The fall in the world price of crude has been at the centre of a number of obstacles that are currently stifling many North Sea M&A transactions. This factor, along with a lack of acquisition finance and the persistent gap between the price sellers want for assets and the one buyers are prepared to pay, is making valuations hard to land. Where late life assets are concerned, decommissioning liabilities, which can often erode any value in what might otherwise be a viable transaction, are proving another major issue, preventing many deals from getting over the line.
The UK Government must let oil companies transfer tax histories if it is serious about attracting investment to the North Sea, an industry chief said yesterday.
Hopes that the Treasury might deliver a boost to the beleaguered North Sea in today’s Spring budget have been raised by plans to help the “vital” oil and gas industry.
Theresa May hailed the north-east's "world class” oil and gas sector last night as she pledged her support to ensuring its continued competitiveness on the international stage.
Ten years into my association with UK oil and gas industry's leading trade association, I have growing confidence that a framework is emerging to enable maximum recovery of Britain's offshore oil and gas and to build on the jobs, innovation and exports already supported by the sector.
Energy Minister John Hayes told oil and gas companies yesterday he hoped the chancellor's announcement on decommissioning tax relief last week would ease their anxieties over future investment.
If planned attendance at the industry's foremost business development event is anything to go by, confidence is returning to the UK oil and gas sector in leaps and bounds.
A key engineering design contract for Chevron's multibillion pound Rosebank oilfield development project west of Shetland will be announced in Aberdeen today by UK Energy Minister Charles Hendry.
I have read many reports on the UKCS decommissioning market over the last decade, as many other people in the industry must also have done. All have proved to be wildly inaccurate in relation to both the size and timing of the market, which has been very much smaller than predicted.
