North Sea Oil Producer Slams the UK's Windfall Tax

By City A.M - May 27, 2025

• The chief executive of Enquest criticizes the UK's Energy Profits Levy, claiming it is doing "irreversible damage" to the oil and gas industry and discouraging investment.
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• Due to the heavy tax burden, the company is planning a "disciplined approach" to investment and expects to pay a significant amount in windfall tax in June 2025.
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• Enquest argues that the UK is the only country levying a windfall tax on its domestic energy producers where no windfall profits exist, further impacting competitiveness.

The boss of Enquest has slammed the windfall tax on oil and gas firms as doing “irreversible damage” to the industry and “driving job losses across the sector”.

Amjad Bseisu, Enquest’s chief executive, called for the North Sea tax to be scrapped in an operations update on Tuesday after claiming it makes the UK a less attractive place to invest.

The UK Energy Profits Levy (EPL) was introduced in May 2022 and applies to oil and gas companies operating in the North Sea.

It is designed to tax the extra profits these companies made due to surging energy prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Initially, the rate was 25 per cent, but it later jumped to 35 per cent in January 2023.

The tax has been extended by Chancellor Rachel Reeves to run until March 2030, but has a “price floor” mechanism, which allows it to end early if prices fall significantly.

London-listed company Harbour Energy slammed the government’s “punitive fiscal position” earlier this month as it axed 250 jobs in Aberdeen.

Bseisu argued: “The recent stepdown in commodity prices has further amplified calls for the UK government to remove the Energy Profits Levy and return the North Sea to a position of global competitiveness.”

Commodity prices set to tumble

The World Bank last month forecasted that weakening global growth amidst geopolitical turmoil was set to push commodity prices down 12 per cent in 2025, followed by another five per cent in 2026

This would mark the lowest levels of the 2020s and bring an end to the price boom fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic recovery and the Russia and Ukraine war.

Bseisu said the UK was “the only country levying a windfall tax on homegrown energy producers, where no windfall profits exist.”

As a result of the heavy tax burden, the FTSE 250 firm has laid out a “disciplined approach” to investment plans for the next 18 months.

The company plans to pay nearly $100m (£73.7m) in windfall tax in June 2025, which would mean most tax payments for the year will be made in the first half. As a result, the firm expects cash outflows to to be lower in the final six months of the year.

Enquest expects operating expenses to top $450m in 2025 but remains committed to “ongoing” cost reductions.

Bseisu said: “We remain focused on delivering a material UK transaction in the short term, and we are resolute in our belief that our relative advantages, both operational and fiscal, see us ideally placed as a North Sea consolidator.”

By City AM

Canada’s Oil Patch Faces Chill, But Output Still Set to Climb

By Irina Slav - May 27, 2025

• Sales of drilling rights in the oil sands of Alberta are on the decline, reversing an earlier boom.
• Sagging oil prices and Trump's tariff threats have not led to a plunge in Canadian oil production yet.
• The outlook for oil sands remains one that sees a substantial production increase over the near term.

Sales of drilling rights in the oil sands of Alberta are on the decline, reversing an earlier boom. The trend, attributed to Trump’s tariffs and the consequent oil price dive, was aggravated by OPEC+’s decision to unwind its cuts faster than expected. It’s also not going to affect production outlooks for Canadian oil.

Land prices in Alberta’s oil sands are down 18% from last year to C$771 per hectare, or $561, Bloomberg reported this week. The trend reflects a wider decline in land lease prices, at 25% from a year ago, and, per the report, the impact of President Trump’s tariff offensive against trade partners on those same partners and their vital industries.

Indeed, the tariff war weighed on international prices because they were overwhelmingly expected to cause a recession and, as a result, a slump in oil demand. Canada also implemented reciprocal tariffs on U.S. goods, which added further pressure on the energy industry in terms of costs—on top of the costs they were already dealing with in terms of emission control regulations.

So far, so normal. Energy companies south of the border are also tightening their belts and hunkering down to wait out the latest price rout. And yet the outlook for the oil sands remains one that sees a substantial production increase over the near term.

S&P Platts, for instance, expects oil sands production to expand by between 500,000 barrels daily and as much as 3.8 million barrels daily between this year and 2030, per Bloomberg’s Robert Tuttle. The IEA also expects Canadian oil production to keep climbing, breaking records. The IEA said in a report from last year that “Optimization and de-bottlenecking of operations at oil sands projects will add incremental barrels.”

Of course, both reports were published before President Trump came into office, and the outlook may have changed now, but the fact remains that production is growing—and so are exports, to China—via the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline.

The expansion project suffered years of delays and relentless opposition from environmentalists and local provincial authorities. But it finally got completed last year and started shipping higher volumes of crude from the oil sands to the West Coast of Canada. From there, the oil is being shipped to Asian markets. In a sign that tariffs could be a blessing in disguise, China became the biggest market for Canadian crude as it stopped buying U.S. oil, which it tariffed in response to the Trump tariffs.

Judging by land prices in the oil sands, these flows alone are not enough to spur greater demand for drilling. Indeed, at just over 200,000 barrels daily, per data from Kpler, the flows to China only represent around a fifth of the Trans Mountain’s new, expanded capacity of 890,000 barrels daily. And yet the operator of the pipeline is already thinking of boosting that capacity further in anticipation of demand growth. Enbridge is also eyeing a capacity expansion on its Main Line by 150,000 barrels daily, per Bloomberg’s Tuttle.

So, oil prices are down, lease prices are down, but pipeline operators expect production growth. While counterintuitive on the face of it, the expectation actually makes sense—because producers could make up for lower prices with higher output where costs allow this. There is also the matter of natural gas—and Canada’s abundant untapped resources of that natural gas—during a time of strong demand growth. There will be more drilling for gas and for light crude in the Montney shale formation. Oil sands will also expand despite land lease prices—local producers have excelled at squeezing every last drop of oil from their existing operations.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

 

Rural location and racial segregation drive gaps in primary care access in Virginia

American Academy of Family Physicians

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Background and Goal: This study aimed to identify geographic disparities of the primary care workforce in Virginia and factors associated with primary care physician (PCP) access. 

Study Approach: Researchers used the 2019 Virginia All-Payers Claims Database to identify PCPs and the number of patients seen by each physician. They then measured how many PCPs each census tract could reach within a 30‑minute drive, flagging tracts with too few as having poor access. Researchers then assessed associations between PCP access and predisposing (age, race), enabling (income, insurance), need and structural (rurality, segregation) factors. 

Main Results: 

• Nearly half (44%) of Virginia’s census tracts lacked adequate PCP access.

• Racial segregation and rurality had the greatest associations with PCP access. Tracts with higher proportions of Black residents had significantly greater PCP access than those with higher proportions of white residents, while rural tracts had significantly less access. 

Why It Matters: The findings of this study can guide policymakers in focusing incentive programs and clinic expansions on underserved areas to increase primary care physician access, which may in turn reduce preventable hospitalizations.

Neighborhood Determinants of Primary Care Access in Virginia

Hannah M. Shadowen, PhD, et al 

Department of Health Policy, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia

Department of Family Medicine and Population Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia

Medical Scientist Training Program, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia 

An accompanying episode of the Annals of Family Medicine Podcast, featuring study authors Hannah Shadowen, PhD, and Alexander Krist, MD, MPH, will be available here beginning 9am EDT May 28.

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Journal

The Annals of Family Medicine

Article Publication Date

27-May-2025

Slowly dying trees impact forest recovery post-wildfires, PSU study of 2020 fires finds

Portland State University

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image: 

This photo of the aftermath of the 2020 Riverside Fire shows fire refugia — the green islands of live trees that remain after forest fires. The Riverside Fire had nearly even relative proportions of forest loss annually for 3 years post-fire.

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Credit: Courtesy of Andrés Holz

Across the western U.S., wildfires are becoming larger and more severe — and even trees that initially survive are dying in subsequent years, making it harder for forests to regenerate, according to new research from Portland State University.

Building on previous research exploring fire refugia — the green islands of live trees that remain after forest fires — researchers in PSU's Global Environmental Change lab mapped annual changes in the extent of live tree cover up to three years after the unprecedented 2020 Labor Day fires in Oregon's western Cascades. The study, published in Landscape Ecology, is believed to be the first study of its kind to quantify changes in the spatial distribution and attributes of fire refugia as a result of delayed tree mortality.

The researchers say that if a fire event doesn't immediately kill a tree, there is potential for delayed fire effects to cause trees to die in subsequent years, including direct burn injuries as well as a combination of direct and indirect effects related to climate, insects, pathogens and heatwaves. Under warmer and drier conditions, both immediate and delayed fire effects are expected to proliferate into the future.

"These refugia act like lifeboats, protecting trees and seeds that can help the forest regrow," said Andrés Holz, associate professor of geography. "This 'delayed tree death' is changing where these lifeboats are and how effective they can be."

Alec Dyer, who graduated in 2024 with a master's in geography and works as a geospatial data scientist at Leidos, led the study. The researchers found that the amount of living forest decreased by an additional 8.5% in the three years following the fires due to delayed tree death. Though prevalent across all forest types, older, mature conifer trees and those species that are naturally more sensitive to fire were the most likely to die later.

The team mapped where live trees were standing right after the five megafires and then checked those same areas again each year for up to three years following the fires. This allowed them to see how the areas of living trees changed as some fire-damaged trees eventually died.

The analysis revealed a trend of increasing isolation among fire refugia patches over time, potentially hindering seed dispersal. However, fire refugia patches large enough to encompass core areas of deep, unburned forest were resilient to delayed fire effects, providing critical habitats for species dependent on shaded and cool conditions for nesting and foraging. In response to delayed mortality, the area with few or no nearby seed sources for new trees to grow increased dramatically by 375% — an area of nearly 19,000 acres.

"Understanding that different tree species have different abilities to survive fire and its aftermath can help forest managers develop better plans for managing forests after fires," Dyer said. "This is especially important as fire patterns continue to change, and we need new ways to help our conifer forests stay healthy and resilient."

Co-authors included Sebastian Busby, a former PhD student who now works for the Nature Conservancy; Cody Evers, a research associate at PSU; and Matthew Reilly and Aaron Zuspan with the U.S. Forest Service.

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Journal

Landscape Ecology

DOI

10.1007/s10980-025-02111-2 

Method of Research

Imaging analysis

Article Title

Post-fire delayed tree mortality in mesic coniferous forests reduces fire refugia and seed sources

 

Mental disorders, cardiovascular diseases, smoking, and road injuries among the top causes of death and disability for millions in the ASEAN region

Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

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• More than 80 million people in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have mental disorders, a 70% increase from 1990, burdening children, the elderly, and women the most.

• 37 million people in the region suffer from cardiovascular disease and 1.7 million die from it, making it one of the fastest growing non-communicable diseases and the leading cause of death.

• The number of smokers has increased in every ASEAN country and by 63% to 137 million regionally, which is 12% of the total number of global smokers.

• Some 35 million people across the region are injured every year from various kinds of accidents and incidents, and road injuries is the top cause of death in this category, making it a public health priority.

SEATTLE, Wash., May 27, 2025 – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is seeing double-digit increases in some of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity, according to the first of its kind research published today in a series of scientific papers in The Lancet Public Health. The articles showcase the region’s public health crisis from mental disorders, cardiovascular disease, smoking, and injuries.

Researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle and the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine analyzed the data from 1990 to 2021 by age, sex, and location across all ASEAN countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

“Without immediate action from each of the countries, these preventable health conditions will worsen causing more death and disability across ASEAN,” said lead author Dr. Marie Ng, Affiliate Associate Professor at IHME and Associate Professor at NUS. “Additionally, the region’s rapid economic growth and aging population are increasing the burden from non-communicable diseases and the strain on health systems. We must revisit current policies to protect people’s well-being and ensure proper resource allocation to address the evolving health care demands.”

“ASEAN countries have made significant progress in improving health outcomes in recent decades, but progress has been hindered by a combination of long-standing and newly emerging risk factors, particularly in some areas,” said Dr. Xiaochen Dai, a first author and Lead Research Scientist at IHME. “The member states must work together to align on the best strategies to improve policies at the national and regional level and set the region back on track.”

Mental disorders

Mental disorders were among the top 10 causes of disease burden in every ASEAN nation except Myanmar, and anxiety disorders were the region’s most common mental disorder. In 2021, more than 80 million people suffered from one of the 10 mental disorders studied, surging 70% higher than in 1990. That translates to an age-standardized prevalence of 12%, representing a 7% increase from 1990 and with Malaysia experiencing the highest prevalence, which is a 13% rise. The increase in mental disorders is taking a heavier toll on children, adolescents, the elderly, and women than other demographic groups. A closer look by age shows 15–19-year-olds had the steepest climb in prevalence at nearly 11%, while mental disorders accounted for more than a quarter of the total disease burden among 10–19-year-olds, mainly across high-income ASEAN countries and with Singapore having the greatest burden. Although the increase in prevalence was less than 3% among adults 70 and older, the number of cases increased 183%. See complete data for mental disorders by country, sex, age, and year.

Cardiovascular diseases

With 37 million people in the region suffering from cardiovascular disease (CVD) and 1.7 million deaths, it’s now the leading cause of mortality and morbidity and one of the fastest growing non-communicable diseases in ASEAN. From 1990 to 2021, the total number of CVD cases increased by 148% whereas the prevalence increased about 3%, accounting for nearly 10% of the global CVD burden. CVD death rates were higher than the global average in Laos, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Men had a higher prevalence and mortality rate of CVD compared to women across the region. The top three CVDs with the highest prevalence rates were ischemic heart disease (IHD), lower extremity peripheral arterial disease, and stroke. The leading risk factors contributing to the CVD burden were high systolic blood pressure, dietary risks, air pollution, high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and tobacco use. High body mass index and high fasting plasma glucose have also been rapidly rising risks contributing to CVD burden since 1990. See complete data for CVD by country, sex, age, and year.

Smoking

Since 1990, the number of smokers has increased in every country in ASEAN and regionally by 63% to 137 million, which was about 12% of the total number of global smokers aged 15 and up in 2021. Although smoking prevalence has declined in ASEAN, it remains high at 48% among males 15 and older. In Indonesia, that figure was higher at 58%. In Malaysia, youth smoking is a growing concern, with an estimated 20% of male children aged 10–14 currently smoking. The prevalence of youths smoking has more than doubled in Cambodia and rose by 79% in Indonesia. Furthermore, some countries reported the average age at which smokers aged 20–24 first started smoking was 15. Compared to other parts of the world, the burden of smoking in ASEAN is also disproportionately high, with smoking as one of the leading risk factors that causes death and disability. In 2021, more than half a million people in the region died from smoking-related diseases, an increase of 231,000 deaths from 1990, with men dying at a rate 10 times higher than women. The region’s highest number of smoking-related deaths were from IHD, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The region’s annual tobacco consumption of 556 billion units was also more than the global average. That’s equivalent to 4,131 cigarettes per smoker aged 15 and older, or 11 cigarettes every day. See complete data for smoking by country, sex, age, and year.

Injuries

Injuries are largely preventable but are killing and harming people unnecessarily across ASEAN. While road injuries had the highest mortality and morbidity in most of the countries, falls were the most common cause of injuries and second-leading cause of injury mortality followed by self-harm, drownings, and interpersonal violence. Death and disability from road injuries were particularly severe in Thailand, which recorded 30 deaths per 100,000 population, primarily from motorcycle accidents. Malaysia reported 24 deaths per 100,000 population, mostly from motor vehicle accidents. Falls were the second-leading cause of injury-related mortality in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Viet Nam. Interpersonal violence was the leading cause of death from injuries in the Philippines and ranked second in Laos. Self-harm was the leading cause of injury-related mortality in Singapore and accounted for nearly half of all injury deaths in the country, mostly males 20–24 years old. Self-harm was also among the top three leading causes of death for injuries in Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Conflict and terrorism resulted in substantial mortality and morbidity in Myanmar, making it the fourth-leading cause of injury burden, with males 15-19 facing the highest burden. Drowning is a common cause of injury-related burden among children 5–9 years in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. When looking at the patterns by sex and age across the region, most of the total injury burden impacted males aged 15–19 years, which is consistent with global patterns. For females, it was highest among children aged 5–9 years. See complete data for injuries by country, sex, age, and year.

About ASEAN

ASEAN is a union with diverse socioeconomic, political, and cultural backgrounds. Established in 1967, the network has been promoting economic growth, political stability, and social progress for its 10 member states. Today, the region is the world’s fifth largest economy with an annual gross domestic product growth of 4.5%, making it one of the fastest developing regions in the world. The network of countries has a population of 671 million, which is 1.5 times larger than that of the European Union and comprises almost 9% of the world’s population. With demographics and economic status varying widely across countries, public health challenges and health care systems differ.

About the Global Burden of Disease

This research is part of the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021. The GBD is the most comprehensive assessment of health, which includes granular estimates of burden across all age groups, sexes, and locations, as well as risk factors for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2021. Access to GBD data is available via IHME’s visualization tools, GBD Compare, and GBD Results.

For interviews with Dr. Marie Ng and the other authors please contact marieng@uw.edu, IHME’s Media Team at ihmemedia@uw.edu, or NUS media at medv3719@nus.edu.sg.

For embargoed access to the series of articles, appendices, and datasets, please see: https://cloud.ihme.washington.edu/s/WjsbPSkxmm3dwwj

NOTE: THE ABOVE LINKS ARE FOR JOURNALISTS ONLY. IF YOU WISH TO PROVIDE A LINK FOR YOUR READERS, PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING, WHICH WILL GO LIVE WHEN THE EMBARGO LIFTS ON WEDNESDAY, 28 MAY 2025 AT 6:30 AM (Singapore Time), TUESDAY, 27 MAY 2025 AT 23:30 (UK Time) / 18:30 (US ET):

Mental disorders: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(25)00098-2/fulltext
Cardiovascular disease: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(25)00087-8/fulltext
Smoking: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(24)00326-8/fulltext
Injuries: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(25)00069-6/fulltext
 

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Journal

The Lancet Public Health

Subject of Research

People

Article Publication Date

27-May-2025

 

Five things to do in virtual reality – and five to avoid

Stanford University

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Open heart surgery is a hard thing to practice in the real world, and airplane pilots cannot learn from their mistakes midair. These are some scenarios where virtual reality solves really hard problems, but the technology has limits. That’s the upshot of a review of experimental research on VR, published in the journal Nature Human Behavior.

“Virtual reality is not for everything,” said Jeremy Bailenson, lead author and director of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab. “What we’ve long showed in the lab is that VR is great when used sparingly and thoughtfully. Otherwise, the pros typically don’t outweigh the cons.”

As a medium, VR is very intense, added Bailenson, who is the Thomas More Storke Professor and professor of communication in the School of Humanities and Sciences. It blocks out the real world. VR can make users uncomfortable or even experience “simulator sickness,” a type of motion sickness.

While companies like Meta and Apple have invested heavily in the tech, betting on wide consumer adoption, the review’s findings show it’s better used in short doses – minutes not hours – and only for certain things. The researchers recommend saving VR for “DICE” experiences, those which if done in the real world would be dangerous, impossible, counterproductive, or expensive.

Some examples of what to do (and not do) in VR, from the paper’s five core findings:

1. Travel to awesome or personally challenging places. Don’t go to VR for run-of-the-mill meetings.

Stroll through the ruins of Pompeii or visit the Grand Canyon. The visceral nature of VR lends itself well to experiences where “being there” matters. In fact, some psychologists are using VR in exposure therapy, allowing people to face something they fear while they are physically safe. One study found that people treated for fear of flying with VR had no return of their symptoms three years later.

VR’s value fades if the environment is not dramatic. While there were hopes during the pandemic that people would turn to VR for more engaging meetings, that idea failed to catch on.

“If you are just sitting there staring and not moving your body, you probably can do that on a computer and save yourself some headset time,” Bailenson said.

2. Learn surgery or public speaking. Don’t solve basic math problems.

Educators had great hopes for virtual reality ever since simulators were first used to train pilots in 1929. As the technology developed, though, it became apparent that VR did not add much to abstract learning that can be taught well on a chalkboard.

Instead, virtual reality is best used with learning skills that are procedural, requiring one step and then another, as might be done in surgery or dissection situations. Spatial tasks where movement and immersion are helpful also work well in VR, such as practicing nonverbal behavior or performing in front of a crowd.

“The key with VR is to focus on learning scenarios that are jaw-droppingly special in that medium, as opposed to assuming that any media experience works better in a headset,” Bailenson said.

3. Try on a new identity in VR, but make sure it’s the right fit.

Self-perception changes how people behave, studies have shown, whether in a virtual world or the real one. For instance, if people choose more athletic avatars, they tend to move around more. Those with taller avatars tend to negotiate more aggressively. The opposite is also true, which means users should be careful when choosing an avatar, Bailenson advised.

“Understand that whatever avatar you're going to use is going to change the way that you behave inside VR and for some time after you leave,” he said. “So be thoughtful and use platforms that allow you to choose an avatar that either matches your actual or ideal self.”

4. Take a VR fitness class. Don’t try to learn how to throw a baseball.

Athletic training is a great use for virtual reality, except when it comes to precision movements. Users have a hard time judging distance in the virtual world, the review found. It’s a persistent problem the technology has yet to overcome.

“High-level spatial activities are great in VR, but when you’re looking for down-to-the-centimeter accuracy, you should be wary of using commercial VR applications,” Bailenson said.

5. You can run in VR, but you can’t hide.

People are easily identified by how they move their bodies, research has shown, so users should be aware that even if their avatar itself masks their identity, the millions of movement data points automatically collected by the system can identify them. There is no true anonymity when wearing VR headsets.

“In VR you move your body, and the scene responds. That’s what makes the medium so special,” Bailenson said. “Natural body movements are so important that the medium literally can’t run if you turn off movement tracking.”

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Journal

Nature Human Behaviour

DOI

10.1038/s41562-025-02216-3 

Article Title

Five canonical findings from 30 years of psychological experimentation in virtual reality

Article Publication Date

28-May-2025