Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to freeze production at January levels on February 16th in the first coordinated effort to stabilise prices for 15 years. Expectations of an output cut were rife in the days leading up to the meeting in Doha, with Brent gaining 10.9% on February 12th. However, traders were left disappointed, given […]
More »The protracted low price environment is pushing the offshore marine supply chain to breaking point. Rig managers, OSV contractors and subsea vessel owners are trading at 60-70% discounts to 2013 highs and every week seems to usher in a new wave of profit warnings, impairments or defaults. Although E&P customers are also taking a beating, […]
More »Feb 16 2016 | News & Insight
Douglas-Westwood’s (DW) NEW publication the North Sea Decommissioning Market Forecast 2016-2040 provides detailed analysis of the amount of infrastructure that needs to be removed in the North Sea over the next 25 years and the associated expenditure. The forecast splits cost into two different scenarios, one which assumes that decommissioning will continue to be carried […]
More »Iran’s position in the international O&G market was expectedly one of the highlight topics of IP Week. Approximately one month after the lifting of EU and US nuclear sanctions on Iran, the country’s Energy Minister has announced Tehran needs to attract a huge $200 billion in international investment to modernise its existing oil infrastructure. Unwinding […]
More »Brent oil price reached lows of $27/bbl in mid-January, but has recovered over the past two weeks to above the $30/bbl mark. Nevertheless, volatility is expected to remain as the market is yet to find a new equilibrium. So far, only modest cuts in US shale production have been realised, and global oil supply has […]
More »The oil price collapse has been bad news for nearly every company involved in the industry, but one group that could actually benefit from it are specialist decommissioning companies. For these companies there is an opportunity to be part of removing the huge tonnage of infrastructure that exists in the North Sea. With oil prices […]
More »This week, we look at some of the key takeaways from an event held last Thursday in London, hosted by the Society of Underwater Technology. Douglas-Westwood (DW) presented its outlook for the offshore energy sector, including outputs from its latest, soon to be published studies, in the context of a highly-turbulent start to the year […]
More »Saudi Arabia’s reluctance to cut production to maintain its share of the global crude market has paid off. By not “blinking first”, the Kingdom has succeeded in driving rigs out of the US shale market with current rotary rig counts down 65% from 2014 highs in September. This has led to significant decreases in production […]
More »Oil prices have been extremely volatile since the first trading day of 2016 and hit 12-year lows last week with Brent dropping below $33 a barrel for the first time since 2005. The fall in the Chinese manufacturing index, the Saudi-Iran standoff and North Korean nuclear test have all had a significant impact on shaping […]
More »Jan 6 2016 | News & Insight
Following recent attacks on the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Tehran in response to the execution of a prominent cleric, the Kingdom has announced that it will be severing diplomatic ties with Iran. This soaring political tension between the two most influential members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has led to fluctuating […]
More »