Brent and US crude oil prices both hit five year lows yesterday, before rebounding slightly, and experts expect them to go lower still.
Benchmark Brent was down by 36 cents a barrel to $57.52, putting it on track for its second weakest month since the global financial crisis of 2008, while US crude was off 3 cents at $53.57 by late afternoon UK-time.
Richard Hastings, a macro strategist at American investment bank Global Hunter Securities said US crude would likely break below $50 in the next few trading days.
The slump in the price of North Sea oil is no excuse for oil companies to cut back on spending on offshore safety measures, north-east MSP Lewis Macdonald said last night.
Mr Macdonald, Scottish Labour’s energy spokesman, added: “The falling oil price is putting severe pressure on oil companies.
“We’ve already heard about proposed job cuts among sub-contractors and of plans to cut wages but there can be no compromise on safety
A Declaration of Commerciality (DoC) has been submitted to the Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels for three separate oil and gas accumulations in Brazil.
BG Group said it had, along with its partner Petrobas, submitted the application which it believes is another major milestone in the first phase of development of BG Group’s interests in the region.
The Iara area is located approximately 250 kilometres off the coast of Rio De Janeiro in water depths of around 2,270 metres.
Cargotec has received an order from Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Co four offshore cranes.
The deal will see all the cranes fitted to a new 145m dive support vessel under construction at the yard for UK-based operator Sealion Shipping.
The 6405/12-1 on PL584 was investigating the hydrocarbon potential of the Lindarormen prospect which is 150km northwest of Kristiansund.
The company said no reservoir sandstones were encountered in the primary objective.
Oil major BP said production has started from the Kinnoull field in the North Sea.
The Kinnoull reservoir, which was developed as part of a wider rejuvenation of the Andrew field area, is tied back to BP’s Andrew platform 230km east of Aberdeen.
The development of the field is expected to allow production from the field to be extended by a further 10 years.
Jupiter Energy has provided an update on drilling at the East Akkar field in Kazakhstan.
Well 19 has been spudded by the company between the J-51 and J-52 wells which have both been producing oil under trial production licenses.
Seadrill has taken ownership of an ultra deepwater drillship in a $456million deal with Ship Finance.
The West Polaris was acquired by Ship Finance in 2008 and chartered to Seadrill with purchase options commencing in 2012.
Libyan oil production has fallen below 300,000 barrels a day after Islamist militants shifted attacks to energy facilities including the country’s largest oil export terminal, said Energy Aspects Ltd.
Output is the lowest since May and down at least 65% from a recent high of 850,000 barrels a day in October following the assault on the Es Sider terminal, according to the Energy Aspects estimate. Libya holds Africa’s largest oil reserves.
The fighting last week marked a turning point in the unrest that followed Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year rule, according to Energy Aspects and Eurasia Group consultants.
In the second part of our gallery series, we take a look at some of the defining moments in the months leading up to the Scottish independence referendum.
In May WGPSN said it would be cutting contractor rates by 10%.
UK oil and gas companies are gearing up for a new era of transparency which will shed light on links between operators and governments around the world, law firm Pinsent Masons says.
An overhaul of financial reporting driven by a new European Union directive is due to come into force on New Year’s Day, months ahead of other EU member states.
Directors face criminal convictions and unlimited fines if details of any payments made to governments are not disclosed to Companies House.
An overhaul of financial reporting driven by a new European Union directive is due to come into force on New Year’s Day, months ahead of other EU member states.
Directors face criminal convictions and unlimited fines if details of any payments made to governments are not disclosed to Companies House.
US oil drillers, facing the lowest crude prices in five years and rising competition from suppliers abroad, idled the most rigs since 2012.
Rigs targeting oil declined by 37 to 1,499 in the week ended December 26, the lowest since April, Baker Hughes Inc said, extending the three-week decline to 76.
Those drilling for natural gas increased by two to 340, the Houston-based field services company said. The total rig count, which includes one miscellaneous rig, dropped 35 to 1,840, also an eight-month low.
Global Energy Group said yesterday it was nearing the end of a further £20million investment in developing the Nigg Yard on the Cromarty Firth into a “world-class” port.
The Inverness and Aberdeen-based energy service firm also revealed it was targeting the Mediterranean, Middle East and Asia for new business to offset an expected downturn in the UK due to the recent slump in crude oil prices.
Global, which employs more than said a damaging impact on some of its operations was unavoidable but past experience of difficult market conditions showed new opportunities could flourish.
OAO Gazprom (OGZD), the world’s biggest natural-gas exporter, agreed to buy the 50% it doesn’t own in South Stream Transport BV from Italy’s Eni SpA (ENI), Electricite de France SA and the Wintershall unit of Germany’s BASF SE (BAS).
No purchase price was disclosed in statements issued by EDF, BASF, Eni and Moscow-based Gazprom.
Eni, owner of a 20% stake, and BASF and EDF, which each own 15% stakes, said they’re recovering their investments in the proposed $45 billion Black Sea pipeline that Russia scrapped this month.
Oil’s slump has almost doubled the value of India’s big, state-owned refiners, outpacing the rest of the industry from China to the US.
The companies had been forced to make a large proportion of sales at below cost for over a decade.
Now, they can profit from fuels after India’s new government saw its opportunity in falling oil prices to deregulate the market without bothering its inflation targets. OPEC’s decision to sit on its hands in the face of an oil glut has only accelerated share gains.
Lundin Petroleum has hit oil at the Brynhild field in the North Sea.
The company has estimated reserves of 23.1million barrels in the region.
Production began on Christmas Day in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea and is a subsea tie-back to the Pierce field.
The oil and gas industry could be set for a year of mergers and acquisitions following a rapid fall in prices, it has been forecast.
Business consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said 2015 might even see the first “hostile takeover” in the sector in living memory.
The oil price has fallen from 115 US dollars (£73) a barrel in the middle of this year to around 60 dollars (£38).
Teams working at PwC set out their top five predictions for the year ahead against such a backdrop.
The semi-submersible drilling unit, the Sedco Express, has arrived at the Oyo field in Nigeria.
Camac Energy said it had contracted the Transocean Sedco Express to speed up the timing of production tie-in from the Oyo-7 and Oyo-8 development wells.
The Scottish Government’s oil revenue forecast for the first three years of independence is now out by £15.5 billion, according to the Scottish Secretary.
Alistair Carmichael said the latest UK Government analysis showed that 100 days after the referendum, an independent Scotland would have been facing the shortfall following a drop in oil prices.
He said “serious questions” now needed to be asked about how the SNP administration “got this so badly wrong”.
GEG (Global Energy Group) has seen a big rise in revenues only weeks after it confirmed job losses at its fabrication yard on the Cromarty Firth.
The energy services firm said turnover had risen by 32% to £472million in the year end to March.
The company’s profits have also jumped from £18.8million to £28million.
EMGS (Electromagnetic Geoservices) has been requested by the NPD (Norwegian Petroleum Directorate) to provide all of its CSEM inversion data acquired in the country’s waters from 2008 to 2014.
The NPD has also requested all CSEM data acquired in the Tiddly and Nordkapp basins in 2015 with reference to the petroleum regulation of June 2001.
A spokesman said the NPD would treat all data as confidential from when it was inverted by EMGS.
EMGS (Electromagnetic Geoservices) has struck a licensing agreement worth $1.8million in Foz do Amazona in Brazil.
The company will assist an international oil company in the provision of 3D EM data.
It will be delivered in December 2014 and EMGS will book the sales in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Libya extinguished fires at three of five oil-storage tanks that started last week at its largest oil port, helping global crude prices to stabilize.
Libya is still seeking international assistance because of possible environmental damage, said Ali al-Hasy, a spokesman for the Petroleum Facilities Guard, part of the internationally-recognized government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni.
Es Sider has tanks with a capacity of 6.2 million barrels of oil, compared with current Libyan output of 352,000 barrels, according to National Oil Corp.
Professional services firm PwC said the oil and gas industry will need to adapt to the new level of volatility within the sector.
The company’s oil and gas team said there was little expectation of a rapid rebound in oil prices, which have dropped by 46% in the past six months.
From more than $100 a barrel, the price of Brent Crude has dropped to around $60.
PwC have made five predictions for the years ahead in the wake of the industry’s current climate.
As 2014 draws to a dramatic close for the industry, Energy Voice reflects on milestone events that fuelled a hectic year.
In the first of a three part series we look back at some of the game changers within the industry.
Later this week, we'll look at some of the highlights and defining moments in the months leading up to the Scottish referendum.
