Spirit Energy launches consultation on Aberdeen job cuts
North Sea operator Spirit Energy has launched a consultation on redundancies in Aberdeen.
Europe
European Oil and Gas news
Equatorial Guinea signs up foreign support for refinery construction
Two Chinese companies have signed a framework agreement to build a modular refinery in Equatorial Guinea.
UK bills will hit nearly £3,600 from October, experts say in final prediction
Families face a grim winter as experts predict the cap on energy bills will hit close to £3,600 per year from October - before rising again next year.
Oil set for weekly loss as slowdown concerns offset US demand
Oil is heading for a weekly loss as lingering concerns over an economic slowdown overshadowed signs of improving US demand.
Prosafe hails ‘improving outlook’ amid profitable Q2
Floating accommodation provider Prosafe (OSLO: PRS) reported a profitable Q2, driven by high vessel utilisation and a tranche of new contract awards.
Prospect recognised in O&M union talks with Ørsted
Prospect has secured a recognition agreement with wind developer Ørsted that will cover all employees involved in the operation and maintenance (O&M) of its 12 UK offshore wind farms.
All Europe Posts
Record number of applications for licences in North Sea
The Danish Energy Agency (DEA)has received a record number of applications in its seventh licensing round for oil and gas in the North Sea. Applications have been made by several companies who have previously not held licences in Denmark.
Russia and Ukraine to agree temporary gas reprieve
Russian and Ukraine are set to call a temporary truce on the their long standing natural-gas pricing dispute.
Total to hold emergency meeting after death of CEO
Oil giant Total said a meeting will be held between its Governance and Ethics Committee and the board of directors following the death of CEO Christophe de Margerie. The 63-year-old died when his airplane struck a snowplow on a Moscow runway, ending a career in which he oversaw the biggest expansion of oil reserves at the French energy giant in at least 15 years.
Total CEO de Margerie killed in executive jet crash in Moscow
Total SA’s Christophe de Margerie died when his airplane struck a snowplow on a Moscow runway, ending a career in which he oversaw the biggest expansion of oil reserves at the French energy giant in at least 15 years.
Sound Oil strikes deal for gas sales
European-focused Sound Oil has won two gas sales contracts for fields in Italy, the company has announced. The upstream oil and gas group has been awarded the contracts in relation to the Badile drill site.
Russian investigators seek 190billion rubles in Bashneft case
Russian investigators are seeking 190billion rubles ($4.75billion) from arrested businessman Vladimir Evtushenkov’s AFK Sistema and an affiliated unit for “illegal” gains relating to oil producer OAO Bashneft.
European Commission in U-turn over oil sands
The European Union has abandoned a plan to label oil sands as highly polluting. A directive from the EU’s Fuel Quality Directive had planned to force energy suppliers to reduce the carbon intensity of their products.
FMC Technologies win $280million contract in Norwegian Sea
German oil and gas producer Wintershall has awarded FMC Technologies its first subsea contract for the Maria development in the North Sea. The contract is worth $280 million and will be completed by FMCs subsidiary FMC Kongsberg Subsea AS.
Arctic 30 case closed by Russian authorities
The investigation into last year's Arctic 30 protest has been closed.
What Putin wrought has world asking what Russia might have been
When UK Prime Minister Tony Blair became the first leader of a major economy to meet Russia’s new president in March 2000, Vladimir Putin couldn’t have been more gracious. Accompanied by their wives, Putin showed Blair around the Hermitage museum in his hometown of St. Petersburg. At the Mariinsky Theater, they watched an operatic version of “War and Peace.” Blair praised Putin for seeking to modernize his economy and make it more open to foreign investment. Putin the week before had mentioned the idea of Russia joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Russian arrest stings billionaires already hit by sanctions
The arrest of one of Russia’s oldest billionaires is sending shivers down the backs of business owners already reeling from US and European sanctions over President Vladimir Putin’s policies in Ukraine. A decade after Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s imprisonment led to Russia’s largest nationalization since the Soviet era, the prosecution of Vladimir Evtushenkov, 65, may prod businesses to pull even more money out of an economy on the verge of recession and relocate abroad, Alexander Shokhin, who lobbies on behalf of the country’s largest companies as head of the Russian Union of Industrialists & Entrepreneurs, said yesterday. Evtushenkov was charged with money-laundering and placed under house arrest two days ago, triggering a sell-off in shares of his companies, including AFK Sistema, and slicing his net worth by a third, to $4.5billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Evtushenkov denies the charges. The case against Evtushenkov stems from a probe into the alleged theft of shares in oil assets in the central region of Bashkortostan that Sistema acquired in 2009, according to investigators.
Dutch service company sets-up new Aberdeen base
Chief operating officer Roddy James said: “N-Sea has evolved considerably in the short time since we established our presence within the UK.
Stocks crash after oil billionaire arrested
The arrest of a Russian billionaire has sent shares in his holding company into a tailspin.
190 Technip jobs under threat
Nearly 200 Aberdeenshire jobs are facing the axe under plans by French energy service giant Technip to shut down its offshore wind division.
Norway oil investment dip on the horizon, new survey says
Oil and gas companies are predicting an 18% drop in investments in Norway next year, a bigger decline than factored in by the central bank in June and adding to pressure on interest rates.
Motive Offshore exceeds its Norwegian expectations
An Aberdeenshire-based marine equipment specialist has exceeded its turnover target less than a year after setting-up its Norwegian base.
Rosneft’s Russian crude output drops to lowest since TNK-BP Deal
OAO Rosneft’s Russian oil output has declined to the lowest level since the acquisition of TNK-BP made it the world’s largest traded oil producer last year.
A mile below Paris drillers hit hot pools to warm houses
In the midst of a suburban sprawl halfway between the Eiffel Tower and Paris’s busy Orly airport, a drilling crew works night and day burrowing deep into the Earth’s crust in search of underground heat.
Power plants put on winter stand-by
National Grid is to pay mothballed plants to be online this winter to prevent power cuts, it has said.
Statoil forges ahead with “LEGO” industry standardisation
Statoil has teamed up with DNV GL to develop a level of industry standardisation aimed at the subsea industry.
IGas one step closer to one million acre marker
UK onshore explorer IGas Energy is one step closer to becoming the country’s largest licence holder for fracking in the UK.
Lundin Norway looks to build its portfolio
The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Lundin Norway a drilling permit for its latest well in a series of wildcat finds.
‘Independent Scots will seek big sum to clean old wells’
An independent Scotland will negotiate to claw back “substantial” historic oil revenues in order to ensure it can maintain decommissioning tax credits promised by the UK Government, an expert has claimed.
Fall in North Sea tax receipts
The Scottish independence campaign has received “a body blow” with new figures showing tax receipts from North Sea oil and gas have dropped by almost a fifth, Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander said.
First 494 wildcat runs dry for Det Norske
A wildcat well on the Heimdalshø prospect in the Norwegian North Sea has proved dry, its operator Det Norske has reported.
