ORCA Hub Readies Drones for Offshore Energy
A consortium of five universities, including Heriot-Watt University, working with 35 industrial and innovation partners, has unveiled the latest results from its research collaboration.The largest academic center in the world for research into robotics technology for offshore energy infrastructure, the ORCA Hub’s aim is to advance robotics and Artificial Intelligence technologies for the inspection…
UKCS Investments On the Rise
North Sea operators and contractors are investing across people, R&D, technology and new markets to support continued growth, said a new report.The 30th Oil and Gas survey, conducted by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Fraser of Allander Institute and KPMG UK, pointed out that around 45% of contractors have increased investment spend in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS)…
SOCAR Installs New Platform at Bulla-Deniz
A new stationary drilling platform was commissioned on Monday at the Bulla-Deniz offshore field in Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.The platform was built by SOCAR Oil and Gas Construction Trust and projected by the in-house Oil & Gas Research and Design Institute. It was designed for drilling of one exploratory and four production wells. The platform was constructed in 30-meter sea depth and its deck is 12 meters above the sea.The average depth of wells will be 6,300 meters.
YPF to Spend Billions to Boost Oil and Gas Output
Argentina's state-controlled oil company, YPF, will significantly boost oil and gas production, investing between $4 billion and $5 billion per year through 2022, Chief Executive Daniel Gonzalez told Reuters on Friday.It plans to raise production by between 5 percent and 7 percent per year, with the largest increase in the Vaca Muerta formation, one of the world's largest reserves of shale oil and…
Scottish Government Wins Fracking Case Against Ineos
Scotland's highest court has ruled in favor of a government ban on fracking which had been challenged by energy giant Ineos, the Scottish government said on Tuesday."This decision vindicates the extensive process of research and consultation which the Scottish government has undertaken since 2015," Scottish business minister Paul Wheelhouse said in a statement. "Our preferred position is not to support unconventional oil and gas extraction in Scotland (fracking)…
EU Lawmakers Reject Call for Ban on Arctic Oil Exploration
The European Parliament rejected a call to ban Arctic oil and gas exploration on Thursday, in a symbolic vote seen as a barometer for future moves by Brussels to regulate to protect the region. Lawmakers who back the ban, which had drawn the ire of Norway, say the European Union needs a strategy for future developments in a region being transformed by climate change. Lawmakers voted 414-180 to reject…
Norway Oil Firms Raise 2017 CapEx Forecasts
Norway's oil companies have increased their 2017 investment plans in the last three months, signalling a smaller-than-expected contraction for the industry, a survey by the statistics office showed on Thursday. Investments in oil and gas extraction and pipeline transport were still expected to fall for the third year in a row as companies cut the spending after oil prices fell by more than 50 percent over the last two-and-a-half years.
US Energy Jobs Rise as Higher Prices Boost Oil Drilling
U.S. oil and natural gas producers added jobs in December and January as drillers continued to return to the well pad with crude prices holding near 18 month highs, according to U.S. jobs data on Friday. Oil and gas extraction jobs increased by 100 to 177,400 in January, while support services jobs increased by 600 to 195,200 in December, its second increase in a row, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data.
Scotland Launches Consultation on Fracking
Scotland has launched a consultation on whether to allow unconventional oil and gas extraction such as fracking, its government said on Tuesday, with a vote expected at the end of the year. Substantial amounts of shale gas are estimated to be trapped in underground rocks and the British government wants to exploit it to help offset declining North Sea oil and gas output. However, hydraulic fracking…
US Energy Jobs on the Rise
U.S. oil and natural gas producers added jobs in November, the sector's first monthly employment increase in more than two years as drillers returned to the well pad due to a rally in crude prices, according to U.S. jobs data on Friday. Combined oil and gas extraction and support services jobs increased by 3,300 to 384,300 in November, the first increase since September 2014 when employment in the sector peaked at 536,100, according U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data.
Canada's Q3 Capacity Utilization sees Record Increase
Canada's industrial capacity saw its biggest gain on record in the third quarter as oil and gas production resumed following wildfires in northern Alberta, data from Statistics Canada showed on Thursday. Capacity utilization rose to 81.9 percent from a revised 79.7 percent in the second quarter. The rise was the largest quarterly increase since the agency began tracking industrial capacity in 1987.
Oil Industry: Climate Deal a Chance to Innovate
If a crisis is a terrible thing to waste, the oil industry sees the Paris climate accord not as a death knell, but an opportunity to innovate and even grow. The move is a shrewd one for an industry that has been on the defensive for years on climate issues, constantly fending off attacks that its products have contributed to an unhealthy rise in global temperatures. While the landmark emissions-reduction agreement among 195 countries late last year was seen as a defeat for fossil fuel producers…
U.S. Oil & Gas Sheds 100K Jobs in Slump
The number of people employed in oil and gas extraction and support activities across the United States has fallen by around 100,000 since October 2014. Between October 2014 and November 2015, the number of people on the payroll of oil and gas extraction firms and support services fell by almost 87,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). But once data on job losses in December and January becomes available…
Cheap Oil Not Helping Economy as Much, This Time
U.S. consumers are cautious about spending their windfall from cheap gasoline and are saving more, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll and official data, suggesting low oil prices are less of a boon for the U.S. economy than in the past. Commerce Department data shows that the crude's 70 percent drop since mid-2014 cut households' annual spending on gasoline and other energy products by $115 billion, equivalent to roughly 0.5 percent of gross domestic product.
Oil shock Impacting U.S. Economy: Kemp
Slumping oil and gas prices and a downturn in investment are proving to be major headwinds for the economies of the United States and other key important petroleum producers. Economists tend to think of oil and gas as simply an input into the production process for other goods and services, which is why they tend to think of falling fuel prices as a positive influence on economic activity. But the production and refining of oil and gas is also a major industry in its own right…
U.S. Freight Volume Dips: Kemp
Freight volumes in the United States have fallen year on year for the first time since 2012 and before that the recession of 2009, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The total volume of freight moved by road, rail, pipeline, inland waterways and as air cargo in November 2015 was 1.1 percent lower than in the corresponding month a year earlier. Freight demand growth has been slowing…
US Fracking Linked to Higher Hospitalization Rates
People who live in areas near hydraulic fracturing are more likely to be hospitalized for heart conditions, neurological illnesses and cancer, according to researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. Fracking is an oil and gas extraction technique using a mixture of water, chemicals and sand to break apart underground rock formations. It has triggered a surge in U.S. energy production in recent years…
Green Activists Zero in on Arctic Drilling
Michael Brune is pleased that activists in kayaks are training for another "Paddle in Seattle" to confront an expected Royal Dutch Shell rig on its way to the Arctic to explore for oil. What makes the head of the Sierra Club just as happy is the effect Shell's Arctic ambitions are having on his own environmental organization. Sierra's funding drive against the resumption in Arctic drilling has taken in three times more money than usual campaigns by the nation's oldest green group…
Texas Governor Signs Law to Prohibit Local Oil Well Fracking Bans
Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday signed a bill into law that prohibits cities and towns from banning an oil drilling practice known as hydraulic fracking, giving the state sole authority over oil and gas regulation. Lawmakers in Texas, a state that is home to the two of the most productive U.S. shale oil fields, have been under pressure to halt an anti-fracking movement since November, when voters in the town of Denton voted to ban the oil and gas extraction technique.
Texas House Approves Gutting Municipal Fracking Bans
The Texas House overwhelmingly approved a bill on Friday that would give the state the exclusive right to regulate the oil and gas industry, and gut the power of municipalities to pass anti-fracking rules. In Texas, the top U.S. crude producer and the birthplace of fracking, the bill also needs to be passed by the state's Senate and signed by the governor before it becomes law. State lawmakers have been under pressure to halt an incipient anti-fracking movement since November…
