Drilling contractors facing up to long downturn
The North Sea drilling market is facing up to the prospect of lean times for at least the next two years, according an experienced industry analyst.
UKCS
OGUK hails new oil and gas output figures
Improved offshore oil and gas output helped the UK boost its energy production from July to September, while electricity from wind also soared, new figures show. The UK oil and gas industry’s trade association hailed the hydrocarbon production statistics, while green groups said the renewables industry was getting stronger in Scotland. It comes a day after Chancellor George Osborne said UK oil and gas revenues are expected to nosedive 94% this year, in a blow to North Sea industry.
North Sea business confidence levels at all time low, report finds
Confidence levels among oil and gas contractors working in the North Sea have hit an all-time low, with a large majority believing job losses will continue over the next year, an industry report has found.
Xcite agrees farm-in for UKCS licence
Xcite has agreed a farm-in deal with Azinor Catalyst for its UKCS licence.
Forum Subsea Rental strengthens senior team
Forum Subsea Rental has strengthened its senior management team with the promotion of one of its team to global business director. Nicki Nicholls will take up with new role where she will be responsible for managing and developing ambitious long-term growth plans for the company’s rental product lines.
Scottish Government welcomes Apache North Sea discoveries
The Scottish Government said new discoveries made by Apache in the UKCS could bring more investment, jobs and supply chain opportunities for the North Sea oil and gas industry. Last month the US explorer said it had made significant discoveries in the North Sea in both the Beryl and Forties field which could hold up to 70million barrels of oil equivalent. Apache also said two discoveries were made on two exploration wells in the Beryl area as well as further discovery 50 miles south of the company’s Forties field.
Noreco served notice of default on Huntington licence
Noreco said its UK subsidiary has been served a notice of default under the Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) governing the Huntington licence in the UKCS. Earlier this year, as the company looked to restructure itself, Noreco Oil UK had agreed to sell its 20% participating interests in the Huntington licence. The process has since been cancelled as no acceptable offers had been put on the table.
Industry body welcomes Apache North Sea discovery
Industry body Oil & Gas UK said the announcement by US oil explorer Apache of significant discoveries in the UKCS was proof of the value of continued investment in seismic technology.
OGA completes first stage of £20million seismic campaign in the UKCS
The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has completed the first stage of the UK Government’s £20million seismic campaign. The industry regulator said 20,000km of high-quality data had been acquired in under explored areas of the UKCS. The programme was completed by Schlumberger company, WesternGeco,on October 11th with almost 20,000km of new 2D seismic lines acquired over an area of 200,000km.
BP continues strong stock performance on third quarter results
Oil giant BP reported a 40% drop in quarterly earnings after it was impacted by low crude prices, but still came in ahead of analysts’ forecasts. The firm’s underlying replacement cost profit for the third quarter was 1.819 billion US dollars (£1.185 billion), compared with 3.037 billion US dollars (£1.979 million) a year ago. However, the FTSE 100 Index was down 17.4 points to 6400.1, led lower by miners and uncertain prospects for global trade.
Buzzard oilfield ramps up production after shutdown
The Buzzard oilfield in the North Sea has begun ramping up production once again after a four-day outage. The operator Nexen said the field, which is the largest contributor to the Forties crude oil stream, was coming back online after it was shut down last week. Buzzard produces about 186,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Plans for Cromarty Firth expansion to go on show
Plans for the next phase of a major expansion of a north port will go on show to the public in December. The Port of Cromarty Firth hope to attract more huge cruise ships and jobs to the area with the expansion. It would be the fourth phase of the multi-million pound expansion plans at the Invergordon port, with the proposals including reclaiming an additional 17 acres of land. The plans are still in the process of being firmed up and public opinion is to be gathered in advance of the two public shows in December.
NSRI “hackathons” aim to unlock 1.5billion barrels of oil from UK North Sea
NSRI (National Subsea Research Initiative) is leading computer industry-style hackathons that it hopes will lead to ideas that can help unlock up to 1.5 billion barrels of oil from the North Sea.
Video: NSRI leads the way on subsea technology innovation
It’s been an extraordinary year for the National Subsea Research Initiative (NSRI) whose launch coincided with the global decline in oil price. Project director Gordon Drummond said while the situation added a whole “new dynamic” to what NSRI was trying to do, the body’s creation has been “hugely positive”. Speaking to Energy Voice Drummond said within the subsea sector there remained a lot of activity in the research and development phase of work.
Statoil’s new MD takes over as UK boss
Statoil’s new managing director of production in the UK has taken over her new position with the Norwegian operator. Tove Stuhr Sjoblom will head up the firm’s offices in Aberdeen with responsibility for upstream development and production activities in the UK and Ireland. Sjoblom replaces Gunnar Breivik who will now head up Statoil’s corporate investigation unit.
Video: MOL Group’s Brian Glover on why this isn’t the ‘end of the line’ for the UKCS
MOL Group will be continuing its focus on the UKCS and Norway after snapping up assets in both regions since last year. Brian Glover, exploration and business development senior vice president for the company, spoke exclusively to Energy Voice as it visited the firm's headquarters in Hungary. Everyday this week Energy Voice will be briefing from Hungary on the latest developments in MOL's operations across the globe.
SNP claim Labour ‘sat on their hands’ over oil jobs
Callum McCaig has branded the Labour Party “shameful” amid claims the SNP failed to act to protect North Sea oil and gas jobs. The Aberdeen South MP told a packed conference hall he would have “appreciated some help” from other MPs in his efforts to protect the “vital industry”. Mr McCaig was responding to comments from Kezia Dugdale reported in Energy Voice's sister publication the Press and Journal.
Billionaire owner of Ineos snaps up North Sea fields
The billionaire owner of Grangemouth made his first move into the North Sea buying up gas fields from a Russian oligarch just days before the sale breached a government-imposed deadline. Jim Ratcliffe, chairman and chief executive of Ineos, is thought to have paid up to £500million for 12 fields from Mikhail Fridman, who had been forced to sell the assets by the UK government. Mr Fridman’s firm, LetterOne Group (L1) had initially paid £3.8billion to buy Dea, the upstream oil and gas business of German utility RWE in a deal which closed in March.
Shipping owners facing up to bleak times in North Sea
Offshore supply vessel owners are facing a "very tough" 2016 with the prospect of much of the supply fleet being laid up due to the oil slump.
ASCO boss says low oil price could be “very good” for the future of the North Sea
The chief executive of Asco said a period of $50 oil could be a “very good” thing for the North Sea as companies will be forced to work more collaboratively and reduce cost. Alan Brown, who took the top job at the international oilfield support services firm last year, said the lifespan of the North Sea would be “much shorter” unless there was greater efficiency amongst operators and the supply chain. He said the industry must be prepared for the year-long dip in price per barrel to be the “new normal”.
Russian billionaire looks to Norwegian sector after government push to sell North Sea assets
Talks are taking place between Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s LetterOne Group about purchasing stakes in a number of Norwegian oil and gas fields, according to reports. According to the Financial Times the company is looking to gain assets owned by Eon in a deal estimated to be worth $1billion. The move signals a break away from the UKCS after the government urged LetterOne to sell North Sea assets.
Statoil takes First Oil’s stake in Alfa Sentral field
Statoil said it has acquired First Oil’s 24% equity share in the UK licence for the Alfa Sentral field in a $15million deal. The Alfa Sentral is a gas and condensate field planned to be developed as a tie-back to the existing structure for Sleipner on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) which Statoil operates. Mette Halvorsen Ottøy, senior vice president for the operations south cluster in Development & Production Norway (DPN), said the company had set “ambitious goals” for future activity.
Opinon: Why culture, collaboration and communication are crucial to the UKCS
The North Sea has continued to make headlines over the summer; mostly for the wrong reasons. But amid the doom and gloom of media reports lamenting the terminal influence of a low oil price, there have been glimmers of good news.
Offshore Europe 2015: Shocking exploration performance poses UKCS threat
Exploration drilling in UK waters has collapsed and shows no sign of recovery either now or in the near future. This is dangerous because the dramatic slowdown of recent years will lead to a development famine in around five years time, Offshore Europe delegates have been warned. And, far more oil & gas is being extracted from the North Sea than is being found.
Gallery: Work underway with Centrica decommissioning projects
This image shows the Paragon B391 drilling rig leaving Rotterdam as it made its way to Centrica’s decommissioning projects in the southern North Sea gas basin. The photo, which was captured by a drone, shows the rig as it travelled to the site where it will carry out well plugging and abandonment activities on two single-well subsea fields. Paragon will work on the Stamford gas and Rose decommissioning project.