Administrators have confirmed that 77 jobs have been lost immediately following the collapse of Specialist Subsea Services (S3).
The Aberdeen firm will retain five members of staff as KPMG restructuring supremo Blair Nimmo seeks to find a buyer for the business.
The remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) specialist was hit when its majority owner and biggest customer, Reef Subsea AS, was put into liquidation earlier this month as backers pulled support from the firm in the wake of falling oil prices.
The boss of Maersk Oil UK will be returning to Denmark as the firm appoints a new head of its UK business.
Martin Rune Pedersen will become head of the Danish firm’s domestic oil business, while Morten Kelstrup will become managing director in Aberdeen from 1 April 2015.
Mr Rune Pedersen has been managing director of the business since 2010. He has worked for the firm for 17 years following a career as an officer in the Danish Army.
An Aberdeen company specialising in subsea surveys has become the latest victim of turmoil caused by the slump in oil price.
Specialist Subsea Services (S3) called in administrators yesterday, putting the jobs of an estimated 70 employees at risk.
The company, which specialised in chartering remote operated vehicles (ROVs), is owned by Reef Subsea AS, which was which was put into liquidation by its Norwegian owners along with its subsidiary, Technocean Subsea, earlier this month.
The boss of one of the largest energy services firms in the world has called on the oil and gas sector to “reinvent” itself in the wake of low oil prices.
Samir Brikho, the chief executive of the newly merged international conglomerate Amec Foster Wheeler, said it was “insane to believe that if we continue to do exactly the same things as we have been doing in the past we will expect different results”.
He added: “We need to reinvent ourselves and go back and think whether we have been doing the right thing and whether we do things differently.”
Andy Samuel, the head of the new Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) last night published an “urgent call to action” to the industry and government in the face of the “significant risks” facing the North Sea industry.
The paper was prepared in response to Secretary of State Ed Davey’s demand in January that the fledgling OGA to identify key risks to oil and gas production following a more than 60% decline in oil prices.
The report outlined key risks to the sector as well as the OGA’s top priorities as it becomes the North Sea’s official regulator in April .
Oil and gas skills body Opito is backing a UK Government campaign that aims to dispel myths about “men-only” industries and inspire the rise of women across a range of business sectors.
The Department for Work and Pensions’ Not Just For Boys Campaign aims to encourage women to pursue careers in roles where they may be under-represented, such as engineering and science.
Opito has joined a host of businesses and individuals across the UK using the hashtag #NotJustForBoys on social media to raise awareness and celebrate women working across a range of industries.
There is no “silver bullet” answer to the problems facing the North Sea as oil prices remain at around half the level they were last year, the boss of Wood Group has said.
But Bob Keiller, the chief executive of Wood Group PSN, pointed to the “higher cost culture” in the North Sea basin as one area that will need adjusted in order to ensure that jobs in the region remained sustainable.
His firm Wood Group was among the first to cut the rates it paid to independent contractors last year - not once but twice.
Oil and gas services firm Wood Group PSN said it would continue to cut cost this year as it prepares to face challenging conditions “for the forseeable future”.
Bob Keiller, the chief executive of the Aberdeen-based company, said the company expects to make costs savings of about £20million this year which would include job cuts across the firm’s global operations.
But he added that these would be “nothing like” the “scarily large numbers” rivals and peers in the sector - including Baker Hughes and BG Group - have announced.
A hydro-electric power scheme near Crianlarich will be the first beneficiary of a £60million fund for community-scale renewables projects across the UK.
Business Secretary Vince Cable will launch the fund today in Edinburgh at the headquarters of the Green Investment Bank (GIB).
The bank, along with the Strathclyde Pension Fund (SPF) have backed the fund which will be managed by Albion Community Power (ACP).
Leading oil and gas industry figures will give their views on the growing importance of technology in helping the sector tackle cost in a difficult business environment at an event in Aberdeen next month.
The Technology Showcase organised by the Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF) in partnership with Oil & Gas UK, aims to highlight the emerging technologies needed to improve production efficiency and curb rising operating costs in the UK Continental Shelf. The exhibition will showcase latest innovations from companies across the UK.
The opening session will include presentations from Paul Warwick, executive vice president Europe Atlantic for Talisman Energy and Philippe Guys, managing director of Total E&P UK.
Scottish Gas owner Centrica will unveil plans to slash spending and potential job cuts as it grapples with low oil prices and the effects of warm weather.
The new boss of the firm, Iain Conn, is this week expected to reveal a 29% plunge in operating profit to £1.9 billion, according to City estimates.
Mr Conn, a former BP executive, will present Centrica’s annual results on Thursday just six weeks after he took over the role from former chief executive Sam Laidlaw who had been at the helm for eight years.
Aberdeen-based oil and gas consultancy Optimus has hailed its “best ever” period in its 15-year history after turning over contracts worth more than £5million in the ten weeks to end-January.
But while turnover in the engineering firm’s most recent financial year grew 32%, profits were flat as the firm said it “sacrificed” margin on investment in new offices, staff and technology.
Managing director Karl Green said: “We sacrificed profits to build our team and development capabilities, and procure new hardware; we hired experienced people even if we didn’t have immediate work for them,” said Mr Green. “This was the correct decision for last year, providing a real growth spurt and building our capabilities to support fit-for-purpose delivery in the modern era.
The UK energy sector’s attempts to pull itself out of the mire are being hindered by a lack of collaboration, urgency, and boldness, industry leaders said at Europe’s largest subsea event yesterday.
Energy services firm Proserv was crowned company of the year at an awards ceremony celebrating outstanding achievements in the UK subsea industry last night.
The gala Subsea UK Business Awards was attended by over 850 people at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) following the first day of the industry body's annual conference.
Judges for the awards scheme hailed "key milestones" for Proserv in the last 12 months, including a series of high-profile contract awards across the globe, expanding its manufacturing facilities and launching a "game-changing" subsea technology.
KCA Deutag has announced plans to cut up to 230 jobs in Aberdeen as it grapples with a slowdown in North Sea drilling.
Overall the drilling contractor said 500 jobs across its business spanning 20 countries were “at risk”, while it would also cut staff wages by 5% across the board. The company employs 10,000 worldwide and 1,200 in its North Sea offshore business.
Revealing the plans to staff at its Altens base this afternoon, the firm said it would launch a consultation on its plan to cut 30 office jobs and 200 offshore roles after two of its North Sea clients “pause drilling operations”.
Babcock International’s David Goodfellow is leading the defence giant’s move into North Sea oil and gas at what could be considered an interesting time for the sector.
At Rosyth Dockyard, Babcock International is almost three-quarters of the way through building 74 subsea structures that will extend the life of BP’s Schiehallion and Loyal fields West of Shetland.
The £30million contract on BP’s “Quad204” project was one of the largest of its kind, and it is a deliberate move by Babcocks into diversifying its order books.
A subsea business controlled by a Norwegian venture capital firm has been put into liquidation just months after changing hands in a £17million deal.
Reef Subsea AS, along with its subsidiary Technocean Subsea, has filed for bankruptcy in what is considered to be one of the first major casualties in the North Sea due to new low oil prices.
The firm’s sister company, Reef Subsea UK, is not in administration it has been confirmed. The UK division, which is owned by the same venture capital firm, Hitechvision, is based in Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees and has an Aberdeen-based operation at Altens.
Oil giant Shell is set to launch a consultation on one of the most significant and complex decommissioning projects in the North Sea yet - and which is sure to stir controversy as the ten year, multi-billion pound plan progresses.
Later this month the firm will take the first step towards decommissioning the Brent Delta, one of four oil rigs on the field 115milles north-east of Shetland that has producing since 1976.
Royal Dutch Shell boss Ben van Beurden issued a plea to UK policy makers to “get on” with plans to maximise economic recovery in the North Sea yesterday.
He also called on the UK government to review its supplementary tax charge on North Sea oil producers as it has made the operation of some fields unrealistic.
Mr van Beurden said at a conference in London: “It needs to be looked at as the tax position is hindering viability.”
A taskforce formed by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to deal with job losses in the North Sea will meet every month, it was announced yesterday.
Industry and public sector leaders met with taskforce chairwoman Lena Wilson in a secret meeting at Aberdeen’s Ardoe House hotel yesterday to discuss job cuts which could affect thousands of North Sea workers.
The location of the meeting was kept quiet in an effort to ensure the proceedings remained private. The Scottish Government has not revealed who the members of the task force panel are, although a list of companies including BP, Aker, Petrofac and Wood Group are said to have provided representatives.
Scotland’s Energy Minister Fergus Ewing hopes four major wind arrays in the firths of Forth and Tay will be built despite a major legal challenge to their development.
Bird protection charity RSPB Scotland sent shockwaves through the sector in Scotland earlier this month after a last-minute move to seek judicial review of Mr Ewing’s decision to grant consents for the Neart na Gaoithe, Inch Cape and Seagreen Alpha and Bravo arrays.
It is understood the RSPB’s application will come before the courts for the first time in late May and there are concerns within the industry the legal process will prove both costly and lengthy.
Companies with technologies that can cut the cost of oil and gas production will be highlighted in a new showcase at the subsea industry’s leading event this year.
In an effort to demonstrate how recent innovations can help operators and oil services firms reduce costs, Subsea Expo will provide a platform for organisations to introduce, discuss and demonstrate their latest innovations.
Chaired by Dr Gordon Drummond, project director for the National Subsea Research Initiative (NSRI), the session will give a dozen companies ten minutes in the spotlight to outline their innovation and potential applications.
A conference has been called in Aberdeen to offer advice to oil and gas contractors as North Sea firms begin cutting thousands of jobs and rates are also reduced.
Hundreds of people are already out of work as major energy firms react to the Brent crude slump.
Last week, Talisman Sinopec said 300 jobs from its North Sea operations are to go, including 200 contractors. Schlumberger and BP have also revealed plans to axe hundreds of north-east jobs.
Battle lines have been drawn between North Sea firms and thousands of workers over plans to shake-up shift patterns.
American firms Apache and Marathon have both unveiled proposals to replace “two weeks on, two/three weeks off” rotations with “three weeks on, three weeks off” (3:3).
The move was revealed after operators and contractors including BP and Talisman Sinopec announced plans to make hundreds of redundancies in recent weeks.
BG Group has become the latest firm to cut its contractor rates in the wake of the fall off in oil prices.
A staff meeting was held Friday in Aberdeen where people were informed of the priorities for the year, the need to improve efficiency and the decision to reduce contractor rates by an average of 10%.
BG employs 230 contractors in Aberdeen.
