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

Jobs fair after mill closure

A redundancy support and jobs fair will be held at Aberdeen’s Beach Ballroom next Monday in response to the Stoneywood mill closure.

Aberdeen City Council’s ABZWorks team is hosting the event after more than 300 people lost their jobs as a result of the paper mill going into administration last week.

The Press and Journal says on offer will be a broad range of advice and support on topics including employability support, finance, welfare and benefits advice.

The main focus of the event will be on jobs, with employers from across a wide range of industries and sectors present.

Some will be offering the chance for interviews on the day, and attendees are advised to bring copies of their CVs.

English university bans fossil-fuel recruiters

An English university has been criticised by the energy industry for its decision to ban fossil-fuel recruiters from its careers fairs.

Birkbeck, University of London, has an ethical careers policy which means it will “not hold relationships of any kind with oil, gas or mining companies”, placing the industry into a similar category of banned sectors like tobacco, pornography and gambling.

“So short sighted,” commented Manchester University petroleum geoscience professor Jonathan Redfern to the policy, describing it as driven by “ideology”.

He added: “Energy companies, which is what these ‘oil’ companies are now or are rapidly becoming, are the main source of funding for research into CCS, critical for the energy transition, and for hydrogen and geothermal.”

While more work is needed, he added that “no other industry” has the capital and technical ability to deliver the energy transition. He also asked how Birkbeck University heats its buildings, if not via fossil fuels.

Louise Wood, managing director at Prodrill Energy Resource Solutions in Aberdeen, told Energy Voice it was “idealism at its worst”.

She added: “Oil and gas companies are part of the solution for energy transition. Whilst we are all entitled to our own beliefs and ethics, I am astounded that an educational establishment has taken this line.”

Alongside dozens of others condemning the move, Andy Quallington, head of geoscience information products at Getech – a firm specialising in production of green hydrogen, said “hysteria wins again, conveniently ignoring measures these companies are taking on the low-carbon path”.

Cost-of-living crisis highlighted in Aberdeen

Campaigners took to the streets on Saturday to demand action to ease the cost-of-living crisis for families.

Local community groups, trade unions and individuals in Aberdeen joined forces to take part in the national Enough is Enough demonstration.

The Press and Journal says the two-hour Granite City event – organised by Aberdeen Trades Union Council and Grampian Peoples Assembly – took place outside Marischal College on Broad Street.

Windfall tax in Europe

The European Union has agreed to impose emergency measures to charge energy firms on their record profits.

The BBC says ministers have agreed windfall taxes on certain energy companies as well as mandatory cuts in electricity use.

The cash raised is expected to go to families and businesses.

But the bloc is divided on whether and how to cap the wholesale price of gas.

EU ministers estimate that they can raise £123billion from the levies on non-gas electricity producers and suppliers that are making larger-than-usual profits from the current demand.

Earlier this month, the European Commission's vice-president, Frans Timmermans, said that fossil-fuel extractors will be told to give back 33% of their surplus profits for this year.

British renewable-energy firm accused of cutting down ancient forests in Canada

A company that has received billions of pounds in green energy subsidies from UK taxpayers is cutting down environmentally-important forests, a BBC Panorama investigation has found.

Drax runs Britain's biggest power station in Yorkshire, which burns millions of tonnes of imported wood pellets - which is classed as renewable energy.

The BBC
has discovered some of the wood comes from primary forests in Canada.

The company says it only uses sawdust and waste wood.

Panorama analysed satellite images, traced logging licences and used drone filming to prove its findings. A reporter also followed a truck from a Drax mill to verify it was picking up whole logs from an area of precious forest.

Ecologist Michelle Connolly told Panorama the company was destroying forests that had taken thousands of years to develop.

"It's really a shame that British taxpayers are funding this destruction with their money. Logging natural forests and converting them into pellets to be burned for electricity, that is absolutely insane," she said.

Time up for Halifax

Hurricane Energy has finally called it a day on a West of Shetland prospect once thought to hold 1.2billion barrels of oil.

A decision was taken to formally hand back the licence for Halifax, P2308, due to the “low likelihood of a successful economic development”.

It follows Hurricane’s verdict earlier this year, alongside partner Spirit Energy, to give up on the Greater Warwick Area.

The London-listed company said there is “no reasonable expectation that Halifax could generate “any near-term cash realisation”.

As a result, it is voluntarily relinquishing the licence to allow the company to focus its time and financial resources on alternative and more attractive opportunities.

Energy Voice says that, from the once-lofty heights of up to 1.2billion barrels of resources, Halifax was deemed to have no contingent resources being attributed to it.

Big money for Collins and Genesis bandmates

Phil Collins and his Genesis bandmates have sold the rights to their music in a deal reportedly worth £269million.

Concord Music, which has bought the rights, said the sale included Collins' blockbuster solo albums No Jacket Required and ...But Seriously!

The reported figure would make it one of the biggest deals of its kind, putting Collins and Genesis behind only Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

The BBC says stars selling their catalogues has become a major music industry trend in recent years, with artists including Blondie, Shakira, Mark Ronson, Chic, Tina Turner and The Killers also handing over control of their songs in exchange for large lump sums.

For them, the deals provide immediate financial security, while ensuring their music does not fall into complicated litigation after they die.

In return, investors - who range from record labels to hedge funds - make money from all future royalties generated by sales, streams and licensing deals.

Contract win for Heather topsides

Allseas has won the contract to remove the topsides of the 45-year-old EnQuest Heather platform in the North Sea.

The Pioneering Spirit will be mobilised for to remove the topsides, weighing nearly 13,000 tonnes, of the facility around 245 miles north-east of Aberdeen.

EnQuest said the single-lift operation is expected to take place in 2025, with preparation work to begin next year.

Energy Voice reported that no details have been disclosed on where the topsides will be taken for dismantling.

A separate contract will be awarded “in due course” for the Heather jacket.

Carbon-capture plan for Belgium and Denmark

Belgium and Denmark have entered into a “ground-breaking agreement” allowing captured C02 to be shipped across their borders and stored under the North Sea.

It means Ineos can now proceed with its Project Greensand pilot, aimed at capturing 1.5million tonnes of C02 by 2025, escalating to eight million by 2030.

Energy Voice says the scheme will be the North Sea’s first trial of the full supply chain for capture and storage of emissions, which will now proceed later this year.

CO2 emissions from the INEOS’ Zwijndrecht plant are to be transported through the Port of Antwerp to its Nini platform in the Danish North Sea where it will be permanently stored.



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