Oil and gas skills body Opito has agreed to work more closely with the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) to avoid duplication of effort.
The two engineering skills bodies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to deliver to their members a “common menu of skills solutions”, to collaborate on the collation of industry data around manpower trends and skills forecasting, as well as the creation of skills programmes that meet common industry needs.
The collaboration will also build on work undertaken to date around the industry’s modern apprenticeship scheme.
Oil and gas industry veteran Jim Milne scooped a lifetime achievement gong at an awards ceremony in Aberdeen last night.
Mr Milne, the founder and chairman of the Balmoral Group, was celebrated for his outstanding achievement to the north-east region at the annual Northern Star Business Awards.
Another winner of one of the top awards on the night was CHC Helicopter West North Sea, which received the “overall business of the year” award.
Aberdeen hotels have been hit by an 18% decrease in prices since the collapse in oil prices started biting at the start of the year, new figures have shown.
The Hotel Price Index on room prices across the UK found that the Granite City was the hardest hit in the six months to June compared to the same period last year.
Aberdeen room rates fell to an average paid per night of £97 from £118. Dundee followed with a rates decrease of 8% to £83 from £90 per night last year.
Solar energy firms welcomed a boost in confidence for investors after the Scottish Government pledged to maintain levels of support for projects north of the border.
The North Sea business of CNR International booked pre-tax losses of £86million as production declined last year, figures filed at Companies House show.
But the losses were an improvement on the £156million loss the firm made in 2013 as the firm felt the impact of outages on its Banff and Kyle fields in the Central North Sea about 200 miles east of Aberdeen.
Production from Banff and Kyle was suspended in December 2011 when the FPSO was hit by sever storms that winter. Production on the fields started back in July 2014.
A 61-year-old man has been arrested and charged by police probing a multimillion-pound fraud spanning 13 years.
Up to 180 investors claimed to have lost an estimated £9million after Midas Financial Solutions Scotland was investigated by a financial watchdog.
Police then launched a criminal inquiry and sent hundreds of letters to potential victims.
Pressure has mounted on the Treasury to introduce further tax breaks for the oil and gas industry as new research reveals that cost-cutting may not be enough to ensure the North Sea is attractive to investors.
An Aberdeen oil and gas consultancy has said it has won £6million of new business this year despite being hit by the collapse of its owners into administration.
A wave power device tested at a marine energy centre in Orkney has been boosted by a £580,000 European grant.
Edinburgh-based Aquamarine Power and the National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM) have together secured a EU Horizon 2020 grant to improve the performance of Aquamarine Power’s Oyster wave energy converter.
The company has already built and operated two full-scale Oyster machines at the European Marine Energy Centre (Emec) in Orkney.
Organisers of the Offshore Europe exhibition hailed its second best ever attendance despite the effects of the oil price crash casting a pall over proceedings.
The Offshore Europe Partnership, a joint venture between Reed Exhibitions and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), said attendance figures remained “very strong” at 55,947 with delegates drawn from 104 countries. This compares to 2013 when crowds hit a record 63,000.
The organisation also said re-bookings for 2017 are looking “strong already”.
This year the record hit by the four day exhibition was the 1,535 exhibitors from 44 countries, including 336 companies exhibiting at the event for the first time. Space available at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) was - it’s biggest ever - was sold-out.
The oil price crash is expected to usher in a “decommissioning glut” in the North Sea, new research has revealed.
Delegates at Offshore Europe this week heard that there has been little evidence so far of early decommissioning of North Sea fields rendered uneconomic by the falling price of a barrel of oil.
But research firm Wood Mackenzie has estimated that there will be 50 fields facing early shutdown and dismantling due to low oil prices over the next five years. This is above and beyond the estimated 139 fields what have been scheduled for dismantling as they reach the end of their natural lives.
The boss of a major oil and gas services firm has said operators could cut the cost of their North Sea projects in half if they embraced calls for standardisation.
Energy services firm Stork has spread its wings with the acquisition of a mechanical services firm in Australia for an undisclosed sum.
Stork, which is owned by energy investor Arle Capital Partners, snapped up Sydney-based Giovenco Industries, including its £39million joint venture contract with Bechtel for work on Chevron’s Wheatstone project in Western Australia.
The crash in the price of crude will deliver a"shock treatment" that will eventually lead to a stronger North Sea industry, according to an Aberdeen executive search director.
Michael Diamond said that there is long-term potential for many new jobs being created in areas such as decommissioning, but there is no benefit in looking at the current health of the sector through rose-tinted glasses.
As the low price of oil rocks confidence in the North Sea, the importance of Aberdeen’s biennial offshore trade show has taken central stage.
The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) flagship conference, Offshore Europe, kicks off tomorrowtues.
The four day event has been a north-east fixture, starting in 1973 with the advent of oil coming ashore to the event in 2013 which attracted a record-breaking 63,000 attendees.
Hari Vamadevan, the regional manager, UK & Southern Africa for risk management firm DNV GL said companies and individuals attending this year’s show faced adjusting to what he called the “new normal” of lower oil and gas prices.
An Aberdeenshire remote operated vehicle (ROV) firm has snapped up its partner firm in a deal valued at £1.2million.
Aleron Subsea, which specialises in ROV refurbishment, sales and rental has acquired Rovquip, an Aberdeenshire-based ROV tooling manufacturer.
Aleron, which was founded by managing director Mike Bisset in 2010, said the deal ads specialist tooling to its products range including ROV skids, BOP shut down systems, cutters and water jetters.
A programme aimed at inspiring youngsters from diverse backgrounds to become the next generation of engineers will take place later this month in Aberdeen.
The Association for Black and minority ethnic Engineers (AFBE-UK), a non-profit organisation, will launch its NextGen initiative on September 26, with further events planned for 2016.
The pilot event, to be held at the Fountain of Love Church will involve a series of fun games and challenges designed to test and enhance would-be engineers’ problem-solving, teamwork and communication skills.
The company that runs the refinery at Grangemouth suffered a £16.4million loss last year despite an increase in turnover, accounts have revealed.
Petroineos Manufacturing Scotland, which is jointly owned by Swiss-based multinational chemicals firm Ineos and PetroChina, said trading at the refinery was hit by cheaper gas imports and “slow growth in Europe”.
The losses come despite having slashed costs by £32.9million last year in the wake of a bitter industrial dispute at the refinery in 2013.
The £47billion mega-merger between oil giants Shell and BG Group faces regulatory delay after authorities in Australia deferred a decision to let the deal go ahead.
Shell said it was “working closely" with the Australian competition regulator after the watchdog delayed a critical decision on clearance for the deal, signalling it has reservations about the potential impact on gas supply.
The deferral of the decision until September 17 leaves the clearance from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission as one of three key approvals still outstanding, alongside China and the UK.
Oil firm Nexen has revealed it is pressing ahead with plans to decommission two North Sea oil and gas fields according to schedule.
Nexen, which is owned by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (Cnooc), has confirmed plans to start decommissioning the Ettrick and the nearby Blackbird fields in the Outer Moray Firth, 75 miles northeast of Aberdeen. Work is due to commence in early next year.
The firm recently commissioned Aberdeen-based consultancy Xodus to deliver a Front End Engineering and Design (Feed) exercise outlining the decommissioning methodology for the fields.
Operators have been urged to sell ageing oil and gas assets but retain decommissioning liabilities worth billions in order to avoid the threat of early shut downs in the North Sea.
Analysts at KPMG have warned that oil and gas operators as well as the new Oil and Gas Autority (OGA) need to approach decommissioning in a new way or risk failing to “maximise economic recovery” as recommended by industry veteran, Sir Ian Wood.
In the report, KPMG said many North Sea firms lacked the capability to undertake decommissioning or were “poorly suited” to managing late life assets. This would only be worsened by the possibility of a “ large wave” of decomissioning projects going ahead by 2020, driving up costs and increasing the burden on skills.
Renewable energy developer Albion Community Power (ACP) yesterday secured a further £10million investment as it seeks to build a £100million fund for small-scale biogas, hydro-electric, solar and wind projects.
Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) is pumping the latest cash into the fund, which in February raised £50million from the Edinburgh-based UK Green Investment Bank (GIB) and £10million from the Strathclyde Pension Fund.
When he unveiled the fund back in February, the-then business secretary Vince Cable said it would provide equity finance of between £1million and £10million community-scale schemes, including run-of-river hydro schemes, wind turbines on brownfield sites such as industrial estates, and biogas produced at landfill sites and from anaerobic digesters.
Listed UK manufacturers weighed the effects of the global oil and gas downturn on their businesses revealing mixed results yesterday.
Engineering components firm Meggitt hailed a 6% boost to its half year profits thanks to its aviation spare parts business which offset a decline in its oil and gas valves business.
Meanwhile, pump actuator maker Rotork said its oil and gas business saw revenues drop £15million as it was hit by weak oil prices and political instability.
Meggitt rose to the top of the FTSE-100 leaders board last night, up 8% after half-year results showing pre-tax profits up 6% to £152 million at the engineering group.
