Awards night for staff of Total
STAFF working for Total E&P UK in the north-east had their extra-special efforts in the field of safety, health and the environment recognised at a dinner in Aberdeen's Marcliffe Hotel.
Oil & Gas
Troll field partners announce budget cuts
STATOILHYDRO and its partners in north-west Europe's largest offshore gas field, Troll, have chopped some of the further investment planned due to cost inflation and the slump in hydrocarbons prices.
Goliat field set for final approval
ENI Norge has submitted the plan for the development and operation of the Goliat field in the Norwegian sector of the Barents Sea to Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for its approval.
Chevron applies brakes to $7bn Indonesia project
CHEVRON has delayed its decision on whether to pursue the final design stage of its Makassar Strait, Indonesia, gas development project offshore Indonesia's East Kalimantan Province.
Egyptian agency to pave way to competition
EGYPT is setting up an "independent" agency in a bid to make the North African state's hydrocarbons exploration and production more competitive in order to attract more foreign players.
Cuts versus being prepared a high-wire act
THE upstream oil&gas supply chain is walking a tightrope between making cutbacks driven by the latest slump in oil prices and being ready for the next upturn in the fortunes of Big Oil, according to Schlumberger's CEO, Andrew Gould.
$75m Brazil win for FMC
FMC Technologies has clinched a $75million (£55million) deal with Petrobras to engineer and manufacture four subsea manifolds and controls for its Roncador Module III project.
Atlantic dumps Anglesey stake
FAROESE company Atlantic Petroleum has relinquished its stake in offshore UK licence P1211, comprising blocks 14/9a and 14/14b, in the Central North Sea, for money reasons.
University energy conference in 16th year
APRIL will see Aberdeen University once again run its enduring get to know the energy industry conference.
Shell offers 40% in Stavro
SHELL is offering the opportunity to acquire 40% equity in UK Licence P.077, block 22/12a Stavro Area, with a view to drilling the 100million-barrel prospect in Q4 2009 or Q1 2010.
Subsea sector not immune to triple whammy of negatives
Just because of healthy backlogs for 2009 and 2010, the subsea sector is not immune to the triple whammy of recession, the financial crisis and the current oil-price slump.
Signs claimed of evidence of mid-Atlantic oil
Evidence is growing that oil may be found in the Dreki area north-east of Iceland, according to Orkustofnun, the National Energy Authority of Iceland (NEA).
Capacity remains an issue despite UKCS downturn
IAN Burdis agrees that the North Sea still presents exciting opportunities for development, with encouraging discoveries and clear development candidates such as Breagh, Rinnes, Huntingdon and perhaps Cladham; also Laggan/Tormore, Rosebank/Lochnagar, Fyne & Dandy, Causeway and Columbus helping to buoy the UK industry.
Rig rates: $350,000 in January and $300,000 last week – could they drop to $250,000?
For months, the North Sea has been teetering on the edge - $40 oil isn't enough to sustain the flow of mini-projects needed to assure reasonable health, though large developments and cash-cow production appear secure.
Norway’s petroleum safety watchdog – standards just not good enough
February's ditching of a helicopter at the BP-operated ETAP fields complex has once again raised safety concerns in the UK North Sea, even though there were no casualties and injuries were relatively minor. It emphasises the vital need to keep on top of safety and to learn from the past where possible.
Attracting fresh talent to gas patch
Over the next 10 years, it is estimated that the international LNG (liquefied natural gas), LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) and wider natural-gas industries will be faced with losing up to 50% of their most senior workers.
North Sea flying high on safety of workers
The survival of all on board the helicopter that ditched into the North Sea 125 miles east of Aberdeen on February 18 is testament to the UK oil&gas industry's hard work over the last two decades in ensuring the safety of its offshore workers.
Iraq – opportunity versus fear
As foreign military forces withdraw from Iraq, a new army of foreigners is beginning to enter this beleaguered but resource-rich country armed not with combat skills and weapons, but with expertise in technology and skills honed in the international energy industry.
Like ostriches with heads in the sand
A couple of weeks ago, I spoke at a conference in Edinburgh entitled Powering Scotland, which took a serious look at whether or not the provisions are in place to keep the lights on over the next decade or so.
Good news – and bad
Scotland has a company called Scottish Bioenergy that has developed a bioreactor which uses a mixture of algae and water to strip carbon dioxide from flue gas and convert it to oil and proteins.
Don’t just screw supply chain
I don't chew my fingernails, or at least not since I was a schoolboy. It doesn't mean that I don't worry, because I do. I simply torture myself in other ways. However, there are heaps of adults who do chomp away at their nails and, pound to a penny, there's rather a lot of that happening throughout the upstream oil&gas patch right now, especially in major centres such as Aberdeen, Calgary, Houston and Stavanger, as the screws tighten on the supply chain.
Pioneering Azurite Africa-bound on maiden voyage
Prosafe Production's innovative hybrid Azurite floating, drilling, production, storage and offloading vessel (FDPSO) is on its maiden voyage en route from the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore to its first contract - working offshore the Republic of Congo.
Chilly times for decommissioning sector?
As the UK weathered Arctic conditions last month, the key players in the decommissioning sector gathered in snowy Bergen at the ninth annual conference organised by the Norwegian Petroleum Society. Was the chill at home reflected in the atmosphere inside the conference?
Gaddafi urges power to the people
Muammar Gaddafi wants Libya's Basic People Congresses to support his proposal to dismantle the government and turn over its oil wealth to the people themselves. Oil is worth $32billion a year to this North African state of five million.
Global expansion heralds 400 more jobs for the north
Northern Scotland's Global Energy Group predicts turnover for 2009 to leap to £170million, compared with £130million last year. The firm's chairman, Roy MacGregor, also expects to recruit another 400, mostly engineering and fabrication, personnel over the same period, which is twice the forecast of just of a few weeks ago.