Category Archives: Offshore

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) Backers of a planned offshore wind farm announced an $86 million contract Friday to train workers and build infrastructure in New York.

The proposed 122-turbine Sunrise Wind farm will need several hundred large structures, including concrete platforms, steel ladders and railings, for wind turbine generators.

Orsted and Eversource, Sunrise Winds joint development partners, say the farm will power nearly 600,000 homes from its proposed location about 30 miles east of Montauk Point on Long Island.

The backers say the $86 million contract will help build an offshore wind manufacturing base in New York and create over 200 jobs.

New Jersey-based steel company Riggs Distler and Belgium-based steel company Smulders will serve as the general contractors.

New York-based Ljungstrom, a division of global supplier Arvos Group, will fabricate steel parts needed for suspended platforms and cages. Those pieces will then get shipped for final construction assembly at the Ports of Coeymans marine terminal, which is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Albany.

In 2019, Sunrise Wind won a state bid to move ahead with the large-scale wind farm. The backers hope it will be fully operational in 2025.

New York has passed ambitious clean energy goals in recent years. The state set mandated goals of a zero-emission electricity sector by 2040 and 70% renewable energy generation by 2030.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said the project will underscore New Yorks position as a national hub for offshore wind.

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Offshore wind backers announce plan to boost jobs in NY - Associated Press

Australia said Wednesday that it would stop processing asylum-seekers at offshore detention centers in Papua New Guinea, which have been criticized by human rights groups, by the end of the year.

The announcement Wednesday said those seeking refuge would all now be processed on the island nation of Nauru, another country that has been doing that work for Australia. The plan was swiftly criticized by human rights groups, who said it simply shifted the bulk of what some called a cruel system from one island nation to another.

Anyone who attempts to enter Australia illegally by boat will be returned, or sent to Nauru, the Australian government said in a joint statement with Papua New Guinea.

Those in Papua New Guinea awaiting processing could voluntarily transfer to Nauru before the end of the year, the statement said. If they choose to remain in Papua New Guinea, they will be given access to citizenship, long-term support, settlement packages and family reunification, it said.

More than 3,000 asylum-seekers have been detained in Papua New Guinea after the Australian government instituted a policy in 2013 that barred those trying to enter the country by sea from resettlement. Of those processed in the centers, about 1,200 have been temporarily transferred to Australia, some for medical reasons; over 900 have been sent back to their countries of origin; and about 1,000 have been sent to other countries.

The move announced Wednesday is due to take effect next year.

Human rights groups have called Australias policy of detaining migrants offshore a violation of international rights laws. And the United Nations has urged Australia to resettle those migrants being housed on both islands following reports of self-harming and attempted suicide by residents of the centers.

The Australian government has defended the practice, saying it deters many migrants and is an important part of its overall immigration policy.

Refugee advocates said the end of offshore processing in Papua New Guinea still left dozens of people in limbo and called for them to be allowed to settle in Australia. As of the end of July, 124 asylum-seekers remained in Papua New Guinea and 107 in Nauru, according to government data.

The Australian governments policy robbed thousands of children, women and men of eight years of their lives, said David Burke, legal director at the Human Rights Law Center in a statement. Shifting people from P.N.G. to Nauru to continue to be warehoused on a remote island simply extends this cruelty.

The Australian government has abandoned seeking safety on our shores and shifted all responsibility onto our neighbors, said Jana Favero, a director of advocacy at the Asylum Seeker Resource Center.

Since 2014, 13 people have died after being detained in Australias detention centers in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, some from suicide. After doctors and migrant advocates expressed concern about a mental health crisis, amid reports of children in Nauru self-harming, the government said in 2019 that it had stopped detaining minors there.

The policy has also led to diplomatic tensions. In 2017, President Donald J. Trump called an Obama-era deal with Australia to accept some refugees from the detention centers dumb, after engaging in a contentious telephone call with Malcolm Turnbull, Australias prime minister at the time.

As of the end of July, 977 refugees from the offshore centers had been resettled in the United States under the bilateral agreement, according to Australias home affairs department.

In 2016, a Papua New Guinea court ruled that one of the detention centers infringed on human rights, leading to its closure. And in 2017, the Australian government agreed to pay a $53 million settlement to asylum-seekers housed on the Pacific islands who sought damages in a class-action lawsuit over false imprisonment.

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Australia to Shift All Offshore Processing of Migrants to Island Nation of Nauru - The New York Times

HOUSTON, Oct. 11, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VAALCO Energy, Inc. (NYSE: EGY; LSE: EGY) (VAALCO or the Company) today announced that it has entered into a consortium with BW Energy and Panoro Energy and the consortium has been provisionally awarded two blocks in the 12th Offshore Licensing Round in Gabon. The award is subject to concluding the terms of the production sharing contracts (PSC) with the Gabonese government. BW Energy will be the operator with a 37.5% working interest, with VAALCO (37.5% working interest) and Panoro Energy (25% working interest) as non-operating joint owners. The two blocks, G12-13 and H12-13, are adjacent to VAALCOs Etame PSC as well as BW Energy and Panoros Dussafu PSC offshore Southern Gabon, and cover an area of 2,989 square kilometers and 1,929 square kilometers, respectively. Both Etame and Dussafu have been highly successful exploration, development and production projects undertaken by the consortium members over the past 20 years with approximately 250 million barrels discovered to date.

George Maxwell, VAALCOs Chief Executive Officer, commented, We are very excited to continue to expand our presence in Gabon and partner with BW Energy and Panoro Energy. This consortium is uniquely positioned with the knowledge, experience and expertise of progressing world class discoveries in Gabon adjacent to these awarded blocks. Our goal will be to efficiently and effectively explore, develop and potentially produce additional resources in Gabon. Our strategy remains unchanged, to maximize shareholder return opportunities in the area we know best, West Africa. This opportunity fits perfectly with that strategy and allows us to leverage our debt-free balance sheet and significant cash flow generation to help profitably and sustainably grow VAALCO.

The two blocks will be held by the consortium and the PSCs over the blocks will have two exploration periods totaling eight years which may be extended by a further two years. During the first exploration period, the joint owners intend to reprocess existing seismic and carry out a 3-D seismic campaign on these two blocks and have also committed to drilling exploration wells on both blocks. In the event the consortium elects to enter the second exploration period, the consortium will be committed to drilling at least another exploration well on each of the awarded blocks.

About VAALCO

VAALCO, founded in 1985, is a Houston, USA based, independent energy company with production, development and exploration assets in the West African region.

The Company is an established operator within the region, holding a 63.6% participating interest in the Etame Marin block, located offshore Gabon, which to date has produced over 120 million barrels of crude oil and of which the Company is the operator.

For Further Information

Forward Looking Statements

This document includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this document that address activities, events, plans, expectations, objectives or developments that VAALCO expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These statements may include statements related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the recent sharp decline in the global demand for and resulting global oversupply of crude oil and the resulting steep decline in oil prices, production quotas imposed by Gabon, disruptions in global supply chains, quarantines of our workforce or workforce reductions and other matters related to the pandemic, well results, wells anticipated to be drilled and placed on production, future levels of drilling and operational activity and associated expectations, the implementation of the Companys business plans and strategy, prospect evaluations, prospective resources and reserve growth, its activities in Equatorial Guinea, expected sources of and potential difficulties in obtaining future capital funding and future liquidity, its ability to restore production in non-producing wells, our ability to find a replacement for the FPSO or to renew the FPSO charter, future operating losses, future changes in crude oil and natural gas prices, future strategic alternatives, future and pending acquisitions, capital expenditures, future drilling plans, acquisition and interpretation of seismic data and costs thereof, negotiations with governments and third parties, timing of the settlement of Gabon income taxes, and expectations regarding processing facilities, production, sales and financial projections. These statements are based on assumptions made by VAALCO based on its experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond VAALCOs control. These risks include, but are not limited to, crude oil and natural gas price volatility, the impact of production quotas imposed by Gabon in response to production cuts agreed to as a member of OPEC, inflation, general economic conditions, the outbreak of COVID-19, the Companys success in discovering, developing and producing reserves, production and sales differences due to timing of liftings, decisions by future lenders, the risks associated with liquidity, lack of availability of goods, services and capital, environmental risks, drilling risks, foreign regulatory and operational risks, and regulatory changes.

Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. VAALCO disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Inside Information

This announcement contains inside information as defined in Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 on market abuse (MAR) and is made in accordance with the Companys obligations under article 17 of MAR.

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VAALCO and Consortium Provisionally Awarded Two Offshore - GlobeNewswire

SSE Renewables plans to reduce the size of the area over which the 4.1 GW Berwick Bank offshore wind project in Scotland will be developed to protect local seabird populations.

The developer said it will reduce the overall size of the site by around ten per cent compared to the area available for development.

The decision was made following feedback from stakeholders and despite soaring prices for seabed in recent leasing processes, SSE Renewables said.

Berwick Bank is also proposing to raise the minimum height of the turbine blades from 22 metres to 37 metres above sea level to address for bird passage through the site.

The news comes following the completion earlier this year of a 24-month aerial survey programme conducted by SSE Renewables and Hi Def Aerial Surveying.

The survey, consisting of 300 hours of flight time, across 5,000 square km, seven times the size of East Lothian, is believed to be the largest of its kind ever undertaken.

Accelerating our efforts to decarbonise the electricity system must be done in harmony with our natural environment, Berwick Bank Project Director Alex Meredith said.

For that reason, we have taken the decision to reduce the area we will develop by around ten percent, to provide large gaps between existing wind farms and the Berwick Bank Wind Farm site, so to prevent a barrier being created between seabird feeding grounds and breeding habitats. Our surveys have shown that by increasing the air gap between the sea and the lowest blade height to 37m should have a significant positive impact on potential collisions.

The report has been submitted digitally and will also be supported by a web-based platform, SSE Renewables said.

Situated 40 kilometres off the east coast of Scotland, in the outer Firth of Forth, Berwick Bank has been in development for ten years.

When complete, Berwick Bank Wind Farm will be capable of generating enough renewable energy to power over five million homes, equivalent to all of Scotlands households twice over, and avoiding eight million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year similar to removing all of Scotlands annual car emissions, according to the developer.

SSE Renewables has recently combined the 2.3 GW Berwick Bank and the 1.85 GW Marr Bank offshore wind projects into one development the Berwick Bank Wind Farm. The planning application for the project is expected to be submitted in Spring 2022.

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4.1 GW Scottish Offshore Wind Project Adapts to Protect Birds - Offshore WIND

Dive Brief:

GE's Haliade-X offshore wind prototype is operating at 14 MW in The Netherlands after several years of fine-tuning a turbine the company originally hoped would reach 12 MW, according to a Tuesday announcement.

The original 12 MW goal, set in November of 2019, represented "a big leap forward in the industry," according to a statement from GE CTO Vincent Schellings. After two years of optimization, Schellings said, the Haliade-X prototype is now the first to achieve 12, 13 and now 14 MW.

Increasing the scale of generation from individual turbines will decrease costs and accelerate offshore wind development, according to John Hensley, vice president of research and analytics for the American Clean Power Association.

GE's Haliade-X turbine has done more than exceed the company's expectations, Schellings said Tuesday. It's increasing the accessibility of renewable energy.

The prototype turbine, designed in 2019 to set a new industry standard by running 12 MW, has demonstrated a capacity to reach 14 MW with optimized operations, according to GE. This means each Haliade-X turbine could produce up to 74 GWh of electricity per year enough to offset the emissions of 11,000 vehicles, according to the company.

The Haliade-X is already set to debut at the Dogger Bank C offshore wind farm, where 87 Haliade-X turbines will be installed 130 km off the northeast coast of England. The Haliade-X is also slated for use by Vineyard Windoff the coast of Massachusetts.

"Bigger and more efficient offshore wind turbines are key to lower the cost of electricity on an industry scale," Schellings told Utility Dive. "When selecting a bigger turbine for their projects, developers and wind farm operators are able to reach the desired output capacity of their wind farm with fewer machines, which means fewer installs and fewer machines to service during their lifetime."

Hensley called Tuesday's developments an "exciting announcement for a growing industry," noting that growing economies of scale would make offshore wind overall a more attractive generation option.

"These lowered costs results in a more competitive and cost-effective generation source," Hensley said, "which in turn should ultimately result in more offshore wind generation."

GE has begun the process of certifying the measurements on the Haliade-X 14 MW. The turbine received certification at 13 MW in January 2021 from DNV GL, and while it's impossible to predict the course of innovation, Schellings said GE believes "wind turbines will continue to become more powerful in the years to come."

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GE claims record 14 MW output for prototype offshore wind turbine after 2 years of optimization - Utility Dive

Investors in W&T Offshore, Inc. (WTI Quick QuoteWTI - Free Report) need to pay close attention to the stock based on moves in the options market lately. That is because the Nov 19, 2021 $2.00 Call had some of the highest implied volatility of all equity options today.

Implied volatility shows how much movement the market is expecting in the future. Options with high levels of implied volatility suggest that investors in the underlying stocks are expecting a big move in one direction or the other. It could also mean there is an event coming up soon that may cause a big rally or a huge sell-off. However, implied volatility is only one piece of the puzzle when putting together an options trading strategy.

Clearly, options traders are pricing in a big move for W&T Offshore shares, but what is the fundamental picture for the company? Currently, W&T Offshore is a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) in the Oil and Gas Exploration and Production United States industry that ranks in the Top 15% of our Zacks Industry Rank. Over the last 60 days, no analysts have increased their earnings estimates for the current quarter, while one analyst has revised the estimate downward. The net effect has taken our Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter from 11 cents per share to 7 cents in that period.

Given the way analysts feel about W&T Offshore right now, this huge implied volatility could mean theres a trade developing. Oftentimes, options traders look for options with high levels of implied volatility to sell premium. This is a strategy many seasoned traders use because it captures decay. At expiration, the hope for these traders is that the underlying stock does not move as much as originally expected.

Check out the simple yet high-powered approach that Zacks Executive VP Kevin Matras has used to close recent double and triple-digit winners. In addition to impressive profit potential, these trades can actually reduce your risk.

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Are Options Traders Betting on a Big Move in W&T Offshore (WTI) Stock? - Zacks.com

October 11 (Renewables Now) - The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) and transmission system operator Energinet on Friday invited potential developers to examine the seabed data in relation to the suspended tender for the Hesselo offshore wind farm.

The tender was put on hold in June after preliminary investigations showed soft clay formations below the seabed at the site for the planned wind farm with a capacity of 800 MW-1,200 MW.

Hesselo is intended as the second wind park under the 2018 Energy Agreement which calls for the deployment of three new large-scale offshore wind farms in Denmark of at least 800 MW by 2030.

Potential developers are now being invited to a virtual technical dialogue taking place from late October to late November to discuss whether the seabed conditions present obstacles to the development of the wind farm within the politically agreed framework, including for instance the planned subsidy scheme of two-way contract for difference (CfD), the target capacity and scheduled time of completion.

The DEA will then decide whether the tender can continue under the current framework, or new political decisions will be needed, in which case it should be reassessed whether the wind farm should still be built at the Hesselo area or at an alternative site.

At the same time, the DEA said it has started screening for alternative areas for the second wind farm under the 2018 Energy Agreement. It is looking at a scaled-down Hesselo area plus some other sites, as well as Kriegers Flak 2 and North Sea 1, an area south of the planned Thor offshore wind farm.

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Denmark to consult with developers on suspended offshore wind tender - Renewables Now

Members of the European parliament have voted for tighter rules on the super-rich who move their wealth offshore, in a resounding vote that reflects widespread anger and exasperation in the wake of the Pandora papers revelations.

Although the European parliaments resolution does not bind EU member states who wield decision-making power on taxation, it puts wind in the sails of reformers, who say transparency changes introduced in the last decade have not gone far enough.

One of the parliaments main targets is reforming the EUs code of conduct on business taxation, a process led by a little-known group of government officials, which is meant to ensure tax policies of EU member states avoid a race to the bottom. Since 2017, the group has also been responsible for drawing up the EU blacklist of tax havens, which currently consists of nine jurisdictions outside the bloc.

French socialist MEP, Aurore Lalucq, who drafted the resolution, said the code of conduct needed to become a sharp weapon in the fight against tax avoidance and evasion and proposed a revised code called Fatal, the framework on aggressive tax arrangements and low-rates.

Under her proposal, jurisdictions with very low or zero tax rates would be automatically classed as tax havens. EU ministers were heavily criticised on Tuesday when they removed three jurisdictions from the blocs blacklist on tax havens, including one (the British overseas territory of Anguilla) with a zero tax rate.

The MEPs also want tougher controls on wealthy individuals who move their wealth offshore, benefiting from preferential personal income tax regimes, including special citizenship programmes that enable them to get passports, in exchange for a large investments in a country.

While recent tax reforms, such as the global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% currently under discussion, have focused on business taxation, the Pandora papers highlighted how individuals hide their wealth with elaborate and opaque offshore structures.

The parliament wants EU member states subject to these stricter controls. MEPs have previously put the Netherlands, Ireland and Luxembourg in the firing line for their special tax deals for companies, while Malta has been criticised for its golden passport scheme.

MEPs say the code of conduct should be binding on member states, a measure likely to be fiercely opposed by finance ministers, who guard their veto power on taxation law.

In a statement, Lalucq said the report recognised the obsolescence of the current code of conduct. The Pandora papers remind us of the importance of implementing common and ambitious European rules to end tax dumping between member states, while fighting tax havens elsewhere.

Her proposals were supported by 506 MEPs, with 81 votes against and 99 abstentions.

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European parliament calls for tougher rules on offshore wealth - The Guardian

Ben Elliot, the Conservative partys embattled co-chair, jointly owned a secret offshore film financing company that indirectly benefited from more than 120,000 of UK tax credits.

The revelation that Elliot has a British Virgin Islands-based company which he owns with Ben Goldsmith, the brother of the Tory peer and minister Zac will raise fresh questions for the businessman, whose courting of ultra-wealthy but controversial political donors has already provoked widespread criticism.

On Monday, the Pandora papers the largest leak of offshore data in history, which has been shared with the Guardian and other media by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists helped expose how a series of substantial Conservative party funders are facing a range of allegations about their links to offshore finance.

The Pandora papers are the largest trove of leaked data exposing tax haven secrecy in history. They provide a rare window into the hidden world of offshore finance, casting light on the financial secrets of some of the worlds richest people. The files were leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which shared access with the Guardian, BBC and other media outlets around the world. In total, the trove consists of 11.9m files leaked from a total of 14 offshore service providers, totalling 2.94 terabytes of information. That makes it larger in volume than both the Panama papers (2016) and Paradise papers (2017), two previous offshore leaks.

Where did the Pandora documents come from?

The ICIJ, a Washington DC-based journalism nonprofit, is not identifying the source of the leaked documents. In order to facilitate a global investigation, the ICIJ gave remote access to the documents to journalists in 117 countries, including reporters at the Washington Post, Le Monde, El Pas, Sddeutsche Zeitung, PBS Frontline and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In the UK, the investigation has been led by the Guardian and BBC Panorama.

What is an offshore service provider?

The 14 offshore service providers in the leak provide corporate services to individuals or companies seeking to do business offshore. Their clients are typically seeking to discreetly set up companies or trusts in lightly regulated tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands (BVI), Panama, the Cook Islands and the US state of South Dakota. Companies registered offshore can be used to hold assets such as property, aircraft, yachts and investments in stocks and shares. By holding those assets in an offshore company, it is possible to hide from the rest of the world the identity of the person they actually belong to, or the beneficial owner.

Why do people move money offshore?

Usually for reasons of tax, secrecy or regulation. Offshore jurisdictions tend to have no income or corporation taxes, which makes them potentially attractive to wealthy individuals and companies who dont want to pay taxes in their home countries. Although morally questionable, this kind of tax avoidance can be legal. Offshore jurisdictions also tend to be highly secretive and publish little or no information about the companies or trusts incorporated there. This can make them useful to criminals, such as tax evaders or money launderers, who need to hide money from tax or law enforcement authorities. It is also true that people in corrupt or unstable countries may use offshore providers to put their assets beyond the reach of repressive governments or criminal adversaries who may try to seize them, or to seek to circumvent hard currency restrictions. Others may go offshore for reasons of inheritance or estate planning.

Has everyone named in the Pandora papers done something wrong?

No. Moving money offshore is not in or of itself illegal, and there are legitimate reasons why some people do it. Not everyone named in the Pandora papers is suspected of wrongdoing. Those who are may stand accused of a wide range of misbehaviour: from the morally questionable through to the potentially criminal. The Guardian is only publishing stories based on leaked documents after considering the public interest. That is a broad concept that may include furthering transparency by revealing the secret offshore owners of UK property, even where those owners have done nothing wrong. Other articles might illuminate issues of important public debate, raise moral questions, shed light on how the offshore industry operates, or help inform voters about politicians or donors in the interests of democratic accountability.

Thank you for your feedback.

Today, the same leak shines a light on a BVI company Elliot and Goldsmith created to fund the making of Fire in Babylon, the pairs 2010 documentary film about the great West Indies cricket team of the 1970s and 80s.

Analysis of financial disclosures suggests the duos BVI company held a controlling stake in a British subsidiary that made the film. The UK company received a 600,000 loan from its BVI parent in 2008, plus 121,000 from a government scheme designed to incentivise film production in the UK between 2009 and 2011.

The film made a small loss, and without the tax credits the subsidiary would not have been able to fully repay its offshore creditors, the largest of which was Elliots and Goldsmiths BVI company, which had loaned the UK business most of its funds.

While the arrangement does not appear to have breached any tax regulations or laws, it does raise questions about whether government film schemes should be helping to fund projects that are controlled in a tax haven. If Fire in Babylon had become profitable, then the structure might also have provided some tax advantages.

Elliot, a well-connected Old Etonian and the nephew of the Duchess of Cornwall, co-owns luxury concierge group Quintessentially, which has earned him a reputation as a fixer for the super-rich. He is credited with raising a record 37m for the Tories general election campaign in 2019.

Goldsmith, who also attended Eton, is a financier and a non-executive director at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), where his brother is a minister.

Both Elliot and the Goldsmiths are close to Boris and Carrie Johnson. In July 2020, Elliot screened Fire in Babylon for the prime minister and his wife at their Downing Street flat, with the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and Ben Goldsmith also present.

I got a call saying the PM was planning to watch Fire in Babylon and would I like to come along. Ben [Elliot] was there too. They loved it, Goldsmith said.

The film, which starred cricketing greats including Sir Vivian Richards and Michael Holding, failed to achieve commercial success.

Analysis of company filings suggests the documentary made a 70,000 loss. Without the HMRC cash rebates, it appears the UK business would not have been able to fully repay its offshore investors the largest of which was Elliot and Goldsmiths BVI company, E&G Productions, which had provided the 600,000 loan.

Goldsmith said a group of cricket enthusiasts had financed the film, chipping in 5,000 to 100,000 each. It is not clear if these contributions mostly made by UK residents were then converted into the 600,000 offshore loan from a BVI company, nor how much came from Goldsmith and Elliot.

One former HMRC tax inspector, who reviewed the structure for the Guardian, said: In practice, I cannot see that the use of the BVI company by two UK residents could be anything other than tax motivated.

Prem Sikka, emeritus professor at Essex Business School and a Labour peer, added: With tax havens, there are two advantages: opacity and tax avoidance. Theres nothing else there.

Elliot and Goldsmith, who were both prominently credited as executive producers on the film, said the project was never expected to make a profit and so the choice of the BVI was not intended to avoid taxes.

Goldsmith confirmed to the Guardian that, at the time the film was being financed and made, he was a so-called non-dom, meaning he did not have to pay UK tax on overseas earnings and assets, despite being a UK resident.

For non-doms, only income and capital gains generated in the UK or funds sent back to the UK would attract tax.

So by investing in Fire in Babylon in the form of a loan from the BVI, rather than by a direct remittance to the UK company, Goldsmith appears to have ensured his investment was tax-free.

Also, had the film proved to be a commercial success, experts said the structure could have meant that profits flowed offshore. Money from TV screening deals with foreign territories such as Australia or India, for example, could have avoided UK tax for Goldsmith.

Elliot and Goldsmith added: A Caribbean company was used at the outset because we anticipated securing investment to make Fire in Babylon largely from investors outside the UK and specifically in that part of the world. As it turned out, more UK-based investors than we expected backed the film, although as you have spotted, some of the films investors were indeed in the Caribbean.

However, Fire in Babylon appears to have only attracted two Caribbean-based investors, and an offshore finance expert challenged the idea that a BVI company would have encouraged others.

It is no more attractive for Caribbean investors to invest in a BVI company than a Netherlands company, or a Luxembourg company, he said. Perhaps even the reverse, as generally there is little substance to litigate. If anything, BVI is less attractive to a Caribbean investor.

While Elliot and Goldsmith say that the film was always unlikely to make a profit, the creators appear to have been more optimistic at the time.

The Guardian has seen the contract used by the film-makers to persuade the cricketing greats to appear in the film, without whom there would have been no documentary. It states that the players were paid a nominal fee, but also promised a share of the films profits in return for their participation.

A spokesperson for Elliot and Goldsmith said: The film was made by a UK company and subject to UK taxation. All taxes have been correctly and transparently declared to the relevant authorities.

Neither Elliot nor Goldsmith answered the Guardians questions about whether any loan interest was paid by the UK production company to their offshore company, nor why the pairs names were initially kept off publicly available Companies House filings, which would have shown how they had a controlling stake in the UK production company via their BVI company.

The connection only formally emerged in 2016, when Elliot and Goldsmith were registered as persons of significant control of the UK firm, WIB Productions Ltd, which made the film.

They said the idea that they might have attempted to conceal our involvement in the making or financing of Fire in Babylon is patently absurd, given our names were all over it from the start, in the credits, on the invitations, in newspaper and radio interviews and so on.

Goldsmith added: It is a love letter to one of the great sporting stories of all time.

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Revealed: how Tory co-chairs offshore film company indirectly benefited from 121k tax credits - The Guardian

Arcon Training Center trains new wind energy technicians

Arcon Training Center opened its doors to teach a curriculum of safety for the next generation of offshore and land-based wind energy technicians.

Lauren Roberts, Salisbury Daily Times

A nearly $20 millionoperations and maintenance facility is coming to West Ocean City on Harbor Road, accordingto rsted as plans move forward on Skipjack Wind 1.

The construction will create up to 110 temporary and permanent jobs in the region, according to a news release,and rsted hopes this will make Ocean City a strategic locationfor the offshore wind industry.

rsted is working on planning and design of the facility, and planson sharingthe constructiontimeline in the coming weeks. The jobs will include wind turbine maintenance technicians, engineers, operations personnel and other key roles,

As the global leader in offshore wind energy, rsted firmly believes that the Ocean City community deserves full access to the incredible promise of this new American industry, said David Hardy, CEO of rsted Offshore North America. We are excited to fulfill another commitment made to Maryland and look forward to working with Ocean City residents, including its local fishing community, to make this a project that benefits all.

Skipjack Wind 1 is a 120-megawatt offshore wind energy project under development in Maryland that will power 40,000 homes in the region, generate $225 million in economic investment in Maryland, and create nearly 1,400 jobs statewide.

Offshore wind: rsted details its future for wind energy off Ocean City

Lingering doubt on offshore wind project: Maryland offshore wind expansion: A threat to tourism or climate change solution?

The facility will serve as the strategic embarkation point for up to three crew transfer vessels that will service Skipjack Wind 1. The projectwill include a warehouse and serve as rsteds Ocean City area office.

rsted plans to utilize zero-emissionvessels at the facility as part of its companywide plan to move to zero emissions entirely. The facility will serve as the "permanent home for key members of the Skipjack Wind 1 Maryland team, including highly skilled wind turbine maintenance technicians, engineers, operations personnel and other key roles."

Among those behind the strongest paeanfor the project is the Arcon Training Facility in Salisbury, which works to ensurethe workforce for the emerging industry will be ready.

As a small business owner who understands the critical importance of workforce development, I am excited to see rsteds continued long-term investment on the Eastern Shore, said Katarina Ennerfelt, CEO of Arcon Training Center in Salisbury.

Ennerfelt went on to say she applaud rsted for taking a"significant" step in making offshore wind an asset to the state.

Training wind workers: Arcon ready to set a safety standard for the next generation ofwind energy technicians

Organizations like the Greater Salisbury Committee have also been supporters of the wind industry and its potential for establishing a sustainable economic pipeline.

rsteds investment is great news for the Lower Shore workforce and a great example of why the Greater Salisbury Committee has supported offshore wind for six years, said Mike Dunn, president and CEO of the Greater Salisbury Committee. Offshore wind is creating a tremendous job pipeline for Lower Shore workers and small businesses. Diversifying our workforce with good paying jobs that service Skipjack Wind is huge.

Offshore wind projects by rsted have also garnered favor at the federal level amid more discussions on climate change impacts like sea level rise on the Eastern Shore.

Investing in renewable energy sources like offshore wind will boost Marylands economy, create more opportunity in our communities, and help us tackle the ever-present threats of climate change," said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-MD.

He added anoffshore wind operations and maintenance facility would create and cultivate"good-paying clean energy jobs across our state."

Van Hollen also noted he will continue to workat the federal level to support responsible offshore wind development and a Clean Energy Standard to incentivize renewable sources.

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-MD, echoed Van Hollen's sentiments and added the nation's prolonged dependency on foreign petroleum sourcesfor energy needs is not sustainable.

Im excited to see how this project moves forward, working closely with Ocean City and the local community," Cardin said. "This new facility will help solidifyMarylandas a national leader in creatingtheclean energyeconomythat willstrengthennational security by lessening our dependence on foreign oil and protect our environment.

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rsted to bring $20 million facility to West Ocean City - Delmarva Now