Aberdeen company Swire Oilfield Services is poised to shed up to 50 jobs in the Granite City. A spokeswoman for Swire, which employs about 850 people in operations in more than 25 countries, said the firm had begun consultations with staff at its headquarters in Souter Head Road.
Energy service giant Weatherford International said yesterday it had ramped up job cuts to 10,000 in response to lower oil prices. The number is 2,000 more than it had previously announced for this year and the new total will leave it with about 39,000 people in its core global operations, plus 6,000 on rigs. Weatherford, which has its global headquarters in Switzerland, with Europe and Caspian business run from offices in Aberdeen, said most of the extra 2,000 jobs being axed were in North America.
Oil giant BP insists it remains committed to the UK North Sea despite it yesterday agreeing to sell its 36.22% stake in the Central Area Transmission System (Cats) pipeline system to a private-equity firm for £324million. BP is the operator of Cats, which is now 99% owned by Antin Infrastructure Partners. ConocoPhillips and Eni own the other 1% between them. Trevor Garlick, regional president, BP North Sea, said: “The North Sea is an important region for BP. “Our strategy here is to focus our resources and investment to create an efficient, sustainable and competitive business which will contribute to UK energy security for many years to come. “Key elements of this are the completion of our major projects in the central North Sea and Shetland area, and continued management of our portfolio.”
Aberdeen oil and gas technology firm Petrotechnics has been signed up to help improve the safety of rail workers as part of a national initiative by track owner and operator Network Rail. Petrotechnics specialises in software to improve frontline operational performance and risk management in hazardous industries. Announcing its latest contract yesterday, its said its Proscient system was to be used to increase safety and improve productivity across 20,000 miles of railway by reducing the risk of delays, engineering overruns and spiralling maintenance costs. Working in partnership with the US technology giant Computer Sciences Corporation, Petrotechnics’ input forms part of Network Rail’s Planning and Delivering Safe Work programme, which is introducing safety improvements across the UK rail network.
Independent offshore infrastructure owners should be subject to normal corporation tax to stimulate the growth of these companies, according to an oil and gas expert at law firm Bond Dickinson. Uisdean Vass, oil and gas partner for Bond Dickinson in Aberdeen, told an audience of North Sea oil and gas bosses at a business gathering in the Granite City last night the current taxation model for independent offshore infrastructure owners was unfair and counter-productive to the needs of not just the industry, but also the UK economy. Last year’s Wood Review encouraged the emergence of a class of independent infrastructure owners and Mr Vass said fiscal changes were one effective way of supporting this aim.
Energy consultant Adil said yesterday it aimed to arrest declining interest in North Sea brownfield projects and potentially unlock 250million barrels of oil equivalent (boe). The Aberdeen company announced it had refocused its specialist brownfield project management team to help operators drive improved efficiency in “this challenging sector”. Adil has put a set of guidelines together to help the industry learn from its experience of what characterises successful projects.
Oil giant BP insists it remains committed to the UK North Sea despite it agreeing to sell its 36.22% stake in the Central Area Transmission System (CATS) pipeline system to Antin Infrastructure Partners for £324million. BP is currently the operator of CATS, which is now 99% owned by Antin.
BP Plc expects to start drilling an untapped oil frontier off the coast of southern Australia later than it had estimated, citing the potential for a delay in the delivery of the rig. The UK energy giant plans to begin drilling in late 2016, compared with its initial target of early next year, BP’s Australian unit said Thursday in an e-mailed response to questions. “We have anticipated some slippage in timelines,” according to the statement. “It is in BP’s best interest to commence drilling in late 2016 rather than risk creeping delays and premature expenditure.”
Rowan Drilling UK is said to be considering reducing its headcount by up to 900 positions. The Aberdeen-based company is understood to have issued an “at risk notice” to its entire workforce. According to reports, offshore employees of Rowan Drilling UK North Sea have also received a second communication which notified them the redundancy consultation process had begun.
The energy minister of the UAE (United Arab Emrirates) has been appointed managing director of the IPIC (International Petroleum Investment Company). The move follows a reshuffle of the board. Suhail Mohammed al-Mazrouei will take up the position, replacing Khadem al-Qubaisi.
A combination of cost-cutting measures by oil and gas firms and Opec’s decision not to curb output is laying the foundations for the next crude price surge, former BP chief executive Tony Hayward said yesterday. A slump in crude prices from summer highs of more than $100 per barrel to less than $50 at the turn of the year has made life miserable for energy companies, many of which have had to mothball projects and offload staff. The price drop was caused by the build-up of a massive supply glut, which was brought about by a stand-off between Opec and US shale producers. Opec was bent on pumping out so much oil that the price would be driven down to the point that US shale producers would no longer be able to make a profit, forcing them to shut down. Mr Hayward said the tactic is paying off and that Opec, whose leading nations can produce oil cheaply, will ultimately regain market share.
Remote-operated vehicle firm Rovop unveiled its £4.2million headquarters in Aberdeen yesterday and announced that it had received £10million of new investment. The cash injection from the Business Growth Fund (BGF) – a company with £2.5billion of capital and the backing by five UK high-street banks – will be used to help Rovop swell its fleet of ROVs to 50 from 15 over the next three years. Rovop chief executive Steven Gray said the funding boost had come at a “particularly opportune time”, as the company looks to capitalise on the oil price downturn by providing operators with more cost-effective subsea services.
Det Norkse Oljeselskap has completed drilling on two appraisal wells on the Ivar Aasen field. The wells drilled were 16/1-21 A and 16/1-21 S and both yielded valuable information as regards the final location of production and injection wells.
Half of the 41 fracking companies operating in the US will be dead or sold by year-end because of slashed spending by oil companies, an executive with Weatherford International Plc said. There could be about 20 companies left that provide hydraulic fracturing services, Rob Fulks, pressure pumping marketing director at Weatherford, said in an interview Wednesday at the IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston. Demand for fracking, a production method that along with horizontal drilling spurred a boom in US oil and natural gas output, has declined as customers leave wells uncompleted because of low prices.
Aberdeen firm EnerMech is to turn its expertise to good use in a £36billion development which will deliver an estimated 8% of the world’s total liquefied natural gas (LNG) production. The mechanical engineering group said yesterday it had won “multimillion-dollar” contracts for the air drying and nitrogen purging of six gas storage tanks at the new Curtis Island LNG facilities in Queensland, Australia. US-based construction and civil engineering giant Bechtel has asked EnerMech to provide pre-engineering, supervision, manpower and equipment for work on the tanks, which together hold the equivalent of 56 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Politicians traded blows over the future of the North Sea oil and gas industry, changes to the tax regime for the sector and the potential for onshore fracking at an energy hustings in Aberdeen yesterday. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said he wants to see a continued “downward trajectory” in terms of the tax rate for the North Sea if his party is returned to Westminster. But the Liberal Democrat, speaking at the event organised by industry body Oil and Gas UK, came under fire from SNP candidate for Gordon Alex Salmond for his role in the coalition’s infamous tax raid in 2011.
Total SA said it may take advantage of the slump in crude to make acquisitions that build on the strengths of Europe’s third-biggest oil company in deepwater offshore fields and liquefied natural gas. “When we are in a low price environment, it’s natural and not surprising that big oil companies are opportunistic,” Yves-Louis Darricarrere, president of upstream at Total, said at the CIS O&G conference in Paris on Wednesday. “We are second to none on deep offshore and LNG and we have a clear strategy to keep and reinforce these strong points.” Total’s appetite for acquiring reserves was illustrated this year by its renewal of an oil concession in Abu Dhabi, said Darricarrere, who declined to say whether the French oil company is considering any deals. Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s $70 billion move for BG Group Plc this month could trigger a wave of industry transactions after crude prices fell by half, analysts including Jean-Luc Romain of CM-CIC Securities have said.
Oil and gas skills body OPITO is set to become a strategic skills adviser in Cyprus with the opening of new offices in the region. Following discussions with senior Cypriot officials, OPITO has invested in a new office in the country. The Eastern Mediterranean is currently estimated to hold 122 trillion cubic feet of gas in the area. Group chief executive David Doig said: “The recent discovery of natural gas resources offshore Cyprus is a major opportunity to create jobs and opportunities for the island and its people.
Antitrust regulators in the European Union have charged Gazprom with abusing its position in Eastern European countries. Earlier this week it was revealed charges could be brought against the Russian energy giant. Now, after more than two years of investigation, the European Commission said the company had hindered competition across countries including Poland and Hunga
ConocoPhillips, the third-largest US oil producer, is exploring the sale of some its North Sea assets in Norway as it seeks to divest overseas operations, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The Houston-based oil and natural gas producer may sell Norwegian assets that are operated by others including stakes in the Aasta Hansteen, Alvheim and Grane fields, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. Conoco, which is running the disposal without advisers, has contacted potential buyers, they said. If sold together, all three stakes may fetch as much as $1 billion, one of the people said. US producers are increasingly offloading overseas assets to focus on domestic opportunities amid a sharp drop in oil prices.
The Dutch Economy Minister has insisted production at the Groningen field will not exceed more than 36.4billion cubic metres this year. Henk Kamp wrote to the country's parliament to confirm caps previously agreed on Europe's largest oil field would remain in place. In February the minister cut first half 2015 production to 16.5 bcm, sending gas prices surging in Northwest Europe. The overall annual target for the year is still to be confirmed in July.
Transocean has appointed NOV's chief financial officer as its next chief executive. The company said Jeremy Thigpen would take up the role, replacing Ian Strachan who had been filling the position in an interim capacity. Mr Strachan, will also retire as the chairman of the board of directors at the end of his term at the 2015 annual general meeting.
Contract drillers Nabors Industries said it has reduced it global workforce by 18% since last year. The company had made the move following the oil price decline and it affect on drilling activity.
OPEC’s refusal to curb output in response to the collapse in crude prices is an attempt to find the most economic price for oil, not an attack on US shale drillers, said Exxon Mobil Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is engaged in “a classic price-discovery exercise” after the revolution in shale-oil production turned global crude markets topsy turvy, Tillerson said during the IHS CERAWeek conference in Houston on Tuesday. The 10-month, 48-percent cascade in US oil prices has crushed stock prices, eroded drilling budgets and cost tens of thousands of workers their jobs.
Aberdeen energy service firm XPD8 Solutions has described a new £375,000 contract in west Africa as a "pat on the back" by one of its clients. The six-month deal will see asset integrity management specialist XPD8, which has its headquarters in North Silver Street, move Tullow Oil's existing computer-based maintenance management system to a new software package, Maximo. Once installed, the Maximo system will support planning, scheduling, performance monitoring and reporting of asset integrity key performance indicators for the Jubilee floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel offshore of Ghana. XPD8 managing director Mark Cavanagh said: “It is a pat on the back to our team that we have been chosen to work again with Tullow Oil, which is an existing client for us, on what is another significant contract.