Aker BP awaits development in Hod field – believes rescue package is not good enough – NRK Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio

Oil company Aker BP suspended the major project and construction of the Hod platform in the North Sea when the corona crisis hit.

On Tuesday, the government presented a rescue package to an oil and gas industry and a struggling supply industry.

Low oil prices delivered and operational challenges due to pollution measures mean oil companies are pushing for exploration activity, investment, and non-critical maintenance.

– The government’s proposals are considered insufficient to carry out the Hod project, Aker BP press spokesman Ole Johan Faret writes in an email to NRK.

Ready to start

But now the company is waiting for the final decision at Storting in June to see if the tax package will improve. Development in the Hod field is an investment of five billion. This will employ 3,000 man-years in companies along the coast.

– If Storting before summer adopts temporary changes to the tax regime in line with what the industry and LO have proposed, the development of Hod may be adopted during the third quarter of this year, writes Aker BP spokesperson Ole Johan Faret in the email.

160 Kvaerner Verdal employees are fired. Since April of next year, the order book is empty when work is completed on one of the chassis for the Sverdrup field. Aker BP promises great activity if Hod development gets underway.

– We plan to deliver significant deliveries and important activities, including at Kvaerner Verdal, as early as 2021.

excited

Kvaerner CEO Karl-Petter Løken says the bottom line of the tax package is important to the entire supplier industry. Also considering a change to renewable energy.

– We are establishing more bones to stand on. This is not how we manage overnight. We need more oil and gas projects that can help us unite new industries over the years. It is critical to maintaining competition in the supplier industry that new oil and gas projects are coming soon now, says Løken.

– What do you think about the fact that Aker BP has put the development of Hod on hold and could have given Kvaerner Verdal a lot of activity, among others?

– I think what the final result of the fiscal package will be is important for the entire supplier industry. And so far the signs are that this is not good enough to start new projects. For us, that is important for more activity and more projects, says Løken.

The great Hod project will mean a lot.

– The head is very important for the activity in Verdal. We are very excited about what Aker BP will decide, says the CEO of Kvaerner.

–How critical is the situation for Kvaerner?

– No, of course, it’s difficult. This generally applies to the entire supplier industry. What is happening now is releasing and stopping future activities and starting new projects, says Karl-Petter Løken.

Deferred tax

The government proposes to postpone the oil companies to the tax bill. This is done through a change in the amortization rules. At the same time, they want companies to reduce their so-called free income.

– In order to maintain Norwegian competitive environments and provide activity in the Norwegian economy, it is now crucial that planned projects are implemented. That is why we have also put forward proposals for temporary tax measures, Oil and Energy Minister Tina Bru said when the tax package was presented this week.

In the revised national budget, oil investment in the Norwegian continental shelf is estimated to be around NOK 166 billion in 2020, which is approximately nine percent lower than previously assumed in the national budget.

Industry itself and LO announced last week that they want a tax package that provides full depreciation for investments that are decided and applied in 2020 and 2021. The normal depreciation period under current rules is six years.

This means that they will provide the necessary stimulus to launch new projects and continue projects on hold.