Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

30 December 2014

	Seadrill acquires new vessel Seadrill has taken ownership of an ultra deepwater drillship in a $456million deal with Ship Finance. The West Polaris was acquired by Ship Finance in 2008 and chartered to Seadrill with purchase options commencing in 2012

	Guard of Libyan oil ports calls in strikes on Islamist militias Libyan oil production has fallen below 300,000 barrels a day after Islamist militants shifted attacks to energy facilities including the country’s largest oil export terminal, said Energy Aspects Ltd

	FTSE 100 slide after oil hits five year low Commodity-based stocks were lower - causing the top flight index to slump by 38.6 points to 6595 - after the price of Brent crude oil dived to a five-and-a-half year low of near to 57 US dollars a barrel

	Thatcher files: North Sea terror simulation A full-scale terrorist hijacking of a North Sea platform was simulated by the UK authorities in the 1980s – and code-named the “Smoked Salmon” exercises

	Thatcher files: Safety plans dropped before Piper Alpha catastrophe The UK Government abandoned plans to invest extra cash in North Sea safety two years before the Piper Alpha disaster – because it was not deemed a priority

	Gallery: Part 2 - Industry milestones 2014

	New era of transparency ahead for operators and governments UK oil and gas companies are gearing up for a new era of transparency which will shed light on links between operators and governments around the world, law firm Pinsent Masons says

	Oil rigs in US drop by 37 to lowest level since April US oil drillers, facing the lowest crude prices in five years and rising competition from suppliers abroad, idled the most rigs since 2012. Rigs targeting oil declined by 37 to 1,499 in the week ended December 26, the lowest since April, Baker Hughes Inc said, extending the three-week decline to 76

	Global spending more on facilities at Nigg Global Energy Group said yesterday it was nearing the end of a further £20million investment in developing the Nigg Yard on the Cromarty Firth into a “world-class” port

	Gazprom to buy out partners in canceled South Stream Project OAO Gazprom (OGZD), the world’s biggest natural-gas exporter, agreed to buy the 50% it doesn’t own in South Stream Transport BV from Italy’s Eni SpA (ENI), Electricite de France SA and the Wintershall unit of Germany’s BASF SE (BAS)

	Oil industry mergers predicted The oil and gas industry could be set for a year of mergers and acquisitions following a rapid fall in prices, it has been forecast. Business consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said 2015 might even see the first “hostile takeover” in the sector in living memory

	Scottish Secretary: Independence oil figures out by £15.5billion The Scottish Government’s oil revenue forecast for the first three years of independence is now out by £15.5 billion, according to the Scottish Secretary