We at Oil & Gas UK recognise that there will be changes in employment patterns, and these will affect employment across the sector. It is worth pointing out the 9% decline in employment will be across the UK - not just Aberdeen or Scotland. The forecast reduction in oil and gas industry jobs comes from an anticipated decline in capital expenditure over the next five years.
Oil and gas giant ConocoPhillips confirmed it will cut up to 230 jobs in its North Sea operations after completing a review of its business. The Houston-based firm, which is poised to take over as the biggest oil producer in the North Sea in terms of production volume by the end of this year, said staff numbers in the UK would be cut from 1,649 staff and contractors to 1,419 my March of next year. The cuts will fall predominantly on Aberdeen where the firm employs around 1,100, including 700 permanent staff and 400 contractors.
Wow ...12,000 new entrants to join offshore oil and gas industry in next five years headlines the industry report. Brill! But, over the same period, around 9% of the current workforce, for long said to be around 450,000 but now discovered to be 375,000 will disappear. I’m curious about the apparently sudden drop from 450,000 to 375,000 direct and induced. It doesn't seem to be explained. That’s a heck of a reduction and begs the question as to the accuracy of the old overall workforce number. I have to assume that the methodology that generated the 450,000 figure a decade or so ago was as rigorous as the one that EY has applied for this latest study.
Nostra Terra Oil and Gas has confirmed the spudding of its 13th well in the Chisholm Trail Prospect. The CT16 well has produced an average of 555 (barrels of oil per day). It was drilled to the a measured depth of 11,700 feet and a true vertical depth of 7,180.
As oil prices keep falling, BP is among Norwegian oil producers having to take a hard look at whether to kill off aging offshore fields earlier than planned because squeezing out the last barrels might not be worth it. BP is currently deciding on plans for the five fields it operates in Norway in a study to be completed in the first half, said Jan Erik Geirmo, a Stavanger-based spokesman. “Falling oil prices, lower production and more demanding operations, in addition to significant costs for shutting down and removing old installations and platforms, are continuous challenges that may have an impact on the lifetime of some of our fields,” Geirmo said in an e-mailed reply to questions. What goes for BP also goes for an industry hit by squeezed margins even as the government demands it meet commitments to keep investing to ensure resources are exploited in full.
Chevron New Zealand has acquired blocks in offshore New Zealand. The exploration firm was granted the licenses for the blocks in a frontier basin with water depths from 2,600 feet to 9,800 feet. The areas cover 6.26 million acres and are located south east of North Island.
Archer Petroleum has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to work with Cardiff Energy on a three-well drilling program in Texas. The firm will earn a 25% working interest on the production rates of 180 barrels a day and 250,000 cubic cubic feet of gas on the Bearcat 4 well in Ballinger.
Mosman Oil and Gas has been awarded three exploration permits in New Zealand. Part of the New Zealand government's 2014 block offer, the award covers the Taramakau and Murchison blocks on South Island and the East Coast block on North Island.
Safety checks have been ordered on Super Puma helicopters after it was warned cabin doors could jam shut in an emergency. The airworthiness directive, issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), was given for the Airbus AS332 and EC225 aircraft. Operators will now have to carry out an inspection within three months for aircraft more than a year old and within the next 15 months for more recent models.
Repsol SA (REP) has revived talks with Talisman Energy Inc (TLM), people with knowledge of the matter said, as the Spanish company seeks acquisitions to bolster its presence in North America even while oil prices tumble to five-year lows. Repsol and Calgary-based Talisman are discussing options that could include the sale of some assets or the whole company, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. Talisman’s plunging valuation -- now at C$4.5 billion ($3.9 billion) after falling about 60 percent since the end of August -- remains a hurdle to any deal, the people said. Talisman said in a statement it has been approached by a number of parties including Repsol about “various transactions.”
Intertek has appointed a new integrity lead consultant to its production and integrity assurance division. Andy Duncan has more than 30 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry. He has joined the company from the HSE’s (Health and Safety Executive) energy division offshore, where he was a specialist for eight years.
The oil and gas industry could lose an estimated 35,000 jobs within the next five years, a new report has found. The study, 'Fuelling the next generation: A study of the UK upstream oil and gas workforce' was commissioned by industry body Oil and Gas UK, industry skills and safety body Opito and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. It said jobs could fall from 375,000 to 340,000 by 2019. It also estimates 12,000 new workers will be needed for the UK sector.
Statoil has been awarded four new exploration licences in New Zealand. The permits have been awarded by the government through the country’s 2014 block offer. The Norwegian company will participate in three blocks on the East coast and in the Pegasus basins as a partner. It will also take on operatorship for one new permit next to existing acreage in the Reinga basin.
The drop in global oil prices has not dented the hiring intentions of businesses in Aberdeen, according to a jobs report. The city’s jobs market is still described as “very buoyant” in the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey despite oil prices tumbling since the summer. Brent crude fell to a five-year low of $66 at one stage yesterday amid fears of over-supply, with investment bank Morgan Stanley warning that prices could drop to as low as $43 a barrel next year.
Egdon Resources has received planning consent from Lincolnshire County Council for drilling and testing of the North Kelsey-1 exploration well. The project is located 10 kilometres to the South of the Wressle-1 discovery well in PEDL180. The company said the prospect is defined on 3D seismic data and has the potential for up to four stacked reservoir intervals in the Chatsworth, Beacon Hill, Ravensthorpe and Santon sandstones.
GMS (Gulf Marine Services) has won its first contract award for one of its mid-size vessels. The GMS Shamal will be chartered by national oil company in the MENA region. The company said the contract is for five years, which includes a two years firm option, with a further three one-year options.
Iraq will sell its Basrah Light crude next month to customers in Asia at the steepest discount in at least 11 years, following Saudi Arabia’s lead as Middle East producers seek to defend market share. Basrah Light, a high-sulfur oil used by refiners including China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., was set at $4 a barrel below the average of Middle East benchmark Oman and Dubai grades, according to a statement from Iraq’s Oil Marketing Co. That’s the lowest since at least August 2003. The official selling price to US buyers was cut by 30 cents compared with December, while shipments to Europe were marked up by 10 cents.
An offshore worker has been airlifted to hospital from a platform 130 miles east of Aberdeen. The man was flown to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where he was met by an ambulance and a team from the coastguard. An Aberdeen coastguard spokesman said they received a call at around 1.30pm on Monday afternoon.
Oil prices will stay at about $65 a barrel for at least half a year until OPEC changes its collective production or world economic growth revives, said the head of state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp. Oil is trading in a bear market as the US pumps at the fastest rate in more than three decades and global demand expands more slowly. OPEC decided on November 27 to maintain its output target, prompting a drop in European benchmark Brent crude to less than $70 a barrel for the first time since May 2010. “I think oil prices will stay around the current level of $65 for six or seven months until OPEC changes its production policy, or recovery in world economic growth become more clear, or a geopolitical tension arises,” Nizar Al-Adsani, KPC’s chief executive officer, said at a conference in Kuwait City.
Labour is attempting to tighten the rules on fracking to prevent shale gas exploration in protected areas such as national parks and improve environmental safeguards. Shadow energy minister Tom Greatrex has tabled 11 amendments to the Infrastructure Bill to close what Labour describes as “key loopholes” in the environmental regulations governing extraction of the unconventional gas resource. The amendments include introducing a presumption against development in protected areas such as national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs) and putting an obligation on operators to monitor and report “fugitive” emissions from sites.
Eni has started production of first oil from its West Hub development project in waters off Angola. The field is currently producing 45,000 bopd (barrels of oil per day) through the N’Goma FPSO which is expected to increase to 100,000 bopd in the coming months. The 15/06 development project was awarded in 2006, with Eni drilling 24 exploration and appraisal wells.
A challenge by BP over a settlement agreement following the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill has been rejected by the US Supreme Court. The oil major had claimed the deal allowed certain businesses to get payouts, despite being unable to trace their losses to the disaster. The court’s refusal to hear the appeal by BP means that it will have to continue making payments as it deals with the aftermath of the explosion four years ago.
Oil major ConocoPhillips has cut its capital budget for 2015 by 20%, the company said. The reduction, to a CAPEX of $13.5billion, has been influenced by relatively lower spending on major projects as well as the deferral of spending on US shale. Ryan Lance, chief executive, said: "We are setting our 2015 capital budget at a level that we believe is prudent given the current environment.
Soma Oil and Gas could be granted licensing award by the government in Mogadishu after carrying out seismic work with no security issues. The company said results are expected to be published at the end of the year. Following the outbreak of civil war in Somalia in 1991 the area had not previously been suitable for exploration.
Fears over Chinese demand combined with another decline in oil prices to trigger a poor start to the week for European markets. A slump in export growth in the world’s second largest economy spooked investors, particularly as imports also contracted rather than expanded.