A ruling by the UK’s top court on damages provisions in major contracts will impact on the energy and construction industries, says an Aberdeen legal expert.
In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court has “shaken off the dust from 100 years of case law” regarding contract compensation clauses, said Scott Johnston of legal firm Pinsent Masons.
Mr Johnston said: “Many business and consumer services contracts contain what is commonly known as a “liquidated damages” clause and the energy and the energy and infrastructure sectors in particular are very familiar with these terms, which can have big financial implications.
Norway's hydrocarbon producers processed 85,000 per day more during October than the previous month, according the latest statistics from the coutry's petroleum directorate.
W.S. Atkins said yesterday its Middle East oil and gas business had grown beyond expectations, helping to offset challenging conditions for its energy arm in the UK and North America.
The global engineering and project management consultancy joined the throng of oil and gas market players laying bare the knock-on effect of reduced crude prices.
Atkins, which is part of the joint-venture behind the design of the new Aberdeen bypass road, said its energy division had a difficult first half.
Independent Oil & Gas (IOG) said it was at the advance stages of planning on the Skipper well, which could see it become a licence operator in the UKCS.
The company said it was continuing discussions with a “major” North Sea rig provider to use a semi-submersible drilling rig to drill the Skipper appraisal well.
IOG estimated there could be 25% recoverable oil from the Skipper well.
Production has been shut down on the Ninian Central platform in the UK North Sea for maintenance work on the asset’s fire pumps.
CNR International, which operates the platform, said production would resume as soon as the current work had been completed.
The Ninian Central platform is 249miles off the coast of Aberdeen.
A north-east fabrication firm offering manufacturing services to the oil and gas industry has gone into administration.
Harlen Fabrication in Dyce has appeared to suffer the effects of the downturn in the oil and gas industry.
Calls were made to directors of the company were not returned.
Gulf Marine Services said a healthy order book provided cause for optimism in the self-propelled self-elevating support vessels (SESVs) serving the offshore oil, gas and renewable energy sectors.
Offshore catering workers are mulling a fresh offer from their bosses as well as unions’ advice that they accept it to settle a pay dispute which had threatened to boil over into a strike.
The Unite union said yesterday it welcomed revised terms from Catering Offshore Trade Association (Cota) employers, and put plans for industrial action on hold.
Cota chairman Peter Bruce said: “At our meeting with representatives of Unite and RMT last week, we discussed a solution which we are hopeful will lead to the resolution of this dispute.
Marathon Oil has been hit with an improvement notice by the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) after a gas leak on its Brae Alpha installation in the North Sea.
The company will have until April next year to comply with the notice following the incident 170 miles north east of Aberdeen.
The leak happened in June inside the West Brae Caisson on the installation.
Dredging and marine experts Royal Boskalis Westminster NV has executed the subsea rock installation on the Cygnus field in the North Sea.
This video shows the work being carried out by the fallpipe vessel, Rockpiper.
A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S, Denmark’s biggest company, said profit at its oil unit dropped 86 percent in the third-quarter as energy prices fell.
Maersk Oil’s net operating income after tax for the three months through September was $32 million, down from $222 million in the same period a year earlier, the Copenhagen-based company said in a statement on Friday.
Faced with the collapse in oil prices, the two dominant North Sea producers are taking opposite approaches to bolster dwindling investment: The U.K. is offering carrots, while Norway is wielding a stick.
Britain plans to extend the 1.3 billion pounds ($2 billion) of tax cuts granted to producers in March after more than one in three fields was rendered uneconomic by the slump in crude. In contrast, Norway has shunned incentives and warned companies that scrapping projects could hurt their chances of getting new Arctic licenses.
The differing strategies highlight the divide between depleted British waters and the untapped potential and larger reserves on the Norwegian side of the North Sea. Norway can afford to be uncompromising, while the U.K. struggles to extend the life of aging and higher-cost fields.
Lower crude prices continue to bite into North Sea oil and gas company profits and spending plans, with another two firms revealing impacts in their third quarter results yesterday.
Apache and Canadian Natural Resources (CNR) reported losses totalling billions of pounds and also highlighted cost-cutting on a scale being seen right across the industry.
The development of the Forties field in the North Sea was somewhat similar to “putting a man on the moon” according to Apache’s former UK managing director Jim House.
It might not look like much but this rough weather on the North Sea caused a ship to list 15 degrees. The footage was caught on camera by one of its staff on board the vessel. Watch the footage below from about 45 seconds in to see the worst of the waves.
Aker Solutions said revenue fell in the third quarter of the year to NOK 7.5billion compared to NOK 8.3billion in 2014.
The company said the fall was amid a decline in demand for subsea services, particularly in the North Sea.
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were NOK 329million compared with NOK 460million.
Apache’s further oil discoveries in the North Sea are a real “morale boost” for the sector, according to the chief executive of Oil & Gas UK.
Deirdre Michie spoke to Energy Voice on the back of last month’s announcement of up to 70million barrels of recoverable oil in the North Sea.
US-based Apache Corporation announced finds on two exploration wells in the Beryl area and a “large” discovery at its Seagull prospect about 50 miles south of its huge Forties Field.
An ailing oil and gas industry has forced experts to lower their expectations for economic growth across the whole of Scotland during 2015.
Brian Ashcroft, emeritus professor of economics at Strathclyde University said yesterday the downturn offshore was stifling onshore service businesses throughout the country.
He was speaking after the university’s Fraser of Allander Institute – an economic think-tank – delivered its latest commentary on the state of Scotland’s finances.
The OGA (Oil and Gas Authority) has strengthened its board with the appointment of three new non-executive directors.
Sir Patrick Brown, the chairman of the industry regulator, has approved Frances Morris-Jones, Robert Armour and Mary Hardy in the roles.
Last month the OGA revealed it had completed the first phase of a £20million seismic campaign in the UKCS.
