An Aberdeen technology firm has won a £1.2million Scottish Government grant to develop an innovative subsea power generation system. East Coast Oil and Gas Engineering (ECOG) has invested £3.9million in the autonomous electrical power technology which has been designed to reduce the cost of repairing or replacing umbilicals after all-too common power failures.
Front end engineering specialist Xodus cited “challenging” market conditions as it reported an £18.5million pre-tax loss in last year. The Aberdeen and London-based firm was hit by bad debts and wrote off a number of intercompany loans involving some of its international join venture businesses, although turnover rose 12% to £58.6million in 2014.
Offshore workers who are too sick or injured to wear a survival suit can now be helicoptered back to shore on normal commercial flights.
Oil firm Enquest has vowed to press ahead with the development of two North Sea oil fields as the oil price dipped below $40 a barrel before leveling back up. The Aberdeen-based firm said it has approved the development of a £83million Scolty and Crathes fields about 83 miles from St Fergus, near Peterhead, in the central UK North Sea.
As the price of Brent crude flirted with dropping below $40 a barrel yesterday, directors of leading North Sea operators were asked what they might like the industry to get from Father Christmas. The answers, delivered to a full house at an Oil and Gas UK business breakfast at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) yesterday was clear.
German engineering giant Siemens will supply five turbines for the world’s largest floating wind energy project off the coast of Peterhead. Siemens helped Statoil prove the concept at the first full-scale floating wind project, Hywind Demo, off the coast of Norway six years ago.
Seven of the most dangerous countries for travellers next year have been identified by an company that advises oil gas workers abroad.
A new field support vessel destined for Premier Oil’s £538million Solan field was christened in time-honoured form in Aberdeen harbour with a bottle of Champagne.
Robert Gordon University (RGU) has appointed two former industry leaders to its Oil and Gas Institute (OGI).
Growth in the economy of the north-east is set to hit reverse as the effects of the plummeting price of oil and gas is starting to “bite”, economists have warned.
An Aberdeen firm whose owner collapsed into administration is still going strong after winning a £1.5million contract in Nigeria.
A former employee of north-east oil and gas services giant Asco fears being jailed in Oman next week over a contract payment dispute.
Aberdeen marine technology firm Nautronix had fallen £1million into the red ahead of it being bought out by Proserv, accounts posted at Companies House have shown.
The chief executive of Portlethen-based Saltire Energy, Mike Loggie, has added another gong to a fast-growing list by winning the entrepreneur of the year title at a business awards event.
There is just over a week left to enter the 2016 Offshore Achievement Awards, which offers companies and individuals the opportunity to be recognised amongst some of the industry’s greatest success stories of the last 30 years. The awards scheme this year has been adapted to reflect the challenges facing the industry since the falling price of oil has impacted the North Sea industry. This year sees the return of well-recognised categories, such as Great Large and Great Small Company, Young Professional, Emerging Technology, Safety Innovations, The Innovator and Export Achievement.
Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has sold shares in Shell and BG worth almost £1billion, raising fresh questions about support for oil firms’ proposed £47billion mega-merger.
A competition where Scottish entrepreneurs can win funding up to £100,000 will be judged by outgoing the chief executive of the Wood Group, Bob Keiller, at an event in Edinburgh next month.
A new mine that could ensure a 50-year supply of a key ingredient of drilling mud used in the North Sea is taking shape.
Premier Oil is eyeing North Sea bargains as the firm promised first oil from its Solan field in time for Christmas.
Aberdeen Asset Management has completed the installation of 1,000 solar panels on an investment property it owns in North London. The Aberdeen investment firm said the installation at the materials recycling facility (MRF) will provide an estimated 225,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity to tenant Biffa Waste Services, saving around 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually.
A north-east fabrication firm offering manufacturing services to the oil and gas industry has gone into administration. Harlen Fabrication in Dyce has appeared to suffer the effects of the downturn in the oil and gas industry. Calls were made to directors of the company were not returned.
Iona Energy has called for a two month extension on a debt restructuring plan after it raised concerns about the “funding position” of its partner, Atlantic Petroleum.
An ailing oil and gas industry has forced experts to lower their expectations for economic growth across the whole of Scotland during 2015. Brian Ashcroft, emeritus professor of economics at Strathclyde University said yesterday the downturn offshore was stifling onshore service businesses throughout the country. He was speaking after the university’s Fraser of Allander Institute – an economic think-tank – delivered its latest commentary on the state of Scotland’s finances.
A marine engineering firm has set sail for the South Pole to undertake what is thought to be the first underwater welding project of its kind inside the Antarctic Circle. Shetland and Aberdeen-based Ocean Kinetics has teamed up with civil engineers, Arch Henderson, to fix a quay thought to have been damaged by in iceberg at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Rothera Research Station.
An Aberdeen-based supplier of hoses to the offshore oil and gas industry has been sold to a Swedish industrial firm in a deal worth up to £6million.
