Our latest energy insights
Navigation
Business Pulse: Top 10 risks and opportunities in 2013 and beyond – Power and utilities report
How can you be confident your company is able to meet the risks and challenges on the horizon? And how can you be sure opportunities aren’t passing you by?
We've identified the top 10 risks and opportunities facing the Power and Utilities sector, in the context of four key themes:
- Economic volatility – The “new normal”
- Compliance and stakeholder management – Tightening regulation
- Business model evolution – Striving for reinvention
- Operational challenges – Large scale and high risk.
Are these themes similar to those you are monitoring? Are they your top 10?
Read Business Pulse to find out more.
In utilities we trust?
Public confidence in the UK energy sector has been hit again as OFGEM warned that households are to face much higher energy bills for years to come, owing to over-reliance in the UK on imported gas.
Our latest report examines the steady decline in the public's trust in the energy market over the last decade and identifies the main elements needed to gain trust back from consumers.
We consider that in order to gain trust energy providers need to focus on delivering with the right intent and capability in three core areas:
- Deliver on expectations in every interaction with the customer
- Openness and transparency in every interaction
- Empower customers to make their own decisions
Read In utilities we trust.
Oil & Gas Eye
Our quarterly publication examines the movements of our Oil and Gas Eye index, which monitors the performance of AIM oil and gas companies on a weekly basis.
Q1 2013: Market stability is returning – new entrants have a foundation to build on and IPO activity has increased
Key headlines:
- The Oil and Gas Eye index rose 1% in Q1 2013, compared with a 7% drop in Q4 2012. This performance was slightly weaker than the 4% growth in the FTSE 350 oil and gas universe and the wider AIM market’s 3% growth.
- Market volatility for many junior oil and gas companies has meant that, since 2009, there hasn’t been more than two consecutive quarters of growth for the index. In economic terms, it has already achieved a triple dip recession.
- A stable quarter was welcomed by many market participants, and secondary fundraising activity recovered, with the £173.9m raised more than 48% higher than Q4’s total.
Power transactions and trends – 2012 review and 2013 outlook
In 2012 the Eurozone crisis and decade-low US natural gas prices pushed companies to restructure asset portfolios. In 2013, regional issues will drive a robust transaction market that is expected to outperform 2012.
Our report offers a detailed analysis of deal activity, what's been happening in the Power & Utilities M&A landscape in 2012, and what to expect in 2013.
Review of the UK oilfield services industry 2012
Our second UK oilfield services industry review (4.4Mb, February 2013) highlights the economic value of Britain's oil and gas production, and of the technology and expertise the industry fosters.
Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Indices – February 2013
"Once in a generation" Energy Bill falls short of expectations, Ernst & Young finds
Key headlines:
- Energy price hike poses questions over support for investment in renewables
- Delay in setting 2030 decarbonisation target until 2016 casts doubts over UK's carbon emissions commitment
- Businesses sceptical of Government's tax breaks for shale gas exploration
- Lack of pricing clarity around Contracts for Difference (CFDs) frustrates developers
Read the latest Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Indices.
The DNA of the COO – a power and utilities perspective
The COO's role in the power and utilities sector is typically defined by the part of the business it sits in. As with other COOs, the job's responsibilities work in tandem with the needs and goals of the CEO, as well as other variables, like the business' size and focus.
Based on survey results from P&U companies across the globe, The DNA of the COO – A power and utilities sector perspective is a snapshot of how COOs feel about their role and their aspirations within their businesses.
- For power and utilities COOs, the job's challenges are part of its appeal. Overall, 54% say the role's complexity and diversity is what makes it worthwhile, while 52% point to their ability to strongly influence the overall business' direction.
- Given the wide-ranging competencies of COOs in any industry, the global majority (40%) of those polled want to be promoted to CEO within the next five years. Within the P&U sector, this is lower, at 35%, but not through any lack of ambition.
The DNA of the COO – an oil and gas sector perspective
Based on survey results from companies across the globe, The DNA of the COO – An oil and gas sector perspective is a snapshot of how COOs feel about their role and their aspirations within their businesses.
New report benchmarks the nuclear industry
After a low in the 1990s, the nuclear industry has recently regained momentum, but rising demand for nuclear is not felt equally across the world. Benchmarking the Global Nuclear Industry 2012 is based on a series of interviews with high-level representatives from 13 countries.
Powering the UK – Investing for the future of the Energy Sector in the UK
October 2012
Energy UK commissioned Ernst & Young to prepare a report that provides a ‘snapshot’ of the power and gas sector today and its current contribution to the UK economy. The report looks at the impact of the power and gas sector in a number of broad areas, both nationally and from a regional perspective.
Key headlines
- 2011 saw another significant increase in capital investment in the Energy sector to in excess of £10bn, despite investment across the UK as a whole experiencing a decline. We expect total investment in 2012 to rise even further.
- Between 2007 and 2011 £43bn was invested in the Energy sector- more than double that over the previous five years.
- Currently the rate of investment is at a 20-year high at around 12% of total turnover for the sector.
- Direct employment in the industry grew from 83,000 to 137,000 between 2008 and 2011, with growth of 6% between 2010 and 2011.
- The indirect employment benefit is over three times the direct benefit bringing the total number of jobs supported by the sector to around 655,000.
- The total direct contribution of the sector to the UK economy in 2011 (measured by contribution to GDP) was £20.6bn, an increase from 2007 of 16%.