Offshore accommodation provider Prosafe said there was no oil price upturn on the horizon after proposing a round of staff pay cuts. According to one Prosafe worker, who wishes to remain anonymous, the Norwegian company will implement pay cuts across the board from May. The employee said the firm’s top brass were taking pay cuts of 5-7%, while staff on lower wages faced reductions of 20-28%.
North Sea decommissioning is being held back by a reluctance to accept oil and gas installations will not last forever, an industry expert said yesterday. David Haywood, project adviser at STC Global, an Aberdeen-based design and learning solutions firm, said decommissioning was no longer a “dirty word” and companies should not be embarrassed their assets will cease to make money at some point. Mr Haywood, who has worked for Mobil, Shell and CNR International in an oil and gas career spanning more than 20 years, also said fears that an acceleration in decommissioning could leave viable oil and gas reserves stranded were overstated.
A duo of Norwegian daredevils will parachute into a risk management conference near Aberdeen in May. Once they have landed, skydivers Bjørn Magne and Espen Fadnes, will deliver presentations on corporate risk. Mr Fadnes was an advisor to the Norwegian army before he became a full-time airsport athlete, while Mr Magne is an oil and gas sector safety advisor.
Scottish energy service firm Dron and Dickson (D&D) yesterday defended its decision to push for a second round of pay cuts in less than a year for its offshore workers. D&D, a specialist in the design, supply and maintenance of hazardous-area electrical equipment, blamed the move on the oil and gas price rout and said it hoped pay cuts would prevent job losses. Union bosses said they would try to convince the firm to drop its proposals, which were labelled “disgusting” by staff members.
The Port of Dundee has stolen a march in the race to become the top decommissioning and offshore renewables facility on the east coast of Scotland’s mainland with a £10million investment. The quayside upgrade project is slated for completion in just 18 months, owner Forth Ports said yesterday. Excluding unforeseen delays, it will be finished about three years ahead of Aberdeen harbour’s planned expansion in to Nigg Bay, putting Dundee in pole position to scoop new contracts.
Shell leapfrogged Total to become the UK’s biggest net oil and gas producer after completing its £36million takeover of BG Group. The “mega-merger” was approved by shareholders from both companies last month and went through yesterday. It creates a firm with a net output of 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day in the UK alone.
International oilfield services firm Expro yesterday announced the appointment of a new chief executive to replace Charles Woodburn, who will leave in April. Aberdeen and Reading-based Expro has promoted Mike Jardon, 46, from within its own ranks to fill the void created by Mr Woodburn’s departure. Mr Jardon, who joined Expro in 2011 as chief operating officer, is expected to remain in Houston in his new job.
Scottish motorists are clocking up nearly 1,000 miles more a year than they were two years ago, thanks to lower oil prices.
An Aberdeen-based maritime consultancy shrugged off the worst effects of the oil price collapse to boost its revenues by 34% in 2015. Maritime Assurance and Consulting (MAC) attributed the increased haul of £5.1million in the last calendar year to “careful planning and efficiency savings”. The firm did not disclosed its profits.
Oil prices will stage a gradual recovery towards the end of this year, according to a new Deutsche Bank report, which also flagged up fears over Europe’s economic recovery. It was published on the same day a study from Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) showed the mood among North Sea companies has deteriorated. Deutsche Bank’s report, titled Still Deep in the Woods, said the crude supply glut will persist throughout the first half of the year as Opec holds firm on output, but that the picture will soon change.
Aberdeen firm Rig Control Products (RCP) said yesterday it had netted a £300,000 deal to supply a Singaporean company with oilfield equipment. RCP, which also has a base in Singapore, will also install the four pieces of integrated well control kit on rigs as part of the contract. The system is made up of a hydraulic console with a remotely-operated panel, which is used to operate and control dual choke valves, among other things.
Politicians and industry chiefs pledged to work alongside the newly-formed Offshore Co-ordinating Group (OCG) in its crusade to protect North Sea jobs. Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said was “absolutely imperative” for the Scottish Government to listen to trade unions. Mr Ewing said: “Just this morning, I was agreeing with Grahame Smith that one way the industry can increase efficiency is by listening very carefully to the workforce offshore.
Making sure operators do not bully supply chain companies is a vital part of the battle to safeguard the North Sea’s workforce, union bosses said yesterday. They were speaking at the launch of the Offshore Co-ordinating Group (OCG), an alliance of five trade unions which vowed to lead the fightback on job losses, pay cuts, safety and unilateral changes to terms and conditions for workers. It comprises Unite, RMT, GMB, Balpa and Nautilus, many of which have been embroiled in disputes with employers over these issues since the oil price collapsed.
Oil and gas companies can help secure a bright future for the north-east by making better use of its “world-beating” supply chain, Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said yesterday. Mr Ewing co-chairs the Oil and Gas Industry Leadership Group (ILG), which is targeting total sales from the domestic supply chain of £30billion by 2020, despite the oil price collapse. But he said operators were guilty of squandering talent which is right under their noses.
Five unions have today joined forces in the battle to safeguard the North Sea’s workforce. The Offshore Co-ordinating Group (OCG) will “lead the fightback” on job losses, pay cuts, safety and terms and conditions for workers. It comprises Unite, RMT, GMB, Balpa and Nautilus, many of which have been embroiled in disputes with employers over these issues since the oil price started to slide.
Ultrasonic-inspection firm Sonomatic has said it expects to create at least 20 new jobs at its delayed £4million Aberdeen facility. Sonomatic, which provides subsea services to customers in the oil and gas industry globally, had expected construction to get under way at The Core business park in November. But some tinkering with the new base’s features, and with plans for the transfer of administration staff, has pushed the ground-breaking back until Monday.
A north-east well technology company has sold 150 of its perforating guns in North America last month, scooping up more than £173,000 in the process. Delphian Ballistics said it has a hefty order book for its TriStim guns, which are built to order, and is projecting sales worth £2million in 12 months. The firm, founded in 2013, claims its perforating gun can “unlock efficiencies” and increase well flow performance by 50%.
Aberdeen University yesterday unveiled a new £500,000 piece of equipment that will help to spur exploration and drilling in the North Sea. The rock deformation kit, which was built to the university’s specifications by Sanchez Technologies in France, effectively brings the earth’s crust to the laboratory. It tests how rock and cement samples react to high pressure, high temperature (HPHI) conditions, before providing data that informs the decisions of exploration and drilling companies.
Bad vibes were outlawed on N-Sea’s stand at Subsea Expo yesterday. Roddy James, the energy service firm’s chief operating officer, came up with the idea of having a “swear box” as a tongue-in-cheek remedy to the air of negativity in the north-east. Mr James said: “We talked about it earlier doors and decided if anyone comes onto the stand and is negative we’re going to make them pay into the fine box, hoping by the end of the day it won’t be full.”
Brazil will remain an attractive location for the UK’s subsea sector despite the Zika virus outbreak and the Petrobras corruption scandal, an independent consultant from the South American country said yesterday. Daniella Carneiro was speaking on the sidelines of Subsea Expo in Aberdeen, where a new initiative was launched to improve links between UK and Brazilian subsea firms. Ms Carneiro, a London-based director of Chartham Consulting, said UK Trade and Investment and the Brazilian Science and Technology Ministry had produced a catalogue which lays out information about subsea firms from both countries.
A Scottish hydro-energy developer which recently warned the sector faces a countdown to extinction is preparing to start work on a new £13.6million Highland project. Bosses at Green Highland Renewables (GHR) said its new project at Loch Eilde Mor, near Kinlochleven, will be one of the last hydro schemes commissioned in the region due to UK Government cuts to subsidies. Under the feed-in tariff (FiT) system, small-scale solar, wind and hydro schemes have received fixed-rate payments for the electricity they generate since 2010.
An Aberdeen-based organisation has had a hand in a project aimed at modifying AeroZero, an aerogel product used to insulate subsea pipelines. With the support of the Oil and Gas Innovation Centre (OGIC), the initial product designer, Blueshift, worked with a team from Strathclyde University on advancing the thin, sheet version of AeroZero. US-based Blueshift was delighted with the outcome and is continuing to work with the university on the next phase of development.
A travel security firm has formed a new crisis management team to support oil and gas employees working in areas affected by the Zika virus. International SOS (ISOS) said the “sinister and damaging” disease has spread rapidly across South and Central America since appearing in Brazil in May 2015. Brazil, which has a large oil and gas industry, was the 20th most visited country among ISOS’s client base between October 2014 and September 2015, with 139,000 individual trips made.
Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce (AGCC) has joined an alliance of fellow trade bodies which is banging the drum for a wider debate on the benefits of fracking. The alliance, which includes Oil and Gas UK, made the call after 55% of UK adults who took part in a poll said they want domestic gas production – including from fracking - to be prioritised over imports. The same survey by ComRes indicated 56% think reducing the cost of energy is more important than environmental concerns.
A travel security services provider has told Aberdeen firms not to become fixated on the threat of terrorist attacks when deciding whether to send employees abroad. International SOS, which provides medical advice and referrals for offshore workers and business people travelling to remote locations, said that while the risk of attack has become more prevalent in developed countries, it will never be the biggest danger. Even if you are in a country with a high level of risk, the main hazards will always be petty theft, road traffic accidents and muggings, said Peter Cooper, the company’s regional security manager for the UK and Ireland.
