Inform Prize Cegal magazine 2024 events 2024 events Inform prize
Latest news - Regional

TotalEnergies gives more work to UK firm for its North Sea oil & gas assets

TotalEnergies gives more work to UK firm for its North Sea oil & gas assets   France’s energy giant TotalEnergies has decided to prolong a contract with PBS, an Aberdeen-based consortium comprised of Ponticelli UK, Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services, and Semco Maritime, for integrated services delivery to its North Sea portfolio. This extension of the general maintenance and operations contract (GMOC) will enable PBS to continue delivering integrated operations, m...

Wood Group Rejects £1.4 Billion Takeover Proposal From Sidara

Wood Group Rejects £1.4 Billion Takeover Proposal From Sidara   John Wood Group Plc said it rebuffed a £1.4 billion ($1.8 billion) bid from family-owned engineering company Sidara. London-listed Wood received an unsolicited preliminary proposal of 205 pence per share from Sidara, it said in a regulatory filing Wednesday after Bloomberg News revealed the takeover interest. Wood’s board reviewed the proposal with its financial advisers and unanimously rejected the o...

BALPA pilots and tech crew at Bristow Helicopters strike in dispute over pay

BALPA pilots and tech crew at Bristow Helicopters strike in dispute over pay   The British Airline Pilots’ Association says its members in Bristow Helicopters have been forced to strike by a management which continues to belligerently ignore their calls for a fair and reasonable pay offer.   The pilots and tech crew (including search and rescue winch operators and winch paramedics) will be involved in strike action on Tuesday and Wednesday to Thursday, after Bristow Heli...

BP to cut $2bn in costs as profits miss forecasts

BP to cut $2bn in costs as profits miss forecasts   BP said it would cut $2bn (£1.6bn) in costs from its business by the end of 2026 after reporting worse than expected profits for the first quarter of the year. The oil company revealed that its underlying profits fell to $2.7bn for the first three months of 2024, down from $5bn in the first quarter of last year, in part due to falling gas prices and an unplanned outage at a large BP refinery in the US. The first-quarter p...

North Sea oil and gas activity shelved amid tax hike fears

North Sea oil and gas activity shelved amid tax hike fears   Plans for windfall tax hikes which will play well in some quarters may cause unintended damage to firms that could help power growth as experts highlight Scotland’s dependence on oil and gas activity. With a UK general election due within months, Labour has looked to consolidate its lead in the polls by announcing plans for change that could help it capitalise on anger about high energy bills and green opposition to...

ConocoPhillips begins oil production from $1.2 billion Eldfisk North project in North Sea ahead of schedule

ConocoPhillips begins oil production from $1.2 billion Eldfisk North project in North Sea ahead of schedule   (WO) – The licensees of the Eldfisk Field, operated by ConocoPhillips Skandinavia AS, announced successful first oil production on the Eldfisk North Project, in the Greater Ekofisk Area of the North Sea. Oil and gas resources from the new project development are being produced ahead of schedule. In December 2022, the Norwegian authorities approved the Eldfisk North Pl...

UK offers over 30 oil and gas licenses in offshore wind farm sites

UK offers over 30 oil and gas licenses in offshore wind farm sites   The UK has offered 31 new oil and gas licences to operators at sites which are meant for offshore wind licensing. The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) has offered 31 licences in the third tranche of the NSTA’s 33rd licensing round. A total of 82 offers to 50 companies have now been made in the round which attracted 115 bids from 76 companies across 257 blocks and part-blocks. The licences offered in the...

OEUK: New oil and gas licences strengthen every sector of the UK

OEUK: New oil and gas licences strengthen every sector of the UK    Offshore Energies UK says today’s offer of 31 new oil and gas licences to operators by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) strengthens energy security and business confidence across all sectors as the expansion into wind, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage accelerates. The licences are chiefly for gas extraction from the southern North Sea, with the potential to come on stream to power and he...

North Sea oil, population 'challenges' for Scottish economy

North Sea oil, population 'challenges' for Scottish economy   As NatWest chief executive Paul Thwaite on Friday highlighted progress in returning the bank to full private ownership, it was impossible not to reflect once again on the institution’s journey in the last quarter-century. From a Scottish perspective, such reflection does not engender any happiness at all. Rewind 25 years to spring 1999, and the hostile bid battle that ensued later that year between Bank...

Sunak to allow oil and gas exploration at sites intended for offshore wind

Sunak to allow oil and gas exploration at sites intended for offshore wind   Fossil fuel companies will be allowed to explore for oil and gas under offshore wind-power sites for the first time, the government will announce on Friday, in a move that campaigners said is further proof that ministers are abandoning the climate agenda. The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which regulates North Sea oil and gas production, will confirm that it is granting licences to about 30 compan...

Family appeals against killer's 'woeful' sentence

Family appeals against killer's 'woeful' sentence   The family of a British worker who died on a gas rig are appealing his killer's "woeful" sentence. Robbie Robson died in 2022 after being beaten with a 10kg (22lb) iron weight by roommate Scott Forrest. Forrest, who worked with Mr Robson on a rig off the coast of Qatar, was convicted of manslaughter by Qatari courts in December and sentenced to 10 years in jail. Mr Robson's partner Kristie Graha...

Offshore Energies UK & Xodus launch Offshore Nesting Bird Census

Offshore Energies UK & Xodus launch Offshore Nesting Bird Census   The offshore energy industry is launching a new Offshore Nesting Bird Census (ONBC) to better understand how endangered sea birds use oil and gas platforms for nesting and rearing chicks. The aim is to gain insight into geographic distribution of these unconventional breeding sites and how they are used, so new data and knowledge can be shared. The census which has been created by Dr MacNeill Ferguson an ecol...

Perenco fined record £225,000 for exceeding vent consent

Perenco fined record £225,000 for exceeding vent consent   59 tonnes of gas vented by operator without consent Oil and gas producers are required to meet venting obligations Perenco UK Limited (Perenco) has been fined £225,000, the highest ever financial penalty handed out by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), for venting 59 tonnes of gas for over a month from its Dimlington onshore gas processing plant without consent. The company had permission to ve...

Petrofac – shares suspended as financial pressure mounts

Petrofac – shares suspended as financial pressure mounts   Petrofac’s results have been delayed. Whilst financing discussions are ongoing, the Company expects to miss a forthcoming bond payment. Petrofac’s 2023 results have been delayed and are now expected by the end of May. The shares will be suspended from 7.30am on 1 May until publication. A further $130mn loss is expected to be recognised in the Engineering & Construction division due to ongoing discus...

How and why big oil is strengthening its oil and gas exposure

How and why big oil is strengthening its oil and gas exposure   Size usually matters in oil and gas. Eight of the sector’s biggest companies feature in WoodMac’s benchmarking analysis – the five Supermajors and Saudi Aramco, ADNOC and Qatar Energy. These Middle East NOCs are stepping beyond their domestic asset base and are now talking – and acting – like IOCs. I picked out five themes with Neivan Boroujerdi and Tom Ellacott from our Corporate Analysis te...

Ithaca hails ‘transformational’ deal with Italy’s Eni

Ithaca hails ‘transformational’ deal with Italy’s Eni   North Sea oil and gas operator Ithaca Energy has agreed to a deal with Eni SpA, the Rome-based energy business which the two firms describe as “transformational”. Ithaca, which is behind the controversial Cambo and Rosebank oil fields, said it would combine its North Sea activities with Eni’s UK upstream assets. In return, Eni, will take a 38.5% interest in the expanded Ithaca. The deal,...

NEO fined £100,000 for breaching its vent consent

NEO fined £100,000 for breaching its vent consent   Fine reflects the company’s lack of oversight Oil and gas producers must support drive to net zero greenhouse gas emissions Flaring and venting down by almost half between 2018-2022 NEO Energy Production UK Limited (NEO) has been fined £100,000 for breaching its combined vent consent for the Donan, Lochranza and Balloch fields, around 200km northeast of Aberdeen. The venting consent (issued for 1 Janu...

Hess signals Exxon arbitration could push a sale into next year

Hess signals Exxon arbitration could push a sale into next year   An Exxon Mobil, opens new tab arbitration case that could block the sale of Hess Corp to Chevron, opens new tab could drag on until year-end, Hess said in a U.S. securities filing on Friday. The filing signals any closing of its $53 billion sale to Chevron could fall into next year, at least six months later than a prior goal of finalising the deal by mid-2024. Exxon and CNOOC Ltd filed cases before the Internatio...

UK signs deal with North Sea countries to protect subsea electricity and oil pipelines

UK signs deal with North Sea countries to protect subsea electricity and oil pipelines   The UK has signed an agreement with Norway and four other North Sea countries to protect critical energy and telecommunications infrastructure that lies under the sea. Recent damage to energy pipelines and subsea fibre optic cables has led to an increased focus on making sure the critical infrastructure is secure. Over the last few months, the Houthis in Yemen have threatened to sabotage cru...

Mairi McAllan blasted for ignoring Grangemouth workers as hundreds face losing their jobs

Mairi McAllan blasted for ignoring Grangemouth workers as hundreds face losing their jobs   Scotland's Economy Secretary has been blasted for failing to meet with workers who could lose their jobs if the country's last remaining oil refinery is closed. Mairi McAllan was handed responsibility by Humza Yousaf for energy, net zero and the economy as part of a beefed-up Cabinet position in early February. But trade union Unite - one of two representing workers at the Grangem...
OGV
Wellpro
Cegal
Westerton Access
Stena