Up to 90 jobs are under threat at a subsidiary of Aberdeen and Inverness-based Global Energy Group. Isleburn, which employs more than 600 people at operations in the Granite City and Evanton in Easter Ross, stressed that the potential redundancies may not happen. A statement from the firm said: “We deeply regret having to take this action which, if required, is likely to commence around the beginning of June.
Thousands of job cuts in the global oil and gas industry are an unfortunate but necessary step in making sure firms can survive the current downturn, Wood Group chief executive Bob Keiller said yesterday. Speaking after Aberdeen-based energy service giant Wood Group’s latest annual meeting, Mr Keiller said he knew only too well about the devastation that can be caused by the loss of someone’s employment. He added: “Of course it has a huge impact on people and their families.
A robust exhibition for the oil and gas industry in Houston saw firms from across the world actively seeking solutions that will cut costs in the face of the oil price crash. The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) – the world’s biggest oil and gas show – drew to a close yesterday, with several north-east firms having attended and a number coming away with promising business leads. With nervousness about the effect of oil prices remaining low pervading proceedings, most firms pitched up to NRG Park to show off technologies and services that would make subsea oil exploration cheaper. Derek Smith, chief executive of Maritime Developments, came out a few days before the show started on Monday.
Election defeat for Energy Secretary Ed Davey means there is to be yet another whirl of the revolving-door at the ministry looking after oil and gas affairs. The Kingston and Surbiton MP was one of the casualties of a disastrous night for the Liberal Democrats, and his departure from office leaves a vacancy in a key role affecting the UK Government’s relations with the offshore sector. Industry chiefs have had to get used to sudden and frequent changes at the energy department over the years, with some of the ministers having the briefest of stays before moving on to other jobs.
Shares in BG Group rose slightly yesterday despite the international oil and gas explorer and producer reporting a 41% slump in first quarter profits. The City responded positively to an improved outlook for the group’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) business, boosting the stock by more than 1%. Analysts also welcomed the company’s better LNG earnings forecast to £856-988million for 2015, compared with previous guidance of no more than about £659million. BG, which is in the throes of a £46billion takeover by Royal Dutch Shell, said it enjoyed a “solid” operational start to the year.
North Sea oil firm Fairfield Energy plans to start decommissioning its Dunlin assets in the summer, paving the way for market specialists to be at the heart of a project worth £400million. Production from all Dunlin cluster fields will shut down in mid-June, Fairfield said yesterday. Its decommissioning plans have still to be finalised and approved in consultation with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc), the Oil and Gas Authority and “other relevant regulatory and industry bodies and stakeholders”. MCX Dunlin – a subsidiary of Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation – is the 30% working interest partner in the assets, which Fairfield acquired from Shell and its partners in April 2008.
A North Sea oil chief who urged the UK Government to act more swiftly to help the industry as oil prices plummeted late last year is no longer in his post, it has emerged. James Edens was vice-president and managing director of Aberdeen-based CNR International until the end of last month. The 49-year-old hit the headlines in December, when he warned that CNR International may shift investment from the North Sea to other parts of the world after an unsatisfactory outcome to the Treasury’s fiscal review of the oil and gas industry.
Election defeat for Energy Secretary Ed Davey means there is to be yet another whirl of the revolving-door at the ministry looking after oil and gas affairs. The Kingston and Surbiton MP was one of the casualties of a disastrous night for the Liberal Democrats, and his departure from office leaves a vacancy in a key role affecting the UK Government’s relations with the offshore sector.
Ecosse Subsea Systems (ESS), based in Banchory, Aberdeenshire, has swooped to buy English firm MASfab in a deal which is expected to boost total annual turnover by more than £3million within three years. ESS specialises in offshore engineering consultancy and subsea technology for the subsea energy and offshore renewables markets. It said yesterday its decision to acquire County Durham business MASfab for an undisclosed sum was largely based on a reputation for “first class workmanship” on large oil and gas contracts.
Applied Drilling Technology International (ADTI) has been shut down by its private-equity owner, with the loss of about 90 jobs. Energy Voice's sister publication Press and Journal has learned from various sources in Houston that the sudden closure of the well-management business earlier this week came to light as it desperately tried to get placement transfers for at least some of its 20 graduate trainees. It is not known whether the owner, Sun European Partners, is trying to sell what’s left of the business.
International oil service firm Vertech is planning rapid growth at its new Aberdeen office in the next five years, with the aim of achieving £40million annual turnover from the base. The Granite City arm of the Australian company is only a few months old, yet is already experiencing success in its targeted inspection, maintenance and construction markets. Its growth plans were revealed yesterday by UK managing director John Marsden as millions of pounds worth of new equipment for the business arrived in Aberdeen.
Time is fast running out for energy companies to enter the first ever North Sea industry Gold Awards. The deadline is tomorrow, providing a last chance for firms to take part in an event which could deliver significant rewards for their business, staff and customers. The Press and Journal, in association with our sister website Energy Voice and title partner Aberdeen Asset Management (AAM), has launched the awards to mark a significant milestone for the oil and gas industry – the 50th year of the north-east’s involvement in the development of the North Sea.
Up to 200 new jobs will be created in the north thanks to a multimillion-pound investment in the Nigg Energy Park. Owner Global Energy Group said the £20million it spent on a new “finger” jetty and upgrading existing quayside facilities were key to it landing a contract for maintenance and upgrades on Diamond Offshore’s Ocean Guardian drilling rig. The company said other potentially lucrative oil and gas industry work was also in the pipeline. Inverness Chamber of Commerce said it was “a great piece of news” for the energy industry supply chain in and around the Cromarty Firth.
Offshore workers are being put on “zero-hours” contracts that are a threat to safety in the oil and gas industry and should be outlawed, a union boss said last night. Jake Molloy, regional organiser for the RMT, was speaking after it emerged energy service firm Bilfinger Salamis UK was signing people up on terms he said were tantamount to controversial zero-hours deals. But the company denied this was the case, saying its employees were paid even if there was no work available and that “technical variations” to contracts gave it more flexibility in the oil and gas downturn.
Aberdeen marine technology firm Nautronix said yesterday it had won a £25million-plus contract extension to provide survey services to Norwegian subsea company Ocean Installer for a further three years. Nautronix - represented at this week's Offshore Technology Conference in Houston - has been growing its survey services business since 2012, supporting projects on Ocean Installer vessels globally. Growth at the division has come amid significant investment in people and equipment, and it now employs about 50 workers and owns a large quantity of survey equipment.
Aberdeen marketing and communications specialist Fifth Ring has teamed up with a Brazilian counterpart in a move which both firms hope will lead to new business in the international oil and gas market. The strategic alliance with Rio-based Zoom Out will see the companies co-operate on digital media, public relations and brand strategy projects for a wide variety of clients and on both internal and external campaigns. It also sees Fifth Ring extend its operations from its current bases in Aberdeen, Houston, Dubai and Singapore.
Scottish engineer Weir Group has teamed up with Rolls-Royce Power Systems (RRPS) company MTU for a new joint-venture to produce a power system to make hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, more efficient. Weir manufacturers hydraulic fracturing pumps, while MTU describes itself as a market leader in heavy-duty industrial diesel engines. The joint-venture – announced at the OTC oil and gas show in Houston – involves Glasgow-based Weir’s oil and gas division, whose global operations include a sales office in Aberdeen.
A trio of accountants from Aberdeen firm Johnston Carmichael (JC) is currently in Houston in the US as part of efforts to spread north-east oil and gas expertise around the world. Granite City office joint managing partners Niall Farquharson and Andrew Walker along with new recruit and tax director Richard Britten are attending the world’s biggest oil show, OTC. Mr Britten only joined JC in April but is already playing a key part in building the firm’s employer solutions practice, which targets companies with internationally mobile employees.
Logistics firm Peterson used its presence at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) to launch its new real-time tracking software to the offshore oil and gas industry. The Aberdeen and Netherlands-based firm demonstrated is “intelligent" supply chain system, VOR, on its stand at the OTC Scottish pavilion. Peterson believes VOR will deliver the cost reductions sought by an offshore oil and gas sector grappling with the oil price crash.
Scottish oil bosses are anticipating another successful time at the world's top energy show in the US city of Houston. They are attending the annual Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), which starts on Monday. Aberdeen-based energy industry travel expert Munro's Travel and the Press and Journal have organised their regular visit to OTC for 300 delegates through a tie-up dating back to 1973. This large Scottish group began arriving on Wednesday and the last of them will fly in tomorrow.
A vast majority of north-east firms are either already suffering a negative impact from lower oil prices or expect it soon, a survey has revealed. Companies across the region were canvassed for the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce (AGCC) North East Business Week (NEBW) study, and the scale of fallout from the oil and gas industry downturn is among the findings. AGCC’s research unit carried out the research on behalf of the chamber and its NEBW partners – Elevator, the Federation of Small Businesses and the Scottish Council for Development and Industry.
Tidal devices for the Meygen project in the Pentland Firth are to be built and tested at Nigg Energy Park in Easter Ross. Meygen owner Atlantis Resources said the decision to locate a new dedicated turbine assembly facility at the energy park – owned by Inverness and Aberdeen-based Global Energy Group – was the result of it agreeing to buy English firm Marine Current Turbines (MCT). MCT, currently owned by German conglomerate Siemens, is a company specialising in tidal-energy technology.
Union bosses have said energy service giant Petrofac is to blame for a 15-month delay in building Shetland’s £800million new gas plant. Last week, Petrofacc – chief contractor for the project – blamed bad weather and industrial action for the hold-up, which has already cost it nearly £300million. Almost £350million was wiped off Petrofac’s market value after the update and an accompanying profits warning.
Ithaca Energy expects a new funding package to give it greater financial flexibility in the run-up to production starting from the Greater Stella Area (GSA). “Extended and simplified” bank debt financing facilities worth a total of £422.5million provide “significant funding headroom” in advance of fist hydrocarbons from GSA in the second quarter of next year, the Aberdeen and Calgary-based oil and gas firm said yesterday. The new package adds to an existing £195million bond, giving the company access to total debt funding of around £617.5million.
The start of a seven-year drilling campaign on the Loyal field west of Shetland is an “exciting and important milestone” for BP’s operations in the UK North Sea, the oil giant said today. Newly built semi-submersible Deepsea Aberdeen is contracted to drill wells across the Schiehallion and Loyal fields, as part of the Quad204 redevelopment. It will initially drill two producer wells and one injector well on Loyal, before moving onto Schiehallion to continue drilling activities. A total of five wells are planned to be drilled in advance of first oil from the new Glen Lyon floating, production, storage and offload (FPSO) vessel at the end of 2016.
