A fresh slide in the price of oil to a five-year low triggered more pain for energy stocks today as the London market started the week on the back foot. The slump was accompanied by a rout across the commodities sector as the FTSE 100 Index dropped by 71.7 points to 6650.5. With Brent crude now firmly below the 70 US dollars a barrel mark, shares in exploration firm Tullow Oil topped the fallers board with a dive of 8%, off 34.3p to 391.7p.
In May, Transocean revealed a plan to hive off its eight North Sea midwater rigs into a spin-off company to be called Caledonia Offshore Drilling to be based in Aberdeen. The offshore drilling assets scheduled to move across to Caledonia included the Sedco 704, Sedco 711, Sedco 712, Sedco 714, Transocean John Shaw, Transocean Prospect, GSF Arctic III and JW McLean. While the company has pressed ahead with creating the subsidiary, plans for full separation have been sunk by the slump in oil prices and the impact of that on its performance.
I don’t particularly like Boris Johnson and I certainly don’t support his politics. I also resent his constant lobbying for London which, incidentally, I don’t really like much either. The museums are great but you can keep the rest of it. I’m a country boy at heart. However, something Boris Johnson wrote last year I have to say I do agree with completely although I’d prefer you didn’t spread it around too much as it might damage my reputation. Commenting on what he called the UK’s “sterile debate” over Europe he said that if it culminated in our leaving the EU then it would quickly discover “that most of our problems are not caused by Brussels, but by chronic British short-termism, inadequate management, sloth, low skills and a culture of easy gratification and under-investment”.
Maven Capital Partners has sold its stake in an Aberdeen firm it backed in a £10million deal five years ago. A group of private investors has bought out Maven's stake in oil and gas control systems firm, EFC Group. The sum was undisclosed but Maven said it generated a 3.8x multiple return for its client funds on the deal.
West Texas Intermediate tumbled below $65 a barrel to the lowest level since July 2009 amid speculation prices have further to drop before OPEC’s decision to maintain output slows US shale supply. Benchmark futures in New York and London slumped more than 3% after capping their biggest monthly loss in about six years as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries signaled the group will leave it to the market to reduce a global glut. Current prices are no guarantee of a significant decline in US shale output, Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on November 28. Oil has collapsed into a bear market as the US pumps crude at the fastest rate in three decades while global demand growth slows. OPEC last week resisted calls from members including Venezuela, Iran and Iraq to reduce its production target of 30 million barrels a day at a meeting in Vienna.
Supermarkets have reacted to plunging world oil prices by cutting the cost of fuel to motorists. First, Asda announced it was knocking 2p a litre off its petrol and diesel from tomorrow. Then Tesco said it was cutting its petrol and diesel by 2p a litre.
A drone has been used to capture a bird's eye view of a platform in the Mediterranean Sea. The remotely operated vehicle moves from land to air and across bright blue waters to capture the platform for the sky above.
Jupiter Energy is considering legal action over a delay in one of its licence extension applications in Kazakhstan. The company applied for a number of production licences to be continued and has been granted all but one. Its application for an extension on licence J-50 is being held by the Kazakh Committee of Geology, pending resolution for the allocation of reserves within the well.
The North Sea oil and gas industry was plunged into further uncertainty last night after Saudi Arabia blocked calls from poorer members of oil producers’ cartel Opec for production cuts to stop a slide in global prices. Opec’s decision not to cut output despite huge global oversupply sent benchmark crude plunging to a fresh four-year low. Brent oil fell more than $6 to $71.25 a barrel after the meeting of Opec ministers in Vienna, which marked a major shift away from the group’s long-standing policy of defending prices.
The recommendations of the Smith Commission on the powers to be devolved to the Scottish parliament have emerged through negotiation by the five major political parties in Scotland. It could not be otherwise.
The crew of the West Phoenix rig have created a Christmas video to cheer themselves up whilst working during the holidays.
OPEC left its oil-output target unchanged, resisting calls from Venezuela for action to halt this year’s plunge in prices. The group maintained its collective ceiling of 30 million barrels a day, Ali Al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, said today after the 12-member producer group gathered for talks at its headquarters in Vienna. Brent crude fell below $75 a barrel after the decision, for the first time since September 2010.
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.
The Smith Commission said Westminster should remain in charge of licensing for all offshore oil and has extraction but Holyrood could get power to determine onshore oil and gas extraction. Holyrood is to be handed new responsibilities over income tax and welfare as part of a deal on devolution drawn up in the aftermath of the Scottish independence referendum. The Smith Commission, which was set up to examine what further powers could be transferred to Edinburgh, has recommended that the Scottish Parliament should be able to set its own income tax rates, with all of the cash earned staying north of the border.
Hawkley Oil and Gas has been investigating the rapid decline in production from a well in its Sorochynska licence in Ukraine. The company said Well 201 had already been experiencing a measured decline in production in line with expected performance.
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.
Energy experts at professional services firm EY have urged the UK Government to usher in tax breaks to help extend the life of the North Sea oil and gas industry. Its message echoes earlier calls, including from industry body Oil and Gas UK, Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce and Aberdeen University petroleum economist Alex Kemp, for Chancellor George Osborne to deliver concessions in his autumn statement next week. The mini-Budget may coincide with the publication of findings from the Treasury's review of the current North Sea tax regime.
The oil major will use its Norce Endeavour during its Gulf of Thailand campaign next year.
The chairman of Leyshon Energy has stepped down from his position with the board. John Manzoni is set to take up a new role as chief executive of the Civil Service with the UK government.
A report by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce has found confidence within the oil and gas industry is at its lowest in six years. Uisdean Vass, an oil and gas partner with UK law firm Bond Dickinson, outlines two fiscal packages the government could potentially outline for the Autumn Statement.
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.
An industry 'role model' has been appointed to head a team at PwC. PwC has appointed natural resources industry advisor Alison baker to lead its UK oil and gas sector team.
Brent crude traded above $80 a barrel after China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, cut interest rates for the first time since 2012 to bolster its economy. West Texas Intermediate also rose in New York. Futures gained as much as 2.3% in London. The People’s Bank of China cut lending and deposit rates effective from tomorrow, according to a statement on its website. Half of the 20 analysts surveyed predict the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will reduce output, while the rest expect no change, when the group meets next week.
A senior management reshuffle at Wood Group means the energy service firm’s biggest operating division is losing its chief executive. Wood Group PSN (WGPSN) CEO Robin Watson, 47, is to become group chief operating officer – a newly created role – during the first half of 2015, the company said yesterday. Aberdeen-based Wood Group also revealed a looming change at the helm of its finance team, with chief financial officer Alan Semple, 55, having announced his retirement.
Apache has agreed to sell off assets in Louisiana and the Anadarko Basin for $1.4billion in two separate transactions. The company said the first deal will involve the sale of 90,000 net acres of mature fields in Southern Louisiana. The mature fields, which it said were characterised by high decline rates and short reserve lives, produced 21,000 BOE (Barrels of Oil Equivalent) per day.