The chief executive of Subsea UK said next year’s event will allow the sector to address some of the on-going challenges within the industry. The event will be held in Aberdeen in February and expects to attract more than 6,000 delegates and around 200 exhibitors. Neil Gordon said there were “challenging times” ahead caused by the drop in commodity price and spiraling costs.
A volatile session saw the FTSE 100 Index fluctuate between positive and negative territory today as the fall-out from falling oil prices continued. Brent crude dipped below 60 US dollars a barrel for the first time since 2009, meaning the energy industry benchmark is now down by about 50% since the summer amid concerns about weakening demand and oversupply. The slump has been worst felt in Russia, where a sudden hike in interest rates from 10.5% to 17% overnight failed to prevent a fresh decline in the value of the rouble, which stood at a new record low.
Australian firm Senex Energy has completed the Surat Basin asset swap. The firm has exchanged its minority interests in the QGC operated eastern Surat Basin gas permits ATP 574 and PL 171 for a 100% interest in and operatorship of three QGC JV western Surat Basin permits.
Cluff Natural Resources has appointed a new chief operating officer. Andrew Nunn joined the firm in May 2014 as senior project manager and his new position will take effect immediately.
Armada Oil has terminated the terms of its existing credit facility amid the recent decline in oil price. The firm said it was working with its current lender to secure an extension of the terms of its existing credit facility and expects a resolution before the ed of the year. The loss of its financial facility has also halted work on the Bear Creek #1 project.
Crude oil prices are poised to fall below half where they were six months ago, before producers begin dealing with a global glut. Brent, the global benchmark, will slide to as low as $50 a barrel in 2015, according to the median in a Bloomberg survey of 17 analysts, down from the $115.71 a barrel high for the year on June 19. The grade has already collapsed 47% since then and needs to fall further before producers clear the current glut, said five out of six respondents who gave a reason.
SeaBird Exploration has been awarded a contract extension for its Munin Explorer worth an estimated $4million. The vessel will be chartered for an additional two months from March next year.
Repsol has reached an agreement to buy Talisman Energy in a deal worth an estimated $8.3billion. The move comes after a week of speculation the two companies were in talks once again. Earlier this year Repsol had confirmed it was looking at a potential transaction with the Canadian energy firm. A spokesman said the deal received the unanimous approval of both boards.
Argentina is depending on two things to reverse a three-year energy shortfall that’s costing $6 billion a year: a shale formation bigger than Massachusetts and Miguel Galuccio, who has worked on drilling operations from North Dakota to Poland and India. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner appointed Galuccio chief executive officer of YPF SA (YPF) in 2012 after she seized control from Spain’s Repsol SA. Since then, Galuccio has tripled investment in the state-run oil company in an effort to reverse a decline in output that’s led to crippling energy shortages and drove Argentina’s energy imports to record highs. As oil prices plunge below $60 a barrel and global producers revise their spending, Galuccio is sticking with a strategy for the Vaca Muerta shale formation that relies on foreign partners with a long-term view.
The problem with the UK’s North Sea oil sector is that its production costs are higher than those in most other world regions and have been spiralling upwards at an alarming rate for the past 10 years.
Crude prices came under renewed pressure yesterday, and Brent hit five-year lows of nearly $60 a barrel after producer group Opec said it would stick to its decision not to cut output despite fears of a world awash in oil. Brent and US oil initially extended last week's rout, which wiped more than 10% off global crude prices. They were up in New York's Monday morning trade after news that Libya's two biggest oil ports had shut due to fighting between armed factions allied to the country's two rival governments. Loading delays for January cargoes of North Sea Forties crude due to lower-than-expected output was also positive for oil. The North Sea Forties set prices for Brent.
Magnum Hunter Resources said it experienced a blowout of a well in Ohio. The company had previously drilled the Stadler 3UH wel, in the Utica shale, before temporarily plugging and abandoning it in preparation for the drilling of three additional Utica horizontal wells. However a spokesman said the it began to flow uncontrollably while recommencing operations.
A defiant session for oil stocks helped calm investor nerves in the wake of the worst week of trading for London’s FTSE 100 Index since August 2011. There was some buying interest in a number of heavyweight oil companies as the price of Brent crude stabilised at around 63 US dollars a barrel. More big losses for Asian markets had fuelled expectations for fresh falls in London but the FTSE 100 Index held firm at 19.3 points higher at 6320.1.
Camac Energy Inc has been awarded a contract for the acquisition of a 3D seismic survey to Polarcus Limited. The survey will cover approximately 1,504 km2 in the Company’s A2 and A5 blocks offshore Gambia. The objectives of the seismic survey are to enhance the definition and maturation of potential prospects in the blocks and provide high-quality sub-surface images that allow high-resolution characterization of reservoirs.
Nigeria’s two oil unions began an indefinite strike that they say will curb exports from the West African nation responsible for pumping more than a quarter of the continent’s crude. “You will soon begin to see shutdowns of our oil flow,” Emmanuel Ojugbana, a spokesman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, said. Ohi Alegbe, an Abuja-based spokesman for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. and the Oil Ministry, declined to comment on exports. Any reduction in pumping would coincide with a collapse in the price of Nigeria’s biggest source of revenue.
US oil firm Apache has sold off its interest in two LNG projects along with accompanying reserves to Woodside Petroleum in a $3.75billion deal. The company is also expected to be reimbursed $1billion for its net expenditure on the two assets, Wheatstone and Kitimat. The terms of the agreement means Apache will sell its equity ownership in its Australian subsidiary Apache Julimar.
Norwegian Energy Company ASA (Noreco) has put forward a restructuring proposal to stakeholders following a temporary suspension of its shares on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The chief executive, Tommy Sundt, said its financial situation has continued to deteriorate on the back of falling oil prices and increasing costs. Noreco has also announced production from the Huntington field will be delayed further.
Technip has entered into an agreement with Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions Germany to purchase all of its Zimmer polymer technology business. The French services company said the deal will diversify and strengthen its portfolio of downstream technologies in its onshore division. It follows the announcement by Technip that its bid for CGG was unsuccessful.
Technip SA (TEC), Europe’s biggest oil-services company, said it plans to expand in upstream businesses even after a bid to buy French seismic surveyor CGG SA (CGG) failed on price and industrial considerations. “We have turned a page on this subject,” Technip Chief Executive Officer Thierry Pilenko said. The company said in a statement on Sunday evening that it doesn’t intend to make an offer for CGG. CGG slumped 33% at 9:37 a.m. in Paris trading, while Technip climbed 8%.
A better session for energy stocks today helped the FTSE 100 Index steady after its worst week of trading since August 2011. Investors found some value in a number of heavyweight oil companies as the price of Brent crude stabilised at around $63 a barrel.
Norwegian Energy Company ASA (Noreco) said production at the Huntington field has been further delayed. Work had been due to resume this month but the company said there had been an incident during restart of the CATS riser platform. A spokesman said it would be closed until at least Thursday.
Amec Foster Wheeler has been awarded a FEED (Front End Engineering Design) contract by Chevron to work on its Captain EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) development in the North Sea. The newly merged company said the contract award has not yet been announced for the work on the field, which is 68 miles offshore north of Aberdeen. The scope of the work includes FEED design of the proposed Bridge Linked Platform (BLP) which will be used to store, mix and pump polymer.
LGO Energy said its most recently completed well is producing at a rate of more than 1,000 bopd. The GY-670 well, at its Goudron field in Trinidad, was perforated earlier this month over a 177-foot interval of oil pay in the c-sands. During the last 48 hours the well has flowed at an average rate of 1,104bpd and the initial open-hole flow rate calculated for the well exceeds 6,000 bopd.
The onshore hydrocarbon producer, IGas, has encountered signs of shale gas at its Ellesmere Port exploration well in the North West of England. The company spudded the well last month and reached total depth ahead of schedule two days ago. IGas said the vertical exploration well encountered a thick section of the coal measure interval as well as a shale sequence, before penetrating the key Dinantian limestone geophysical marker.
Aker Solutions has secured a £120million contract for work on the Mariner oilfield development in the UK North Sea. The agreement will see the company provide engineering, construction and commissioning services during the development’s hook-up phase. Aker will carry out the work on behalf of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering on the development. The deal comes in addition to a five-year maintenance and modification service contract awarded by Statoil in June.