BG Group confirmed on Friday, that they are to follow suit with the announcement of contractor rate cutsA staff meeting held in Aberdeen on Friday, confirmed that contractor rates would be cut by an average of 10%BG who employ 230 contractors in Aberdeen held the meeting to discuss the need to improve efficiency, priorities for 2015 and the reduction of contractor rates by an average of 10%The company joins numerous other firms such as BP, Wood Group PSN, Apache and Premier Oil who have all announced reductions in contractor rates over the past months in aid to keep business competitive and help reduce spiralling costsThis was the first move from Ernst den Hartigh the new managing director of Europe E&P as he replaces Andy Samuel who left BG Group to join the Oil and Gas AuthorityErnst den Hartigh said: “This decision was not taken lightly but in the current economic climate is an important step in lowering our cost base and remaining competitive in the future.

North Sea oil independent EnQuest is expecting its 2015 production to be at least 10% above previous expectations, and announced a 40% cut in capital spending, easing concerns the firm could breach debt covenants.

Suncor Energy Norge AS, a Norwegian subsidiary of Canada’s Suncor, has received consent to drill an exploration well in the Norwegian Sea.

Following the split of Aker Solutions, sub-surface consultancy Aker Geo will now operate under the First Geo brand.

HNZ Group Inc.

InterMoor has completed a mooring and foundation installation campaign for BP’s Juniper gas project offshore Trinidad and Tobago.

MEC Resources has reported that its subsidiary Advent Energy is preparing an Environment Plan for a seismic data acquisition campaign offshore Australia.

Subsea products and equipment manufacturer Ennsub has successfully completed the design, manufacture, testing and installation of bespoke sealing systems for the Wheatstone Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) platform off the coast of Australia.

A Super Puma yesterday sparked a full scale emergency at Aberdeen International Airport with 3 fire crews sent to the airport as a precaution.

EnQuest, an independent oil and gas exploration and production company has said it will slash its 2015 capital investments.