Heidi Vella

Heidi Vella is a feature writer for NRI Digital, covering the mining, offshore oil and gas, hydrocarbons and renewable power industries as well as the medical and pharmaceutical industries, modern transport systems, architecture and design.Before joining the NRI digital team, Heidi worked on several different consumer publications, including New Statesman, Matchbox Magazine and FilmJuice, as well as a stint in finance journalism as a feature writer for Bridging and Commercial.Heidi read English Literature at Roehampton University before completing an NCTJ Foundation in Journalism course at New Associates, London.

All articles by Heidi Vella

1. Sizing up Somalia: a new offshore oil frontier in the making

   Since the late 60s, civil unrest has prohibited the exploitation of Somalia’s offshore oil and gas resources. Now, however, after…
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   6 Jul
2. Thawed relations hit strange times: inside the Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zone

   Bordered by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the Persian Gulf, the Neutral Zone is a 2,230 square mile patch of land that was left…
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   30 Apr
3. Losing the social licence: what should the UK oil and gas industry do next?

   At the beginning of the year, Oil and Gas Authority chairman Tim Eggar sent a stark warning to the industry: if…
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   20 Apr
4. Wildcat drilling: worth the risk?

   Wildcat drilling, defined as exploration activity outside of existing known fields, is inherently risky. Drilling crews and well planners will…
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   24 Feb
5. Offshore Guyana: no longer frontier country?

   In 2000, the U.S. Geological Survey highlighted the huge potential of the Guyana-Suriname Basin. It estimated the region had recoverable…
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   21 Nov
6. China’s international offshore oil footprint

   China is the world’s biggest foreign buyer of oil, importing two-thirds of what it consumes. Between the early 1990s and…
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   20 Nov
7. Q&A: AspenTech talk AI, machine and waviness learning in oil & gas

   According to McKinsey and Company, modern advanced-analytics programs can help big oil companies find an additional $1bn in value. One…
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   18 Nov
8. Could Greece beat the competition to become the major act in Eastern Med Gas?

   In recent years, the Eastern Mediterranean has become a hot bed for offshore oil and gas activity, with several big…
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   19 Aug
9. Can a new discovery rejuvenate South Africa’s oil and gas industry?

   Successful exploratory drilling by Total SA in South Africa’s Outeniqua Basin has created huge excitement in the sector. In February,…
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   27 May
10. Venezuela: a petrostate in peril

    The once-wealthy Venezuela is in a state of profound crisis: its people are starving and oppressed, medicines are scarce, inflation…
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    24 Apr