McDermott International has received a contract amendment from KJO (Al-Khafji Joint Operations) for a platform in the Hout field. The platform is located 26 miles of Al-Khafji in the divided zone between Kuwait and the Kingdon of Saudi Arabia. Work on the brownfield project is expected to be executed through the second quarter of 2017 and is included in McDermott's first quarter 2015 backlog.
For many in the North Sea industry, OTC in Houston has become part of the annual ritual. Unlike many such events which come and go in fashion, this one remains the top destination for many of the industry’s players and politicians from a’ the airts. The Offshore Technology Conference has been going strong since 1969 which means it has seen a few extreme ups and downs in the price of oil and plenty gloomy prognostications about the future. But in a sense, the event’s own longevity points to the underlying truth that this is an industry which has long since learned to take such fluctuations in its stride, and perhaps even turn them to advantage. For some of the old Aberdeen lags who have packed their suitcases once more and headed for Texas over the past few days, OTC is a great social occasion as well as a business one – a chance to meet old friends and particularly renew contact with many in the international industry who have, at some stage in their careers, passed through the North Sea industry.
As if to spice debate at this year’s OTC (Offshore Technology Conference), the US Department of the Interior has told the oil companies and their supply chain that it’s about to get tough on well control. The decision wasn’t unexpected, but the timing is neat, especially given the Mexican offshore tragedy on April Fool’s day in which four workers perished and more than 40 were injured as a result of a platform, part of the Abkatun-Pol-Chuc offshore field complex, blowing up. While the cause is not yet clear, it would appear that it is not well-related as operator Pemex restored production in large part from the field within days, recovering some 80% of output shortly thereafter. Nonetheless, the very fact that there has been another dangerous offshore incident within the Gulf of Mexico region, moreover one originating from a company with a poor safety track record, suggests that the US will now be ultra-twitchy about the HSE record of any oil & gas installation or its operator in waters adjacent to its own patch.
The devastating images of the aftermath of the terrible incident in the Gulf of Mexico last month have served as a stark reminder to the global oil & gas industry that we can never, ever, become complacent when it comes to the safety of our people who work offshore. While we don’t yet know the cause of this latest incident, we do know that risk is part and parcel of working in hazardous environments and it is the duty of every man and woman engaged in our sector – both offshore and onshore – to reduce the potential for accidents and injuries every step of the way. Knowledge is power and being able to properly understand the changing nature of risk, identify potential old and new hazards and react in the right way when something does go wrong is a fundamental part of keeping people safe. Five years after it was first introduced to the North Sea, Minimum Industry Safety Training (MIST) has been significantly restructured and re-launched last month to take account of the changed requirements in the UK sector.
The oil & gas industry is undergoing a major restructuring and nowhere is this more pronounced than in the United States. Since the plunge in oil prices during the latter half of 2014 and early 2015, E&P operators around the world have made cost reductions central to their short-term business plans. Oilfield service companies are coming under severe price pressure, including requests to reduce costs by 50% in some sectors, while rig contract renegotiations are increasingly visible and impacting the bottom line of drillers both on and offshore. At the time of writing, cost reduction initiatives show no sign of abating, despite some signs of life in the oil price.
Erin Energy has commenced production from its Oyo-8 well block located in OML 120 offshore Nigeria. The company is the operator of the Oyo field and has a 100% working interest in the block. The well is epected to produce 7,000 barrels of oil per day.
Saudi Arabian stocks traded near a six-month high as investors awaited an announcement by the country’s regulator on rules opening up the market to foreigners for the first time. The Tadawul All Share Index rose and fell as much as 0.3 percent before trading 0.2 percent lower at 12:18 p.m. in Riyadh. Al Rajhi Bank, the lender with the biggest weighting on index, added 0.2 percent. The Riyadh-based Capital Market Authority will publish the final regulations today to allow foreigners direct access to its stock market starting June 15. The rules will be enacted June 1. “There is nervous anticipation in the market,” Mohammed Al-Suwayed, a Riyadh-based financial analyst and partner at SPT Investors LLC, a market-analytics company, said by phone. “Investors are not very sure what sort of changes there will be, hence the fluctuation.” OPEC’s biggest oil exporter is removing barriers to one of the world’s most-restricted major stock markets as it pursues a $130 billion spending plan to boost non-energy industries. Investors from outside the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council currently access shares listed on the country’s $572 billion market through equity swaps and exchange-traded funds. The CMA may allow institutional investors with a minimum of 18.75 billion riyals ($5 billion) under management to invest directly in the stock market, according to the draft rules published in August.
Mazarine Energy has made an oil discovery in Tunisia with its partner ETAP. The find was made in the Cat -1 (Chouchet El Atrous) well in the Zaafrane permit by the company’s subsidiary Mazarine Energy Tunisia. Mazarine Energy executive chairman Edward Van Kersbergen said: “We are delighted to announce the first discovery in the Zaafrane permit.
Chile's state oil company ENAP is set to postpone projects in the Ecuadorian Amazon as a result of the oil price decline. According to reports, both the country's central government and local authorities have agreed to the move. Last month, Ecuador signed an $82million production contract with ENAP for the oil block Paraiso-Biguno-Huachito.
Aberdeen and Houston are at the heart of a new subsea venture with $150million of private equity money at its disposal.
Repsol has made a new gas discovery in Bolivia at the Margarita-Huacaya block. The Spanish company said the find increases reserves in the Caipipendi area with investment in phase three of the project expected to reach $293million by 2018. Repsol currently produces 18 million cubic metres of gas in Bolivia, with Margarita-Huacaya earmarked as one of 10 key projects in the company’s 2012-2016 strategic plan.
What happens to a wealthy, oil-reliant nation when crude prices collapse and unprecedented monetary easing threatens to scupper returns for its sovereign wealth fund? Yngve Slyngstad, who manages Norway's $900 billion wealth fund, has said many times in the past year that in a low-and even negative-interest rate world the fund will not be able to hit its expected 4 percent real return. The real world impact is that fiscal spending will need to be checked. The Norwegian government has a self-imposed rule capping use of the fund's money in its budget to the expected return. That has meant increased spending each year, in krone-terms, as the fund has ballooned in size. The current minority coalition said in October it will use a record 164 billion kroner ($21.8 billion) in 2015, or about 3 percent of the fund.
Scottish-based AEL is poised for international expansion after a successful year in Houston. A year on from its Houston market entry the firm, which provides electrical products and services, confirmed at this year’s Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) it would be investing in new premises to accommodate its growing workbook.
Ian Kirk can pinpoint the exact day his ‘fork in the road’ decision dramatically changed the course of his life.
Oilfield services giant Expro has launched its OTC exhibition campaign with the announcement of a £30million ($45million) contract in Canada with Statoil.
Downhole Products has landed $19million worth of contracts in Malaysia and Angola.
With so much to take in at this year’s Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), one can forget that Houston is an exciting city with many things happening beyond the walls of the NRG Arena. While attending OTC you definitely want to connect with industry leaders, but don’t forget to explore what the Houston market can offer your company. The Greenspoint District is ready to help you explore your options.
Scottish oil bosses are anticipating another successful time at the world's top energy show in the US city of Houston. They are attending the annual Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), which starts on Monday. Aberdeen-based energy industry travel expert Munro's Travel and the Press and Journal have organised their regular visit to OTC for 300 delegates through a tie-up dating back to 1973. This large Scottish group began arriving on Wednesday and the last of them will fly in tomorrow.
Oil explorers idled rigs in US fields for the 21st straight week, extending an unprecedented retreat in drilling that has curbed domestic output and helped crude prices rally. Rigs targeting oil in the US declined by 24 to 679, Baker Hughes Inc. said on its website Friday, the lowest level since September 2010. Texas’s Eagle Ford formation lost the most, dropping seven to 91, the Houston-based field services company said. The Williston Basin, home of North Dakota’s prolific Bakken shale, added a rig for the first time in five months.
BP Shipping celebrated its 100-year anniversary yesterday, making it the longest continually operating company in the group. Formed on April 30, 1915 as the British Tanker Company, the business has contributed to two world wars, the Great Depression, the closures of the Suez Canal, and the impact of oil nationalisations on the world economy and the movement of oil and gas. It has also played a role in the evolution of safer and more environmentally sustainable shipping practices including inert gas systems, crude oil washing and double hulling.
A 10-member supreme council for state-run oil company Saudi Aramco has been created by Saudi Arabia. The company, which is headed by the country's deputy crown prince, revealed the changes in a statement. It also provided details of the company's annual meeting in Seoul, South Korea, last week.
Optimism has continues to fall in the UK oil and gas industry according to the first quarter Oil & Gas UK Business Sentiment Index. It shows confidence in the sector has dropped from minus 23 points to minus 31 on a -50/+50 scale. The index measures a number of economic indicators including business confidence, activity levels, business revenue and investment and employment.
The new chief executive of Oil & Gas UK has taken up her position with the industry body. Deirdre Michie was appointed by the board of Oil & Gas UK in February and has today formally taken over from Malcolm Webb. Following a brief handover, Malcolm will formally retire on May 31st.
A vast majority of north-east firms are either already suffering a negative impact from lower oil prices or expect it soon, a survey has revealed. Companies across the region were canvassed for the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce (AGCC) North East Business Week (NEBW) study, and the scale of fallout from the oil and gas industry downturn is among the findings. AGCC’s research unit carried out the research on behalf of the chamber and its NEBW partners – Elevator, the Federation of Small Businesses and the Scottish Council for Development and Industry.
Big Oil’s profit engine has gone into reverse, taking it back to the days when oil was just $28 a barrel. Profits from global explorers’ oil and gas wells for the first quarter of 2015 revisit the early 2000’s, just before demand from China began driving commodity prices upward. Exxon Mobil Corp.’s oil and gas earnings dropped by almost two-thirds to the lowest since 2003, spurring a 46 percent decline in overall profit from a year earlier, the company said on Thursday. ConocoPhillips’ net income plunged 87 percent -- its worst results for any first quarter since 2001, according to data compiled.