We've all read plenty of stories predicting the future of the oil industry, with endless questions like: What will the oil price be in six months? Will we receive a tax cut as an industry in the imminent budget announcement? When Will OPEC reduce production to reduce the surplus supply of oil and gas?
So it may seem strange timing to talk about recruitment and investing in the future with universal cuts - but this is key to securing the industry for generations to come.
The most frustrating factor of these unanswered questions is that we have very little control over the outcomes. For many, it is a tough and trying time as leaders have very little choice but to say farewell to long-serving staff in order to reduce their cost base.
Having witnessed a dip in the industry before, one thing that always astounds me is how the cycles of recession and talent wars continue.
Two hundred oil and gas contractors packed into an Aberdeen hotel last night amid growing anger about job cuts in the sector.
Six businesses joined forces to host the “Explore” conference at the Park Inn, where industry experts offered free advice to those fearing for the future. Workers were urged to look at their company structure, banking and tax arrangements, insurance and finances to see them through what could be a prolonged period of low oil prices.
Tickets for the conference sold out within days and last night the organisers – Aberdein Considine, Clydesdale Bank, Caunce O’Hara, EC Energy Contractors, FourM and Contractor MVLs, part of Johnston Carmichael – said the huge attendance underlined just how many people were worried about the future.
Premier Oil has reduced investments on the back of the decline in oil price, but its chief executive insists the company could finance the purchase of new North Sea assets in 2015.
The company, which has operations in the North Sea, Falkland Islands and Indonesia, reported a loss of $210.3million.
Premier said its losses had been mainly caused by impairment charges of $328million relating to some of its field in the North Sea.
The Mexican president will visit Aberdeen next week to sign an energy collaboration agreement, it has been confirmed.
Enrique Pena Nieto will formally announce the memoranda of understanding at a meeting with North Sea leaders in the Town House on Thursday.
He will be hosted by Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael and Energy Minister Matt Hancock.
In the afternoon, he will visit Robert Gordon University to meet academics and view a presentation on the energy sector, before viewing a demonstration of the Drilling and Advanced Rig Training Simulator.
It's cold out there, it's always cold out there.... It seems like we are getting news of rate cuts and job threats every day at present. Our politicians seem to be on an endless loop exhorting collaboration, listening, unity and focus.
Fans of the cult film Groundhog Day will be able to relate to Phil Connors in all of this. In that 1990’s classic our hero was repeating Groundhog Day over and over again.
For the record, our much heralded Aberdeen Summit was held on Groundhog Day (2nd February).
A car manufacturer and an aerospace research and development body are amongst those joining forces with the oil and gas industry at a north-east technology conference and exhibition next month.
A union representing offshore workers has urged Holyrood and Westminster to take steps to avoid a potentially disastrous “race to the bottom” in working standards across the North Sea industry.
It comes after trade body Oil and Gas UK published a report describing the current state of the offshore sector as “bleak” and recommending tax reform, improved regulation and cost-cutting to help turn the tide.
The Unite union has responded to the report by saying decisions taken by the UK and Scottish governments over the next few weeks will be critical to the long-term future of the industry.
It is currently balloting its members among Offshore Contractors Association companies on the possibility of going on strike over changes to shift patterns and holiday entitlements.
The boss of one of the largest energy services firms in the world has called on the oil and gas sector to “reinvent” itself in the wake of low oil prices.
Samir Brikho, the chief executive of the newly merged international conglomerate Amec Foster Wheeler, said it was “insane to believe that if we continue to do exactly the same things as we have been doing in the past we will expect different results”.
He added: “We need to reinvent ourselves and go back and think whether we have been doing the right thing and whether we do things differently.”
The world’s biggest oil and gas producers, already cutting hundreds of jobs a week from the UK’s North Sea, are just warming up.
BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA are among those reducing staff, curbing investment or closing operations as oil prices that have fallen by half since June add to troubles from rising costs and aging resources.
About 1,500 jobs have been lost in offshore oil and gas this year, according to Unite, Britain’s largest labor union. Ian Wood, author of a state-commissioned report into the needs of the offshore fossil-fuel business, warned that about 15,000 positions relying on the industry could disappear in months.
“The 1,500 redundancies; that’s just the start,” John Taylor, Unite’s regional organizer, said by phone from Aberdeen, the Scottish city at the heart of the UK industry.
“Half of that is drilling. There’ll be more construction workers later as projects come to an end in the next two months.”
Andy Samuel, the head of the new Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) last night published an “urgent call to action” to the industry and government in the face of the “significant risks” facing the North Sea industry.
The paper was prepared in response to Secretary of State Ed Davey’s demand in January that the fledgling OGA to identify key risks to oil and gas production following a more than 60% decline in oil prices.
The report outlined key risks to the sector as well as the OGA’s top priorities as it becomes the North Sea’s official regulator in April .
Industry body Oil & Gas UK has painted a “bleak” picture of the offshore sector in a new report that calls for a three-pronged set of reforms that will help the North Sea deliver on its full potential over coming decades.
The report laid out a mixed bag of figures, and not all of them make for pleasant reading for an industry staggering under the weight of low oil prices and high costs.
OGUK found that only 14 out of 25 expected exploration wells were drilled last year, while the cost of producing a barrel of oil last reached a record high of £18.50 in 2014.
The Scottish oil and gas sector is strongly regarded within the global industry, particularly in the US, new research suggests.
In a survey assessing the attitudes of more than 260 senior executives towards Scotland’s energy firms and personnel, 71% agreed that Scottish employees “are some of the most experienced and dependable”.
The study was commissioned by Scottish Development International (SDI), the agency that promotes Scottish business abroad.
FTI Consulting questioned representatives working for companies in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Scandinavia and the Asia Pacific region.
Sir Ian Wood charged to the defence of the new Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) yesterday, saying big pay deals for its bosses were essential for attracting the best talent.
The former Wood Group chairman and chief executive hit back at criticism of the OGA over £150,000-plus salaries for its top team.
It was Sir Ian’s Wood Review of the oil and gas industry last year that paved the way for the new regulatory body, which is now taking shape around chief executive Andy Samuel.
In his blueprint for maximising economic recovery for the UK North Sea amid stiff global competition, Sir Ian said a new regulator with broader skills and capabilities was needed to “significantly enhance” co-ordination and co-operation in the industry.
Private-equity firm Blue Water Energy (BWE), which invests exclusively in the energy industry, is pouring £163million into a new North Sea oil and gas explorer.
Sadly for the industry in Scotland, the new firm is based on the other side of the North Sea and will focus only on exploration activity in Norwegian waters through licensing rounds, farm-ins and acquisitions.
It has been launched by a diverse and experienced management team, including former Agora and Cairn Energy Norwegian operations manager Callum Smyth and former RIT Capital Partners private-equity specialist Olivier Hopkes.
Oil and gas recruiter Frontier International has appointed a new finance chief to help push the Aberdeen-based firm on to further global growth.
Frontier, founded in 1999 by oil industry engineers Mark Clarke and Paul Radcliffe, said yesterday Bill Buchanan had joined it in the newly created role of group financial controller.
Mr Buchanan has had a string of management roles in the oil and gas industry, most recently as global operations controller for north-east energy service company Senergy.
The rash of oil and gas sector redundancies in the north-east of Scotland shows no sign of abating after US energy giant Axon confirmed it was laying off about 25 of its staff.
A slump in oil prices caused by a supply glut has left firms scrambling to cut costs by delaying major projects and reducing their head counts.
Axon has now followed the lead of KCA Deutag, BP and Talisman Sinopec by announcing North Sea job losses.
Aberdeen pipeline technology firm Online Electronics is under new ownership after being snapped up by Norway’s IK-Group.
The value of the deal, which does not include a subsidiary, Online Valves, was undisclosed.
It is expected to lead to 10 new jobs in the Granite City in the coming year through increased market share driven by research, development and special engineering projects.
Aleron Subsea said yesterday it had secured a £3.1million deal to supply specialist equipment to a leading marine services firm.
Aleron, which recently relocated its head office from Singapore to the South Fornet Business Centre, just outside Westhill, specialises in remotely operated vehicle (ROV) rentals.
It said its latest contract would see it supply two work-class ROV systems and associated technology for shallow and deepwater applications around the world.
The Environment Secretary has called on the UK Government to review the provision of emergency tugs after several shipping incidents in Scottish waters.
Richard Lochhead urged Westminster to extend funding for emergency towing vehicles beyond March 2016 during a debate at Holyrood on Scotland’s draft national marine plan.
The move follows the grounding of the Lysblink Seaways cargo ship at Ardnamurchan Point yesterday and the overturning of the Cemfjord, which sank in the Pentland Firth with eight sailors on board last month.
In a third incident last October, the Danish ship MV Parida carrying radioactive nuclear waste caught fire and began drifting in the Moray Firth.
Former chief executive of BP, Lord Browne, said oil companies will have to adapt their business models to new oil prices.
He also placed a greater emphasis on reducing carbon dioxide emissions in order to survive.
In a speech to the City earlier this week, Lord Browne said oil majors must “look at their balance sheets” and decide how best to generate value.
Energy Minister Fergus Ewing has admitted he is worried that North Sea oil fields could be decommissioned prematurely.
He told MSPs at Holyrood yesterday that the UK Government needed to bring forward substantial tax reduction measures in the budget next month to persuade companies not to pull out of the UK continental shelf too early.
Mr Ewing spoke out as Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy last night claimed there was potential to create thousands of new jobs in the north-east through decommissioning oil fields.
Staff have been taken off the Ninian Central platform following a suspected drinking water contamination.
The platform, which is operated by CNR International, is 249miles from Aberdeen.
There are 192 personnel onboard the Ninian platform.
Ministers have refused planning consent for a wind farm in Dumfries and Galloway that would have an “unacceptable” impact on the landscape.
Sandy Knowe Wind Farm limited had applied for permission to build 30 turbines with a capacity of up to 90mw to the south-west of Kirkconnel and Kelloholm.
Scottish Natural Heritage had raised serious concerns about the cumulative impact the development would have on the landscape and views in the Upper Nithsdale area.
A leading offshore firm has unveiled plans to build a supply base at a historic north-east airstrip.
Aberdeen-based Independent Oilfield Service (IOS) wants to upgrade its pipe yard at Longside Airfield to a fully-fledged offshore supply base.
It would have several large warehouses, separate office buildings and space for outside storage.
