The shortlist for the 2015 Offshore Achievement Awards is unveiled today, revealing 34 contenders for 11 of the 12 honours on offer.
It is all hush-hush for the 12th award, which recognises significant achievement in the oil and gas industry, and will be presented along with the others in formt of about 500 guests at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre on Thursday, March 12.
Sponsored by Taqa in association with rigzone.com, the annual awards are organised and hosted by the Aberdeen section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).
Chancellor George Osborne has hinted that further tax breaks will be introduced to help the UK offshore industry amid growing pressure for urgent action to address tumbling oil prices.
Mr Osborne will use his March Budget to unveil a tax “bailout”, it was reported yesterday.sun
He is working on emergency measures to reverse a worrying decline in investment which threatens the future of the UK oil and gas sector, the report said.
A director of a North Sea oil company has been forced to step down after a bungle over the number of votes cast for his re-election at the firm’s annual meeting.
The “proxy tabulation error” has only just been revealed – weeks after Antrim Energy shareholders voted on whether Gerry Orbell should continue on the board.
Mr Orbell is a former chairman of the company, which is based in Calgary, Canada.
Brent and US crude oil prices both hit five year lows yesterday, before rebounding slightly, and experts expect them to go lower still.
Benchmark Brent was down by 36 cents a barrel to $57.52, putting it on track for its second weakest month since the global financial crisis of 2008, while US crude was off 3 cents at $53.57 by late afternoon UK-time.
Richard Hastings, a macro strategist at American investment bank Global Hunter Securities said US crude would likely break below $50 in the next few trading days.
The slump in the price of North Sea oil is no excuse for oil companies to cut back on spending on offshore safety measures, north-east MSP Lewis Macdonald said last night.
Mr Macdonald, Scottish Labour’s energy spokesman, added: “The falling oil price is putting severe pressure on oil companies.
“We’ve already heard about proposed job cuts among sub-contractors and of plans to cut wages but there can be no compromise on safety
UK oil and gas companies are gearing up for a new era of transparency which will shed light on links between operators and governments around the world, law firm Pinsent Masons says.
An overhaul of financial reporting driven by a new European Union directive is due to come into force on New Year’s Day, months ahead of other EU member states.
Directors face criminal convictions and unlimited fines if details of any payments made to governments are not disclosed to Companies House.
An overhaul of financial reporting driven by a new European Union directive is due to come into force on New Year’s Day, months ahead of other EU member states.
Directors face criminal convictions and unlimited fines if details of any payments made to governments are not disclosed to Companies House.
Global Energy Group said yesterday it was nearing the end of a further £20million investment in developing the Nigg Yard on the Cromarty Firth into a “world-class” port.
The Inverness and Aberdeen-based energy service firm also revealed it was targeting the Mediterranean, Middle East and Asia for new business to offset an expected downturn in the UK due to the recent slump in crude oil prices.
Global, which employs more than said a damaging impact on some of its operations was unavoidable but past experience of difficult market conditions showed new opportunities could flourish.
Independent project services consultancy Cambla plans to expand to the Middle East after it exceeded its turnover target by more than 45% in its first year.
Established in 2013, the firm has grown significantly over the past year – increasing staff numbers and securing a string of contract extensions with North Sea oil and gas operators including Marathon Oil and Centrica to provide project services support.
In the financial year ending July 31, Cambla grew its turnover to £362,000 and expects this to rise to over £500,000 next year.
It is more critical than ever for North Sea oil and gas firms to keep skills at the top of their agenda, despite any layoffs caused by low crude prices, industry body Opito said.
The skills, standards and workforce development organisation said there was still an over-riding need to turn potential talent into the offshore workers of tomorrow.
Doing so will not just equip the industry with the people it requires when oil prices rise but also help to keep safety at the forefront of operations offshore, it added.
Opito managing director John McDonald’s reminder of the importance of maintaining a competent and safe oil and gas workforce came as the Portlethen-based organisation set out its priorities for the year ahead.
Having reached 2014 highs in June, crude oil prices started to free fall and in the search for reasons some people have pointed towards the International Energy Agency's (IEA) changing demand and supply expectations.
Since June, when its 2014 global oil demand growth forecast hit a peak of 1.4million barrels per day (bpd), IEA’s projections have fallen by half.
By contrast, supply expectations have been much more stable – since June, the IEA's forecasts of non-Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) oil supply growth have expanded by a modest 300,000bpd and the IEA's non-Opec supply forecast is currently only 100,000bpd above the level at which it started 2014.
Oil traders are poised to cash in on low crude prices by storing vast quantities of the commodity until prices rise.
Global demand for supertankers is already growing as companies look to take advantage of the weakest oil prices in years.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude has plunged nearly 50% since June due to a global supply glut but the economics for storing crude at sea have until just recently remained unfavourable.
The boss of Danish conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk has warned the group’s oil division will have to close some sites and cut operating costs if oil prices remain at their current level.
Nils Smedegaard Andersen, chief executive, said that if prices stay around $60 per barrel, it will reduce revenue in the oil unit by one-third from the level of 2013.
He added: “As all costs, except taxes, are fixed it is obviously something we have to take very seriously. And we would have to do some things.”
Score Group has unveiled plans to spend around £80million on new headquarters and other buildings in its home town of Peterhead.
But a further plunge in oil prices could kill off the project, the company’s owner has warned.
The proposals are at an early stage and no approach has been made to Aberdeenshire Council for planning approval.
The former head of BP’s Aberdeen-based North Sea operation warned yesterday the UK oil and gas industry is facing an early death unless there is swift political action to prevent it.
Dave Blackwood, who retired from BP in 2009 and is currently a non-executive director with Granite-based energy service firm Expro Group, was speaking as reports in Saudi Arabia said the kingdom was prepared to increase its oil output and claim a bigger global market share, potentially putting further pressure on the UK industry after the oil price slump of recent months.
Adding his voice to widespread calls for swift tax cuts for North Sea operators, Mr Blackwood said: “Nothing less than radical change will prevent the premature demise of the basin, let alone maximise economic recovery.”
Aberdeen firm Craig Group said ongoing investment in tonnage and new international bases helped drive a big jump in both profits and turnover during the year to April 30.
The privately owned, family-run shipping and energy service company has just filed accounts showing pre-tax profits increased to £20.5million, from £17.3million, while turnover grew by more than £30million to £177.7million.
They also highlight almost £30million of capital expenditure during the year, of which £23.3million was spent on the continued modernisation of the group’s growing fleet of emergency response and rescue vessels.
Prime Minister David Cameron and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon were last night urged to attend an emergency oil and gas “summit” in Aberdeen and help save jobs as the North Sea industry struggles with low crude prices.
The meeting has been called by Aberdeen City Council in response to a plunge in oil prices to just above $62 a barrel, from more than $100 in the summer. Scottish Labour pledged to send its leader, Jim Murphy, and urged both Mr Cameron and Ms Sturgeon to attend.
But trade body Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) said there was no need for a knee-jerk reaction to the low oil prices, adding it was probably enough to “reflect” on them after Christmas.
Robert Gordon University (RGU) student Alexandra Pate, 20, has won the competition to design a trophy for this year’s Offshore Achievement Awards (OCA).
The design brief was to capture the awards’ key themes of “innovation, creativity and out-of-the box thinking”.
Miss Pate’s winning entry has already led to a prototype, which will be developed into a final version – made of steel and granite – for winners of the OCAs at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre on Thursday, March 12.
The world’s top oil producer said yesterday it had no intention of cutting output to prop up oil prices.
Saudi Arabia also blamed commodity market speculators for driving down the price of a barrel of crude to its lowest level in years.
Ali Al-Naimi, the Middle East country’s oil minister, said he was “100% not pleased" with prices but they would improve, although it was unclear when.
The comments came at the 10th Arab Energy Conference in Abu Dhabi as the global oil and gas industry grapples with a plunge in oil prices to about $62 per barrel from well over $100 in the summer.
A new era for US-Cuba relations creates opportunities for Scottish businesses in the Caribbean, former energy minister Brian Wilson says.
After half a century of Cold War acrimony, the US and Cuba are trying to restore diplomatic links in a historic shift that could revitalise the flow of money and people across the narrow waters that separate the two nations.
It could mean an end to the US trade embargo which has stifled investment and hampered business in Cuba for more than 50 years.
Balmoral Group chairman and managing director Jim Milne is toasting “another year of positive growth in turnover and profitability”.
He was speaking after the Aberdeen engineering firm reported turnover growth of more than 25% to £79.06million in the year to March 31.
Pre-tax profits were up by more than 13% to £4.56million, with Balmoral highlighting a 53% increase in operating profits to £6.18million.
A new report and map by insurance broking giant Marsh highlights the 20 most riskiest places in the world to do business in 2015.
It also reveals which countries are likely to be hit hardest by the downward spiral in crude oil prices.
Marsh’s report and its map showing danger hotspots and safer investment bets includes overall risk scores for 170 countries based on three categories; politics, economics and operational challenges.
The US owner of Aberdeen firm International Tubular Services (ITS) says the business will not face criminal prosecution after its admission of bribery and corruption.
As revealed on Energy Voice yesterday, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s civil recovery unit recovered £172,200 under proceeds of crime legislation from ITS after it benefited from unlawful conduct.
ITS admitted it had benefited from corrupt payments made by a former Kazakhstan-based employee. The payments were made to secure extra contracts from a customer in the country.
North Sea oil production slumped by nearly 11% in the third quarter of 2014.
New figures showing the sharp drop in output coincide with growing fears about low oil prices and their impact on the future of the offshore industry.
One expert has warned the offshore sector is “close to collapse” because of the current low Brent oil prices, which yesterday rose slightly to about $62 per barrel.
Oil and gas firms may have to charter boats or hire bigger helicopters to accommodate overweight workers after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) decided obese people can be classed as disabled.
Businesses are being warned to expect widespread and expensive consequences after law chiefs in Luxembourg ruled that being overweight qualifies as a disability.
The judgment follows the sacking of Karsten Kaltoft, a 25-stone childminder from Denmark.
North-east subsea technology firm Fathom Systems has changed hands in a £4.25million management buyout by Maven Capital Partners.
The private equity house has acquired a majority stake in Portlethen-based Fathom from Hugh Williams, who was one of its directors and has retired.
Fathom engineers highly specialised underwater communication, control and instrumentation products and services for the fast-growing global subsea oil and gas sector.
