An offshore worker has been airlifted to hospital after injuring himself on a vessel near BP’s Schiehallion oil field, west of Shetland. The man was working on the North Sea Atlantic supply ship, run by Technip UK, when the incident took place at around 3.15pm.
With increasing demand for remotely operated vehicles, depth, cost, power and safety are powerful arguments
A Conservative former energy secretary has insisted the “elephantine” Hinkley C nuclear project is “one of the worst deals ever” for British consumers and industry. Lord Howell of Guildford told peers he would “shed no tears” if the multi-billion pound development in Somerset by French giant EDF Energy was abandoned in favour of smaller nuclear plants at a later date. He warned no reactor of the kind planned for Hinkley C has “ever been completed successfully”.
The son of a worker kidnapped in Libya has spoken of his shock at the incident. The man's father Fausto Piano was taken earlier this week along with his three colleagues Gino Pollicardo, Salvatore Failla and Filippo Calcagno. The men, who work for Bonatti construction company, were kidnapped near an industrial complex owned by energy company Eni in the western city of Mellitah.
DNV GL has launched a JIP (Joint Industry Project) in a bid to establish a new international standard for offshore oil and gas projects which could cut costs by 15%. The move is in a bid to curb the challenges presented by varying owners, operators and regulators during both engineering and construction phases in South Korean yards. A number of companies are involved with the initiative including Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Company, as well as Samsung Heavy Industries and Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The Ministry of Defence is relying on fishing vessels and social media users to safeguard national security in the North Sea due to a lack of armed patrols in the area, according to the SNP. Angus Robertson, the party’s defence spokesman, has called for a permanent maritime patrol base on the Clyde and a dedicated Scottish airbase amid “increasing foreign military operations close to UK territorial waters and airspace”. In a speech to the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London ahead of publication of the strategic defence and security review (SDSR), Mr Robertson said: “As we approach publication of the strategic defence and security review it should be acknowledged that the UK has not taken northern regional security seriously enough and this must change with the new SDSR.
Scotland's top law officer will have to wait until the end of the year to find out if prosecutors can get early access to the black box from a doomed helicopter. Four oil workers died when the Super Puma AS332-L2 aircraft plunged into the sea off Shetland in August 2013. Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland launched a legal challenge at the Court of Session earlier this year to try to speed up an investigation into the tragedy.
The Swedish energy firm behind plans for a controversial wind farm offshore Donald Trump’s north-east golf course has been hit by low energy prices.
Some npower customers are to receive free energy after the company failed to resolve their complaints on time, the regulator has announced. Ofgem said it had ensured that customers whose ombudsman rulings had been left outstanding for more than 28 days would now receive free energy until npower had fully resolved any issues. Customers affected by this up to July 21 will also have any outstanding debt on their account written off by npower, the regulator added.
Iran’s parliament is set to review the landmark nuclear deal reached with world powers last week. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who headed the Iranian negotiating team during the talks in Vienna, sent the text of the agreement to the house, state media reported. Under Iran’s constitution, parliament has a right to reject any deal - even one negotiated by the foreign ministry. However, it is not clear whether politicians will vote on the deal or whether they will simply discuss it and possibly express concerns about it.
Dozens of environmentally-friendly mayors from around the world are set to sign a Vatican declaration urging their national leaders to approve a “bold climate agreement” to tackle global warming. A total of 60 mayors are attending a two-day climate conference at the Vatican featuring an audience with Pope Francis, whose recent environment encyclical is aimed at keeping up the pressure on world leaders ahead of Paris climate negotiations in December. The final declaration states that “human-induced climate change is a scientific reality and its effective control is a moral imperative for humanity”.
Shetland’s busy oil airport at Scatsta is set to cut staff by almost a third in response to the offshore industry contracting its North Sea operations in the wake of the oil price decline. Airport operators Serco have confirmed they are looking to reduce their headcount by between 25% and 35% by the end of the year. The move comes after Bristow Helicopters announced it was in consultation with staff over jobs earlier this month.
China is set to become Asia’s nuclear powerhouse as it is predicted to surpass South Korea and Russia in generating energy capacity by 2020. The country has been increasing its nuclear output in recent years which, according to new analysis, it plans to leverage so it can take an “ownership role” throughout the entire supply chain. Data from the EIA (Energy Information Administration) shows nuclear output currently makes up slightly more than 2% of the country’s total power generation.
Four Italian workers have been kidnapped in Libya. The incident happened near an industrial complex owned by energy company Eni in the western city of Mellitah. The Italian Foreign Ministry said the employees had been kidnapped on Sunday.
Energy services firm NorSea UK has further beefed up its north-east management team with the appointment of a finance director.
An investigation is underway after Nexen Energy had to shutdown a pipeline which leaked more than 30,000 barrels of emulsion. The company, a subsidiary of CNOOC, said the incident happened at its Long Lake oil sands facility. The pipeline and connecting pad site have since been isolated in a bid to stop the leak.
The annual State of the Climate report is out, and it’s ugly.
Italian air force search and rescuers travelled nearly 1,400 miles to the West Highlands for their essential subsea training. Beniamino Panduccio, David Padula and Massimiliano Lai spent three days at the Underwater Centre in Fort William. While there, they underwent advanced remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operations training – mostly working with the facility’s Saab Seaeye Falcon observation class ROV.
Greece’s parliament has passed the austerity bill demanded by bailout creditors, despite a significant level of dissent from the governing left-wing Syriza party.
The UK’s first “smart” carbon positive energy house, which can export more power to the grid than it uses, has been constructed, experts said. The low-cost three-bedroom family home, designed by experts led by Cardiff University, integrates technology to reduce energy demand and generate and store renewable energy. The property near Bridgend, Wales, has been built to be highly efficient, with high insulation to reduce air leakage, structural insulated panels, insulated render on the outside and air heating systems that rely on the sun.
The Government’s “green” policies have added around £60 to the average consumer energy bill in the last five years, a report has suggested. Energy company profits have added £70 to rising bills, and accounted for around £77 of average household dual fuel costs in 2014, while energy and climate policy costs accounted for £89, the study from think-tank Policy Exchange said. The report called on ministers to maximise efforts to improve household energy efficiency and to focus carbon-cutting efforts on mature technologies such as onshore wind to tackle climate change at least cost to the consumer.
The UK’s first compressed air energy storage project is to be awarded almost 6.5 million euro (£4.6m) by the European Union. It will hold air in specially engineered salt caverns under high pressure on Northern Ireland’s east coast before releasing it to drive turbines and create power for the grid. The money will pay for environmental impact assessments, planning and design, the Gaelectric firm behind the innovative scheme said. The system could generate up to 330 megawatts of electricity - enough to sustain thousands of homes - for up to six hours and the EU said it will contribute to energy security in the UK and Ireland.
Artifacts recovered by US special forces during a raid targeting Islamic State in Syria have been put on display at the Baghdad National Museum.
Petrofac has been issued an improvement notice after a gas leak went undetected on a North Sea platform. The incident is understood to have happened in March on the Kittiwake platform, which is located 160km from Aberdeen. It is understood a worker alerted staff to the leak 84 minutes after it had first begun and production was immediately halted.
Reservoir engineering consultancy Oilgen has made a key appointment in Houston to strengthen its international offering.