Osborne warned ‘don’t mess with oil’
Aberdeen South MP Callum McCaig today warned the chancellor against "preaching" to North Sea experts about how the industry should be run.
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Atlantic Petroleum postpones financial results following collapse of North Sea partner
Oil and gas firm Atlantic Petroleum has postponed its financial results and hired an investment bank to find it a new backer as its partner on a North Sea field dices with bankruptcy. Faroe-Islands-based Atlantic has a 25% stake in the Orlando Field, located north-east of Shetland, which was expected to start producing by the end of 2016.
Minister launches scathing attack on failure to “protect” oil and gas sector
John Swinney has launched a scathing attack on the UK Government over its "failure" to protect the oil and gas sector.
New City Deal can help Aberdeen deal with oil and gas “rollercoaster” economy
A new City Deal for Aberdeen could help the city off the rollercoaster economy created by North Sea oil's boom and bust nature.
Autumn Statement 2015: Guest editor Derek Leith says we need reassurance
As the Autumn Statement is announced this week, Derek Leith, UK head of oil and gas taxation at EY, has taken up the role of Energy Voice’s guest editor. Follow along each day as he spells out the challenges and triumphs the industry faces.
Oil bulls see little chance of help from OPEC as supply grows
Hedge funds are betting OPEC won’t do anything next month to keep crude oil above $40 a barrel.
Obama and Putin agree on bombing Islamic State’s oil pipeline
When Vladimir Putin met with Barack Obama in Turkey on Sunday to discuss the terrorist attacks in Paris, he brought along some photos. The satellite images showed rows of trucks laden with Islamic State oil stretching into the Syrian horizon, a person familiar with matter said. Putin’s point was that US bombing alone can’t eliminate the vast smuggling network that provides much of the extremist group’s funding. Obama was already well into a stepped-up campaign against the group’s oil resources and that night US aircraft destroyed 116 tankers hauling crude from seized fields.
Culzean FSO to be built in Singapore
Japanese company Modec has contracted out the project to build a floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel for Maersk Oil’s £3billion Culzean gas development in the North Sea. Singapore’s Sembcorp Marine said it had secured the work to design and build the FSO, with the project being handled by its wholly-owned subsidiary Sembcorp Marine Rigs and Floaters (SMRF). Scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2018, the vessel will be Sembcorp’s first FSO new-build secured on a full turnkey project basis.
WGPSN and two other companies charged over Gulf of Mexico explosion
Wood Group PSN (WGPSN) has been charged along with two other companies over an oil rig explosion in 2012.
Safety warning issued to helicopter operators
A safety warning has been issued to helicopter operators after a fault was discovered which could potentially endanger crews. The warning was issued on Wednesday by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), after a problem was found in rescue hoists. The fault was traced during a safety test on an Airbus Deutschland Helicopter MBB-BK 117 C-2.
Offshore Achievement Awards 2016: Entries to close soon
There is just over a week left to enter the 2016 Offshore Achievement Awards, which offers companies and individuals the opportunity to be recognised amongst some of the industry’s greatest success stories of the last 30 years. The awards scheme this year has been adapted to reflect the challenges facing the industry since the falling price of oil has impacted the North Sea industry. This year sees the return of well-recognised categories, such as Great Large and Great Small Company, Young Professional, Emerging Technology, Safety Innovations, The Innovator and Export Achievement.
UK Government urged to support Peterhead CCS project
The UK Government is being urged to outline how it will support a world-leading north-east gas project after the energy secretary announced plans to phase out coal by 2025.
In case you missed them, Energy Voice’s Friday Five
Each week Energy Voice pulls together the Friday Five. Click below to see the site’s most read and engaged with copy of the week.
Video: Youngsters learn about the subsea world
A new initiative being led by Subsea UK is aiming to create an educational link between industry and pupils in the classroom. Education chiefs have been working with the industry body to create a unique resource which could capture the interest and imagination of primary pupils in science subjects. It includes the Subsea Channel which offers pupils the chance to visualise some of the work done in a number of ways in the North Sea.
OPEC menaced by US shale hits Canada harder in price fight
OPEC took a swing at US shale and knocked down Canada. Threatened by surging production from North America, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has been pumping above its quota for 17 months as it seeks to take market share from higher-cost regions. The resulting 60 percent price crash is hitting Alberta harder than Texas. Canadian producers are struggling to cut the cost of extracting bitumen from the oil sands, and their other wells are failing to match the efficiency gains of US rivals, a Bloomberg Intelligence analysis shows.
Atlantis Resources looks for investors in Scottish tidal projects
Atlantis Resources has sought advice from Macquarie Capital as it looks to review its options for attracting long term investors in its Scottish tidal power portfolio. The company, which owns the majority of the world’s largest planned tidal power MeyGen project, is offering potential investors an interest in its projects.
Video: Russia strikes IS oil trucks in Syria
Russia has warned it will target tanker trucks believed to be connected to Islamic State (IS) in Syria. The country released footage which showed its fighter jets have been targeting oil trucks as well as a refinery as it looks to cut the terror group’s main source of income. Russian military official Andrei Kartapolov was quoted by news sources in which he said his country was in a “free hunt” against tanker trucks carrying oil products believed to be belonging to terrorists.
Shell’s BG deal cleared by Australian competition regulator
Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s $70 billion deal to buy BG Group Plc was cleared by Australia’s competition watchdog despite concerns it could reduce natural-gas supply to local customers and boost prices. “The proposed acquisition would be unlikely to substantially lessen competition in the wholesale natural gas market,” Rod Sims, chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said in a statement on Thursday.
Nigeria’s $5.5-billion arms scandal tests Buhari’s war on graft
Revelations that top officials are suspected of pilfering the equivalent of almost the entire annual defense budget would cause shock waves in most countries. Not in Nigeria, where the public sees political power and graft as bedfellows. The novelty this time is that President Muhammadu Buhari immediately ordered the arrest of a former national security adviser, after a government commission found that he and other officials allegedly misappropriated as much as $5.5 billion that was supposed to buy equipment to fight Islamist militant group Boko Haram. “I don’t think Nigerians would be very surprised about somebody stealing $5 billion at all,” Boye Gbadebo, a Nigerian national who works as an Africa analyst at consultancy Ake Partners, said by phone from Johannesburg.
Hotel occupancy and takings in Aberdeen continue to fall
Aberdeen hotels suffered a further slump in trade in October as the wider impacts of the oil and gas industry downturn continued to hit hard, new research findings show. The latest monthly LJ Forecaster Scottish Intercity Report from tourism market specialist LJ Research says revenue per available room (revpar), a key benchmark for the sector, tumbled “unprecedentedly” below £50. Aberdeen’s revpar was £49.18, its lowest rate for several years and down by 37% on October 2014, according to LJ Research.
Shell makes 100million barrel deepwater find
Shell uncovered 100 million barrels of oil in one of its plays in the Gulf of Mexico.
Oil industry has shed 233,000 jobs, according to resource firm
The oil and gas industry has shed 233,000 jobs this year, according to Swift Worldwide Resources.
US approves proposed Schlumberger and Cameron merger
The US Department of Justice has approved the proposed merger between industry heavyweights Schlumberger and Cameron.
North Sea decommissioning expenditure to hit £17bn over next decade
The UK oil and gas industry’s decommissioning sector is growing at a steady pace, with total expenditure expected to hit £16.9billion over the next decade, a new study shows. Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) raised the forecast from £14.6billion a year ago, citing an influx of 47 new projects into its 2015 Decommissioning Insight survey. A total of 79 platforms are now expected to be removed across the UK continental shelf by 2024, according to the poll, which was launched at the Offshore Decommissioning Conference in St Andrews.
North Sea must accept and adapt to $50 oil says industry leader
Many working in the North Sea have still to recognise the full impact of $50 oil and the crisis affecting the sector, according to one senior industry figure.