American engineering group SPX is aiming to grab a slice of the North Sea pump repair market after opening its first service centre in Aberdeen.
The North Carolina-based company is understood to have pumped a seven-figure sum into the launch of the facility, which will service its own Bran & Luebbe, ClydeUnion and Plenty Mirrlees brands as well as third-party pumps.
SPX yesterday unveiled details of the service centre in the ABZ Business Park, which will test equipment and provide spare parts.
A Super Puma has made an emergency landing at Aberdeen International Airport.
The CHC Super Puma L2 helicopter had two crew on board and no passengers when the incident happened.
The flight had been coming into Aberdeen when it made a request for priority landing.
Royal Dutch Shell will attempt to show that it is able to ride out the new era of low oil prices when it posts its full-year results on Thursday.
London-listed Shell, which employs 90,000 people in more than 70 countries, is expected to report full-year earnings up 5.4% to 17.6 billion US dollars (£11.6 billion), as it sells non-core assets and scraps projects following the oil price slump.
The moves fit in with the strategy of chief executive Ben van Beurden who took the helm a year ago this month and said he wanted the oil giant to improve operational performance and financial results.
This week's most read article on Energy Voice was the news that Shell's vice president would move onto a new role within the company.
In other news regarding Shell, the oil giant launched an investigation into a suspected gas leak in the North Sea.
A "true buyers market" could emerge this year with mergers and acquisitions as companies take a long view amidst low oil prices.
Analysis by Wood Mackenzie has suggest distressed sales, both asset and corporate, could precipitate the move.
The analysis by its corporate upstream research team assessed the five main challenges which face oil companies this year.
Prime Minister David Cameron has acknowledged the concerns of UK oil capital Aberdeen over the drop in oil prices - but said it has been “good news for consumers”.
He said NHS spending in Scotland has been protected despite the drop in North Sea taxes thanks to the “broad shoulders” of the UK.
The oil industry is suffering a wave of job losses as oil prices continue to fall amid increasing US production and falling demand in economically struggling countries.
Enquest has cut its spending for the year to $600million as a result of falling oil prices during the past seven months.
The company said it had renegotiated its credit facility covenants as well as its capital expenditure.
It is also working with contractors and the supply chain to achieve further cost savings.
There is weakening demand for hotel rooms in Aberdeen as the fall in oil prices hits the industry, a report has found.
Hotels in the city still have the highest average room rates (ARR) in the country at £92.87, but there has been a sharp fall in occupancy rates.
The report from tourism market research specialists LJ Research found ARR in Aberdeen increased by 1.9% last month compared to 2013 but that room occupancy fell by 4.5%.
Global Energy Group is shrugging off the plunge in the price of oil by bringing one of its Australian brands to the North Sea.
Vertech, which Global bought in 2012, specialises in using ropes and alternatives to provide access for offshore inspection, maintenance and construction work.
The group is pumping £5 million into opening Vertech’s Aberdeen operation and has hired ten staff to run the company, including former Flexlife chief operating officer John Marsden.
There is no denying that we are in a challenging time for the North Sea oil and gas industry. However, it is how we now meet that challenge that is so important for the long-term future of this industry.
For some time we have experienced unsustainable levels of wage inflation and whilst recognition of the need to reduce this is not new the dramatic fall in the price of oil has accelerated the need to address this.
Our strategy groups have been in place looking at these issues and longer-term solutions but we are now facing a particular dilemma where operators are looking to reduce costs promptly, especially for those with operations where costs are outstripping revenue.
The UK Treasury has moved the launch of an investment allowance consultation forward after calls were made by the oil and gas industry.
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Danny Alexander and the Exchequer Secretary made the announcement following a meeting in Edinburgh.
The allowance, which was first announced in the Autumn Statement, is a single, basin-wide capital expenditure linked investment allowance.
Gas exports from the Fulmar pipeline have now restarted after a suspected gas leak caused a temporary shutdown.
Oil major Shell said deepsea divers had completed subsea work with Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to isolate the Curlew (Floating Production, Stroage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) by closing two valves on the interconnecting pipeline.
An investigation had been launched earlier in the week after a suspected gas leak.
North Sea job cuts could reach 40,000 over the next three years, an economist has predicted.
Inverness-based Tony Mackay said if the price of oil averaged out at $80 a barrel, direct employment in the North Sea would fall by 18,700 by the end 2017, with indirect and induced employment bringing the toll up to 40,000.
Cairn Energy expects to shave £250million off its capital expenditure following the completion of a farm-out of Catcher to Netherlands-based Dyas.
The Edinburgh-based oil and gas indy agreed to sell a 10% working interest in the North Sea field to Dyas UK, retaining a 20% working interest in Catcher.
This will be a challenging year for the North Sea but the necessary austerity may create a new appetite for near-to-market technologies.
The average cost of bringing oil to the surface globally is around $7 a barrel, in the North Sea the average is $28, and in some of our fields it is nearly four times that.
As a result, the second half of 2014 was brutal to North Sea operators’ profit and loss accounts with 2015 offering no respite.
Operators are prioritising cost efficiencies and reappraising capital programmes, while the supply chain is doing its bit as part of the industry belt tightening.
Energy Secretary Ed Davey has admitted that the world oil price collapse took him by "surprise" – but insisted the North Sea’s future was not all "doom and gloom".
He also reassured MPs that the new Aberdeen-based Oil and Gas Authority remained on track to be up and running by April.
The Liberal Democrat minister was giving evidence to Westminster’s energy and climate change committee.
An oil firm failed to approve 159 safety-critical work orders for deferral.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found 182 outstanding jobs when it carried out an inspection on the North Sea Clyde platform, 159 of which had not been approved for deferral.
The company has since been issued with an improvement notice following the evaluation last year.
A resurgent FTSE 100 Index climbed for the fifth session in a row to reach a six-week high after a recovery in oil prices lifted energy stocks.
Brent crude firmed at $49 a barrel, which lifted a range of oil and gas firms such as production and exploration giant BG Group.
The FTSE 100 Index was 107.9 points higher at 6728 as the top flight extended its progress over the last week to more than 250 points.
George Osborne has confirmed that he will deliver new North Sea tax cuts within weeks – but also signalled that he wants to ban Scots MPs from voting on the Budget.
The chancellor said he was "sure" that there would be "further steps" to protect oil and gas jobs in the Budget on March 18.
The pledge was made by the Conservative minister as he gave evidence to Westminster’s Treasury select committee yesterday.
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has insisted Labour will announce “detailed plans” to reform the tax regime for the North Sea if George Osborne does not act swiftly.
The Labour MP would not be drawn on the specifics of any future policy yesterday, but argued that the Chancellor cannot afford to wait until the Budget in March to make changes to secure jobs and safeguard investment.
Speaking in Aberdeen amid news of fresh lay-offs in the north-east, Mr Balls also argued the Scottish Government could be doing more to mitigate against the wider impact of the oil industry downturn.
Statoil has been awarded interest in 15 licences on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).
The awards were given in the 23rd licensing round by the government, and include eight as operator.
The Awards in Predefined Areas (APAs) include 80% ownership and operatorship in PL783 and 20% ownership in PL782S west of Balder, and 50% ownership in PL803 - a new licence in the Tromsø basin.
As the oil price plummets to its lowest level in more than a decade, oil and gas industry bosses in the north-east are making cuts to curtail declining profits.
We can’t avoid that reality.
The energy sector is increasingly feeling the pinch and staff layoffs are inevitable as challenging times ensue over the next quarter and beyond.
Redundancies in any company during a recession are tough. But in a cyclical market, it is important to try and make the process as pain-free as possible for those whose jobs could be at threat.
Fresh measures to shore up the Scottish oil industry in the wake of tumbling prices are set to be announced in the Budget, George Osborne has indicated.
Analysis by the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) that suggests an independent Scotland could have been up to £7 billion worse off as a result of falling oil revenue “reminds everyone of the risk of independence”, the Chancellor said.
Mr Osborne lambasted predictions made by the SNP during the referendum campaign about the finances North Sea oil would generate for the nation as “wildly optimistic”.
Wood Group PSN (WGPSN) has appointed a new chief financial officer (CFO).
Steve Nicol will take up the role, moving from his previous position as CFO of WGPSN’s UK operations.
He succeeds David Kemp in the role who will become CFO of Wood Group following the retirement of Alan Semple in May this year.
The vice president for oil giant Shell’s Upstream business in Europe is set to move onto a new role within the company.
Glen Cayley has been in his current position since September 2010.
Mr Cayley first joined the company in 2006 as vice president of global exploration and was responsible for appraisal and resource maturation.
