Falcon Oil and Gas has elected a new member to its board. Maxim Mayorets was appointed to the company's board of directors as a non-executive director at the annual general and special meeting of shareholders in Ireland. Mr Mayorets is currently a member of the executive board and head of mergers and acquisitions at Renova.
Energy stocks have received some respite after their battering yesterday in the wake of the latest slide in the price of oil. Brent crude held firm at just over 64 US dollars a barrel, having fallen sharply on Wednesday when a monthly report by industry cartel Opec said demand next year was expected to fall to its lowest level in a decade. The FTSE 100 Index, which opened the week at 6742, dipped below 6500 at one stage before recovering by 10.8 points to 6510.7 amid lacklustre trading.
Wood Group has bought over a construction and fabrication services company in the US for $36.3million. The company has acquired Swaggart Brothers which employs 200 staff in locations across America. It covers a number of oil and gas activities in shale basins including the Permian, Eagle Ford, Niobrara and Bakken.
Australian energy company Santos has cut its capital expenditure for 2015 by 25%. The company said there will be a drop in spending from $2.7billion to $2billion. However managing director, David Knox, has insisted the company’s financial position remains strong.
The US is producing the most oil in 31 years, economic growth is picking up and crude prices are plunging. So why is Americans’ use of petroleum waning? As the US moves closer and closer to energy independence, greater fuel efficiency, changing demographics and an increase in renewables are altering the dynamic that in the past would have seen demand for gasoline climbing. Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced in the US, grew at a 2.4 % pace in the third quarter from the year-earlier period. Oil consumption fell 0.3%, government data show.
Wood Group PSN has been awarded a five year contract from BP worth an estimated $750million. The contract will deliver engineering, procurement and construction services to six UKCS offshore upstream assets and the FPS (Forties Pipeline System) onshore midstream facilities in Grangemouth. The contract win will create 150 new jobs and secure more than 700 existing positions.
Local councils can get blamed for a lot of things, sometimes with good reason, but also unfairly from time to time. Clearly, the price of oil and the operational decisions of major energy firms fall well outwith the remit of elected representatives at the town house. However, there are two key areas in which the industry has made it clear that Europe’s oil capital needs improvement.
The oil and gas sector is vital to Scotland and it is important we have the skilled workforce required to strengthen our overall ambition as a major centre for energy activity. The oil and gas UK study highlights the need for the UK Government to continue to put in place measures to sustain long-term investment in the UKCS and for industry to work with our colleges and universities to ensure they are delivering the skilled workforce they need and deliver the best value out of the public investment that we provide for the training of the current and future workforce. But unfortunately the Autumn Statement last week failed to provide the oil and gas industry with the tax measures it both requires and deserves.
Investing in new plant has paid off for Saltire Energy after the oil drilling equipment rental firm posted a 10% rise in revenues. Accounts filed at Companies House showed that the Portlethen-based company turned over £36.3million in the year to 30 June, up from just under £33million in the previous 12 months. Pre-tax profits edged up by 3% to £17.7million after a rise in the costs of distribution and sales, including the investment in new rental gear. Writing in the directors’ report, chief executive Mike Loggie said: “The group’s rentals have continued to show considerable growth.
Turnover at Enermech broke through the £200-million barrier for the first time last year and is on course to hit £260million this year after the mechanical engineering group unveiled a further six crane contracts together worth more than £34million. Figures published yesterday showed that revenues grew by 40% during 2013 to reach £202.5m. International expansion reined in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda), which climbed by a more-modest 21% to hit £14.2m.
Marine-technology company Nautronix more than doubled its profits last year following a number of contracts wins and the launch of new technologies. The Dyce-based firm said sales of its new £1million NASDive diving communication system grew 53% in the first year of its launch. The company said it expects the technology, which is so advanced that divers can Skype call their family from beneath the ocean, will be bought by firms replacing their older diver communications systems as well as new customers.
A search is underway for a new chairman at Asco Group following the surprise departure of both the oilfield services firm’s chief executive and chairman. The Aberdeen-based company remained tight-lipped last night over the details of why chief executive Derek Smith and chairman Billy Allan were exiting the business. It said that Mr Smith was leaving to “pursue other opportunities”, while Mr Allan had “indicated his intention to step down”, but made no further comment.
Mexico authorized preliminary bidding rules for new offshore blocks as the country prepares for an investment deluge in its recently opened oil industry. Oil regulator CNH approved rules today for 14 shallow-water exploratory blocks that will be auctioned to private companies by the end of July, according to a live feed of the meeting. In a separate vote, the agency also approved production-sharing contracts for the winners.
Oil major BP said deeper cuts could be made to its 2015 budget on the back of OPEC’s recent position and falling oil prices. The company has already announced up to $1billion in restructuring costs as it cuts thousands of jobs across its global oil and gas business. BP head of upstream, Lamar McKay, announced the company’s future plans at a meeting of investors in London.
A fresh slide in the price of oil piled more pressure on investors today after £36 billion was wiped from blue-chip shares in the previous session. Brent crude stood at just over 64 US dollars a barrel - a drop of more than 40% on earlier in the year - after a monthly report by industry cartel Opec said demand next year was expected to fall to its lowest level in a decade. The FTSE 100 Index, which slid 2% on Tuesday, had been in positive territory for much of the session but the oil slump meant the top flight finished 29.4 points lower at 6500 - its lowest level since the start of last month.
Leading supermarkets have cut the cost of their petrol again. Asda, which reduced its petrol by 2p a litre last Saturday, knocked another 1p a litre off its petrol today. This means its petrol will cost no more than 114.7p a litre, with diesel remaining unchanged at 119.7p a litre Morrisons, which took 2p a litre off its petrol and diesel yesterday, said it was reducing its petrol by a further 1p a litre.
The demand for global energy is set to increase by 35% by 2040, a report has suggested. The report released today ExxonMobil claims growth in the global middle class, expansion of emerging economies and a rising population will contribute to the rise.
Britain’s trade deficit narrowed by more than expected in October after the falling price of oil helped to trigger a drop in the value of imports. The deficit in goods and services narrowed to a seven-month low of £2 billion from £2.8 billion in September and better than City forecasts for £2.4 billion. The improvement in the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was largely driven by a fall in the value of oil imports following the recent drop in the price of Brent crude to well below 100 US dollars a barrel.
CNOOC has signed three production sharing contracts with KUFPEC for three blocks in the South China Sea. The three blocks are located in the Yinggehai Basin.
Iran’s president has said the sharp fall in oil prices is the result of “treachery”, in an apparent reference to regional rival Saudi Arabia, which opposed production cuts to lift prices. Hassan Rouhani told a cabinet meeting the fall in prices is “politically motivated” and a “conspiracy against the interests of the region, the Muslim people and the Muslim world”. “The people of the region will not forget such conspiracies, or in other words, treachery against the Muslim world.”
President Energy's well in the Santa Rosa Fomraiton has spudded. The Lapacho x-1 well has "very encouraging" hydrocarbon shows encountered throughout the gross formation thickness with hihg background gas of 20% and trip gas of 48%.
Serinus Energy has spudded a second exploration well in Romania. The Moftinu 1001 well has been drilled within the 765,000 acre exploration block known as Satu Mare Concession. Logs indicated a net pay of 17 metres at depths ranging from 730 to 900 metres.
KMG EP said its planned production for next year is expected to be down 3% from 2014 due to a decline at PetroKazakhstan (PKI). It updated its board of directors at a meeting earlier this week in which it assumed a 2015 budget based on a Brent oil price of $70. The company also said it had not yet received an approved schedule for deliveries to Russia for 2015.
Petroquest has made a discovery at its Thunder Bayou prospect in Louisiana. The company said it logged 490 gross feet of high quality pay within the primary Cris R2 objective. Petroquest has a 50% working interest and 37% net revenue interest in the well.
Brent crude oil fell to another 5-year low near $65 a barrel in volatile trade yesterday, sliding for a sixth consecutive session on signs of a growing supply glut. Prices briefly reversed losses to trade higher ahead of the US open, with some investors betting the 40%-plus price slide since June was overdone. But as US equity markets opened lower oil prices quickly came off again, with traders refocusing on how fast-growing US shale output has hurt the ability of Opec to manage supply.