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.
A North Sea boss has warned he will shift investment from the North Sea to other areas of the world after being disappointed by the results of HM Treasury’s fiscal review of the oil and gas industry.
James Edens, vice-president and managing director of CNR International, told Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander that changes proposed to the UK tax regime were not coming quickly enough to help his company.
At the presentation of the Treasury’s plan to reform the UK oil and gas fiscal regime, Mr Edens told Mr Alexander: “the speed of change here is too slow - you must speed up, you must accelerate.”
Cluff Natural Resources (CLNR) has been awarded five licenses by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in the UK's 28th Offshore Licencing Round.
The awards cover eleven blocks in an under-explored gas province of the southern North Sea.
They were given by DECC to the company on a ‘promote’ basis.
Statoil has extended the suspension period for a number of rigs due to overcapacity in its portfolio.
The Norwegian company said it meant the the COSL Pioneer, Scarabeo 5 and Songa Trym postponement period would now be longer.
The rigs were initially suspended until the end of the year.
As a result of lower prices and rising cost the oil and gas industry has been lobbying hard for improvements to the oil and gas fiscal regime and will have been watching the Autumn Statement closely for positive reforms.
Whilst some announcements were made, further consultation will take place before the package is agreed. It is not clear whether this will happen ahead of next year’s general election.
Further details were announced by the Rt Hon Danny Alexander MP in Aberdeen on Thursday.
In the Autumn Statement, the UK Government announced a number of measures aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the UK Continental Shelf. This included a 2% reduction in the Supplementary Charge to Corporation Tax, new tax allowances to encourage development of complex fields as well as enhanced tax measures for the exploration phase.
But this was the curtain raiser to the main event in Aberdeen, where the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander MP, presented a more detailed roadmap for the future fiscal approach to the UK oil and gas tax regime.
The reforms to the oil and gas tax regime announced by the Chancellor and Danny Alexander this week are, of course, welcome.
Particularly in light of the Chancellor’s admission that it has been 21 years since the oil and gas industry last received a tax reduction.
However, this announcement only goes a short way towards reversing the unexpected and damaging 12% increase in Supplementary Charge tax introduced by Danny Alexander at the 2011 Budget.
CHC Helicopter is set to invest millions of pounds to transform its facilities in Aberdeen.
The company plans to deliver the expansion of its hangar capacity, passenger terminal and provide for a new operations centre.
The development will be delivered in two phases.
There are three things wrong with the UK Parliament's approach to the oil industry.
Firstly, there is no gratitude whatsoever. Over the last 40 years more than £330,000million has poured into the Westminster Exchequer, around £60,000 per head for every Scot.
Scotland's resources have bankrolled successive Tory and Labour Chancellors.
They present any crumb of a concession as if it were a gift.
Offshore firms will be offered new tax breaks today to trigger a fresh wave of North Sea exploration, it can be revealed.
Energy Voice has learned that Chief Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander will reveal plans to try to end the UK's exploration crisis through a system of tax credits for seismic surveys.
The move is expected to be welcomed by industry leaders who have repeatedly called for extra incentives to stimulate flagging exploration rates.
Official figures show that North Sea tax receipts are predicted to fall by 40% over the course of this year.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said revenues to the Treasury would drop to £2.8billion by the end of 2014/15, which is 0.9% lower than was forecast at the Budget in May.
The independent body also said that tax to the Exchequer from the North Sea would be £1.6 billion lower in 2015-16 than was predicted in March, with “smaller reductions” due in later years.
Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed that he will cut North Sea oil and gas taxes.
He pledged to reduce the supplementary charge from 32% to 30%, expand the ring-fenced expenditure supplement from six to 10 years, and introduce a new cluster area allowance.
The UK Government insisted that the changes would trigger billions of pounds of investment in the North Sea and create thousands of new jobs.
The cut in the supplementary charge represents a partial climb-down by the chancellor, who infamously almost wiped out investment at a stroke when he hiked it from 20% to 32% without consultation in 2011.
The UK oil and gas industry is missing out on a government funding pot worth more than £7billion because it has failed to sufficiently organise itself, a business leader warned yesterday.
Paul Warwick, boss of oil operator Talisman and a member of the government and industry-led Technology Leadership Board (TLB), said the sector has missed out on financial support for technology development from the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (Bis) because it was “too complicated”.
He added that, until recently, the industry had not needed the help from government.
Unions have warned of “radical” changes in the energy industry over the next few years, leading to job losses after German giant E.ON announced re-structuring of its business.
The firm said it will focus on renewables, including wind and solar, along with distribution networks and its customer business.
E.ON, one of the Big Six energy firms, said it wanted to respond to the “dramatically altered global energy markets”.
The falling oil price has caught-out investors in a retail bond linked to a leading North Sea producer.
EnQuest issued the bond two years ago, offering an attractive 5.5% interest rate until 2022.
The company used it to raise £155million to help develop the Kraken field off the Shetland Islands.
Incredible footage has emerged of a lightning strike offshore.
The short video, which was captured last month, shows a massive electric discharge hitting the water from above.
Watch the amazing clip below.
Talisman is set to ban the use of e-cigarettes from its North Sea platforms after one overheated while it was charging.
The company said the ban will take effect from Sunday.
We've looked through our archives following on from the success of yesterday's rare shark video and found some other deep sea creatures captured on film around the world.
The video gallery includes a mesmirising video of a whale investigating the ROV 3,000 metres below the sea surface.
The videos are available to watch below.
A rare species of Shark has been captured on film underwater in the North Sea.
The Porbeagle was captured during inspection and installation 25 metres below the surface by ROV pilot Grant Devlin in the Judy field.
Oil and gas firms need a "cultural shift" to make the most of the North Sea's potential, according to a new report.
Business advisory firm Deloitte says new regulator the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), the UK Government and companies should adapt to "a new reality in the basin".
Research by Deloitte into the industry’s reaction to Sir Ian Wood’s Maximising Recovery Review showed strong support for the OGA as well as a stable, simple and internationally competitive tax regime.
This crew from NDT tech decided to celebrate the festive season by creating 'A Christmas Carol in the North Sea'.
The footage shows the offshore workers singing along to music adorned with seasonal attire.
This video shows the daily complexities of air traffic across the UK - with an overview of the daily flights which take place from the British mainland to the North Sea.
The video, UK 24, was created by NATS and pays close attention to the flights paths from the UK mainland to offshore platforms.
