Here are the top business stories making the headlines in the morning newspapers.


More North Sea blocks on offer

The regulator has put even more blocks up for grabs in the new North Sea oil and gas licensing round which opened last week.

A total of 34 extra blocks have been added for the 33rd oil and gas licensing round, which the North Sea Transition Authority said has been allowed following further consultation with the Ministry of Defence.

Energy Voice says the extra acreage, available in the central and southern North Sea, means more than 900 blocks are now on offer in the round, which closes on January 12.

Freedom of Aberdeen delay

Plans to grant the Freedom of Aberdeen to the Gothenburg Greats have been put on hold for two months, after last-minute agreement to honour the entire football club.

The 1983 Dons team, who beat Real Madrid to claim the European Cup Winners' Cup, could have been lined up for the city's highest civic honour yesterday.

SNP and Liberal Democrat councillors had brought forward the proposals to celebrate the Reds' greatest triumph.

But opposition Conservative and Labour groups called for the whole of Aberdeen FC to be recognised, not just Sir Alex Ferguson's team.

The Press and Journal says discussions between the two sides resulted in the decision to honour both.

However, the last-minute change meant the matter could not be settled on the day.

Lord Provost David Cameron blamed an extra two-month wait on a 1973 law.

The legislation says any motion proposing a nomination for the freedom of the city must be signed by at least 23 councillors.

It then needs to be backed by at least two-thirds of all councillors.

Mr Cameron said: "We could deal with it today, but then we'd be in trouble."

House-price warning

A decade of house price growth will be wiped out as the Bank of England more aggressively increases interest rates, it has been claimed.

Simon French, chief economist at Panmure, predicted that average house prices will fall 14% over the next three years.

He told the Telegraph: "The UK housing market faces up to its biggest challenge since the global financial crisis and arguably, given that the huge monetary easing that took place during that period is unlikely to be repeated, the coming years look more similar to the challenges of the early 1990s."

Offshore wind projects moving fast

Shell regional vice-president for offshore power Hugo Buis said work on the Marram and Campion offshore wind projects in the North Sea are moving "at speed".

Energy Voice says they are seen as a crucial stepping-stone to wider deployment of floating technology.

Mr Buis said Shell and partner ScottishPower Renewables were "working very hard" to maintain pace on the combined 5GW worth of projects secured under the ScotWind leasing round earlier this year.

Lifetime achievement award

An Aberdeen University petroleum economist has been honoured with an international recognition from the energy industry

Professor Alex Kemp received a lifetime achievement award for the advancement of education for future energy leaders at a conference in Qatar.

Energy Voice says he was selected for his outstanding record of accomplishment and exceptional impact on the sector over his 57-year career.

Households told to cut energy use

Ofgem has told households to cut their electricity and gas usage this winter as Russia's war on Ukraine wreaks havoc on global supplies.

The Telegraph says Jonathan Brearley, chief executive of Ofgem, warned "this isn't the time for complacency" as he revealed the industry regulator would launch a public information campaign on energy saving and support.

Model for the energy transition

Saudi Arabia will be a model for the energy transition at the COP27 climate summit, the country's energy minister said in Aberdeen yesterday.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman promised a "surprise" at the UN conference in Egypt next month.

He told Energy Voice: "If you come there, we will have the green initiative and the Middle East initiative in tandem with the COP27."

When pressed on what his country plans on exhibiting at COP27, Saudi Arabia's energy minister responded: "That will be a surprise for everybody."

He was in Aberdeen for the first World Energy Council Executive assembly hosted in Scotland.

City of London investors criticised by oil boss

A North Sea oil boss has taken a swing at City of London investors for a lack of support towards the sector amid the transition.

Steve Brown, of Orcadian Energy, told former UKIP leader Nigel Farage on GB News that he's "gone to people like Aviva and Legal and General and they say 'we're not doing oil and gas any more'".

Energy Voice says Mr Brown's company is seeking investment to get the Pilot find up and running.

He said: "We have a project in the North Sea, we have an 80million barrel discovery, we've got the plans ready to develop it.

"What we need now is investment to move that project forward and the City is not stepping up to the plate."

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