North Sea News


Multi-tasking on Solan

Nov 30, 2015

Premier Oil’s Solan field is due to come onstream by the end of this year. It’s a unique project for the North Sea – a normally unmanned facility with a subsea oil storage tank. Bibby Polaris on location at Premier Solan…

North Sea tax receipts to fall 94%

Nov 26, 2015

Government tax receipts from North Sea oil and gas producers will be down by 94% this year to just £130 million, the UK’s Chancellor, George Osborne revealed yesterday.  The revelation was made as part of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement and Spending Review…

Aker inks BP frame agreement

Nov 26, 2015

Aker Solutions won a framework agreement to provide maintenance and modifications services at BP-operated oil and gas fields offshore Norway. The contract has a fixed period of five years valued at as much as NOK 3.2 billion. It also…

Confidence crisis in North Sea

Nov 26, 2015

The confidence of North Sea oil and gas contractors is at an all-time low, according to a new industry report released today. Four in five contractors (79%) surveyed say they are less confident in their prospects than a year ago, compared to just 1% that are more confident…

Seismic vessel to become hotel ship

Nov 25, 2015

Dutch ship owner C-Bed has contracted Wärtsilä Ship Design to supply the design for rebuilding its Seismic Survey Vessel, the Viking II, for use as a hotel vessel. When completed, the rebuilt ship will be used to accommodate and transfer service personnel working on offshore wind farms…

Shell fined £22,500 after leak

Nov 25, 2015

Oil major Shell has been fined £22,500 after admitting failures that led to an oil leak in the North Sea. The leak, the biggest in a decade in the North Sea, was discovered on 10 August 2011, when oil was spotted on the sea surface near Shell’s Gannet F field…

Small discovery for Statoil

Nov 20, 2015

Norway's Statoil has made a small discovery on its Tarvos exploration well in production license 120 in the northern part of the Norwegian North Sea. Well 34/8-16 S was drilled on the east flank of the Visund field, about 140 km northwest of Bergen…

Sembcorp inks Culzean FSO contract

Nov 19, 2015

Sembcorp Marine has won a contract to design and build a new floating, storage and offloading (FSO) vessel for Maersk's Culzean development in the North Sea. The vessel, to be built under a contract with MODEC Offshore Production Systems (Singapore)…

Apache: Significant North Sea reserves potential

Nov 18, 2015

Houston-headquartered Apache Corporation has claimed it has increased its North Sea reserves by some four to seven times since the end of 2014.  In a trading update highlighting the performance of its North Sea business, focusing on the Forties and Beryls assets…

UK North Sea strategy out to consultation

Nov 18, 2015

The UK's Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has set out a strategy to maximize the economic recovery of offshore oil and gas in the UK. The legally-binding strategy aims to get more value from the North Sea through better…

Total picks Fugro for ROV services

Nov 18, 2015

Fugro has been awarded a five-year contract for the provision of underwater services to Total E&P UK (TEP UK). Under the contract, which runs from July 2015 and includes extension options for a further two years, Fugro is providing a…

£16.9 billion UKCS decommissioning spend to 2024

Nov 18, 2015

Forecast total oil and gas infrastructure decommissioning spending on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) will reach £16.9 billion over the next decade, according to new industry estimates.  The latest figure, for the period to 2024, is an increase of £2…

Green light for Edvard Grieg

Nov 16, 2015

Norway's Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) has given Lundin the green light to start production from the Edvard Grieg field. The field is in production license 338 in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. According to the NPD, the…

Greater Stella remains on track

Nov 16, 2015

Ithaca Energy's delayed Greater Stella Area development remains on track for first production in Q2 next year. In a trading update this morning, Ithaca says sailaway of the FPF-1 floating production facility from the Remontowa Shipyard in Gdansk…

Premier Oil sells Norway business

Nov 16, 2015

Norway's Det Norske has bought UK-based independent explorer Premier Oil's Norwegian assets for US$120 million, just a month after agreeing to buy Svenksa Petroleum for $75 million. The Premier Oil assets include the Vette development…

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