Staff have begun returning to Algeria following a terrorist siege last year – but a leading oil operators has warned it will not send expatriate workers to the site of the attack until security is improved.

Forty workers, including three British workers, were killed during a four-day siege at the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria last January.

  BP has announced underlying profit of $13.4 billion for 2013. Chief Executive Bob Dudley described the year as one of “strong operating performance, with increased asset reliability and major project delivery”

Commissioning of new, state-of-the-art coker marks final major milestone in refinery upgrading project designed to create $1 billion per annum of additional future operating cash flow.

BP announced all of the major new units associated with the Whiting modernization project have been successfully brought on stream.  The start-up of the new 102,000 barrel per day coker in mid-November marked the last major milestone of the multi-year, multi-billion dollar modernisation project at the facility in Northwest Indiana.

 Subsea 7 is pleased to announce that Yngve Vassmyr will be the Managing Director of our new office in Tromsø. He assumes his position on January 1st 2014. 

  Seatronics Ltd announces global representative agreement with Zetechtics Limited

 FMC Technologies, Inc. announced the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors.

The new board members are  Clarence P. Cazalot , Jr., Executive Chairman of Marathon Oil Corp., and Peter Mellbye, former Executive Vice President of Development & Production of Statoil ASA.

 The government has outlined plans to give tax breaks to companies involved in the UK's nascent shale gas industry.

It has proposed cutting the tax on some of the income generated from producing shale gas - found in underground shale rock formations - from 62% to just 30%.

 Nexen Energy ULC has initiated the work required to demolish the Balzac gas plant, including the red and white stacks that have been a familiar landmark of the Calgary and Balzac skyline for more than 50 years.

 Teledyne Benthos, a Massachusetts based manufacturer of ocean instrumentation and underwater systems, has added a new member to its team –Dan Shropshire. In his new role as Senior Program Manager, Mr. Shropshire will manage government programs and complex engineering specials across the Company’s full product line.

  A custom-built service centre at the new Offshore Marine Centre in the Tuas industrial area of Singapore will boost Acteon operations and improve its customer service in South East Asia.

  Two key promotions to the management team at Saab Seaeye come as the world leader in underwater vehicles significantly expands its engineering and its customer support capabilities.

 FMC Technologies, Inc. announced that it was recognised at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) with the presentation of two Spotlight on New Technology Awards. The awards, which honour innovative technologies that significantly impact offshore exploration and production, are in recognition of FMC Technologies' subsea boosting system developed in cooperation with Sulzer Pumps Ltd. and FMC Technologies' Condition and Performance Monitoring (CPM) system.

  Offshore Installation Services (OIS), an Acteon company, has named Mike Earlam as president. Based in the company’s Aberdeen office, Mike will be responsible for driving the development and growth of OIS and will play a key role in exploiting opportunities to work together with other Acteon companies. 

 MacArtney Benelux is pleased to announce the addition of a modern and fully equipped pressure tank facility to the company's workshop in Rotterdam, NL.

 BP has been successful in its bid for four deepwater exploration blocks offshore Nova Scotia.