Neptune Energy Targets 2030 to Store More Carbon Than It Emits
With increasing pressure on the oil and gas industry to cut its emissions footprint, Neptune Energy said it aims to go beyond net zero and store more carbon than is emitted from its operations and the use of its sold products by 2030.According to the company, it is currently progressing a pair of carbon capture and storage (CCS) developments in the Dutch and UK sectors of the North Sea that it claims could store more than 9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per year for third parties by the end of this decade, effectively excedeing its projected direct emissions and emissions from the use of its sold products.Neptune…
Aberdeen Selects BP as Hydrogen Hub Partner
Aberdeen City Council on Monday announced BP as its preferred bidder for a commercial partnership for hydrogen hub development "which will accelerate the city’s ambitions to become a world-class hydrogen hub."Following a tender process that began in June, the Aberdeen Hydrogen Hub concept will enable the continued development of a hydrogen economy in the city, the Council said.A key part of the program will involve the creation of Scotland’s first scalable green hydrogen production facility. Phase 1, which involves the delivery of a green hydrogen facility…
Geothermal Energy: A New Life for Old Offshore Oil Wells?
Old offshore oil wells could be turned into geothermal energy producers under a plan by a new consortium. The group, The Aquarius North Sea Geothermal Consortium, is “actively” working with North Sea operators to see if old wells could be used to generate geothermal energy for existing platforms. But a future goal is greenfield geothermal exploration.Kirsten Pasturel, CEO of ZeGen Energy, says there’s huge potential with some mature oil fields producing over 100,000 barrels of water per day, at temperatures hot enough to generate power.“The potential is huge when you look at the amount of water produced on the UK Continental Shelf…
Petrofac Starts Rubie and Renee P&A Work
UK oilfield services firm Petrofac has kicked off the plugging and abandonment work on the Rubie and Renee fields in the North Sea using Awilco's WilPhoenix rig.Petrofac won the Rubie and Renee P&A contract with Hess in August 2019.Over the next three months, Petrofac will provide Well Operator, Well Engineering, and Project Management services to decommission four wells within the Rubie and Renee fields, 200km northeast of Aberdeen.Petrofac is responsible for detailed planning, direct procurement, and management of all sub-contracted services…
Spirit Energy Hires PD&MS for Complex E&P Modifications
Aberdeen-based engineering and design firm PD&MS has been awarded a new three-year contract with options for a further three-year extension with oil company Spirit Energy. The deal, worth an undisclosed multimillion-pound sum, will see PD&MS deliver complex modifications for the E&P business.The engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning firm has worked with Spirit Energy since 2018, providing decommissioning support in the Morecambe Bay area. "Building on this existing relationship, the new contract will see PD&MS carrying out campaigns both onshore and offshore in the execution of Spirit Energy’s complex modifications delivery strategy…
ODE Selected as Duty Holder at Babbage Platform
Offshore service provider ODE, part of DORIS Group, has won a duty holder contract from NEO Energy (NEO) for the Babbage field in the Southern North Sea."This is a significant ODE milestone as the first installation and pipeline operator (duty holder) appointment in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS)," ODE said Monday. The company has said it has previously acted as an operations and maintenance provider since the project phase and transitioned the platform from normally manned to not normally manned status in recent years."ODE’s continued involvement in Babbage is important business continuity for NEO Energy…
EthosEnergy Opens Aberdeen Sustainable Facility
EthosEnergy is modernizing its operations in Aberdeen with the opening of a new, sustainably focused and larger Accessories and Components site.The new site is 40,000 square feet and offers repairs and overhaul for gas turbine and aero engine accessories, components and fuel nozzles. The site also holds FAA and CAA aerospace Part 145, C7 rating as well as EN9110 (inclusive of ISO9001:2015).
TWMA Appoints Aslaksen as New CEO
Specialist drilling waste management company, TWMA, has announced the appointment of Halle Aslaksen as its new CEO.Aslaksen joins the Aberdeen-headquartered company from the Norwegian hydropower operator Småkraft, where he served as CEO. He was previously CEO at TCO and president of ALTUS Intervention in Scandinavia.With more than 20 years’ experience in the oil and gas industry, Aslaksen has built a career across several disciplines and has worked across various roles for Smith International, Schlumberger and Aker Solutions in the North Sea, Continental Europe, North America, Russia and Central Asia. He holds a MSc degree in petroleum engineering.
Chrysaor Backs Mocean Subsea
Mocean Energy, global wave energy player, has teamed up with energy major Chrysaor, subsea energy storage experts EC-OG and AUV specialist Modus in a project to look at using renewables for subsea power.The project, funded by the partners together with the Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC), will look to use Mocean Energy’s Blue Star wave energy converter and EC-OG’s HALO subsea energy storage system to power subsea tiebacks or residential AUVs.If industry feedback is positive, the partners will press ahead with a technology field trial using a Mocean Energy prototype in the seas off Orkney later this year.Once proven…
Total CEO: Governments Not Oil Firms Must Drive Carbon Curbs
It is up to governments to drive decarbonisation and consumers will have to pay more to achieve carbon neutrality, Total's chief executive said, adding the French firm has no intention of moving away from oil and gas production.Oil firms should not be seen as "villains" amid growing pressure from investors and climate activists, chief executive and chairman Patrick Pouyanne told Reuters at Total's headquarters in the Scottish oil hub of Aberdeen.Giving up on oil and gas would be "a huge mistake", partly because it pays for investment in green technology…
Total Rejects Force Majeure Notice From Chinese LNG Buyer
French oil major Total has rejected a force majeure notice from a buyer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in China, a Total executive said during the company's full-year results presentation on Thursday."Some Chinese customers, at least one, are trying to use the coronavirus to say I have force majeure," said Philippe Sauquet, head of Total's gas, renewables and power segment."We have received one force majeure that we have rejected."A Chinese international trade promotion agency said last week it would offer force majeure certificates…
Wood Group Sees Higher Annual Earnings
Oilfield services provider John Wood Group Plc expects higher core earnings in 2019, with strong performance in its engineering services unit in the Middle East, Asia and the Caspian region offseting slowing U.S. onshore drilling demand.The Aberdeen-headquartered company said on Thursday adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) is expected to be in a range of $850 million to $860 million for the year ended Dec. 31, compared with $693.8 million a year earlier.(Reporting by Shanima A in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
FTR Continues Year-on-year Growth
Fulkrum Technical Resources (FTR), global provider of technical personnel specializing in QA/QC, inspection and vendor surveillance services to the energy industry, announced recent contract wins resulting in year-on-year growth of more than 55%.Operating out of eight bases around the world, FTR reported it has seen growth in each region with revenues exceeding forecasted figures, as well as expanding its network of energy professionals to nearly two million.Since forming in 2017, the FTR Asia Pacific office has continued to establish its presence in the region, increasing its activity with a number of local and global companies.
Offshore: OSV Market Report
The environment in oil patches onshore and offshore alike has been challenging throughout 2019; worries about an economic slowdown – whether cyclical or induced by a trade war – have weighed heavily on oil prices, even in the face of reduced production by the big producers. Though storm clouds persist, there appears a clearing on the horizon.The fate of Offshore Service Vessels (OSVs) is, naturally, closely tied to the price of oil. Seacor Marine’s John Gellert, in reviewing its Q2 results, said: “Activity levels in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico remain tepid as customer demand is highly sensitive to oil and gas prices.” In spite of these efforts…
LR Bolsters Well Management Team
Lloyd’s Register announced it has made several key appointments to its wells engineering and project management consultancy following a series of major contract wins and global growth.John O’Neill brings more than 25 years’ experience in global wells projects to the newly created position of Head of Wells Delivery. Having worked predominantly across the North Sea and Middle East for BP, Shell and Schlumberger, he most recently held the role of UK Director – Wells at Maersk Oil followed by Drilling Manager at Total post-acquisition.Joining O’Neill is Melvin Banford, who assumes the new role of Head of Wells Assurance.
Allan Joins RMEC
Oilfield services firm RMEC has appointed an oil and gas industry veteran to boost its operations as it prepares for its next stage of international growth.Vic Allan has joined the company from American multinational corporation Halliburton, where he spent 28 years working his way up through the slickline division. Most recently, he oversaw a team of 120 in the department servicing a large portfolio of clients in the UK and Europe. In this role, he was responsible for ensuring the company delivered efficient slickline operations and met challenging customer requirements.
Wellpro Announces New Hires
Well intervention company Wellpro Group announced two new appointments as it eyes further expansion in the Eastern Hemisphere.Mark Fraser has taken up the role of Regional Manager in the Middle East, while Martin Webster has been appointed Regional Manager in Asia.Fraser and Webster bring to the company 35 years’ experience combined, and are both very knowledgeable in the thru tubing sector having worked for national, international and supermajor operators across the world. They join Wellpro Group following a sustained period of growth for the Aberdeen-headquartered company…
Costain Reports Contract Wins
Infrastructure solutions company Costain aid it has secured some £4 million ($5.1 million) worth of design, engineering and consultancy contracts for the energy market which will see the Group shaping the future for sustainable operations and improved efficiencies at several UK onshore gas terminals.The contract awards being delivered by the Aberdeen team also include topside modification projects for several subsea tie-backs in the North Sea, both at front-end engineering design (FEED) and pre-FEED phases as well as providing subsea engineering support to nuclear sector projects.
New App Aims to Improve Project Performance
An Aberdeen-based company has created a lessons learned management system that captures critical project data and helps inform the future performance of complex oil and gas developments globally.Prism Energy, which provides project and risk management applications and consultancy, has worked closely with Genesis over the past 12 months to build a bespoke solution that will assist continuous development.Track is a cloud-based system designed to improve performance by recording and analyzing lessons learned and experiences to ensure knowledge gained during the project phase is preserved.The technology…
Offshore Wind Cable Market to Grow 57% by 2023
The value of the global market for subsea power cables needed to build offshore wind farms will grow by 57% from GBP 717 million this year to over GBP 1.13 billion by 2023, according to a new report by RenewableUK.The study – 'Offshore Wind Cables Installation and Manufacturing Forecast 2019-2029' – also shows that subsea wires covering over 16,300km in length will be needed over the next five years to build new projects worldwide.According to RenewableUK’s Project Intelligence team which compiled the report, global offshore wind capacity will skyrocket from 20.5 gigawatts (GW) today to over 55GW in 2024…
