News / Big losses at Premier
MORE oil industry damage caused by the prolonged depression of crude prices manifested on Thursday when North Sea developer Premier Oil announced a massive drop in earnings.
One day after industry giant Petrofac announced losses of £300 million on building the Shetland Gas Plant for Total, Premier have downgraded the value of the Solan oil field west of Shetland.
Premier announced on Thursday losses of almost £600 million last year, compared to £260 million in 2014, blaming the drop in oil prices.
As a result it has written off £400 million from the value of the Solan oil field, which is expected to start production next month after a six month delay blamed on poor weather.
Solan contains an estimated 44 million barrels of recoverable oil that will be recovered over a 20 year period using shuttle tankers loading from a 300,000 barrel subsea tank. The platform will be unmanned after its first year of operation.
Premier boss Tony Durrant said that despite the figures, the company was in a strong position to ride out the low oil price, which is expected to continue for some time.
“Our forward plan includes further actions to reduce debt, positioning ourselves for a prolonged period of lower oil prices, whilst continuing to take actions to build longer-term value for a recovering commodity environment,” he said.
Become a supporter of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider start paying for their dose of the latest local news delivered straight to their PC, tablet or mobile phone.
Journalism comes at a price and because that price is not being paid in today’s rapidly changing media world, most publishers - national and local - struggle financially despite very healthy audience figures.
Most online publishers have started charging for access to their websites, others have chosen a different route. Shetland News currently has over 600 supporters who are all making small voluntary financial contributions. All funds go towards covering our cost and improving the service further.
Your contribution will ensure Shetland News can: -
- Bring you the headlines as they happen;
- Stay editorially independent;
- Give a voice to the community;
- Grow site traffic further;
- Research and publish more in-depth news, including more Shetland Lives features.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a supporter of Shetland News by either making a single payment or monthly subscription.
Support us from as little as £3 per month – it only takes a minute to sign up. Thank you.
Already a supporter? Sign in to hide this message.
