In case you missed them, Energy Voice’s Friday Five
Each week, Energy Voice pulls together the Friday Five.
Daily
Technip denies FMC takeover speculation
Technip has denied speculation it is in merger talks with FMC Technologies.
IOG on track to spud appraisal well on Skipper
Independent Oil and Gas (IOG) has executed a well management contract with AGR for the drilling of an appraisal well on Skipper in the North Sea. The company said the well is on track to spud in late January or February next year.
Wood Group to focus on M&As, sees impact on North Sea and US work
Wood Group said it remains focused on mergers and acquisitions as it said its overall financial outlook for the year remains unchanged, despite challenging market conditions. The company issued its pre-close trading update for the year ahead of results being published in 2016. Earlier this year the company announced the acquisition of Infinity as well as a previously deal to acquire Automated Technology Group in September as well as Beta Machinery Analysis in June.
Noble Energy boosts production
Noble Energy has continued to increase production and said it plans to sell more oil in the fourth quarter of the year. The rise is higher than previously expected, up from 405,000 barrels to 415,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Video: Energy Voice launches new Christmas Wishes campaign
Energy Voice has launched its new Christmas Wishes campaign. We want to ensure everyone is connected this holiday season. Whether you’re a manager, employee, spouse, parent, friend or child you can use our platform.
GE said to be in advanced talks for Halliburton drilling assets
General Electric Co. is in advanced talks to buy the drill-bits and drilling-services divisions of Halliburton Co., which is divesting assets to win antitrust approval for its takeover of Baker Hughes Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. Selling both the drill-bits and drilling-services businesses could have fetched as much as $5 billion in total for the oilfield services provider, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this year, when the units were each put on the block. It is not clear how much the decline in oil prices -- which have been hovering near six-year lows -- may have affected their respective market values.
Shell considers New Zealand asset sale
Shell is carrying out a strategic review of its assets in New Zealand as it looks to streamline costs amid the continue decline in oil price. The oil major will carry out the assessment to see how their interests in the region align with the company’s current plans.
Chevron cuts 2016 spending by 24%, plans bulk of costs on international projects
Oil giant Chevron said it will cut its budget by 24% next year as it aims to control spending following the decline in oil price. The company said it would spend $26.6billion in 2016, with the bulk of spending planned on international oil and gas exploration and production projects.
Bond launches offshore medical transfer service
Offshore workers who are too sick or injured to wear a survival suit can now be helicoptered back to shore on normal commercial flights.
Iona Energy boss hopeful a buyer can be found for North Sea’s Orlando prospect
The boss of defunct oil junior, Iona Energy, said he remained hopeful a buyer can be found for the Orlando oilfield in the North Sea, despite a deal that would have saved the company falling through at the last hurdle.
Loren Steffy: The Deepwater Horizon case’s Potemkin village of prosecution finally crumbles
Perhaps the only thing more egregious than the prosecution of former BP engineer Kurt Mix was the way that prosecution ended: with a whimper so barely audible you may have missed it.
EnQuest looks to sell stakes in some North Sea assets
Oil firm Enquest has vowed to press ahead with the development of two North Sea oil fields as the oil price dipped below $40 a barrel before leveling back up. The Aberdeen-based firm said it has approved the development of a £83million Scolty and Crathes fields about 83 miles from St Fergus, near Peterhead, in the central UK North Sea.
The North Sea’s letter to Santa
As the price of Brent crude flirted with dropping below $40 a barrel yesterday, directors of leading North Sea operators were asked what they might like the industry to get from Father Christmas. The answers, delivered to a full house at an Oil and Gas UK business breakfast at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) yesterday was clear.
Apache boss says still possible to make money in UK sector despite oil price
Cory Loegering, Apache’s regional VP and MD for the North Sea said it was possible to make money from the UK sector despite the current oil price.
Norway oil fund dumps bonds, clearing path to quarterly profit
The world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund says it has recovered from the losses it suffered in the second and third quarters thanks to a strategy of dumping bonds and buying up stocks and real estate.
Petrol expected to drop to £1 a litre for Christmas, RAC believes
Many fuel retailers are expected to cut the price of petrol to £1 a litre in time for the Christmas getaway. The RAC believes the tumbling oil price will lead to a 3p drop for petrol and 5p for diesel. This would take average prices to around 103p for petrol and 104p for diesel, but experts predict prices will be even lower at many forecourts.
Opinion: OPEC may be losing oil pricing power
In May 2014, the new deal Gazprom signed to supply 38 billion cubic meters (bcm), which is about the amount NY state uses annually, of natural gas to China each year for the next 30 years changed the world more than anyone may have anticipated. It’s not just because it took 10 years to negotiate or was estimated to be worth about $400 billion at the time, but it seems to be the catalyst that sparked the current global oil war. In the midst of economic slowdowns in Europe and Asia and new technologies catapulting the U.S. into a leading world oil producer, OPEC decided to stop supporting oil prices and maintain market share by increasing oil production.
Video: Seven dead, 23 still missing and 32 rescued in Azerbaijan platform fire
The search continues for 23 people still missing after a fire ripped through a platform in Azerbaijan.
Enquest reduces Greater Kittiwake OPEX from $100/bbl to $30/bbl
Enquest reached a major production milestone, delivering its first individual day's production total of more than 50,000 barrels.
OPEC’s oil market disarray looks like 1990s slump all over again
OPEC has seemingly dropped any attempt at trying to fulfill its founding mission and manage the oil market, sending global benchmark Brent crude to a six-year low. For Saudi Arabia’s Ali al-Naimi, the most powerful and longest- serving of the group’s oil ministers, it may have seemed like history was repeating itself.
Seven highest risk countries for oil and gas workers
Seven of the most dangerous countries for travellers next year have been identified by an company that advises oil gas workers abroad.
Opinion: The bottom of the barrel?
On Friday, OPEC concluded its 168th Meeting of the Oil Production and Exporting Countries Conference, with members agreeing to effectively abandon the 30 million barrel per day (mmbbl/d) production limit which has been in place since 2011. Brent crude, the international standard benchmark, fell some 3.23% on Monday to the lowest front month futures price since late 2008.
Opinion: Climate change and energy supply – and why the world isn’t ending
Air travellers are used to captain’s warnings of the potential for turbulence – most are accustomed to considerable ups and downs, with crew and passengers remaining calm and arriving at their destination without the onset of panic. There are however times when one or two can’t take the rocky ride in their stride and scream, unsettling everyone. COP21, the Paris Climate Conference, is the result of considerable scientific research and debate, and a great deal of political posturing - some people are taking absolute positions, some people inducing panic and others even declaring the end is nigh.
Wood Group wins brownfield work with ConocoPhillips
Wood Group has won a brownfield contract with ConocoPhillips for its assets in Australia.