UK stocks advanced within a few points of a record amid a rise in oil companies. The FTSE 100 gained 0.3% to 6,909.13 at 10:21 a.m. in London. The record is 6,930.2. The benchmark gauge has climbed 0.6% this week, its third consecutive weekly gain, sending it to a 15-year high on February 17. The broader FTSE All-Share Index added 0.2 percent, while Ireland’s ISEQ Index fell 0.2%.
Interwell UK has announced the departure of its managing director. Andrew Louden joined the company in 2010 to establish the UK subsidiary of Interwell AS. David Aitken, who joined the company as UK operations manager will now take up the position.
Almost all the areas being made available for fracking in England will be hit by new regulations restricting the controversial process, analysis suggests. Greenpeace renewed its call for a ban on fracking, as it said 97% of the areas made available for new onshore oil and gas licences would be at least partially affected by the new conditions. The Government has accepted Labour moves to ban fracking from national parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs), Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and some groundwater protection zones, areas which feed aquifers.
The UK’s new oil regulator is looking for ideas on how to boost exploration for new fields from Norway where firms that have received tax breaks have made a number of profitable discoveries. Exploration in the UK continental shelf “fell off a cliff” when the UK Government hiked up taxes to 62%, industry body Oil & Gas UK complained at an industry summit in Aberdeen. Andy Samuel, chief executive of the new Oil & Gas Authority (OGA), said it is looking to understand why exploration has continued apace in Norway while the UK has struggled.
The UK should continue to look for onshore unconventional gas supplies to meet the country’s future energy demand, according to an oil and gas industry body. Fossil fuels account for around two-thirds of the UK’s energy consumption, particularly in homes and transport, and domestic production must continue to avoid future reliance on costly imports, according to Oil & Gas UK. The boom in unconventional gas released through “fracking” in the US has driven down oil prices and plunged the UK North Sea oil sector into crisis, prompting city leaders in Aberdeen to hold an emergency summit of politicians, industry representatives and unions today.
As we are well aware, the UK oil and gas industry has been hitting the headlines. Right now the focus is on the impact of the falling oil price, a cause for concern in terms of investment and jobs. Underneath the current headlines, however, are the serious problems our industry has been facing for a number of years including a dramatic decline in exploration, rising operational costs and a substantial drop in production efficiency. While the rapid fall in oil price has exacerbated these existing problems, we believe there is significant potential for maximising economic recovery of oil and gas from the UK continental shelf (UKCS) through collaborative work between the industry, HM Treasury and the new regulator, the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA).
Solar power almost doubled in the last year, with 650,000 installations ranging from solar farms to panels on homes, figures showed. By the end of 2014 there was almost 5 gigawatts (5GW) of solar photovoltaic panels installed, up from 2.8GW at the end of 2013, the Department of Energy and Climate Change figures showed. The solar industry said there were now enough panels installed in the UK to supply the equivalent of 1.5 million homes.
BRE Wales & South West along with a consortium of partners have won funding from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to boost innovation in the heat network industry. A number of proposals were successful under the competition and will be allocated a share of £1million to carry out feasibility studies on their proposed innovation. The consortium which includes BRE, Barden Energy, Bizcat UK, Elgocell, the Home Group (and some of its Cumbrian tenants), will use the capital to look at how viable it is to create a super-efficient district heating network in low rise social housing using innovative Swedish technology.
Low-cost airline easyJet said the fall in oil prices could knock as much as £2 off its average fare this year. The Luton-based airline estimates that the slump in oil prices by more than half since last summer will take between £90 million and £130 million off its annual fuel bill. A spokesman added that this would be passed on to passengers, taking up to £2 off last year’s total revenue per passenger of £62.64.
Vital North Sea oil and gas reforms remained on track last night after a bid to scupper the plans failed in Westminster. The "cornerstone" of Sir Ian Wood’s recommendations for the future of the sector is now poised to become law within weeks after a wrecking amendment by a group of MPs fell in the Commons. Members of the environmental audit committee tried to remove a section of the Infrastructure Bill which for the first time would enshrine in law "the objective of maximising the economic recovery of UK petroleum".
A group of MPs has been accused of putting thousands of jobs and the entire UK oil and gas industry in "peril" after launching a bid to derail crucial North Sea reforms. The 10 politicians were branded "ill-informed" after attempting scupper a "crucial" measure recommended last year by Sir Ian Wood in his landmark review. On Monday, MPs will discuss the Infrastructure Bill for the final time, including a section which would enshrine in law "the objective of maximising the economic recovery of UK petroleum".
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today sharply marked down its reading of UK growth for 2014 and also slashed its forecasts for global growth this year and next amid a mixed effect from falling oil prices. Its latest World Economic Outlook update estimated that gross domestic product (GDP) in Britain grew by 2.6% in 2014 compared to a previous forecast of 3.2%. The IMF said that apart from in the United States, the economic performance of all major economies had fallen short of expectations. It also appeared to back further stimulus measures that look likely to be unveiled in the eurozone this week.
The North Sea oil industry is one of Scotland's great success stories. For decades it has sustained thousands of jobs, generated billions in tax revenue and acted as a platform for exporting the talent and expertise of this great nation around the world. But the industry is at a crossroads.
Union bosses have called for an end to what they branded "slash and burn" tactics in the oil and gas industry. They made the plea after offshore giant BP's announcement earlier this week 300 jobs would go. The price of Brent crude has dropped to a six-year low, fuelling fears of widespread redundancies.
Sir Ian Wood insists the North Sea industry is not facing a doomsday scenario and can recover with the help of a big tax cut in the March Budget. The north-east oil and gas doyen said there was little point in swifter action from the Treasury as it would have no impact at current oil prices of about $50 a barrel. But a clear commitment by the chancellor to a “measured” reduction of at least 10% to the supplementary tax on profits in the Budget and more cuts to follow would encourage operators to keep project teams together and not give up on the North Sea, he said.
Unions and employers in the oil and gas industry are to meet to discuss the threat to jobs in the wake of the dramatic fall in oil prices. The move follows an announcement from BP of hundreds of job losses, sparking warnings of further cuts and calls for Government action. The firm said it expects to shed 200 onshore staff, while 100 contractors’ posts will also be axed, which unions said was a “devastating blow” to the industry.
The energy jobs taskforce will implement a “co-ordinated” response to help workers about to lose their jobs at BP and other companies, according to the first minister. Nicola Sturgeon said the taskforce, which she announced on Wednesday’s visit to Aberdeen, will decide how to address specific circumstances and will liaise with companies and individual employees to see what practical advice and help is needed.
The North Sea needs continued investment from businesses and government through its current period of transition, according to a new report from Deloitte. The business advisory firm has just released its latest Petroleum Services Group’s North West Europe Review which details drilling, licensing and deal activity across the region for the whole of 2014. The report found 40 wells were drilled offshore UK throughout the year, a decrease on the 50 wells reported in 2013.
I’ve been told that scores of companies in and around Aberdeen are now letting go of people as the oil price-driven depression deepens in high cost oil & gas provinces around the globe. The likelihood is that several thousand jobs in our area have either gone or are about to be axed. Remember, it’s not just the UKCS that’s being hammered.
The plunge in oil prices represents a “negative shock” to the Scottish economy, Bank of England governor Mark Carney said. Mr Carney maintained that the decline - which has fed through to ultra-low inflation which it is hoped will boost consumer spending - was an overall positive development for the UK. But he admitted that Scotland, which is heavily reliant on North Sea reserves, would face a hit from the fall, which has seen the price of a barrel of Brent crude tumble by more than half since last summer to below $50, a near six-year low.
Fuel prices at the pumps should fall “further and faster” after a significant drop in oil prices, David Cameron has said. The Prime Minister told MPs the regulator and the Government would do everything it can to ensure the oil price slump is reflected on forecourts. A Birmingham service station has been disclosed as cutting the price of its petrol to 99.7p a litre while the big four supermarkets have been engaged in a fuel-price war.
The First Minister spoke to Energy Voice on her first to Aberdeen since becoming leader of the SNP party. To help the industry, the Scottish Government is setting up an energy jobs taskforce. Nicola Sturgeon said that the “recent drop in the price of a barrel of crude oil” as well as the UK Government’s “mismanagement” of the tax regime for oil and gas could “pose a threat to a number of jobs”.
Powers over fracking for shale gas are poised to become the first of the Smith Commission proposals to be devolved to Holyrood. Labour had insisted that there was no need to wait until after May’s general election to give MSPs extended responsibilities over fracking. The cross-party Smith Commission recommended the power transfer, but shadow energy minister Tom Greatrex said the process should be fast-tracked.
Labour wants to give regulator Ofgem the ability to force companies to pass on falls in the price of wholesale oil and gas to consumers, which industry estimates claim could knock #136 off the average bill. E.ON also launched what it said was the country’s cheapest energy tariff, a new one-year fixed dual-fuel product with an average annual price of £923.
The chief executive of Oil & Gas UK said tax changes is needed urgently to counter falling oil prices and save investment and jobs. Malcolm Webb said as oil prices continue to fall, the risk to UK investment and jobs is mounting. His call to the UK Government was made just a few days after the Scottish Government's Energy Minister Fergus Ewing outlined a report which called for North Sea fiscal reforms.