recent redundancies after previous owner, Prax, fell into administration. This story is set to develop over the coming weeks.