Category: United Kingdom

BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley says company looking to hit the reset button in low oil price era. File photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI LONDON, Feb. 3 (UPI) — British energy company BP is entering a reset phase focused on streamlined spending in the low oil price climate, Chief Executive Bob Dudley said Tuesday. "Our focus must now be on resetting BP: managing and rebalancing our capital program and cost base for the new reality of lower prices while always maintaining safe, reliable and efficient operations," Dudley said in a statement announcing fourth quarter results. The oil major reported a replacement cost loss during the fourth quarter of $968 million, compared with a profit of $1.5 billion during the same period last year. Replacement cost is similar to net income reported by the British company’s U.S. counterparts. BP began streamlining operations late last year. The company last year said […]

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London (Platts)–3Feb2015/245 am EST/745 GMT BP is to slash its capital expenditure in 2015 by at least 17% due to the lower price of crude oil, with exploration spending to be cut, projects in the upstream postponed and certain downstream projects canceled altogether, the company said Tuesday, February 3. CEO Bob Dudley in a fourth quarter results statement said that the focus was now on "resetting" BP. "We have now entered a new and challenging phase of low oil prices through the near and medium term," Dudley said. "Our focus must now be on resetting BP: managing and rebalancing our capital program and cost base for the new reality of lower prices," he said. BP said it was now taking action to respond to the likelihood of oil prices remaining low into the medium term and rebalance its sources and use of cash accordingly. Article continues below… Oilgram News […]

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(Bloomberg) — Want to buy an oil well in U.K.’s North Sea? There are plenty available as some of the industry’s largest names try to sell aging, costly wells that have become even less profitable with the plunge in crude prices. BG Group Plc, Apache Corp. and Marathon Oil Corp. are among companies that have explored a sale of their North Sea assets, according to people familiar with the processes. In all, assets worth as much as 20 billion pounds ($30 billion) are currently for sale in the North Sea, said Dave Blackwood, senior adviser to investment bank Evercore Partners Inc. Drillers have struggled in recent years to extract oil from the North Sea’s depleting fields, leading to reduced output and costs that jumped 26 percent last year. Oil has slumped about 36 percent since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ Nov. 27 accord to maintain production at 30 […]

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(Bloomberg) — U.K. manufacturing growth accelerated in January as factories saw a pickup in domestic orders and the biggest decline in raw-material costs in almost six years. Markit Economics said its Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 53 from a revised 52.7 in December. Measures above 50 indicate expansion. A gauge of input prices plunged to the lowest since May 2009. The report suggests the stimulus from cheaper commodity costs is feeding through to businesses. The oil-price drop is also easing price pressures across the economy, and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said the inflation rate could fall below zero in the coming months. “The domestic market remains the main growth driver, as the U.K. economic recovery provides a steady stream of new business,” said Rob Dobson, an economist at Markit in London. “Waning inflationary pressures will provide the Bank of England with leeway to push back the first […]

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U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s hopes for a British-style shale gas revolution recently took a major hit. Cameron has promised that his government will be “going all out” to develop Britain’s shale gas resources, which he argues will create new jobs and cut dependence on imported gas. But a committee made up of members of parliament (MPs) from several political parties issued a damning new report on the state of “fracking” in the United Kingdom. The Environmental Audit Committee published a report that called for a 30-month moratorium on fracking, citing “huge uncertainties” regarding the environmental fallout from widespread drilling. On top of the usual controversies over water supplies, the report says that allowing fracking will upend British climate change goals. “Ultimately fracking cannot be compatible with our long-term commitments to cut climate-changing emissions unless full-scale carbon capture and storage technology is rolled out rapidly, which currently looks unlikely,” […]

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Royal Dutch Shell reported a rise in fourth-quarter profit despite weaker oil prices. ENLARGE Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images LONDON—Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Thursday it would curb its planned spending over the next three years by some $15 billion, freeze dividends at current levels and scale back shale investments to cope with weaker oil prices. Shell, the first of the four giant, integrated oil companies to announce quarterly results, posted an improved profit compared with the year-earlier quarter. But earnings were below some analysts’ forecasts, driving shares down nearly 5% in London trading. “The macro environment has moved against us,” Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said during a Thursday news conference. He and Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said Shell is cutting costs but continuing some big investments—including a potential $1 billion exploration project in Alaska’s Arctic this year. Shell forecasts rebounding oil prices in coming years, and […]

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Don’t panic, Shell’s top boss says as low oil prices curb spending forecasts for Dutch supermajor. UPI/Shutterstock/tcly While spending is taking a dramatic hit, Royal Dutch Shell’s chief executive said Thursday there’s no reason to overreact to the bear market for crude oil. Shell followed precedent set by its supermajor rivals by announcing a spending cut of about $15 billion as low oil prices crimp the company’s momentum. Chief Executive Ben van Beurden, however, warned against panicking as oil prices continue trading below the $50 per barrel mark, less than half the June price. "We are taking a prudent approach here and we must be careful not to over-react to the recent fall in oil prices," he said in a statement. "Shell is taking structured decisions to balance growth and returns." The company, he said, is delivering where it counts . Upstream, or production, income fell 30 percent year-on-year […]

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British advocacy group calls for refusal of a shale gas drilling permit, saying company behind the plans is manipulating local leaders. UPI/Kevin Dietsch Members of the Lancashire County Council agreed to hold off a final decision on planning applications for hydraulic fracturing submitted by shale gas pioneer Cuadrilla Resources. Cuadrilla asked for a delay after the council last week suggested it would deny the permit because of noise pollution concerns. Helen Rimmer, a campaigner with the British Friends of the Earth, said the council should listen to the chorus of voices expressing opposition to fracking. "Lancashire council must resist Cuadrilla’s ploys to push fracking through and listen to the tens of thousands of voices of opposition and reject these plans," she said in a statement. "Failure to do so will leave Lancashire as the UK’s guinea pig for this unnecessary and polluting technology." Cuadrilla, which estimates the region may […]

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(Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden pledged to do all he can to maintain payments to shareholders of Europe’s largest oil company after crude prices fell by more than half in the past six months. “We have a very long-term dividend policy and I’m not minded to change that,” Van Beurden said in an interview today with Bloomberg Television. “The dividend is an iconic item at Shell and I will do everything to protect it.” Shell, which missed analysts’ expectations for fourth-quarter earnings today, plans to pay a first-quarter dividend of 47 cents a share, unchanged from the previous two quarters, the Hague-based company said in a statement. The company is cutting its capital spending by $15 billion over three years to help it weather the collapse in oil prices and keep paying shareholders. The industry is scurrying to protect returns for investors […]

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BG Group, KBR, form alliance to streamline operations in low oil price environment. (UPI Photo/Gary C. Caskey) Both companies signed a deal to form a single-partner alliance that extends through at least 2021. KBR under the terms of the deal provides technical support and management expertise to front end engineering and design work for BG’s portfolio in the exploration and production sector. "In a lower oil price environment, this is an important aspect of the alliance which enables BG Group to help minimize its fixed costs whilst retaining access to high value technical expertise and support," the company statement read. Energy companies, and those in secondary industries like steel, are cutting back on spending as oil continues to trade in a bear market. BP, which cut staff from its North Sea division and enacted a pay freeze to cope with the low price environment, this week announced it was […]

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