Shale gas provided the largest share of American natural gas production last year, new figures have shown. The US Energy Information Administration said withdrawals reached a new high of 82billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) last year. Shale gas well withdrawals jumped from five bcf/d in 2007, to 33 bcf/d in 2013, representing a 40% increase in total gas production and surpassing production from non-shale gas wells.
The chairman of Leyshon Energy has stepped down from his position with the board. John Manzoni is set to take up a new role as chief executive of the Civil Service with the UK government.
This crew from NDT tech decided to celebrate the festive season by creating 'A Christmas Carol in the North Sea'. The footage shows the offshore workers singing along to music adorned with seasonal attire.
An industry 'role model' has been appointed to head a team at PwC. PwC has appointed natural resources industry advisor Alison baker to lead its UK oil and gas sector team.
A senior management reshuffle at Wood Group means the energy service firm’s biggest operating division is losing its chief executive. Wood Group PSN (WGPSN) CEO Robin Watson, 47, is to become group chief operating officer – a newly created role – during the first half of 2015, the company said yesterday. Aberdeen-based Wood Group also revealed a looming change at the helm of its finance team, with chief financial officer Alan Semple, 55, having announced his retirement.
Apache has agreed to sell off assets in Louisiana and the Anadarko Basin for $1.4billion in two separate transactions. The company said the first deal will involve the sale of 90,000 net acres of mature fields in Southern Louisiana. The mature fields, which it said were characterised by high decline rates and short reserve lives, produced 21,000 BOE (Barrels of Oil Equivalent) per day.
Wessex Exploration has revealed plans regarding an application for a new drilling permit in French Guiana's deep offshore licence area. The company already owns a share in a drilling permit in Guyane Maritime alongside oil major Shell, which owns a 45% stake, and other partners including Total, Tullow and Northern Petroleum. In a results report Wessex Petroleum said discussions were ongoing between partners regarding application for a new drilling permit in the region.
Oyster Petroleum has acquired interest in licences owned by Maersk Oil and Centrica in the North Sea. The venture capital-backed explorer will acquire a 30% interest in licence P2132, covering blocks 16/11b and 16/16 in the South Viking Graben. The transaction will be subject to regulatory approvals from the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Secretary of State.
Technip has approached seismic contractor CGG about a potential merger. The French services company confirmed it wanted to enter into a "contstructive dialogue" with CGG regarding the integration and development of its reservoir, data processing and seismic activities with Technip. However, a short statement released by CGG appears to dismiss the offer.
Empire Oil and Gas has sold off its assets in the onshore Carnarvon Basin to Bounty Oil and Gas. An indicative agreement has been signed to sell the remaining acreage in Western Australia.
Australian explorer Karoon Gas has made further progress with its work at the Santos Basin exploration and drilling campaign. The Kangaroo-2 has now penetrated the target Paleocene reservoir at 1,660 mRTas indicated by increased LWD readings, elevated gas readings and oil shows seen in mud log cuttings from the reservoir. Drilling will continue to a total depth before wireline logging is run, which is designed to confirm the presence of the hydrocarbon column.
This week heralded a significant moment in the oil and gas industry as Halliburton confirmed plans to takeover Baker Hughes in a $36.4billion deal. Energy Voice takes a look back at the previous ‘mega-mergers’ that have taken place in recent years. Triggered by the $110billion merger between BP and Amoco in 1998 just prior to the millennium and a number of years after, some of the biggest oil companies includinging Exxon and Mobil, Chevron and Texaco and Conoco and Phillips merged.
CorEnergy is to acquire ownership of a multi-million dollar pipeline central to natural gas in St Louis. The MoGas pipeline, worth $125million, is 263 miles long and maintains key connections on three natural gas transmission pipelines.
Finland and Estonia have reached an agreement on a road map for creating a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal between the two countries. The Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb and Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas said the two countries will implement the LNG projects when it is both “technically and economically feasible” to do so. The plan includes the construction of a large-scale LNG terminal in Finland, which would then provide liquefied natural gas to users in the region at competitive prices.
Almost in line with falling global oil prices share value of oilfield service companies have slumped by around 25% over the past four months. These are the same companies that have benefited greatly from the US fracking boom that transformed the standing of the US as an oil and gas producer; its position as number one oil consumer has never been at risk. But the halcyon days of unfettered profits for US frackers and service companies look to be over.
An Aberdeenshire firm has designed new technology for testing offshore fire sprinkler systems that should prevent glitches caused by existing methods. Paradigm Flow Services (PFS), part of Netherlands-based investment firm Paradigm Group, has invested £180,000 in the research and development stage of its dryflow technology, which was carried out by academics, software designers and engineers in Aberdeen and Rotterdam over the past 18 months. Conventional tests use large volumes of seawater, often leading to blockages and corrosion inside nozzles and pipework.
Leading conservation organisations are calling for a ban on mining and exploration for oil and gas in World Heritage Sites. The organisations, including the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the RSPB and WWF, warn that growing pressure for resources means that a quarter of natural World Heritage Sites are under threat from commercial mining and extraction. World Heritage Sites such as Virunga National Park, home of the critically endangered mountain gorilla in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Virgin Komi forests in Russia and the Belize Barrier Reef System are all under threat from exploitation, the groups said.
The UK Government has been urged to provide more support to the North Sea oil and gas industry to address claims of a downturn in confidence and job losses. Sir Robert Smith, MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, has raised the issue with Chancellor George Osborne ahead of the autumn Budget statement on December 3. He told the Conservative MP that the industry was facing a difficult time, with many projects coming to the end of their labour-intensive phases.
Technip has been awarded a contract for project management consultancy services for the Nasr Phase II full field development project by Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA-OPCO). The Nasr Field is being developed to secure an annual average production of 65kb/d of crude oil by using offshore process facilities, wellheads, pipelines and facilities on Das Island. The contract is the second win for the company this week after it was awarded a subsea contract for the K2 field in the Gulf of Mexico.
In the final video on National Oil and Gas skills week, Energy Voice spoke to Jeanette Forbes about her experience as a woman in the industry. A qualified systems engineer, she is chief executive and founder of the PCL Group. National Oil and Gas Skills Week will see around 50 events take place across the UK.
In search of a way out of the energy crisis, Ukrainian experts claim to have found the solution - hydropower. The auxiliary resource has been successfully compensating the increasing energy demand triggered by the lack of power capacity and fuel in the past months. High liquidity and sustainability were identified as some of the major advantages of hydroelectric energy. “Prior to the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) in the east of the country and before the problems with energy supply, hydroelectric power stations produced electricity primarily during peak demand,” said the director general of Ukraine’s largest hydropower company, Ukrhydroenergo, Ihor Syrota.
The chief executive of the newly launched Oil and Gas Innovation Centre (OGIC) said the organisation will have to brave “industry skepticism” as it looks to encourage more collaboration between universities and oil companies. Ian Phillips said the OGIC could be seen as simply “another initiative”, but he believes its creation has come about from a growing demand amongst companies to meet the challenges within the industry. Mr Phillips, who has 30 years’ experience in the industry, said there would also need to be a culture change in academia to think more flexibly and quickly.
BP Egypt and its partners plan to invest $240million in a pair of blocks just awarded as a result of the 2013 EGAS (Egyptian Natural Gas Holding) round. The oil major said the programme will include 3D seismic and three exploration wells in each of the onshore and offshore blocks in phases lasting between six to eight years. The first block, the North El Mataria, is BP’s first entry into the Onshore Nile Delta.
The newly appointed Oil and Gas authority (OGA) chief executive said the biggest challenge the industry faced was a change in culture and behaviour in the industry. Andy Samuel, BG managing director, was named as the man to take the helm of the new industry body during a visit with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander in Aberdeen. Mr Samuel said he wanted to work at pace but with “wisdom” to ensure no “false starts” were made as the industry body moved a step further to becoming fully operational. Speaking at Archer’s headquarters in Blackburn, he said: “I think I want to work at pace but with wisdom, we don’t want to make any false starts. “We need to work together in a tripartite relationship. The industry, the OGA and the government closely working together is vital.
Ophir Energy has appointed Excelerate Energy as its lead midstream partner for the provision of FLNG (Floating Liquefied Natural Gas) storage facilities in Equatorial Guinea. The company has been appointed as the lead in a consortium of technology providers that is expected to include Samsung Heavy Industries and Black and Veatch. Ophir said negotiations regarding an MOU (Memorandum of Unerstanding) had now concluded and a deal was expected to be signed tday, between the EquatoGuinean Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy (MMIE), GEPetrol, Ophir and Excelerate.