Two of the North Sea’s biggest oil explorers have warned there could be a further 10,000 jobs losses in the oil and gas industry. Both Amjad Bseisu, chief executive of EnQuest, and Premier Oil’s chief executive Tony Durrant said the industry was making the expectation as the decline in oil price continues. Industry body Oil & Gas UK has reported up to 5,500 jobs have been affected in the last year.
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.
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.
Aker Solutions has teamed with German firm Man Diesel & Turbo to develop the next-generation in subsea compression systems that can be used even at the smallest oil and gas fields.
A senior executive of fracking company Ineos has said he is “not too concerned” about a motion at the SNP conference that could result in a further clampdown on the controversial practice. Party members meeting in Aberdeen will today be asked to back a move that would place tighter restrictions on the party’s moratorium on shale gas extraction. The Scottish Government has already halted any fracking until 2017.
Callum McCaig has branded the Labour Party “shameful” amid claims the SNP failed to act to protect North Sea oil and gas jobs. The Aberdeen South MP told a packed conference hall he would have “appreciated some help” from other MPs in his efforts to protect the “vital industry”. Mr McCaig was responding to comments from Kezia Dugdale reported in Energy Voice's sister publication the Press and Journal.
Oilfield services firm Archer has won a three-year platform drilling services contract for Talisman Sinopec's North Sea assets.
Statoil has awarded the NOK600million ($74.5million) contract for construction of the converter station at Haugsneset to the field to Norwegian firm Aibel.
An oil worker has been airlifted to hospital from a North Sea platform following an incident offshore.
A network group in Scotland has been chosen to upgrade the telecoms links to hundreds of North Sea oil platforms.
Sir Ian Wood’s analysis in 2012 that the North Sea industry was not viable when Brent crude was $114 a barrel and that drastic action had to be taken to save the industry is a sobering thought.
Subsea engineering and training company Jee said yesterday it had won a contract extension with BP to provide the oil major with a range of maintenance and inspection services in the North Sea. Jee, which has offices at Tonbridge in Kent, London and Westhill, near Aberdeen, has worked with BP for more than two decades in locations including, Angola, Azerbaijan, Norway, Trinidad and the UK.
The crew of a North Sea emergency response and rescue vessel were amazed to see a school of orca whales surround their ship, 155 nautical miles east of Aberdeen.
Offshore drilling contractor Transocean has refused to confirm it held a meeting with staff at its Aberdeen premises concerning potential reduction in headcount.
The billionaire owner of Grangemouth made his first move into the North Sea buying up gas fields from a Russian oligarch just days before the sale breached a government-imposed deadline. Jim Ratcliffe, chairman and chief executive of Ineos, is thought to have paid up to £500million for 12 fields from Mikhail Fridman, who had been forced to sell the assets by the UK government. Mr Fridman’s firm, LetterOne Group (L1) had initially paid £3.8billion to buy Dea, the upstream oil and gas business of German utility RWE in a deal which closed in March.
Offshore supply vessel owners are facing a "very tough" 2016 with the prospect of much of the supply fleet being laid up due to the oil slump.
Israel’s Delek Group is to become the biggest shareholder in UK North Sea oil and gas firm Ithaca Energy following a £43million investment announced yesterday. The deal underlines investors still see value in British waters, despite a slump in oil prices and high operating costs in one of the world's most mature oil and gas basins. Tel Aviv-listed Delek’s investment arm is taking a near-20% stake in Ithaca, whose current activity is focused on the construction of a new production hub in the Greater Stella area of the central North Sea.
An 82-year-old man who spent more than 18 hours adrift in the North Sea was forced to watch as his yacht sank while being towed back to safety in Norway. Julian Mustoe was rescued by a Norwegian Coastguard cutter on Wednesday after his craft lost power halfway between Shetland and Bergen. The rescue effort was prolonged because of bad weather but eventually Mr Mustoe was taken aboard the coastguard boat with the 25ft yacht, Harrier of Down, taken under tow.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude is expected to reach $60 by the end of the year - according to at least one economist. Carl Paraskevas, senior economist for the Bank of Scotland said the lender’s house view was that the price of a barrel of oil would start rising, driven by a fall in production of oil and gas. Speaking at an event in Aberdeen yesterday, Paraskevas added: “There has also been a marked pick up in demand,” he said. “Chinese imports of crude are up and seems relatively stable.”
The crew on the North Sea’s Brent Delta platform, which is set to be decommissioned, gave the song ‘Talk Tonight’ from the Oasis’ 1995 album The Master Plan their best go. Watch the video to see more. Take a look at Subsea 7’s own viral music video here.
Leading oil and gas economist Professor Alex Kemp said a continued low oil price could lead to a "greater emphasis" on cost reduction, but was also likely to curtail investment in new fields and exploration. Prof Kemp made the analysis after Asco chief executive Alan Brown exclusively told Energy Voice he thought a continued oil price of $50 a barrel could be a "very good" thing for the North Sea. Brown said it would force greater collaboration between the operators and supply chain as companies were forced to work more closely together.
After a senior economist said he expected a barrel of Brent crude to reach $60 by the end of the year - three experts give their view on whether this estimate is feasible.
An oil worker has been airlifted to hospital after an accident on a North Sea platform. The Coastguard 951 helicopter was called to the Prospector 1 platform, 150 miles east of Aberdeen around 6.55am today. The man was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI) with a potentially life threatening injury after an accident on the rig yesterday.
CHC has confirmed 18 employees have been made redundant after a consultation took place over roles. The company said it had been able to minimise the loss to its North Sea operations. In August CHC began a consultation with staff estimating 50 positions could be affected at its Aberdeen base.