Shell’s plans to cast off a number of North Sea assets will not be affected by its proposed £47billion “mega-merger” with BG Group, a Scottish oil and gas consultancy has said.
The Anglo-Dutch oil giant last week said it plans to buy Reading-based BG in a deal that would be the second biggest deal of its kind after Exxon and Mobil’s £51billion tie-up in 1998.
Analysts have said that the announcement could spark a rash of similar deals as companies look to consolidate against the backdrop of a low oil price environment.
Schlumberger Ltd., the world’s largest oilfield services provider, will eliminate an additional 11,000 positions in a sign the industry will undergo another round of job cuts as a result of tumbling crude prices.
The latest announced reductions bring the company’s total to 20,000, making its workforce about 15 percent smaller than it was during the third quarter of 2014.
Schlumberger had announced plans in January to eliminate 9,000 positions, in what was then the single largest cut in the industry.
Drivers are paying out more at the pumps for petrol despite a dip in world oil prices, according to the AA.
Yet the need for fair pricing on forecourts has been largely ignored by politicians during the General Election campaign, the motoring group said.
Its figures showed the price of oil was 5% lower per barrel in the first two weeks of April 2015 than in the first two weeks of March 2015.
But average UK petrol prices rose from 111.92p a litre in mid-March to 113.29p a litre in mid-April.
Shareholders have approved BP chief executives pay after being urged to vote against it.
The boss of the oil major is eligible for a $15.3million pay package.
His remuneration was 5% up on the previous year while the group's annual profit slumped by 66%.
Shareholder advisory group PIRC had described the package as “excessive” and advised investors attending the meeting in east London to vote against it.
Only 11% voted against the remuneration report compared to 16% last year.
Technip has been awarded a front end engineering design (FEED) Ccontract by CNOOC for two tension leg platforms on a joint development project in the South China Sea.
It means the company will be carrying out the FEED work on China's first two TLPs.
The contract covers the design and engineering of the topsides - including two drilling rigs - hulls, mooring and riser systems.
An administrator overseeing compensation payouts for people and businesses affected by the BP 2010 Macondo oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico said more than $5billio had already been issued.
A total of 62,162 claimants have been paid $5.037 billion.
The payments come after a settlement in 2012 tied to the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.
MEG Energy has confirmed co-founder Dave Wizinsky will step down from the corporation's board of directors.
Bill McCaffrey, president of MEG, said: "Dave came in as a founding investment partner when oil was about $12 a barrel and MEG was just a vision.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
That’s the lesson to be learned by anyone who thought Gatwick was about to become the new oil capital of the world.
London-listed UK Oil & Gas Investments (UKOG) caused a commotion last week, when it said an oil find in the Weald Basin of southern England was “the largest onshore” discovery in the UK in the last 30 years.
UKOG chief executive Stephen Sanderson said at the time: “Based on what we’ve found here, we’re looking at between 50 and 100 billion barrels of oil in place in the ground.
Global energy companies have joined forces to fund new research which aims to improve offshore safety in Northern Australia by researching tropical cyclone forecasting.
ITF (The Industry Technology Facilitator) has led the collaboration to secure funding for the two-year $3.2million project.
It will be carried out by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and includes companies such as Chevron, Shell and Woodside.
A competency firm has been awarded a contract to deliver training courses to Stork.
The 12-month deal will enable Aberdeen-based ITB company to supply assessor and verifier courses to OPITO standards to more than 80 operatives at Stork.
Jenny Stokes, ITB’s managing director and founder, said the move would help create a stronger workforce.
Mozambique's fifth oil and gas bid round has been delayed from its April 30th deadline.
The government did say why the deadline had been extended to a later date of July 30th.
There are 15 exploration blocks on offer, including three new areas of the northern Rovuma Basin.
In early March a 30,000-pound mat of oily gunk washed up on East Grand Terre, a barrier island in the mouth of Louisiana’s Barataria Bay.
It was an ugly reminder of the blowout at BP’s Macondo well, a disaster that spewed millions of barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico starting on April 20, 2010.
As BP crews collected the muck, the company issued a five-year report, Environmental Recovery and Restoration, stressing that the spill didn’t do lasting damage to the ecosystem.
The 40-page report described the deleterious effects as “limited in space and time, mostly in the area very close to the wellhead.”
Norway’s petroleum and energy minister was expected to open the Valemon gas and condensate field in the North Sea.
The expected recoverable reserves from the field are estimated at around 192million barrels of oil equivalent.
Valemon is the first new Bergen-operated platform since Kvitebjorn was put on stream 10 years ago.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed the nation’s economic performance.
Speaking in a televised call-in show with the nation, Mr Putin said the nation’s economic performance has remained strong, despite Western sanctions slapped on Russia over the Ukrainian crisis and a slump in global oil prices.
Iona Energy said the Huntington oilfield has resumed full production after access to the Central Area Transmission System (CATS) was restored.
Last week it was revealed it would soon be starting up fully again.
The field had been operating under gas export restrictions since October 2014, which has reduced the rate of oil production from the field.
Maersk Oil UK has launched a consultation period following an announcement to staff regarding potential job losses.
It's understood between 30 and 35 onshore jobs could be affected by the move, which is in line with a number of companies who have previously announced redundancies, including Shell and BP.
The company said the changes would also see the number of contractors reduced by 19.
Petrofac has completed a project for Nexen Petroleum on its Golden Eagle Development Area.
The company said the work was delivered through its Plant Asset Management consulting business.
It involved the development and implementation of a maintenance programme for the installation, which is 70 kilometres north east of Aberdeen.
Police detained the treasurer of Brazil’s governing party in a wide-ranging investigation into corruption at state-run oil giant Petrobras.
The Workers’ Party said later he had asked to resign from the post.
Joao Vaccari Neto was detained in Sao Paulo as he was heading out for an early morning jog, police told a news conference in the southern city of Curitiba, where the investigation is being led.
An arrest warrant also was issued for Mr Vaccari’s sister-in-law, and his wife was questioned in connection with a series of unidentified deposits in her account that investigators suspect might be related to a bribery scheme at Petrobras.
Oilfield service company Hunting reported a 60% plunge in first quarter operating profits yesterday, blaming falling global rig counts and cost-cutting across the industry.
Shares in the company fell 8% to £5.36 in early trading on the London Stock Exchange but later recovered to around £5.88.check market close
Hunting, which announced in February it would cut an unspecified number of jobs and realign business units to help counter a drop in drilling activity, said its subsea, electronics and tubular component machining businesses did better in the first three months of 2015, compared with last year, offsetting weakness in its North American drilling tools operation.
Oil traded near the highest price this year amid speculation a slowdown in the US shale boom will ease the biggest supply glut since 1930.
Futures were little changed in New York after a 5.8 percent gain on Wednesday that capped a five-day rally.
Crude production declined by 20,000 barrels a day to 9.4 million last week, according to the Energy Information Administration.
US Secretary of State John Kerry reassured world powers that a nuclear deal with Iran would hold up to congressional scrutiny.
As Aberdeen marks its 50th year of involvement in the North Sea, an independent services provider has been inspiring its next generation of oil and gas workers.
Oil historian and economist Daniel Yergin has a forecast for where the price of crude is headed: all over the place.
The much debated shape of the oil-price curve will take the form of a W as crude is whipsawed by mixed signs from a rattled US shale boom, while Saudi Arabia refuses to balance a global supply glut, Yergin said in an interview.
As spending cuts are forecast to begin easing production from shale next month, the fate of world oil markets is largely in the hands of a myriad of US wildcatters, all with different strategies and an unusual ability to respond quickly to changed circumstances.
Ramping down will be quicker and easier than stepping up production as prices recover, said Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Inc. Increased supply will renew downward pressure on prices and volatility will be exacerbated by storage and investment decisions, he said.
BP shareholders have been urged to reject chief executive Bob Dudley’s 15.3 million US dollar (£10.4 million) pay package when they gather for the oil giant’s annual general meeting.
Mr Dudley’s remuneration was 5% up on the previous year while the group’s annual replacement cost profit slumped by 66%.
Shareholder advisory group PIRC described the package as “excessive” and advised investors attending the meeting in east London to vote against it.
Mr Dudley’s basic salary rose 3% to 1.8 million US dollars (£1.2 million) but his annual cash bonus was 57% lower at one million US dollars (£680,000).
Cuadrilla Resources has appointed a new board member to replace former BP chief executive Lord Browne.
Roy Franklin will take up the post with immediate effect.
The Liberal Democrats have set out plans for five “green laws” as they seek to establish their credentials on protecting the environment and fighting climate change.
The party’s manifesto pledges to bring in laws which would protect nature, cut waste, make transport greener, slash the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and improve the energy efficiency of homes.
A Nature Act would include requirements for the government to set out a 25-year plan for helping the UK’s nature recover, increase access to green spaces, protect forests, bees and birds and tackle wildlife crime.
And, following on from the Tories’ announcement yesterday of a marine protected area around Ascension Island, the Lib Dems have pledged a million square kilometre reserve in the South Atlantic.
