This week, hydrocarbons remained the top of the global news agenda as the UK waited for its last supply of jet fuel from the Middle East. At the same time, the North Sea saw yet another operator vacate the basin by divesting its assets into a joint venture.

Host and Aberdeen features lead, Ryan Duff, north west correspondent Floyd March, and E-FWD editor Ed Reed discuss.

Up first, Ed rounds out a week of appearing on national radio shows to get us caught up the war in the Middle East and how nations across the globe are reacting to fuel shortages in the wake of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Next, news editor Erikka Askeland visited the St Fergus gas terminal to chat to North Sea Midstream Partners chief executive Angela Fletcher about the importance of gas in the UK's energy during a time of geopolitical uncertainty. And, of course, the pair had to discuss the future of the Acorn carbon capture storage project, which partner Storegga still hasn't found a buyer for.

Finally, Ryan discusses mergers and acquisitions after Viaro called time on its takeover of Deltic and TotalEnergies completed its buy-in to Neo Next+. This happened while Floyd March observed the unfortunate truth about M&A, it often results in job losses. He explained how another swathe of roles had been cut at the Lindsey refinery this week as Philips 66 edges closer to completing its purchase of the facility.

This week’s edition of Energy Voice Out Loud reflects on a busy news week for the UK energy sector.

Host and Energy Voice news editor Erikka Askeland and renewables reporter Michael Behr discuss the announcement that Danish wind turbine maker Vestas is in, and Chinese manufacturer Ming Yang is out. Some are relieved that the UK has backed the European wind sector but not all are pleased, including Scotland where Ming Yang was looking to build a factory creating 1,500 jobs.

Aberdeen features lead Ryan Duff is at the Offshore Energies UK much anticipated business outlook breakfast event to speak to Ben Ward, market intelligence manager. OEUK wants the UK to cut LNG imports and use North Sea gas instead, but will the NSTA help?

As the FSPO Petrojarl Rosebank makes its passage to the UK, Energy Voice reporter Mathew Perry explains why Greenpeace wants to paint its protest on the vessel’s hull and how the debate about whether the UK should or shouldn’t go ahead with the UK’s largest undeveloped oil field is now at the heart of Westminster.

As the US-Isreal war with Iran rages on, Donald Trump has threatened to "massively blow up" the South Pars gas filed on a scale "of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before". This came as Ithaca provided an update on its West of Shetland assets.

In this week's episode of Energy Voice Out Loud, Ryan Duff is joined by Michael Behr, Floyd March and Erikka Askeland as they discuss this week's biggest headlines.

Up first, Michael gets us caught up on the situation in the Middle East as Erikka draws attention to Trump's latest social media tirade. As the situation continues to escalate, the US president appears to be threatening yet more violence.

Next, Erikka discusses the West of Shetland after Ithaca announced it will make a financial decision on its Cambo field within the next 12 months. This sparked a wider conversation about UK hydrocarbon production and the importance of the West of Shetland region as well as the future of the Northern Gas Hub.

Finally, Floyd tells us about the Rehip event in Teesside. He hosted a panel at the conference and came on the show to tell all about hydrogen's optimistic outlook for pipeline, but also the ever-looming question of end use cases for the fuel source. Ultimately, positivity was in the air in Teesside, although it's fair to say that some questions remain unanswered when it comes to the deployment of hydrogen.