North Sea operators are expected to shut in assets early adding costs to those remaining, an analyst has warned. Fiona Legate, a research analyst at Wood Mackenzie, has said that it is likely more firms will follow in the footsteps of Fairfield Energy, which recently announced it would start decommissioning its Dunlin field five years early due to the impact of low oil prices.
Oil giant BP has licensed new software that will link thousands of its oil wells across the globe in an effort to increase standardisation and cut costs. The firm will use systems designed by industrial giant GE to connect its wells to an “industrial internet” giving BP field engineers real-time access to data across all wells. The project will initially be deployed across 650 of BP’s wells, expanding to 4,000 over the next several years.
A trio of company founders have sold off their offshore engineering business to a Texas-based firm for an undisclosed sum. Wireline Engineering chairman Bill Petrie and Neil Hall, currently the company’s technical director, will leave as a result the sale to Dallas-based Impact Selector Inc (ISI). Another founder and shareholder, Brian Semple, has retired. Meanwhile, senior management team directors Alan Gordon, Alistair Inglis and Don Mitchell, will stay to work with the newly merged firm.
The principal of Robert Gordon University (RGU) has confirmed the institution’s commitment to investing in fossil fuels after he drew criticism for urging others not to divest. Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski said a trend for universities to divest their investment in fossil fuel companies risked sending the “wrong message” about the “responsible use of energy”. The professor was under fire from green campaigners after a letter he wrote to fellow higher education principals urging them to resist divestment campaigns was leaked to a newspaper. Dr Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland claimed the university was “coming at this from an area of vested interest” in its support for fossil fuels.
A Scottish hydropower firm has lured away a top executive from SSE to run the business. Green Highland Renewables (GHR), which was recently acquired by a London infrastructure investment firm, has appointed Mark Mathieson as chief executive Officer. He will join the firm in August. Mr Mathieson has spent over 25 years in various engineering and leadership roles within SSE, most recently spending nine years as the Managing Director of SSE’s Networks business.
Fracking could reduce house prices, increase traffic and noise and damage the landscape in rural communities, according to a heavily-redacted Government report which has now been published in full.
Oilfield services giant Expro International confirmed it has shelved a potential £3billion IPO of the business as it revealed it raised £225million of new equity from existing shareholders.
A specialist marine giant has opened an office in Aberdeen to signal commitment to its offshore clients.
Cash-strapped oil and gas explorer EnQuest is set to raise £50million through the sale of its new headquarters building in a deal that was struck just weeks before staff move in.
A former North Sea drilling engineer who took a redundancy package has launched a 3D printing business aimed at the oil and gas industry. PlastiPrint 3D is the brainchild of Gary Cairns who described the venture as a cost-effective way to create working models on demand. Mr Cairns said: “Until now, turning 2D designs into 3D models has been an expensive and time-consuming process, but 3D plastic printing makes it much easier to evaluate products, take them to market, and to train staff on their use.
A number of business leaders will gather in Aberdeen today to discuss the challenges and importance of maintaining a healthy workforce in the current economic climate. A round table event is being held by RGU:Wellness, a unique occupational health service for workplace absence management, to address the increasing challenge of ensuring that employee health and wellbeing remains a strategic priority.
An international event aimed at investigating how the energy industry can remain safe following the oil price crash has unveiled its roster of speakers and opened for registration. The Opito Safety and Competence Conference (OSCC 2015) will explore the topic of “The Economics of Safety at $60 Oil”, to be held in November in Abu Dhabi.
Confidence in the UK’s onshore wind sector has been further hit by hints that Westminster may remove the technology from the Government’s new competitive auction process, a renewables body has warned. Niall Stuart, chief executive of trade body Scottish Renewables, said wind being blocked from the Contracts for Difference (CFD) scheme “would result in a massive and dramatic decline in development”. Scottish Renewables revealed that, when asked whether onshore wind projects could access the new CFD auction, UK Energy Secretary Amber Rudd had told the House of Commons: “In respect of contracts for difference, we would be implementing the terms of our manifesto”. This announcement came less than a week after Ms Rudd announced the early closure of the Renewables Obligation scheme, imperilling 250 onshore wind projects. Speaking at his organisation’s Onshore Wind Conference in Edinburgh yesterday, Mr Stuart said: “Yesterday’s announcement serves to further undermine the confidence of Scotland’s onshore wind industry.
Opportunities for the oil and gas industry to learn from innovation in the biotech sector will be explored at an event in Aberdeen on Thursday. The Oil & Gas Innovation Centre (OGIC) and the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) are collaborating to host Biotechnology in Oil & Gas: the Art of the Possible – a workshop which will explore the opportunities to apply technology and know-how from biotechnology to challenges facing the oil and gas industry. Taking place at the Rox Hotel on Thursday 25 June, the event will examine the impact biotechnology could have in a range of disciplines in
German utility E.ON is set put its North Sea and Algerian oil and gas assets up for sale, hoping to raise an estimated £1.25billion as it restructures its business. E.ON, which operates a number of North Sea fields including Huntington, also has production interests in the Elgin, Franklin, Glenelg and West Franklin fields.
Offshore Installation Services (OIS) has been awarded a contract by Antrim Energy to decommission four subsea wells in the central North Sea. The scope of the campaign, which also includes six wells from Centrica Energy, will include offshore and onshore project management, vessel charter, equipment and personnel.
A North Sea-focused energy company saw its share price spike yesterday after revealing it had raised enough money in a share placement to meet a loan repayment in September. The share price of Independent Oil and Gas (IOG) rose 14% yesterday as it confirmed it was still in talks with an “internationally listed group, with a multi-billion dollar market capitalisation” for a longer-term funding solution. The AIM-listed firm said the £145,000 raised through the share placement made it “adequately funded” until September 4 – the deadline for a final repayment of £358,155 to specialist lender, Darwin Strategic.
Two former directors of Cairn Energy have raised backing of up to £316million to start a new oil company in India. Mike Watts and former Cairn managing director Jann Brown have joined forces to launch a new India-focused upstream oil and gas company, Magna Energy. Investment giant Carlyle Group said it had made an initial commitment of £158million, and would invest a further £158million, depending on projects brought by the company, and approvals by Carlyle's investment committee.
Aberdeen-based oilfield service firm Coretrax has invested £1.25million in the Middle East after it opened its fourth office in the region in Abu Dhabi. The expansion comes after it launched a new cement placement tool to coincide with its participation in the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference. Coretrax said a team of four will work from the new base, and this is expected to grow to 14 within the next 12 months as it expands to another office and warehouse based in Mussafah, southwest of the city, later in the year.
French energy services giant Technip will mark National Women in Engineering Day with an open evening at its UK headquarters in Westhill tonight. on Tuesday, June 23rd from 6pm-7.30pm. Following the success of a similar event last year, Technip’s UK operating centre has invited young women interested in a career in engineering to come along to find out more about the industry and the company’s work in the subsea sector.
Engineering services firm Penspen is set to launch a feasibility study on extending a key pipeline in partnership with the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas). Penspen and Ecowas signed a contract in February 2015 to enable a formal start to the feasibility study examining the current West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) system performance and its possible future network extension to other Ecowas states.
Troubles with ageing oil platforms and their associated infrastructure are just some of the causes of North Sea costs spiralling in recent years - a problem for operators even before the oil price crash started making some of the clunking old kit uneconomic to run. BG Group had a number of options to consider when it came to its Everest and Lomond platforms in the central North Sea. One of the plans hatched last year was to sell the fields along with BG’s Armada platform, although as the oil market started on the downturn this idea was shelved.
A body responsible for training North Sea workers is working to ensure that skills development does not fall off the agenda due to the oil price slump. Yesterday Opito launched schools week, a work experience taster programme for 70 north-east pupils. The students from 27 schools across the region will get a chance to learn about and engage with 22 oil and gas companies across the supply chain. The number of companies participating in the week-long series of events has risen from nine last year which was the first time the scheme was trialled.
Tickets have almost sold out for a one-day business event which will link two of Europe’s leading energy hubs next month. The second annual Aberdeen-Stavanger Gateway will be hosted by Aberdeen-based Granite PR in association with Statoil at the city’s Norwood Hall Hotel on Tuesday, June 2nd. The event will feature an array of speakers, joined by participants who will benefit from knowledge sharing and networking between these key locations.
A drone firm specialising in the oil and gas industry has been boosted by venture capital investment worth more than £2.5million. Sky-Futures, which is opening a new, larger office in Aberdeen on Monday, has also been backed by a US fund specialising in drone technology. The firm was founded in 2009 by James Harrison and Chris Blackford who operated drones in Iraq and Afghanistan while in the British Army.
