From the North Sea (NT): Norwegian minnow NORECO has raised NOK430mn through a private placement to keep the company afloat as problems with its main production assets squeeze its cashflow.

A newly introduced decommissioning guarantee in the Danish sector has added to its woes. This week the company’s share price slumped 72% to NOK0.4.

The company has been hit by problems at Huntington (SEN, 30/13) in the UK, where production is constrained to 12,000boe/d, about 40% of capacity, due to restricted access to the CATS pipeline for its gas, and the ongoing shutdown of its Danish fields Nini, Nini East and Cecilie because of problems with the host Siri’s export system. Oselvar in the Norwegian sector was also shutdown for a period over the summer.

Noreco has now withdrawn from the P.1650 licence in the UK because its financial problems make it impossible to contribute to the costs of a planned exploration well on the Crazy Horse prospect. The relinquishment could affect its chances of being awarded new licences in the upcoming UK round, it comments glumly.

(From the editor: So what is going on with the CATS pipeline? SEN has been told that BP says there are too many ‘high ends’ of gas in the pipeline causing problems in the refinery. As the last entrant to the system, E.ON gets the blame. No solution to this issue is yet in sight.)

MACDERMID, parent group of control fluid specialist MacDermid Offshore Solutions, has been acquired by Platform Acquisition, an entity formed as a takeover vehicle for US businessman Martin Franklin who chairs Jarden Corp. MacDermind is to be renamed Platform Specialty Products Corp.

Produced Water Absorbents has acquired water treatment specialist PROSEP and will now move its operations from Ohio to Houston. Why is this interesting? Besides the fact that PWA is run by Neil Poxon, former head man at ITF, produced water is a big issue and thus big business. The deal has been valued at just over $9mn.

EnQuest has acquired Centrica’s stake in the GREATER KITTIWAKE AREA of the UK North Sea including the Kittiwake-to-Forties pipeline. The costs was just under $40mn plus the assumption of $5mn in debt.

The reasoning behind this deal is acquiring a host site for its nearby Scolty and Crathes prospects and further payments are deferred contingent on EnQuest getting development approval for the tieback project. EnQ also sees an opportunity for further infill drillling on the main field.

Among the UK’s smaller players, ENDEAVOUR said it has completed its strategic review (29/23) and has decided that it will carry on as before, benefiting from the development of Bacchus (30/10) and Rochelle (30/11). It will, though, close its London office and consolidate its operations in Aberdeen under new MD Derek Neilson.

Also, SERICA ENERGY is making a placing of shares worth around £10mn and is looking raise an additional £4mn to fund new exploration in Namibia and Morocco.

And another minnow ANTRIM ENERGY had to make a statement regarding the fall in its share price for no notable reason. Oil & Gas UK have appointed EY – formerly Ernst & Young - to carry out research into the OIL AND GAS SUPPLY CHAIN’s contribution to the UK economy...SUBSEA ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGIES reports growth of 160% with expected turnover of £4mn this year and the nearly doubling of staff to 40.

In results, FMC reported revenue of $1.7bn last quarter, up 22%, with two-thirds from subsea. New orders were $2.4bn and its backlog is now $7.4bn, with nearly 90% in subsea. CAMERON revenue was $2.5bn last quarter, up 12%, and its backlog is $11bn. HELIX ENERGY SOLUTIONS reported net income of $44mn last quarter, up 300% from a year ago and 50% from last quarter.

David Dickson has been named new COO of McDermott with the intention of him becoming CEO and president upon the retirement of Stephen Johnson at the end of the year. Dickson moves over from Technip where he had been president of Technip USA since 2008.

Robert Potter is to retire as president of FMC with headman John Gremp assuming his duties. Potter had been with the company for 40 years.

Riser specialists 2H Offshore has appointed Pedro Viana and Roberto Alvium as technical managers in its Rio office...Bill Boyle joins Forum Energy Technologies as veep for subsea, having most recently been with Clough after stints with Subsea 7, Technip and Wood Group...John Thomson has been give the role of senior riser analyst with Aquaterra to head up deepwater analysis having joined from 2H Offshore...Peter Day has been named the new chief technology officer with pipe measurement specialist Optical Metrology Services.