A "true buyers market" could emerge this year with mergers and acquisitions as companies take a long view amidst low oil prices. Analysis by Wood Mackenzie has suggest distressed sales, both asset and corporate, could precipitate the move. The analysis by its corporate upstream research team assessed the five main challenges which face oil companies this year.
Prime Minister David Cameron has acknowledged the concerns of UK oil capital Aberdeen over the drop in oil prices - but said it has been “good news for consumers”. He said NHS spending in Scotland has been protected despite the drop in North Sea taxes thanks to the “broad shoulders” of the UK. The oil industry is suffering a wave of job losses as oil prices continue to fall amid increasing US production and falling demand in economically struggling countries.
Oil major BP said it intends to sell its oil storage terminal in the Netherlands following a strategic review of its assets. The company will sell the 950,000 cubic metre capacity oil storage terminal in Amsterdam which it has owned since 1997. The terminals acts as an international trading hub for supplying fuels to and from Europe as well as supplying diesel and gasoline to local and regional petrol stations.
Enquest has cut its spending for the year to $600million as a result of falling oil prices during the past seven months. The company said it had renegotiated its credit facility covenants as well as its capital expenditure. It is also working with contractors and the supply chain to achieve further cost savings.
Gulfsands Petroleum said Arawak Energy has terminated its Strategic Cooperation Agreement with the company. The move comes after discussions between the two regarding potential business opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa and a $20million convertible loan facility. A spokesman for Gulfsands Petroleum said the company was advised by Arawak that following statements made by certain shareholders of the company and non-executive directors, the company said it would be terminating the agreement.
There is weakening demand for hotel rooms in Aberdeen as the fall in oil prices hits the industry, a report has found. Hotels in the city still have the highest average room rates (ARR) in the country at £92.87, but there has been a sharp fall in occupancy rates. The report from tourism market research specialists LJ Research found ARR in Aberdeen increased by 1.9% last month compared to 2013 but that room occupancy fell by 4.5%.
Faroe Petroleum said it was “well placed” to consider attractive acquisitions this year as the falling oil and gas price sees rivals selling off assets. The company said its strong cash position and undrawn debt facilities mean it expected 2015 to be “another year of growth”. The firm, which has the largest stake in Norwegian oil fields for a UK-based company, said post-tax exploration and appraisal costs were expected to run to £25million while production capex was expected to be £16million this year.
Oil jumped after the death of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Futures rallied as much as 3.1% in New York and 2.6% in London after the Saudi royal court announced the death in a statement. Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz will succeed Abdullah on the throne.
Marine Platforms has taken delivery of a new subsea support vessel, the African Inspiration, from Norwegian shipbuilder Havyard. The firm, based in Aberdeen and Nigeria, said the vessel will service deepwater market locations offshore Nigeria. The African Inspiration is currently berthed in Aberdeen to have two ROV systems installed as well as other project equipment before she leaves for the Gulf of Guinea.
Global Energy Group is shrugging off the plunge in the price of oil by bringing one of its Australian brands to the North Sea. Vertech, which Global bought in 2012, specialises in using ropes and alternatives to provide access for offshore inspection, maintenance and construction work. The group is pumping £5 million into opening Vertech’s Aberdeen operation and has hired ten staff to run the company, including former Flexlife chief operating officer John Marsden.
There is no denying that we are in a challenging time for the North Sea oil and gas industry. However, it is how we now meet that challenge that is so important for the long-term future of this industry. For some time we have experienced unsustainable levels of wage inflation and whilst recognition of the need to reduce this is not new the dramatic fall in the price of oil has accelerated the need to address this. Our strategy groups have been in place looking at these issues and longer-term solutions but we are now facing a particular dilemma where operators are looking to reduce costs promptly, especially for those with operations where costs are outstripping revenue.
Oil extended losses after a government report showed that US crude inventories increased a second week. Crude supplies rose 10.1 million barrels to 397.9 million in the week ended January 16, according to the Energy Information Administration. A 2.7 million-barrel stockpile gain was projected in a survey of 10 analysts.
Italian company Eni has made a new oil and gas discovery in Egypt. The company said the exploration well, located in the Melehia licence, was drilled to a depth of 4,175metres. It met a 20metre net mineralized accumulation of light oil in the Lower Cretaceous age of the Alam El Bueib formation.
A helicopter flight travelling to a North Sea platform turned back after a warning light went on in the cockpit. The Sikorsky S-92A was travelling from Sumburgh with 16 people on board – two crew members and a 14 passengers – at noon today.
Fracking could happen on a large scale in the UK despite a recommendation from council officer to refuse two applications in England. Cuadrilla said it will appeal any decision made councillors following the findings of a report by Lancahire County Council planning officials. The recommendations were made over fears regarding the amount of night time noise and traffic the applications would generate.
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.
The UK Treasury has moved the launch of an investment allowance consultation forward after calls were made by the oil and gas industry. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Danny Alexander and the Exchequer Secretary made the announcement following a meeting in Edinburgh. The allowance, which was first announced in the Autumn Statement, is a single, basin-wide capital expenditure linked investment allowance.
Gas exports from the Fulmar pipeline have now restarted after a suspected gas leak caused a temporary shutdown. Oil major Shell said deepsea divers had completed subsea work with Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to isolate the Curlew (Floating Production, Stroage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) by closing two valves on the interconnecting pipeline. An investigation had been launched earlier in the week after a suspected gas leak.
A Talisman Energy Inc (TLM) shareholder sued to stop the proposed $8.3 billion sale of the Canadian explorer to Repsol SA (REP), saying the price undervalues the company. Spain’s largest energy company agreed last month to pay shareholders of Calgary-based Talisman $8 (C$9.87) in cash for each share they own, a 60% premium to the company’s 30-day weighted average price as of December 16. Shareholder James Baqleh sued January 20 in New York state Supreme Court in Manhattan seeking to stop the acquisition, saying the transaction is “grossly inadequate” and investors would be “irreparably damaged” if it’s completed, according to court filings.
Gulf Keystone Petroleum has appointed a new chief financial officer. The company said Sami Zouari has been appointed to the board of the company following careers in both oil and gas and investment banking. Mr Zouari previously worked for BNP Paribas and Total EP, including as a commercial manager in Libya.
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.
North Sea job cuts could reach 40,000 over the next three years, an economist has predicted. Inverness-based Tony Mackay said if the price of oil averaged out at $80 a barrel, direct employment in the North Sea would fall by 18,700 by the end 2017, with indirect and induced employment bringing the toll up to 40,000.
Cairn Energy expects to shave £250million off its capital expenditure following the completion of a farm-out of Catcher to Netherlands-based Dyas. The Edinburgh-based oil and gas indy agreed to sell a 10% working interest in the North Sea field to Dyas UK, retaining a 20% working interest in Catcher.
Oil prices will rebound rather than extend their decline to as low as $20 a barrel because a collapse since June isn’t merited by global supply and demand, OPEC’s Secretary-General said. Producers outside the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries should be first to reduce their output amid a surplus that’s pushed crude below $50 a barrel, Abdalla El-Badri said in an interview with Bloomberg Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday. Iraq, OPEC’s fastest-growing supplier, said it needs to boost output to compensate for revenues eroded by the price slump.
Oilfield technology company Plexus Holdings is on the brink of a major breakthrough in the global subsea industry, bosses said yesterday. Engineering and testing stages for its new subsea wellhead system are well advanced and the firm is preparing to take on the main players who currently dominate the market. Craig Hendrie and Graham Stevens, technical and finance director respectively, also highlighted the firm’s progress in adapting its innovative Pos-Grip technology for use in high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) exploration well tiebacks.