Technip has been awarded a front end engineering design (FEED) Ccontract by CNOOC for two tension leg platforms on a joint development project in the South China Sea. It means the company will be carrying out the FEED work on China's first two TLPs. The contract covers the design and engineering of the topsides - including two drilling rigs - hulls, mooring and riser systems.
Iona Energy said the Huntington oilfield has resumed full production after access to the Central Area Transmission System (CATS) was restored. Last week it was revealed it would soon be starting up fully again. The field had been operating under gas export restrictions since October 2014, which has reduced the rate of oil production from the field.
Woodside Petroleum has recorded a drop in revenue caused by the decline in oil prices. The Australian company said a cyclone in the west of the country had also affected profits. The company reported sales revenue of $1.4billion in the March quarter - a 16% falls from the year before.
An exploration firm said there could be an estimated 100 billion barrels of oil in the South of England. However UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) said only a fraction of the find would be recoverable. The firm, which drilled a well at Horse-Hill 1 last year, near to Gatwick Airport, said further analysis has suggested the region could hold around 158 million barrels of oil per square mile.
Subsea 7 refused to say yesterday if more jobs will go across its global operations after it revealed 1,000 were shed in 2014. The energy service giant also outlined plans to reduce its fleet capability by 10 vessels over a two-year period as it continues to look for ways to slash costs in the wake of the big drop in oil prices. Hefty losses for the firm in 2014 – more than £150million at pre-tax level – were the latest blow for company balance sheets right across the sector as it adjusts to a new trading climate. Subsea 7 said its latest figures were hit by a £774.4million writedown due to an expected downturn in activity, and without it net profits came in at £525.4million.
Energy service firm Petrofac plans to axe 16.5 full-time equivalent offshore roles supporting the UK North Sea operations of CNR International (CNRI). A spokeswoman confirmed the fewer-than-expected number last night after 37 possible redundancies was mentioned in a letter to Petrofac employees. It also said workers supplied to CNRI through its Aberdeen-based recruitment business, Atlantic Resourcing, were being “downmanned”.
Near-to-market technologies and world-class research capabilities will be highlighted to the oil and gas industry in Aberdeen this week. The Oil and Gas Innovation Centre (OGIC) and Innovation Centre for Sensor and Imaging Systems (CENSIS) are to jointly host an innovation pavilion during the 2015 Technology Showcase conference and exhibition on Wednesday. OGIC chief executive Ian Phillips said: “The innovation centre pavilion will highlight the expertise and capabilities of Scotland’s academic and SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) technology communities which can address the showcase theme of making technology reduce cost and improve efficiency.
Oil prices could drop again later this year as a supply glut persists, according to Jason Kenney, a Banco Santander SA analyst who accurately predicted a rebound in prices after the 2008 slump. The current oil shock caused by the boom in U.S. shale production is reminiscent of the mid-1980s, when development of fields in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico caused a supply glut, Kenney, the head of European oil and gas equity research at the Spanish bank, said by phone from Edinburgh Thursday. It differs from the 2008 collapse, which was caused by slumping demand in a recession, Kenney said.
Ships carrying oil from Mexico are sailing to South Korea for the first time in more than two decades as the US shale boom brings bargains from around the globe. The voyage is evidence of the competition OPEC producers face as the Us pumps the most oil in more than three decades, exacerbating a global glut in supplies while demand slows in Asia. Refiners in South Korea and Japan ordered at least eight cargoes from the Latin American nation this year, including the most heavily discounted Mexican oil in two decades, according to company officials and shipping data compiled. The fight for market share among global producers is playing out in Asia as increased output from American shale fields reduces the need for imports in the world’s biggest oil-consuming nation. Mexico’s sales to the Us, its largest buyer, dropped 6.5 percent in the first eleven months of last year. “Middle East and Mexican crude grades have similar specifications, which means Korean refiners don’t have to change much when they process Mexican oil,” Kim Jae Kyung, a research fellow at Korea Energy Economics Institute, said by phone Thursday. “Middle East producers will have to fight for market share.”
This week's most read story on Energy Voice was the news that the Spanish takeover of Talisman Energy and its 50% stake in a struggling UK joint venture is “on track” to complete during the first half of 2015. Talisman insisted earlier this week that the £5.3billion deal struck with Spain’s Repsol in December was unaffected by hefty losses in the North Sea as oil prices nose-dived last year. At Subsea Expo 2015, which took place from February 11 -13 at the AECC (Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre), Forum Energy Technologies launched its latest generation subsea robotic system at Subsea Expo.
Tullow Oil is poised to record losses of $1.9billion when it reveals its full-year results this week. The company, which recorded $313.2million in pre-tax profits in 2013, could see a dividend cut and job losses as it looks to balance its finances. According to reports, Tullow Oil has already warned investors it could face $2.7billion in write-offs.
Judges at the UK Supreme Court have dismissed an appeal against plans to build a large-scale wind farm in the Shetland Islands. Environmental campaigners at Sustainable Shetland challenged a decision to allow more than 100 turbines to be installed across three different areas on the islands. The group argued that when the Scottish Government backed the plans for the Viking wind farm project, which could provide energy for up to 175,000 homes, it failed to take into account “positive obligations” under European Union environmental legislation to protect the rare whimbrel bird and bring its population levels up to “favourable conservation status".
BG Group warned of further job cuts and budget slashing yesterday as it also revealed it had wiped £4billion off the value of oil and gas assets globally to reflect the sharp fall in crude prices. UK North Sea output was up by about 5% in 2014 as BG slumped to pre-tax losses of £1.5billion, from profits of £2.58million a year earlier. Revenue and other income was 2% higher at £12.9billion. Ernst den Hartigh, managing director of European exploration and production, said: “We safely increased production for a second successive year. Our priorities for 2015 are to complete the offshore investment campaign we started last autumn and ensure we reduce operating costs to a more sustainable level.”
Scottish Government plans to manage and protect Scotland’s seas are not yet “fit for purpose”, according to a Holyrood committee. The draft National Marine Plan for Scotland has been developed over five years and was published last month. It aims to balance the development of established industries such as oil, gas and fishing with emerging sectors such as marine renewables and carbon capture and storage.
GE Oil and Gas are set to collaborate on more environmentally and cost efficient energy solutions. The companies said the joint technology focused programme would be aimed at driving an industrial response to some of the challenges facing global oil production including flaring, CO2 and methane emissions. It will focus on creating the right format for oil and shale gas production while reducing emissions.
Norwegian energy service giant Aker Solutions said yesterday the current phase of its work on Premier Oil’s Solan development in the UK North Sea would end on February 27. About 280 contractors who were recruited for the work on temporary terms have been notified about the end date, which was determined by the planned departure of the Safe Scandinavia accommodation vessel. Safe Scandinavia is leaving for another project later than expected, with Aker having previously anticipated it would be available only until sometime this month.
The new energy jobs taskforce, launched by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon earlier this month in response to tumbling oil prices, will meet for the first time in Aberdeen today. Chaired by Scottish Enterprise (SE) chief executive Lena Wilson, it will focus on jobs across the entire energy industry but with an initial emphasis on the oil and gas sector. Membership includes industry bodies and commercial interests as well as cross-government representation.
North Sea helicopter manufacturer Airbus Helicopters is betting on military deals to lift orders as the plunge in the price of crude hits demand from oil explorers. The French company, which is part of aerospace and defence giant Airbus Group, said yesterday it expected stabilisation in the industry during 2015. Its new helicopter deliveries fell by 5.2% to 471 last year, while net sales fell by 20 units to 402.
Nearly two-thirds of coalition MPs could face the prospect of fracking in areas that feed water supplies in their constituencies despite public opposition, environmental campaigners have claimed. Analysis by Greenpeace shows the constituencies of 220 Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs have an overlap between areas being made available for onshore oil and gas licences and groundwater source protection zones, which feed aquifers. The research was published by the green group ahead of MPs voting on the Infrastructure Bill next week, which contains legislation on fracking.
Prosafe said it was making a $7million provision after lifeboats were damaged on one of its rigs last year. The company said the damage had been caused to the Safe Bristolia during bad weather in the Everest Field in the UK last year. At the time operations were suspended and the vessel was brough to the Hanoytangen shipyard in Norway for repair work.
Sir Ian Wood insists the North Sea industry is not facing a doomsday scenario and can recover with the help of a big tax cut in the March Budget. The north-east oil and gas doyen said there was little point in swifter action from the Treasury as it would have no impact at current oil prices of about $50 a barrel. But a clear commitment by the chancellor to a “measured” reduction of at least 10% to the supplementary tax on profits in the Budget and more cuts to follow would encourage operators to keep project teams together and not give up on the North Sea, he said.
