Billionaire industrialist Sir Jim Ratcliffe has blamed Britain's lack of industrial strategy and levies on carbon polluters for the closure of the UK's last plant producing synthetic ethanol.
Christopher O’Shea, chief executive of British Gas owner Centrica, has said he is “worried” about low gas reserves this winter.
Aberdeen-headquartered ASCO has been awarded a £70 million contract by Aker BP for work across its Norwegian operations.
2024 ended on a high at Concordia Damen, with the Dutch shipbuilding group reaching the roughly halfway stage in the design, build and delivery of two 550ft (167.5m) roll–on–roll–off wind turbine systems carriers for fellow Dutch company Amasus, with delivery of the first sister expected later this year (2025).
Russia's Gazprom has cancelled a contract with Italian oil services group Saipem to build the first line of a gas pipeline beneath the Black Sea, the Russian state gas company said in a statement on Wednesday. Gazprom said it will start talks with other potential contractors to build the first line of the Turkish Stream pipeline, which would run beneath the Black Sea to Turkey. The project would consist of four lines, each capable of carrying 15.75 billion cubic metres of gas per year. Saipem said last month it was asked by Gazprom to start work on a pipeline under the Black Sea, which should avoid Ukraine as a transit country for roughly half of Russian gas shipped to Europe.
A small Chinese energy firm has signed a deal with a state-controlled Russian oil company to invest in an East Siberian oilfield project. CEFC China Energy signed the deal with Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russia's top natural gas producer, on July 6, according to a statement on the Shanghai-based company's website. The private chemicals and fuel company said it is investing in three blocks holding 1.9 billion barrels of oil in the Baikal project, 90 kilometres away from the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline that supplies China with Russian oil.
Romanian prosecutors seized assets of Russian oil firm Lukoil worth up to 2 billion euros ($2.22 billion) in an investigation on suspicion of money laundering, a local court was quoted as saying on Wednesday by state agency Agerpres. In October of last year Romanian prosecutors, police and customs inspectors raided the offices of Lukoil near the city of Ploiesti in an investigation into alleged tax evasion and money laundering concerning an estimated 230 million euros. As a result, Lukoil briefly shut down its local refinery.
Russia's top oil producer Rosneft has made a significant step in its efforts to expand its global reach by signing a preliminary deal with Essar Group about acquiring up to 49 percent of the Vadinar oil refinery in India. Rosneft, the world's top listed oil producer, has long sought to increase its exposure to the global markets but its efforts have been hampered by Western sanctions over Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis. State-controlled Rosneft said on Wednesday that it has also finalised a deal to supply 10 million tonnes of oil a year (200,000 barrels per day) to the refinery over 10 years.
France could get the equivalent of 10 years of gas consumption by exploiting the methane trapped in the former coal mines of its deprived eastern regions, a French company running a rare domestic exploration programme said on Wednesday. France, which slammed the door on developing shale gas due to environmental concerns and blocked many exploration permits, has discretely supported efforts by Française de l'Energie, based in the Lorraine region, to exploit so-called coalbed methane. "France is completely dependent on imports, so it's rather interested in seeing we can produce a gas which is clean and near existing infrastructure," said Julien Moulin, head of the company formerly known as European Gas.
Spain's antitrust watchdog CNMC said on Wednesday it had fined Repsol 22.6 million euros ($24.9 million), and another four franchised companies lesser amounts, for fixing petrol prices in service stations.
Europa Oil & Gas added £1.4million to its fundraising pot in a bid to sustain its future exploration plans. The firm issued 20,000,000 new ordinary shares as part of its strategy to secure funding to cover the start-up costs of its Wressle discovery.
Irish oil and has explorer Providence Resources has hailed its Newgrange frontier exploration licence as a "very attractive deep-water exploration proposition".
Russia today signed a preliminary agreement on building a natural-gas pipeline through Greece. The deal signals strengthening ties between the countries as the crisis-stricken government in Athens is increasingly isolated from the rest of Europe.
European oil and gas explorer Sound Oil announced changes to its management team today. Luca Madeddu, an existing director of the company and currently managing director for Italy, is taking on the role of managing director for Morocco.
Development body Aberdeen City and Shire Economic Future (Acsef) today added its backing to plans for a carbon-capture and storage (CCS) plant at Peterhead Power Station. Acsef chairman Colin Crosby said: "It will be the first of its kind in the world and we are delighted it will be based in the north-east.
France's Total has signed an agreement to sell its 16.67% stake in the Schwedt refinery in north-east Germany to Russian oil and gas giant Rosneft, which already holds indirectly an 18.75% interest in the facility. The deal is valued at $300million (£190million) excluding working capital and remains subject to customary approvals.
Alternative-market-listed Roxi Petroleum, the central Asian oil and gas company with a focus on Kazakhstan, said today it had received the first $10.4million (£6.5million) from the sale of the Galaz asset.
UK oil and gas giant BP will pay Russia's Rosneft $750million (more than £470million) for a stake in an east Siberian oil producer.
Energy service giant Petrofac said today its projects and operations business unit had secured contract renewals for UK North Sea work worth a total of about $400million (£252million).
The North Sea energy industry faces a potentially crippling domino effect unless action is stepped up to save key infrastructure, a conference heard yesterday.
Statoil has made a number of appointments to its board of directors after two of its board members chose not to stand for re-election. Øystein Løseth has been elected as new chair and Roy Franklin as a new member and deputy chair. It comes after the outgoing chair of the board Svein Rennemo and board member Jim Mulva informed the board in advance of their decision not to stand. Bjørn Tore Godal, Jakob Stausholm and Marjan Oudeman were re-elected as members of the board of directors.
Statoil has entered into an agreement with Colony Capital for the sale of its head office building in Norway. The company will also sign a 15-year lease agreement with an extension option at the same time. Statoil's head office building is at Forus in Stavanger.
Gazprom has been given more time to respond to charges by European Union antitrust regulators after it was alleged the company levies excessive prices and blocks rivals in Eastern Europe. The European Commission announced in April that the Russian oil giant had been given 12 weeks to reply to the charges. Antitrust regulators had brought the charges after more than two years of investigation.
Swire Oilfield Services has made an appointment to its executive team. Roy Shearer will join the company as its chief financial officer and will be based at the offices in Aberdeen. He will be responsible for the finance function across the group, including accounting and reporting, planning, tax and treasury.
The IWCF (International Well Control Forum) has appointed its first chief financial officer. David Conroy will be based at the UK's headquarters in Montrose where he will be developing the role to lead changes to the technical aspects of IWCF's services. This will include exam quality, programme development, curriculum and training.
Russia's top oil producer Lukoil will increase its crude exports by at least 300,000 tonnes in June due to cuts in production at its Norsi refinery, industry sources said on Tuesday.
Russia's top oil producer Rosneft said on Monday it had made changes to its managerial structure and that veteran oilman Igor Maidannik had left the company.
A subsea company which made its debut just months ago has landed its first major overseas deal worth more than six figures.
Norway has overtaken Russia as western Europe's top gas supplier, data from state firms shows, indicating the European Union's drive to reduce its dependence on Russian energy is bearing fruit.
