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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
Plans for the first UK nuclear power plant in a generation are set to be given a boost today with confirmation of Chinese investment in the multi-billion pound scheme.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Millions of pounds of investment in energy projects benefiting communities across the UK is at risk from the Government’s cuts to renewables subsidies, a report warns.
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.
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.
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.
Matt Corbin heads up one the subsea industry's most prominent firms.
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.
I posted this on Linked-In a few months back:
MOL Group will be continuing its focus on the UKCS and Norway after snapping up assets in both regions since last year. Brian Glover, exploration and business development senior vice president for the company, spoke exclusively to Energy Voice as it visited the firm's headquarters in Hungary. Everyday this week Energy Voice will be briefing from Hungary on the latest developments in MOL's operations across the globe.
UK Oil & Gas firms can access a £20bn cash reservoir by tightening up working capital according to financial services giant PwC.
Bond Offshore Helicopters said yesterday the return to action of its fleet of EC225 aircraft lifted the company’s profits during the 15 months to March 31, 2015. The North Sea helicopter operator said new contracts awarded in 2013 and 2014 and the longer accounting period had also contributed to its strong performance. Bond’s financial year-end switched switch from December 31 to March 31 when it was taken over by Babcock in a £1.6billion deal in 2013.
BG Group has restarted production from its Everest platform in the central North Sea after completing the first phase of a £300million major upgrade that will extend its life a further 10 years.
Weatherford has launched a consultation with staff in its UK operations for up to 75 positions. The move comes after the company revealed earlier this year it would be making redundancies across the globe as it looks to streamline costs. The redundancies will affect staff in its North Sea operations and staff have been informed of the move.
A fatal helicopter crash in which four oil workers lost their lives two years ago has acted as a "catalyst" for lesson learning, according to the chief executive of HeliOffshore.
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.
Atlantis Resources said €17million of funding has been transferred from the Kyle Rhea project to the world’s largest planned tidal stream energy project MeyGen. The transaction was approved by the European Commission’s Climate Change Committee for MeyGen Phase 1B. The move is planned to help accelerate the development of the project with this second phase targeted to reach financial close and commence construction during 2016.