Fighters from a breakaway al-Qaeda group are in position to seize energy infrastructure after taking control of Mosul in a strike that highlights Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s weakening grip on the country.
Tribal gunmen allied to the group are close to capturing Baiji, north of Baghdad and home to Iraq’s biggest refinery, Al- Jazeera television said. Baiji has a refining capacity of 310,000 barrels a day, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Air accident investigators have made a number of fresh safety recommendations after finalising a joint report into two offshore helicopter ditchings in 2012.
The headline finding of today’s survey is that the Scottish independence referendum is impacting on the plans and investment proposals of 45% of firms in the oil and gas sector.
Industry body Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) stuck to its impartial line on independence in its response to the survey, while politicians on both sides of the debate claimed it supported their respective causes.
Oil & Gas UK last night welcomed a report by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on extending the use of North Sea assets that have exceeded their design life but are still in use.
The Treasury has claimed that Scotland is already spending its entire share of North Sea oil revenues – and would need enough immigrants to fill Edinburgh to plug a workforce gap after independence.
Doubts over the outcome of the independence referendum are stalling investment in the north-east of Scotland by English firms keen to develop their oil and gas portfolios, according to a leading lawyer.
Richard Cockburn, a partner in the energy and natural resources team at legal firm Bond Dickinson, is involved in helping companies from both areas expand and, where appropriate, work together.
The firm has offices in Aberdeen, Newcastle and Teesside. He said more and more supply chain companies from the north-east of England are keen to become involved in the opportunities which the current buoyancy, combined with a skills shortage, has created.
However, they are increasingly concerned about what will happen after September 18.
Xcite Energy has become one of the first firms to get into the spirit of the Wood Review by pushing for the development of the area around its Bentley Field.
Sir Ian Wood wants a new regulator to be given additional powers to ensure that all licence holders act in a way that is consistent with maximising UK recovery.
That includes increased collaboration between companies, particularly around access to infrastructure, and improved data sharing.
Through my studies of disaster inquiries such as Piper Alpha, Texas City, and Macondo, it’s become clear that an organisation's information is equally as valuable as its tangible assets. Whereas poor IM can ripple throughout an organisation, causing it to haemorrhage intelligence through conflicting and contradictory data, effective IM can tie together an organisation’s knowledge in one authoritative set, helping to mitigate risks and enabling greater organisational safety.
Robert Gordon's College is looking to strengthen its profile as the key supplier of the region's "intellectual capital" as it readies to give its STEM facilities a well needed revamp.
A leading university academic last night outlined the difficulties the oil and gas industry would face should Scotland become independent.
Professor Alex Kemp, of Aberdeen University, an expert on oil economics, told an audience of more than 200 people that it would require an “extensive transitional period” to address the issues.
Regulators have backed down in a row over the introduction of new helicopter safety rules – and pledged that no offshore workers will lose their jobs for being overweight.
Helicopter travel and safety do not tend to be given a lot of airtime in Houston during the Offshore Technology Conference, giving prevalence to straight-talking business and hard cash - except for this year.
Chief Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander has admitted that North Sea taxes are already 'pretty high' and not likely to rise if Scotland becomes independent.
New measures to improve helicopter safety for oil and gas workers have been brought forward.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) says emergency breathing systems will now be compulsory 15 months earlier than originally planned. Helicopter operators will have to have the equipment in place from January 1, 2015 rather than April 1, 2016.
Energy Voice attended a workforce engagement day aimed at examining the implications of the Civil Aviation Authority’s report.
Director of safety and airspace Mark Swan and co-chairman of the Helicopter Safety Steering Group(HSSG) Alan Chesterman were on hand to address the workforce.
