Petrofac has posted a net loss for the first half of the year which was affected by an increase in costs from its Laggan-Tormore project in the Shetland Islands. The company said net loss for the period was $133million, compared with a net profit of $136million a year earlier. Petrofac has incurred $236million in loss on the delayed Shetland Islands project so far this year.
Scotland's top law officer will have to wait until the end of the year to find out if prosecutors can get early access to the black box from a doomed helicopter. Four oil workers died when the Super Puma AS332-L2 aircraft plunged into the sea off Shetland in August 2013. Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland launched a legal challenge at the Court of Session earlier this year to try to speed up an investigation into the tragedy.
Shetland’s busy oil airport at Scatsta is set to cut staff by almost a third in response to the offshore industry contracting its North Sea operations in the wake of the oil price decline. Airport operators Serco have confirmed they are looking to reduce their headcount by between 25% and 35% by the end of the year. The move comes after Bristow Helicopters announced it was in consultation with staff over jobs earlier this month.
A ruling that investigators should hand over flight safety data from a fatal North Sea helicopter crash to Scotland’s leading prosecutor is being challenged.
Bosses at a fish and chip shop have announced they will limit the number of oil and gas workers allowed in their shop at any one time, accusing the workers of “struggling to behave like humans”.
A fresh profits warning on the troubled Laggan-Tormore gas terminal development hit the share price of service giant Petrofac yesterday. Almost £350million was wiped off Petrofac’s market value as shares slid 10% to 912.5p. The firm admitted it would lose a further £130million on the Total-operated project, in addition to the £154million in losses it took on the scheme in 2014. This on a project value of £800million. Ayman Asfari, Petrofac’s Chief Executive listed a number of difficulties facing the development of the loss-making gas terminal that included industrial action and the high cost of doing business in the North Sea.
Petrofac is set to incur a further $195million charge on the Laggan-Tormore project as a result of continued delays. The company is currently building the Shetland Gas Plant for Total after signing a £800million deal in 2010 for engineering, procurement, supply, construction and commissioning of the site. Petrofac has previously said it expected to recognise no further profit or loss on the project over the remainder of the contract duration.
An oil worker has passed away after becoming unwell at the Shetland Gas Plant (SGP). An oil worker has passed away after becoming unwell at the Shetland Gas Plant (SGP). The 61-year-old, who worked for services company Petrofac, said the man had become unwell on site and was taken to Bain Hospital in Lerwick before being transferred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. A Petrofac spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that a Shetland Gas Plant worker sadly passed away today (Thursday 26 March 2015).
Judges at the UK Supreme Court have dismissed an appeal against plans to build a large-scale wind farm in the Shetland Islands. Environmental campaigners at Sustainable Shetland challenged a decision to allow more than 100 turbines to be installed across three different areas on the islands. The group argued that when the Scottish Government backed the plans for the Viking wind farm project, which could provide energy for up to 175,000 homes, it failed to take into account “positive obligations” under European Union environmental legislation to protect the rare whimbrel bird and bring its population levels up to “favourable conservation status".
A UK Government minister was under fire last night for refusing to meet the widows of the oil workers who died in the 2013 Super Puma crash. Labour MP Frank Doran said he was “extremely disappointed” Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin had declined an invitation to meet families and the survivors who were on-board the doomed flight. Sarah Darnley, 45, from Elgin, Gary McCrossan, 59, from Inverness, George Allison, 57, from Winchester and Duncan Munro, 46, from Bishop Auckland died when the aircraft plunged into the sea near Sumburgh in Shetland in August last year.
Construction workers upgrading the BP-run oil terminal at Sullom Voe in Shetland are to be balloted on industrial action over pay and conditions. Around 500 staff are seeking improvements to their terms and conditions to mirror those afforded their counterparts working on Total’s new gas plant next door. Concessions being sought include travel payments, compensation for getting stuck at the airport, harmonisation of terms and conditions for local workers, and a renegotiation of shift patterns.
French oil company Total has finally admitted its new £800million Shetland gas plant will not be completed this year. A company spokesman said it was likely to be ready during the first three months of the 2015, about nine months behind schedule. Following months of denial and a profit warning from main contractor Petrofac last month, Total issued a short statement yesterday.
An offshore worker was airlifted to hospital last night after falling on a North Sea platform. The 64-year-old man is believed to have fallen from a ladder aboard TAQA's Eider platform, 112 miles north-east of Shetland, at 10pm.
An injured oil worker was flown to hospital from a Shetland platform. The Coastguard said a helicopter was dispatched last night to the North Cormorant platform and the man was taken by helicopter at around 9.50pm.
Faroe Petroleum has completed the sale of its share in a North Sea gas field to Total for £10million. The company sold its 10% interest in the undeveloped Glenlivet gas field as it looks to directing its focus on projects elsewhere in Norway and the UK.
Petrofac said it expects its IES net profit for 2015 to drop by around $45million after assessing a number of ongoing projects. The company said the current change in oil prices and “expectation on delivery” of certain IES projects had been behind the estimated reduction. Within the next year, the company said the Laggan-Tormore project in Shetland, would result in “no profit or loss”.
Engineering and construction company Technip has been using buoy in its largest North Sea project to plan operations more effectively around harsh weather. The Fugro SEAWATCH Wavescan buoy has led to improved safety at BP’s Quad 204 project, which is just West of Shetland.
Dutch-firm Fugro GEOS has been awarded a contract by oil giant BP for the provision of wellhead and riser monitoring services. The contact will support BP drilling activities for the Quad 204 redevelopment of the Schiehallion field west of Shetland.