Cresswell: Treasury must scrap SCT…Now!
Well, here we all are . . . another year dawns over the chill, grey wastes of the ever restless North Sea.
Chopper market in a spin as oil price crash takes its toll
In 2013, the oil & gas market segment was forecast to account for nearly 30% of the new helicopters market over the five years to 2018.
Jeremy Cresswell: Trump – let’s roll up our sleeves and get on with it! UPDATED
As someone who was intimately involved with the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) project via Aberdeen Offshore Windfarm Ltd from its inception pre-Trump to achieving final consents last year, I of course applaud the Supreme Court's decision.
Apache boss says still possible to make money in UK sector despite oil price
Cory Loegering, Apache’s regional VP and MD for the North Sea said it was possible to make money from the UK sector despite the current oil price.
Exclusive: Supply boat crisis threatens North Sea safety
Charter rates for North Sea supply boats and anchor handlers are now so low that most vessels are sailing at a loss and, in some instances, apparently with “insufficient crew and fuel” aboard. It means that the companies that own them are in danger of sinking into a mire of debt and default; even going bankrupt or being forced into mergers. It is claimed there are now so few British seafarers on the ships . . . they are being replaced by cheap, Third World labour . . . that they have become an “endangered species”, according to a leading North Sea trade unionist.
Forties – the original North Sea giant where the prize just keeps on getting bigger
We pick up the story on March 24, 2001, at a UK Offshore Operators Association breakfast in Aberdeen when BP’s then North Sea chief said he saw a good future for the company’s mature assets.
Opinion: Our bizarre ‘Walter Mitty’ Government
One day, it would be great to write something positive about the current UK government in the energy context. But so long as it carries on the way it is, that won’t happen. Last month, I laid into chancellor George Osborne for the nuclear deal cooked up with the Chinese. The sycophantic fawning that occurred during the state visit of Xi Jinping (“Xi Dada”, or Uncle Xi), with yet more major UK opportunities peddled in Beijing’s direction was nothing short of disgusting. Indeed, Osborne, with his haircut reminiscent of the BBC’s casting of “I Claudius” donkey’s years ago and which one is advised signifies power, has rather dominated the energy stage of late.
Forties at 40 – the ultimate North Sea prize
Located in late 1970 and brought onstream 40 years ago, Forties was the first major oil discovery made on the UK Continental Shelf, not counting the Arbroath field discovered in 1969, which was also a BP prize, though not developed until the 1990s.
Opinion: Asia-Pac fab yard delays no longer acceptable
The irresistible power of evaporation
According to Columbia University scientists, this fundamental force of nature is ‘more powerful than other forces like wind and waves’ An immensely powerful yet invisible force “lifts” water from Earth’s surface to the top of the tallest redwood and delivers snow to the tops of the Himalayas. Yet despite the power of evaporating water, its potential to propel self-sufficient devices or produce electricity has remained largely untapped – until now.
Baby Norwegian oilco born into slump starts out with $200m PE war-chest
A brand new oil company has been launched in Norway, despite the current industry slump. Okea is the second to be born in the country since the summer of 2015 when Origo was rolled out at Offshore Northern Seas. And it is the fourth over this period if the two UK companies Verus (derived from Bridge Energy) and Siccar Point are included. All have private equity funding underpinning them. In the case of Okea, Seacrest Capital Group has got behind the newly created oil & gas development and production company headquartered in Trondheim.
After nine-year gap, two RGU grads set up subsea company despite downturn
Two Robert Gordon University (RGU) graduates have set up their own company specialising in developing innovative underwater products for the energy industry. Ben Grant, 30, who studied electrical and electronic engineering and Alastair McLennan-Murray, 31, an artificial intelligence and robotics graduate, set up Impact Subsea in February, around the time that oil prices hit rock bottom prior to what turned out to be a small and temporary partial recovery. Impact Subsea offers products and solutions to oil & gas, offshore renewables and scientific markets. Its products are used on remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles and in “stand-alone” applications. Given the nature of what they offer, the hope is that they can exploit the current crisis.
Acquisition by Global Energy reinforces Middle East push
Aberdeen-based Rigfit Offshore (UK), the specialist accommodation outfitting arm of Global Energy Group can now press ahead and expand into the Middle East as a result of taking over Seven Seas International. The deal to acquire manufacturing facilities in Dubai and Bahrain for an undisclosed sum significantly enhances the Rigfit offering and adds to its existing operations in Sharjah, UAE. Moreover, it fits precisely with Global Energy’s strategy of creating a family of hubs around the world to drive internationalisation of the Scottish group.
Statoil dusts off slimmer, simpler Bressay
Statoil has re-awakened its UK sector Bressay heavy oilfield project and is keen to get both concept selection and investment decision nailed down next year.
Acquisition by Global Energy reinforces Middle East push
Aberdeen-based Rigfit Offshore (UK), the specialist accommodation outfitting arm of Global Energy Group can now press ahead and expand into the Middle East as a result of taking over Seven Seas International.
Opinion: ‘Brutus’ Osborne and his nuclear madhouse
It is years since I commented about nuclear power in the UK, though we have carried stories from time to time.
EnerMech in investor hunt
International mechanical engineering group, EnerMech is looking for additional investors to take the business to the next stage of its development plan.
£440million deal for Stork near close, reports claim
Private equity house Arle Capital is said to be close to selling Dutch engineering firm Stork Technical Services for around £440million, reports have claimed.
Offshore Europe 2015:Deepwater subsea oil spill response ; a dangerous dilemma
I travelled to Houston just days after the Macondo blowout; not to join the media horde that was out to pillory BP and its chief executive of that time, Tony Hayward, but to attend OTC. Needless to say, the 2010 show became dominated by the disaster as vitriol spilled forth via a host of news media bent on crucifying “Briddish Petroleum”. The industry was in shock ... absolutely caught on the back foot; so were government agencies in charge of the US Gulf, notably the MMS (Minerals Management Service), which was rapidly dismantled and replaced by a new regulatory and safety system that included the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. GoM operators came under massive pressure to get their act together and to develop adequate countermeasures. In July 2010, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil committed to providing a deepwater containment response capability for the US Gulf.
Offshore Europe 2015: Shocking exploration performance poses UKCS threat
Exploration drilling in UK waters has collapsed and shows no sign of recovery either now or in the near future. This is dangerous because the dramatic slowdown of recent years will lead to a development famine in around five years time, Offshore Europe delegates have been warned. And, far more oil & gas is being extracted from the North Sea than is being found.
Jeremy Cresswell: Where were the next generation?
Trying to fathom the UK offshore industry can be tough at times and Offshore Europe 2015 lives up to that reputation. And sometimes it can be the simplest of things.
Offshore Europe 2015: Expro lands $25million in contract wins
Aberdeen-headquartered international oilfield services company, Expro, has strengthened its operations in the North Sea with $25million in contract wins secured in the UK and Norway, where it will officially open a new facility later this month.
Stay as a ‘one-trick’ pony and risk starvation
There is no doubt that the UK-based offshore oil & gas supply chain is making heavy weather of the current downturn; not just in its domestic market but overseas too. The North Sea has been hit hard and, one year in, there are no signs of pressure easing; rather it has intensified in recent weeks. There is a consensus developing that points towards a prolonged slump and that, to stay in business, the supply chain in Britain will have to go back to basics, get fit and learn to succeed in a very different oil price environment of little over a year ago. Diversification has to become core business . . . not just as a diversion to get out of a tight corner as has so often been the case over the 40 years since first UKCS commercial oil production started; a bit earlier in the case of gas.
Jeremy Cresswell: Inspiring the next generation
This has to be among the most challenging, nay, difficult core themes ever tackled in the 42 years history of Offshore Europe. But when the decision was taken some 15 months ago to headline 2015’s Offshore Europe with How to Inspire the Next Generation, oil was trading north of $100 per barrel. As I pen this a barrel of Brent is trading below $50.
Bourbon Orca: Definitely ‘out of the box’
Ten years ago, Bourbon became the first offshore support vessel operator to take on a radical new design developed by Ulstein of Norway. The bull-nosed beast with its easy lined and fairly slim hull was known as the X-Bow design and the first of the class, Bourbon Orca, was delivered in 2006. Its front end was then and remains curiously reminiscent of ancient vessel types such as Roman merchant ships and the Italian trabaccolo, of which a few examples remain extant. In August 2006, Energy reported: “Norway has again demonstrated its ability to come up with a radical offshore support vessel design that could prove a major step forward, both operationally and in terms of safety.