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Daily

Oil & Gas

Technip wins JX Nippon Malaysia contract

Technip has been awarded a subsea contact by JX Nippon Oil and Gas exploration in Malaysia. The deal will see the company cover the engineering, procurement, fabrication, installation and commissioning of three flexible pipes in the Layang field, offshore Sarawak. The flexible pipes consist of two production risers and flowlines and one gas export riser and flowline, connecting shallow water platforms to a new FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading Unit).

Oil & Gas

Oil sticks near $45 as US supplies seen sustaining market glut

Oil traded near $45 a barrel as investors weighed data that showed US crude stockpiles expanded more than twice as much as forecast. December futures rose 0.5 percent in New York after falling 2.4 percent Wednesday. Inventories climbed by 8.03 million barrels last week, the biggest gain since April, according to U.S. government data. A Bloomberg survey forecast a gain of 3.75 million. Venezuela proposed a summit between OPEC heads of state and other producing nations in November to discuss the price needed to sustain future supplies, according to its oil minister Eulogio del Pino.

Other News

Nigeria to split long-delayed petroleum bill to speed passage

Nigeria’s government plans to split an oil- industry bill stuck in parliament for seven years and resubmit it to lawmakers after it held up reforms and deterred investment in Africa’s largest crude producer, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said. Breaking up the Petroleum Industry Bill, or PIB, into smaller laws focused on fiscal and regulatory measures in Nigeria’s energy industry would make it easier to pass through parliament, he said. The bill, first presented to parliament in 2008, will be resent to lawmakers in the first quarter of 2016.

Oil & Gas

Exclusive: Wood Group brings Altablue business back in-house

A company set up by Wood Group last year to perform personnel services to external businesses will now be brought in-house once again. Wood Group said the move to reel in its Altablue recruitment and payroll business was to reflect the “changing need” for resourcing service provisions in the current climate. The 100% owned Wood Group firm was set up in June last year and registered in Jersey.

Oil & Gas

North Sea energy firms break into new markets amid oil decline

North Sea energy firms are continuing efforts to break into new, global markets as the collapse in oil prices takes its toll on the supply chain. Firms like Aberdeen-based Reftrade UK, which specialises in providing refrigeration containers in harsh environments, is looking to the pharmaceuticals industry. Meanwhile, Enermech, a mechanical engineering group which has its headquarters in Aberdeen, has invested £250,000 to offer a mobile valves testing service in South Africa which takes in sectors as diverse as brewing and the pulp and paper industry.

Health, Safety & Environment

Worker killed in Chevron accident off Gulf of Mexico

An investigation has been launched after a worker was been killed in an accident on a drillship contracted to oil major Chevron in the Gulf of Mexico. The man, who was employed by Pacific Drilling was fatally injured on board the Pacific Santa Ana while it was operating in waters in the US Gulf.

Other News

Subsea 7 to downsize offices in Aberdeenshire hub

Subsea 7 is to downsize its Aberdeenshire office as it looks to streamline costs during the oil price decline. The company, which announced it would be making headcount reductions earlier this year, said it would “optimise” its other buildings. Subsea 7 currently has its east and west complex as well as its workshop and sports centre based in Westhill.

Oil & Gas

Buzzard oilfield ramps up production after shutdown

The Buzzard oilfield in the North Sea has begun ramping up production once again after a four-day outage. The operator Nexen said the field, which is the largest contributor to the Forties crude oil stream, was coming back online after it was shut down last week. Buzzard produces about 186,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Oil & Gas

UKOG independent evaluation estimates billions of barrels in Weald basin

UK Oil and Gas (UKOG) said it has received an oil in place (OIP) evaluation from US specialist Nutech which shows more than 15 billion barrels of oil could lie within the Weald basin area. The company said it had asked Nutech to conduct its study over eight of the licence area in which it has interest in Southern England. Nutech estimated 15.7billion barrels could lie within three Jurassic shale and interbedded limestone tight oil plays underlying the eight licence areas in the Weald basin.

Oil & Gas

Leadsom highlights ‘vital’ need to maximise North Sea economic recovery

A UK Government minister has highlighted the "vital" need to maximise the North Sea's economic recovery to protect Britain's ongoing energy security. Energy minister Andrea Leadsom said continued exploration and investment in the oil and gas sector would be crucial. She was asked about the package of measures announced by Chancellor George Osborne in his March Budget during the Commons energy and climate change committee meeting yesterday.

Opinion

Opinion: Are you in this to be liked?

Are you in this to be liked? Have you asked yourself how well you managed the cost reduction exercises in your business this year? This recession has cut deeper and lasted longer than most of us ever expected, but that doesn’t mean we have to wait for it to be over to be liked. Most leaders in this market have been through recession and subsequent headcount reductions several times. Many will admit that managing redundancies is the toughest thing that they have had to do in their careers.

Oil & Gas

MOL boosts downstream business despite oil price decline

A global decline in the oil price since last year may have hindered upstream business in regions such as the UKCS. But for Hungary's MOL Group, the lower oil price has prompted an unexpected boost in its downstream operations. David Pullan, group downstream development senior vice president for the company, told delegates at the Central Eastern Europe and Turkey Refinery Summit in Budapest his side of the business had seen "very good" results. In the third part of our week long series from MOL's headquarters in Hungary, we look to its successes in its downstream business.

Other News

Giant rig arrives in Cromarty Firth

A giant of the oil industry has arrived in the Cromarty Firth to take shelter for the winter. At 35,500 tonnes, the West Phoenix rig is the largest by gross tonnage ever to berth in the firth. It will shelter in the deep waters over the winter before embarking on a new contract in March off the west coast of Shetland.

Health, Safety & Environment

Fatal platform fire caused by leak in gas fuel line

The cause of a platform fire in Mexico earlier this year which killed four workers and left 16 injured was a leak in a rarely used gas fuel line which had corroded, according to a new report. The findings by Mexico’s Agencia de Seguridad, Energia y Ambiente (ASEA) on what happened on board the Pemex Abkatun Permanente platform will not lead to any fines against the company. The gas fuel line had shown what was described as an “unusual” kind of accelerated corrosion due the presence of micro-organisms and sulphuric acid within the gas.

Other News

Danny Alexander ‘should have reformed power market’

An SNP MP claims Danny Alexander should have secured major reform of the electricity market while he was in office. Ian Blackford spoke out after Mr Alexander suggested the Highlands were being “let down” by a Tory majority government and “impotent” Nationalist MPs in opposition. Mr Alexander, former Inverness MP and chief secretary to the Treasury, was furious when the UK Government shelved a scheme he led to cut power bills in the north. The chancellor announced in the March Budget that ministers would consult on a plan to reduce electricity prices for families in the area by an average £30 a year. But it is understood the consultation was not carried out and officials now intend to look at the issue as part of a regular review of a subsidy scheme instead.

Oil & Gas

OPEC brings oil price war home in pursuit for Asia’s cash

When it comes to deciding how much to charge Asian oil buyers, OPEC members are showing little regard for tradition. Suppliers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have long moved in lockstep, raising or lowering prices in tandem. Now, Kuwait is undercutting Saudi Arabia by the most on record and Iraq is also selling its oil more cheaply than the group’s biggest member. Qatar is pricing cargoes at the biggest discount in 27 months to competing crude from the U.A.E.’s Abu Dhabi. While the group that accounts for about 40 percent of global oil supplies maintains a collective strategy of flooding the market with crude, the semblance of unity has vanished when setting monthly selling prices. With Asia forecast to account for most of the growth in global oil demand this year, competition for the region’s buyers is trumping historical allegiances.

Oil & Gas

MOL looks for future success in the Middle East as it moves to exit Cameroon

MOL Group's Brian Glover said the company does not see any "great future" for itself in Central Africa as it eyes further success in the Middle East. In the second part of Energy Voice's week-long series looking at the Hungarian company's operations, the exploration and business development senior vice president spoke about ongoing operations. MOL has had a 40% working interest in the Ngosso Block in Cameroon since 2007.

Video

Video: NSRI leads the way on subsea technology innovation

It’s been an extraordinary year for the National Subsea Research Initiative (NSRI) whose launch coincided with the global decline in oil price. Project director Gordon Drummond said while the situation added a whole “new dynamic” to what NSRI was trying to do, the body’s creation has been “hugely positive”. Speaking to Energy Voice Drummond said within the subsea sector there remained a lot of activity in the research and development phase of work.

Markets

Oil Search quarterly sales decline 30% as energy prices slide

Oil Search Ltd., the target of a takeover bid from Woodside Petroleum Ltd., posted a 30 percent decline in third-quarter sales after a drop in energy prices. Revenue fell to $379 million from $538.2 million a year earlier, according to a statement from Oil Search on Tuesday. Sales dropped 3 percent from the June quarter. Output rose to a record 7.42 million barrels of oil equivalent, the company said.

North Sea

Total to sell 15% stake in Gina Krog field

Total has signed an agreement to sell a 15% interest in the Gina Krog field in Norway to Tellus Petroleum in a NOK1.4billion deal. The French company’s president of exploration and production said the move was as a result of a “full comparative review” of its global asset portfolio. The transaction still has to be approved by the Norwegian authorities.