The story which sparked the most interest with Energy Voice readers this week was the news of BP placing North Sea operation staff on an equal time rota. The oil giant will now move to a three on, three off shift pattern. The move, which is also being considered by a number of other companies including Talisman and EnQuest, was announced to employees earlier this week.
North Sea oil and gas workers today agreed to press ahead with plans for a ballot on strike action after talks with employers in Aberdeen reached another stalemate.
Nostra Terra Oil & Gas has acquired a new venture in the south Texas, with a minority interest in the San Miguel prospect. The area spans 35,000 acres and is said to have similar characteristics as the Don Pedro project, where last month the company also gained a 1% stake. The San Miguel project has also already been the subject of extensive regional mapping and it is the subject of ongoing drilling work.
Subsea UK has launched a new market intelligence service for subsea companies. The industry body, which represents the UK’s £9billion subsea sector, has developed SubseaIntel – an online database which provides regularly updated details on almost 1,200 subsea projects worldwide. Subsea Intel allows users to delve deeper into current projects across the globe and discover upcoming opportunities using intensively researched data. Users will be given a unique and secure log-in to search for, track and monitor global subsea discoveries and projects.
Maersk Oil has become the first to adopt an exclusively electronic competence system which they say will give them the ability to track employees’ knowledge and minimise risk in the oil and gas sector. Developed by Atlas Knowledge the Competence Assurance Management System (CAMS) is an online competence assessment and training system where all data surrounding employees can be tracked. Based on three key criteria: knowledge, skills and practice- it allows companies to build a background on each employee’s level of competence and centralise all documentation in one secure place.
Marquee Energy have announced that they have acquired oilfields in Michichi, Canada.
Talisman Sinopec Energy UK has announced a new managing director. Bill Dunnett has been appointed to the position by Talisman's board of directors, and will begin his role from April 7. Dunnett, a chartered engineer, has more than 30 years' experience in the international oil and gas industry, and has previously served as project manager for Shell and acted as senior vice president for Global Offshore Capital Projects.
Victoria Oil and Gas (VOG) says wholly-owned subsidiary Gaz du Cameroun (GDC) has issued completion certificates to ENEO Cameroon, Cameroon's power utility company, for all pipeline construction work and pressure reduction and metering facilities at two power stations in the port-city of Douala. The work has been completed ahead of the scheduled March 15 target date and GDC is ready to connect to the gas-fired electricity generations sets that are being installed by equipment partner Altaaqa Alternative Solutions Projects.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has asked citizens for patience as the country deals with a flagging economy and a widening corruption probe involving the state-run oil company and dozens of top politicians. In a nationally televised address, Ms Rousseff said her government will move to fix a serious fiscal problem after posting a primary budget deficit for the first time in more than a decade.
Updating the market on its Indian assets, Australia's Oilex said the 2015/16 work programme for proof of concept well Cambay-77H had been approved by both its joint-venture and the government of India. Oilex has commenced work on schedule critical tendering activities and expects to take advantage of the recent decrease in global oil and gas activity to achieve a reduction in drilling and other costs.
Norwegian oil giant Statil has awarded a contract to Sentinel Marine to provide a new multi-role Emergency Response and Rescue Vessel (ERRV) to support operations on the Mariner field on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). Sentinel Marine is an Aberdeen-based company, owning and operating offshore support vessels in the oil and gas marine industry.
Roxi, the Central Asian oil and gas company with a focus on Kazakhstan, has unveiled plans for the next stage of its flagship BNG asset. The BNG Contract Area is located in the west of Kazakhstan, near Tengiz on the edge of the Mangistau Oblast. Roxi has a 58.4% stake.
The global crude-oil market will return to balance in the second half of this year from an oversupply of 2million barrels a day that has caused prices to plummet, Opec Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri has said. Speaking at a conference in Manama, Bahrain, Mr El-Badri said demand in 2014 was weaker than expected “at just below 1million barrels a day” and will rise by 1.2million barrels a day this year.
Amec Foster Wheeler has launched a consultation with its staff in the north-east that is expected to lead to an unspecified number of job cuts. The oil services firm, which employs about 3,000 in the region, said it aims to “mitigate the impact” of the fall in oil price through cost cuts but also pledged to relocate staff who will be affected by the move. The firm, which recently completed a merger with rival Foster Wheeler, was one of the first major oil services groups to cut contractor rates last year.
A leading politician has intervened in an effort to prevent the European Commission from limiting emissions from the UK's oil and gas industry. The commission has proposed the medium-sized combustion plant directive, which would limit the emissions produced by medium-sized engines and generators - integral to every offshore oil platform.
Millions of pounds of funding is available to support innovations which offer cleaner, low-cost and more efficient conventional fuels. Innovate UK is offering £6million to new technologies that increase efficiency, reduce the cost and minimise the environmental impact of coal, natural gas and oil.
Egypt aims to pay its $3.1 billion debt to international oil and gas companies a year later than previously indicated, according to the Egyptian oil ministry. The ministry said: "All current operational payments hae been made on time and are on track to repay any remaining arrears before mid-2016." It is expected that the debt will be repaid by the middle of 2016, a year ahead of the previously indicated mid-2015.
An oil and gas technology body will offer companies the chance to suggest solutions for cutting oil and gas production costs whilst nurturing production in Aberdeen next month. The Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF) will ask oil and gas firms to present innovative solutions at the Technology Showcase being held at the AECC on March 4. In partnership with Oil and Gas UK, the ITF will discuss present tech challenges in the UK continental shelf and offer them a chance to showcase their technologies. Among the presentations at the event will be "PETMiner: Increasing the speed and cutting the costs of reservoir characterisation" by University of Leeds professor, Quentin Fisher.
One of Norway's biggest oil and gas companies has submitted plans for the second phase of their Brazilian offshore project. Statoil, in partnership with Sinochem, submitted a plan of development to the South American's country's National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) in Rio de Janeiro on January 30.
The most read story this week on the Energy Voice website was on a call made by the boss of one of the world's largest energy services firms for the oil and gas sector to "reinvent" itself.
A US temporary power supply company has signed 106 megawatt of contract extensions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Florida-based APR Energy's Morro Bento plant, in Angola, has been operating since November 2012 and provides crucial base load power to the country's capital city, Luanda.
An Australian oil and gas firm has applied to the US government to export huge amounts of gas to North America. Liquified Natural Gas Limited today filed the application to the US Department of Energy through its subsidiary company, Bear Head - which is made up of both Bear Head LNG Corporation and Bear Head LNG (USA). Their request is for the export of around 440 billion cubic feet of American natural gas to Canada and around eight million tonnes of liquified natural gas (LNG) from Canada to other countries.
An Aberdeen-based oil and gas company's US branch will work with one of the world's largest petrochemical companies during their multi-billion dollar Texas expansion. Wood Group's Mustang's Automation and Control business unit is providing process control systems, detailed engineering, procurement and fabrications services for the huge project by ExxonMobil Chemical Company.
One of the top positions at an Aberdeen-based oil and gas company has been filled by a worker with around 40 years experience in the industry. Dave Stewart has landed the role of chief executive officer at Wood Group PSN and will begin in the role in April 2015.
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.