The Chinese government has given independent refinery Shandong Dongming Petrochemical Group approval to import 7.5 million tonnes of crude oil a year, or 150,000 barrels per day (bpd), the state economic planner said on Tuesday. It is the first independent plant to win crude oil quotas since the introduction of new regulations allowing more private participation in a sector long dominated by state oil giants.
Egypt and Russia's top oil producer Rosneft have signed two initial deals for the supply of petroleum products and liquefied natural gas to Cairo, the two sides said on Tuesday. The oil ministry said in a statement the deals include the supply of benzine and bitumen, as well as 24 LNG cargoes for state gas company EGAS over two years starting from the fourth quarter of 2015.
Scots engineering group Weir has agreed to acquire US valve maker Delta in a $47million deal.
Testing and calibration specialist Exova has been awarded a contract to provide materials qualification testing for Maersk Oil.
The UK’s largest energy suppliers will remain intact as the nation’s anti-trust regulator said it found no evidence to support breaking them up.
Energy giant Centrica has hit back at an official report that says millions of people are paying over the odds on their fuel bills.
Northcote and its joint venture partner Gaia Ecologica have invested in their first new facility as they look to expand their reach in Mexico’s energy sector. The companies purchased a 22-acre property for the development of an environmental waste remediation facility based in the southern state of Tabasco. The strategic location of the base means it could benefit from the considerable activity being undertaken in the region by Mexican state-owned Pemex.
Noreco has seen production slide on last year’s output. The Norwegian operator reported an average daily production of 4,329 barrels of oil equivalents per day (boepd) last month. The number is a significant drop from last year’s 7,350 for the same time period.
Noble Group Ltd. appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP to review how it values some of its assets after criticism of the Asian trading company’s accounting practices. PricewaterhouseCoopers will “conduct an assurance review of Noble’s mark-to-market models, valuations, and governance framework,” Noble said in a statement that also announced the creation an independent board committee that appointed the accounting firm. As of Monday, Noble shares had plunged 41 percent in Singapore since Feb. 16 when a group calling itself Iceberg Research published a first report criticizing the way the company values its investments. Iceberg’s comments have been echoed by short-seller Muddy Waters LLC and others.
The technique itself is nothing new. Oil crews across the world have been schooled on its simple principles for generations: Identify aging, low-output wells and hit them with a blast of sand and water to bolster the flow of crude. The idea originated somewhere in the plains of the American Midwest, back in the 1950s. But as today’s engineers start applying the procedure to the horizontal wells that went up during the fracking boom that swept across U.S. shale fields over the past decade, something more powerful, more financially rewarding is happening. The short life span of these wells, long thought to be perhaps the single biggest weakness of the shale industry, is being stretched out. Early evidence of the effects of restimulation suggests that the fields could actually contain enough reserves to last about 50 years, according to a calculation based on Wood Mackenzie Ltd and ITG Investment Research data.
A trio of company founders have sold off their offshore engineering business to a Texas-based firm for an undisclosed sum. Wireline Engineering chairman Bill Petrie and Neil Hall, currently the company’s technical director, will leave as a result the sale to Dallas-based Impact Selector Inc (ISI). Another founder and shareholder, Brian Semple, has retired. Meanwhile, senior management team directors Alan Gordon, Alistair Inglis and Don Mitchell, will stay to work with the newly merged firm.
The principal of Robert Gordon University (RGU) has confirmed the institution’s commitment to investing in fossil fuels after he drew criticism for urging others not to divest. Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski said a trend for universities to divest their investment in fossil fuel companies risked sending the “wrong message” about the “responsible use of energy”. The professor was under fire from green campaigners after a letter he wrote to fellow higher education principals urging them to resist divestment campaigns was leaked to a newspaper. Dr Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland claimed the university was “coming at this from an area of vested interest” in its support for fossil fuels.
A major offshore firm which employs 1,000 people in the North Sea announced it was axeing 6,000 jobs worldwide. Technip said the move was part of plans to slash costs by £600million amid the “prolonged” and “harsh” oil slowdown. The company said it was too early to say exactly where the cuts would be made, but they represent about 16% of its global workforce. But it also insisted it remained committed to investing in new technology and projects across all over the world.
French oil industry engineering and construction group Technip will cut 6,000 jobs and book a 650 million euro ($719 million) restructuring charge as it steps up cost-cutting.
A maiden decommissioning contract for Middle East firm Gulf Marine Services (GMS) spells the end for oil and gas assets in the southern North Sea. The assets were not named by GMS and the Abu Dhabi-based firm would not say who its revised contract is with, but it is thought the work involves a jack-up accommodation barge – the GMS Endurance – currently on hire to US company ConocoPhillips. Houston-based ConocoPhillips did not respond to inquiries yesterday. GMS said one of its large class advanced self-propelled self-elevating support vessels (SESVs) was moving from well service and maintenance work to support decommissioning this summer. It has been under contract to the client for southern North Sea work since the third quarter of 2012. The sudden switch to decommissioning activity cuts short well service and maintenance work that was expected to continue to at least the first quarter of next year.
It’s about safe and cost effective delivery of projects from exploration through to decommissioning, providing well management and performance improvement related activities
Dana Petroleum has said it is playing “the long game” on its flagship Western Isles project after confirming cost overruns had reached $400million. First oil on the project has been pushed back until 2017 after it emerged the project price tag has reached $2billion. A spokesman for the firm stressed the majority of the costs could be attributed to ensuring safety standards are met in the development of the project’s FPSO.
Tenaris has netted a contract to work on Statoil’s massive Mariner project in the North Sea which will lead to the creation of up to 20 jobs in Aberdeen. The tubing and casing manufacturer will provide connections as well as associated services from its UK base in Aberdeen. Last month, Statoil awarded Baker Hughes a contract for production chemicals and services for the Mariner field.
In Iran’s push for a nuclear deal, it’s had few better allies than Moscow. But if an agreement is reached this week, President Vladimir Putin’s regime will have at least one reason to reflect on its support. Russia, which vies with Saudi Arabia and the U.S. to be the world’s largest oil producer, has the most to lose when Iran returns to the global energy market, according to a dozen analysts and executives at oil companies, banks and trading houses interviewed by Bloomberg.
Ophir Energy will close almost half of its offices and reduce its headcount as it looks to streamline costs following its acquisition of Salamander Energy earlier this year. The move was made as chief executive Nick Cooper admitted the company faced a “tough time” in the commodity cycle. However the company’s head insisted Ophir continued to have a strong balance sheet despite the changes.
OGN Group has launched a new pipework division to deliver specialist fabrication services. The Tyneside engineering firm will deliver pipework, fabrication and installation from its facilities in Wallsend.
Offshore marine and engineering specialist Aqualis Offshore has been contracted by Perforadora Mexico to support with the transportation and installation of a platform rig offshore Mexico.
Plexus Holdings has agreed a deal to catapult its technology into the Chinese marketplace. The company, which produces its proprietary POS-GRIP® friction-grip method of wellhead engineering, has reached a collaboration agreement with China Oilfield Services Limited to explore opportunities in shallow water subsea and crossover wellhead production systems for oil and gas field activities.
Unions have called on the Scottish Government to support a manufacturing yard in Stornoway at risk of being mothballed. The GMB and Unite have written to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon asking for support to attract contracts to the Arnish yard. The fabrication yard is operated by Burntisland Fabrications (BiFab), which also operates two yards in Fife.
Europa Oil & Gas added £1.4million to its fundraising pot in a bid to sustain its future exploration plans. The firm issued 20,000,000 new ordinary shares as part of its strategy to secure funding to cover the start-up costs of its Wressle discovery.