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Survey: Mid-life crisis for North Sea oil sector

Mid-life crisis for North Sea oil and gas operators as crude oil markets limp through the year, survey finds. File Photo by UPI/Shutterstock/num_skyman ABERDEEN, Scotland, June 11 (UPI) — Most oil and gas companies working in the North Sea canceled projects and about half have cut staff because of the weak oil market, a survey found. The Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with law firm Bond Dickinson, said 67 percent of the companies working in the North Sea have been forced to shelve projects and half have been forced to cut staff in the depressed crude oil market. "Confidence levels are at an all-time low and we are now experiencing our first ‘recession of confidence’, and it looks gloomy in the year ahead too," James Bream, policy director for the chamber of commerce, said in a statement. The price for Brent crude oil, a North Sea […]

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Circle Oil Swings to Net Loss On Writeoffs, Lower Oil Price

By Alex MacDonald LONDON–Circle Oil PLC (COP.LN) said Monday it swung to a net loss last year due to exploration writeoffs and a significantly lower oil price, which prompted the company to review its cost base and consider selling stakes in assets to fund operations. The U.K.-listed oil and gas explorer, which has interests in Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt, reported a net loss of $54 million for the year ending Dec 31, 2014 compared with a net profit of $29 million in the same period a year earlier. This reflected a 9% drop in revenue to $85 million largely due to lower oil prices and exploration write offs of $57 million largely focused in Oman and Tunsia. It also recorded a $14 million impairment charge on its NW Gemsa permit in Egypt. In Morocco, gross gas production was 6.46 million cubic feet per day, broadly similar to last year, […]

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British North Sea workers to vote on strikes

Shift issues for oil and gas workers in the North Sea prompt vote for labor stoppage from unions. Photo by James Jones Jr./Shutterstock LONDON, May 21 (UPI) — British North Sea oil and gas workers said they’ll vote on a labor stoppage after talks broke down with the industry over working conditions. Trade unions Unite and GMB said talks broke down with industry group Offshore Contracts Association on changes to working conditions in the North Sea. Union officials had said there were safety concerns about shift lengths. GMB National Officer David Hulse said in a statement Thursday some progress was made in recent talks with industry representatives, but not enough to resolve the dispute . "We remain available for talks should the employers want to pull back from going ahead with the unilateral changes to working practices that has provoked this dispute," he said. In March, Hulse said there […]

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Shell-BG deal may be end point rather than harbinger: Russell

KUALA LUMPUR May 19 (Clyde Russell is a Reuters columnist. The views expressed are his own). There is a widespread assumption that weak commodity prices are likely to spark a wave of merger and acquisition activity as stronger companies seek to buy assets on the cheap. The $70 billion buyout of BG Plc by larger rival Royal Dutch Shell is generally viewed by investors and analysts as the first big deal in a likely series of major mergers and acquisitions in the resource sector. After all, the last time commodity prices fell sharply, around 15 years ago, there was a rash of mega-mergers, such as Exxon with Mobil and Conoco with Phillips in the energy space, and BHP with Billiton and Rio Tinto’s purchase of Alcan. Notwithstanding the Shell-BG deal, it appears executives may be more cautious this time around, eschewing mega-mergers in favor of smaller acquisitions and in-house […]

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British secretary calls for ‘solar revolution’

Incoming British energy and climate secretary calls for more effort to build up behind solar power capacity. File Photo by UPI/Bill Greenblatt. LONDON, May 15 (UPI) — Incoming British Energy Secretary Amber Rudd told her local newspaper she aims to usher in a "solar revolution" through the new administration. British Prime Minister David Cameron tapped Rudd as the head of the Department of Energy and Climate Change, at which she’s served since last year. From 2010-12, she was a minister in the British Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee. Rudd laid out part of her strategy in an interview with her local newspaper , the Hastings and St. Leonards Observer. "I want to unleash a new solar revolution," she said in the interview. "We have a million people living under roofs with solar panels and that number needs to increase." DECC last year said the country was in […]

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Nuclear, Fracking Decisions on Tap for New U.K. Energy Secretary

LONDON—The U.K.’s new energy secretary, Amber Rudd, drew praise from both the oil-and-gas industry and green lobby groups ahead of decisions on the nuclear industry and hydraulic fracturing that other nations will be watching. The appointment of Ms. Rudd, a former parliamentary undersecretary at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, was announced Monday by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron , who was elected last week with an outright majority. Ms. Rudd is likely to be presiding over the startup of the U.K.’s first fracking operations since 2011 when the government called a moratorium on the controversial technique after tiny earth tremors were detected near a site in northwest England. Protests and local opposition have slowed fracking in the U.K. where only a handful of exploration wells have been drilled and just one well has been fracked. While much of the department’s work is done on creating regulations for […]

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BG Group joins peers with profit fall

BG Group’s QCLNG terminal, Curtis Island, Queensland, Australia. Company posts production gains from Australia and Brazil, but still keen on acquisition bid from Shell. Photo courtesy: BG Group LONDON, May 8 (UPI) — BG Group said Friday it mirrored its peers by posting a drop in core earning but an increase in production, though it was still keen on Shell’s acquisition. British energy company BG Group said earnings for the first quarter were down 41 percent to $1.6 billion. Oil prices fell by about half from the June highs above the $100 per barrel market during the first quarter, squeezing profits for most energy companies. Revenue from upstream operations, the exploration and production side of the energy sector, was hardest hit for BG Group , though the company said actual production increased during the first quarter. Total production for the British company increased by 1 percent, though from its […]

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BG still happy with Shell bid as oil price rise boosts LNG

LONDON Britain’s BG Group said on Friday it was happy with Shell’s $70 billion takeover bid despite a recent upturn in oil prices that led the company to increase the profit outlook for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) business. A near 20 percent rise in crude prices since Shell made its bid for BG on April 8 has raised concerns investors may question the valuation. "There is no change to our view on the offer," said BG Chief Executive Helge Lund on his first results conference call since taking the reins in early February, only weeks before Shell made its takeover offer. BG’s first-quarter results, however, also showed how deeply the drop in oil prices early this year had hit its business as it reported a 41 percent drop in core earnings to $1.6 billion from $2.7 billion the same time last year. The company’s revenue and other income […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple