Aberdeen harbour has taken another step on its way to delivering a £400million expansion with the appointment of a legal adviser for the project.
Pinsent Masons will advise on procurement, construction, funding, planning, environmental and property issues relating to the planned Nigg Bay facility to the south of the existing harbour.
The transformation of Nigg Bay is seen as vital if Aberdeen is to capitalise on the cruise ship, renewables and decommissioning industries.
Plexus Holdings’s chairman said yesterday that a “global drive” to lower carbon emissions would play into the hands of the Aberdeen-based oil field well technology firm.
Jeffrey Thrall said this week’s climate change talks in Paris showed “powerful market and industry dynamics” were “evolving” and that gas is now seen as a “clean” alternative to coal and oil.
This shift would work in Plexus’s favour as its technologies are geared toward providing safer and cheaper gas drilling, Mr Thrall said.
Oil and Gas UK will run a free event in Aberdeen later this month to help graduates with energy-industry-related degrees find jobs.
Graduates who have recently been fired or have been unable to get a job in the first place will have a chance to explore their options at the workshop.
Representatives from several organisations, including Skills Development Scotland, OPITO, the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), the Oil and Gas Innovation Centre, will be on hand to offer advice and support.
Low oil prices and a strong pound have combined to drive down orders, output and head counts among Scottish engineering firms in the past three months, a new survey shows.
Improved offshore oil and gas output helped the UK boost its energy production from July to September, while electricity from wind also soared, new figures show.
The UK oil and gas industry’s trade association hailed the hydrocarbon production statistics, while green groups said the renewables industry was getting stronger in Scotland.
It comes a day after Chancellor George Osborne said UK oil and gas revenues are expected to nosedive 94% this year, in a blow to North Sea industry.
Oil and gas firm Atlantic Petroleum has postponed its financial results and hired an investment bank to find it a new backer as its partner on a North Sea field dices with bankruptcy.
Faroe-Islands-based Atlantic has a 25% stake in the Orlando Field, located north-east of Shetland, which was expected to
start producing by the end of 2016.
Oil industry experts will chew over the causes of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster at an event in Aberdeen next week.
The blowout of BP’s Macondo well killed 11 men, caused serious ecological damage and cost the company billions.
John Turley, whose career included a stint as Gulf Coast drilling manager for Marathon Oil, has poured over petroleum engineering data during the well’s final hours to come up with an explanation for the explosion.
The UK oil and gas industry’s decommissioning sector is growing at a steady pace, with total expenditure expected to hit £16.9billion over the next decade, a new study shows.
Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) raised the forecast from £14.6billion a year ago, citing an influx of 47 new projects into its 2015 Decommissioning Insight survey.
A total of 79 platforms are now expected to be removed across the UK continental shelf by 2024, according to the poll, which was launched at the Offshore Decommissioning Conference in St Andrews.
An Aberdeenshire renewable energy firm Raggnar has vowed to deliver savings on electricity for households and businesses after inking a new distribution deal.
Since it was set up almost three years ago, Raggnar has installed biomass boilers across the UK.
The Insch-based firm will now be able to provide not just green heat, but also electricity and industrial cooling systems under the new deals.
An Aberdeenshire oil and gas well technology firm has received a major boost after netting a multi-million pound contract with Norwegian energy major Statoil.
Darcy - which takes its name from Darcy’s Law, the foundation for the understanding of fluid flows in porous media – tested its new “sand control” technology on Statoil’s Statfjord field on the Norwegian North Sea earlier this year.
Darcy will now supply its patented Endurance Hydraulic Screen technology to Statoil as part of a contract that is expected to run for seven years and is worth millions of pounds to the firm.
Aberdeen-based oilfield service firm Coretrax has taken another step in its Middle East expansion plans with the launch a fifth base in the region in four years.
Coretrax said it made the move to help satisfy increasing demand for its wide range of downhole tools and services.
The firm said it had retained all of its clients since it entered the Middle East market in 2011.
An Aberdeen-based oil and lubricant firm yesterday said its ability to deliver savings had helped it strike two new deals, one of which is worth nearly £800,000.
Normac Oils will supply its products to oilfield services firm Archer and collective members of the North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO) under separate agreements.
Normac declined to say which particular client had stumped up the £800,000.
A Scottish oil and gas engineering firm said yesterday it had powered past the £10million turnover milestone after netting several “major” North Sea contracts.
It means JWF has quadrupled its revenues in just a decade, allowing it to double its total workforce to 26 at the same time.
The company, which was founded in 1959, supplies energy companies with a range of instruments that measure flow, temperature and pressure, among other things.
Robert Gordon University students yesterday unveiled plans for trophy design competition entries they have been concocting for an awards ceremony.
The prizes handed out to winners at next year’s Offshore Achievement Awards (OAAs) will be based on the winning design.
The competition’s organisers said the trophy should reflect the themes of the OAAs – innovation, collaboration and creativity.
More than 600 people working in North Sea oil and gas came together last night to celebrate achievement in the face of adversity and the best examples of how the industry is collaborating to ensure the future of the region.
The 2015 Oil & Gas UK awards took place at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre attended by indsutry veterans including Sir Ian Wood and Total's Philippe Guys.
The industry body's chief executive Deirdre Michie said this year's event was "notable" marking both "50 years of progress in exploration and production in the UK" but was also an important "tuning point" for how the sector does business.
The head of Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) yesterday urged companies to drop “cynicism” and embrace the new way of working after the trade body unveiled a number of new initiatives at an annual business event.
OGUK’s Share Fair aims to stoke collaboration and drum up business by giving supply chain companies a rare chance to have one-to-one interviews with operators’ decision makers throughout the day, in a format not dissimilar to speed-dating.
OGUK chief executive Deirdre Michie said that while the attendance was down slightly on previous years, a turnout of 900 plus was still very good and showed the industry is trying to improve the difficult situation it finds itself in.
Visitors to Oil and Gas UK’s annual Share Fair said the event indicated that operators’ attitudes towards the supply chain are thawing amid the oil price downturn.
Delegates who participated in one-to-one interviews, more than 1,000 of which were held throughout the day, said buyers were more receptive to new ideas than had previously been the case.
Jan Stander, business development manager at Trac Oil and Gas, an Aberdeen-based energy service firm, said a slight dip in attendance had helped improve opportunities to break the ice with potential clients.
Statoil said yesterday the groundbreaking renewable technology it is bringing to Scotland has the potential to supply the entire world with clean energy.
It comes a day after the Scottish Government approved the Norwegian energy giant’s £180million plan to install the world’s first floating wind farm off the coast of Aberdeenshire.
Statoil said the technology boasts a number of practical and environmental advantages over fixed turbine wind farms.
A Highland firm run by a trailblazing young entrepreneur has netted a “potentially lucrative” contact as part of a £224million scheme aimed at tackling fuel poverty in Scotland.
Inveness-based McInnes Plumbing and Heating, which employs 10 people, was the only Highland business to secure one of the 27 awards that were dished out across the country.
Fuel poverty is a pressing issue in the Highlands and islands, where residents are paying more for their power than those in other parts of the UK.
A north-east firm that supplies piping equipment for offshore platforms has become the latest company to be snapped up by Italy’s Raccortubi Group.
Dyce-based Norsk Alloys’s name will change to Raccortubi Norsk, but its founder, Peter Ray, will retain his position as managing director.
Mr Ray set up Norsk Alloys in 2005 and owned a 100% stake in the company prior to the transaction.
Community-owned renewable energy projects in Scotland could become a thing of the past if proposals to slash subsidies are acted on, an environmental consultant has yesterday.
Atmos Consulting sounded the alarm bells ahead of the final day of a UK Government consultation on changes to funding models for small-scale schemes.
The government’s support for such ventures has blown hot and cold since 2010.
Billionaire investor Guy Hands is set to take Infinis private in a deal that values the windfarm developer at £555million.
Infinis chairman Ian Marchant, who occupies the same post at Wood Group, agreed to the deal citing a “challenging regulatory and political environment” that has “adversely affected both the cash generation and the growth prospects” of the firm.
Hands’s buyout firm Terra Firma Capital Partners already owns 68.5% of Infinis and will pay 185p in cash for each outstanding share − a 40% premium on yesterday’s close.
A global healthcare company which provides services for several North Sea energy firms has become the first organisation in the world to be certified for its remote services.
International SOS, which provides medical advice and referrals for offshore workers and people travelling to remote locations, received the award under new “telehealth” guidelines published by the International Organization for Standardization.
Lawrie Campbell, head of the firm’s North Sea division, said: “Advancements in telehealth are vital for the oil and gas industry, where remote locations and testing conditions become increasingly challenging.
Bond Offshore Helicopters said yesterday the return to action of its fleet of EC225 aircraft lifted the company’s profits during the 15 months to March 31, 2015.
The North Sea helicopter operator said new contracts awarded in 2013 and 2014 and the longer accounting period had also contributed to its strong performance.
Bond’s financial year-end switched switch from December 31 to March 31 when it was taken over by Babcock in a £1.6billion deal in 2013.
A North Sea-focused energy company saw its shares skyrocket yesterday after revealing its debt to a specialist lender had been wiped out.
AIM-listed Independent Oil and Gas (IOG) owed Darwin Strategic £245,780, but the lender has agreed to convert the outstanding debt into 6.5million shares at a price of 3.7p each.
The new shares are expected to be admitted to trading on the AIM market on Monday.
