Daily Archives: December 12, 2019

iM Global Partner, an investment and development platform focused on acquiring strategic investments in traditional and alternative investment firms in the US, Europe and Asia, has appointed Peter Stockall to lead sales in the US Offshore and Latin America region.

Stockall, based in Miami, will spearhead the companys business development efforts in this very important region within the Americas, and will offer US Offshore and Latin America investors access to a wide range of strategies managed by the outstanding partners of iM Global Partner, rangingfrom US equities to liquid alternative strategies. He will report to Jose Castellano, Deputy CEO and Head of International Business Development.

Stockhall has 16 years of experience working for leading asset managers. Before joining iM Global Partner, he was responsible for sales of the Carmignac Mutual Fund range in the US. He spent four years, between 2012 and 2016, as Offshore regional Sales Consultant for Pioneer Investments, where he was responsible for sales of offshore mutual funds and alternative investments to financial advisors across all channels in the Southeast, Caribbean, and Panama territories. Peter started his career at Merrill Lynch providing Financial Advisors with sales support and investment guidance in both New York City and Asia regions. Stockall has also been part of the Oppenheimer Funds and Capital Group sales teams.

Jose Castellano, deputy CEO and Head of International Distribution, says: I am delighted to welcome Peter to our international sales team to support our rapidly developing Latam and US Offshore platforms, which have already been in place for more than a year. His experience covering the Americas will be a valuable asset in helping to develop the operational distribution capability of our current and future US, European and Asian Partners.

Read more here:

iM Global Partner appoints head of sales for US Offshore and Latin America Markets - HedgeWeek

MO4 and Seaqualize have been declared winners of the Offshore Wind Innovation Award 2019, Offshore Wind Innovators said.

During the Q-meeting of Van Oord and Siemens Gamesa, the audience of 240 wind energy professionals awarded Seaqualize with the public prize. The prize of the professional jury went to MO4.

MO4 has developed a software that is said to forecast workability of vessels in offshore operations with much more accuracy than is currently possible, by computing the influence of waves, wind, and current on vessels. This innovation is said not only to make it safer to operate at sea, but it is also said to make the assessment of workability a lot more accurate. The innovation seems to be financially solid thanks to a clear revenue model, the jury has found. According to Jelte Kymmell, MO4s Managing Director, smarter calculations can considerably lower the chagrin of many installation companies because they can operate their expensive vessels more often.

Sequalize won the award for Seaqualize Delta, a flexibly deployable inline active heave compensator for loads of 600 mT and up, said to have an unprecedented precision, enabling floating installation or (parts of) offshore wind turbines. A credible working pilot system has been developed that can form the basis for a floating installation of wind turbines or parts thereof. This could potentially make a further contribution to the cost price reduction in offshore wind. The system uses 95% passive energy, needing only 30kW for a 600-tonne load, comparable to the capacity of 15 kettles.

Amphibious Energy was also in contention for one of the prizes with its EnergyPod, a transportable, autonomous energy container. This all in one, plug and play package of wind, solar and battery storage is designed to replace diesel generator sets on the monopile transition pieces during installation.

Continued here:

MO4 and Seaqualize Take Home Offshore Wind Innovation Awards - Offshore WIND

]]> Equinor buys a 50% stake in Batyk I offshore windfarm in Poland. Credit: WindEurope.

Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor has acquired a 50% stake in the Batyk I offshore windfarm in Poland from Polish energy company Polenergia for an undisclosed fee.

Batyk I has the potential to have a capacity of 1,560MW under its location license when it is completed. As part of its ownership stake in the windfarm, Equinor will be responsible for the construction and operation phases of the project.

With the acquisition of Batyk I, Equinor now has an interest in all three of the Batyk offshore wind projects. Batyk II and III have the potential to have a combined capacity of 1,440MW when completed between 2025 and 2027, with Equinor also having a 50% stake in the two windfarms. Equinor and Polenergia will work together on the three windfarms as part of a 50/50 joint venture.

Equinor senior vice president for business development Jens kland said: The acquisition of Batyk I strengthens our presence in the Baltic Sea area. With interest in all three Batyk projects, we have the opportunity to build scale and value in what we see as an important energy region.

Poland is an important market for Equinor and we are pleased to continue our partnership with Polenergia, which is an experienced energy company with an in-depth knowledge of the Polish energy market.

Equinors stock price is currently NOK168 ($18.28) a share on the Oslo Stock Exchange, giving the company a market capitalisation value of NOK568.4bn ($61.8bn).

Historically an oil and gas company, Equinor has made several moves in the renewable energy industry in recent years.

Alongside its partnership with Polenergia, Equinor has also joined with UAE-based company Masdar to share offshore wind data as part of the UKs Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult in November 2019. It has also joined with the Electricity Supply Board in Ireland to develop offshore wind projects together in the same month.

Equinor has also invested $500m to develop the Hywind Tampen floating offshore windfarm to power its Snorre and Gullfaks offshore oil platforms.

Originally posted here:

Equinor buys offshore windfarm projects in Poland - Power Technology

UPDATE, writethru: Sonys Jumanji: The Next Level is out in 18 early overseas release markets ahead of domestic next weekend, and in many, the movie is stepping up versus predecessor Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle. Overall, the Jake Kasdan-directed sequel opened to $52.5M at the international box office, slightly down on the last films $54.8M (at historical rates and in like-for-likes) while also lower than where the industry saw The Next Level ahead of the weekend the culprit here is China.

There were 16 No. 1 openings for The Next Level across Europe and Asia, but rumble was lacking in the jungle in China as the film lags the previous installment with an estimated debut frame of $25.3M. It still topped the Middle Kingdom box office at No. 1 in a market that also had a local pic in the mix with The Wild Goose Lake taking in about $20M. Word of mouth is down on The Next Level, with a 6.2 on Douban and a 7.7 on Maoyan, versus the earlier films respective scores of 6.9 and 8.6.

Dwayne Johnson has a big base in the Middle Kingdom, but the movie didnt pin audiences down as hoped. Across the board, industry sources we spoke with were seeing The Next Level in China coming in at around $40M before the session began. That led to those projections of a $60M+ overseas opening. But China was ultimately flat from Friday to Saturday with no family bump. It also didnt help that Sonys release date changed very close to the last minute. The Middle Kingdom authorities are in charge of dating, and backed The Next Level up from an original December 13 to December 6 which impacted the ability to get Johnson and others to Beijing, particularly as the Thanksgiving holidays were in the mix. A dedicated press day for key Chinese media and social influencers had been handled out of Cabo in November and the team then did a three-city European tour, which has paid dividends so far (Frances $5.7M weekend is 93% ahead of Welcome To The Jungle, for example).

China repped just 14% of the last films overseas gross and is not required to be the major driver on what last time around was a global property that took in nearly $1B worldwide. With domestic still to come next session and many overseas markets to go, its early to make a call on this one. The previous film had a wild multiple, playing as counter programming to Star Wars: The Last Jedi. This year, Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker starts rollout on December 18 internationally.

Numbers elsewhere in Europe and Asia on The Next Level are much better, relatively, than in China. The Netherlands opened 58% ahead of the last film and the Nordics combined outperformed it by 30%. South East Asia as a whole did 47% better than Jungle including Malaysia which scored the 2nd biggest opening of the year and the biggest Sony opening ever for the market.

Given the small share of markets, Jumanji: The Next Level was not expected to lead overseas play, and particularly with the Frozen 2 ice-grip in the mix. That Disney movie added $90.2M this session in 48 offshore markets, retaining scores of No. 1s and seeing soft drops. The international cume is now $582.1M for $919.7M global as it looks towards $1B next weekend, and has helped push Disney past the $10B mark worldwide.

Other major titles like Fox/Chernins Ford V Ferrari and Lionsgates Knives Out are continuing to perform, with respective offshore cumes of $76.5M and $60.6M to date.

Breakdowns on the films above and more have been updated below.

NEWJUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVELSony PicturesSonys sequel to the reboot of the beloved 1995 original didnt step it up as well as hoped in its early offshore bow, but thats primarily down to one market. China can be fickle and the family/general audience simply didnt turn out this weekend.

The Next Level still took in $52.5M from 18 overseas markets, including $23.5M from the Middle Kingdom (which also includes $2.3M from IMAX there). Roundly, industry sources we heard from ahead of the weekend were pegging $40M in China for a $60M+ launch session. Ultimately, the numbers came in lower but with bright points in some areas.

Dwayne Johnson & Co launch next weekend in North America as well as the UK, Germany, Spain, Russia, Korea, Japan and Mexico. The idea is to jump start the holidays before Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker dominates discussion beginning December 18. The last Jumanji worked as leggy counter programming to The Last Jedi, so well see how that pans out this time around. Based on the initial 18 markets, its early to make a call and recalling that China repped only 14% of the earlier movies haul.

Diving down, Europe was powered by France where a $5.7M start was 93% ahead of Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle. The team did local press, which helped, and a nationwide strike on Thursday also appears to have fueled some of the gross. The strikes, such as we are all too accustomed to here, are scheduled to continue next week.

In the Netherlands, The Next Level topped the chart with $1.4M, which is 58% ahead of the last film. The Nordics grabbed No. 1s in all five debut markets for a combined total of $2.4M (+30% vs WTTJ).In Asia, Taiwan played relatively like China with just $2.3M. However, Malaysia debuted to $4.6M for the 2nd biggest opening of the year and the biggest Sony opening ever for the market. Indonesia bowed to $6.4M, which is the 2nd biggest opening ever for a December release there, and Singapore and Philippines opened to $1.7M and $1.4M, respectively.

Ultimately, the top hubs for Welcome To The Jungle last time around were China, the UK, Australia, France and Russia. The movie played to a high multiple, continuing to beat the drum for weeks until its offshore final of $557.6M and $962.1M global (at historic rates). Well obviously keep an eye on this one going forward.

HOLDOVERS/EXPANSIONSFROZEN 2DisneyDisneys winter wonderland continues as Frozen 2 has packed another $90.2M into the sleigh this weekend internationally. That brings the offshore cume to a snow-stopping $582.1M and global to $919.7M with $1B worldwide in reach later this week.

The sequel is about to become the No. 12 animated release of all time overseas, and the 4th Walt Disney Animation Studiosmovie within that top group.

In IMAX, Frozen 2 this weekend set a new global record as its biggest animated film ever. The global cume is $38.6M to overtake Chinese title Ne Zha in the format.

F2 added South Africa this weekend where $800K gave Disney its best animated opening ever. Elsewhere, there were continued No. 1s in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, UAE, UK, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and every territory released in Latin America. Brazil does not release until January 2.

In holds, the grip is tight. Overall, the drop was 47% overseas. The best holds included Poland (-13%), Spain (-18%), Chile (-22%), Germany (-25%), Israel (-25%), Netherlands (-30%), Japan (-30%), France (-40%), Hong Kong (-43%), Australia (-44%), Korea (-47%), Mexico (-47%), Italy (-48%) and Taiwan (-49%).

Frozen 2 has already become the highest grossing animated title of all time in Korea, Indonesia,Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand as well as the 2nd highest grossing animated title of all time in India and Ukraine.

The movie has further surpassed the original in Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Mexico, Vietnam, India, China, Poland, Hong Kong, Russia, Peru, Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Albania, Bosnia/Herz, Croatia, Czech Rep, Egypt, Ethiopia, Hungary, Israel, Kuwait, Macedonia, Oman, Qatar, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Syria, Turkey, UAE and Ukraine.

Here are the Top 5 markets: China ($104.4M), Korea ($75.5M), Japan ($55M), UK ($43.1M) and Germany ($34.4M).

FORD V FERRARI20th Century FoxAdding Korea and Thailand, notably, Fox/Chernins awards-season racer has lifted its international cume to $76.5M. The Disney release picked up $8.3M in 52 material markets this lap, and raised the global total to $167.6M so far.

The Christian Bale/Matt Damon-starrer raced to $3.3M at No. 2 in Korea, behind only Frozen 2. Elsewhere, holds have been strong in Germany (-23%), Hungary (-24%), Austria (-28%), New Zealand (-31%), Australia (-33%), Spain (-36%), Denmark (-37%), India (-39%), Taiwan (-39%), Belgium (-40%), Netherlands (-43%), Brazil (-43%), Hong Kong (-44%), Switzerland (-49%) and Peru (-49%).

Still to come is the Japan release on January 10, and the China date is still TBD.

The Top 5 markets so far are Russia ($9.5M), France ($8.2M), UK ($7.3M), Australia ($5.8M) and Mexico ($4.6M).

KNIVES OUTClaire Folger/LionsgateLionsgates ensemble thriller is keeping audiences on the edge of their seats offshore with another $18.7M from 68 counter programmed markets this weekend. That cuts a fine figure of $60.6M international for $124.1M global.

Koreathis session was the top debut market with a strong$1.7M, ranked No. 4 from 686 locations. ItalyandMexicoalso kicked off well with$1.2Mfrom 361 locations and$1.1Mfrom 871 locations, ranked Nos 3 and 2, respectively.China, where the Daniel Craig pic had an impressive start last session, remains the top grossing market with$23.6M to date. In the UK, the gross is $8.1M so far, just a 20% drop from open.

Upcoming major markets include Brazil on December 12, followed by Germany and Japan in January.

LAST CHRISTMASUniversalUniversals romantic comedy added $10.9M in 61 markets this weekend, including 22 new outings. The offshore cume is now $51.3M for $84.8M global as play continues through the festive season. Overall overseas, the Emilia Clarke-starrer is tracking ahead of The Intern, Yesterday, Crazy Rich Asians and About Time.

Russia opened at No. 3 with $1.5M, ahead of Yesterday by 224% and About Time by 471%. In Korea, where About Time became a phenomenon, Last Christmas bowed to $1M, better by 29% than CRA. Mexico was also new at No. 3 with $848K two track ahead of The Holiday (+95%) and CRA (+144%).

The UK has now grossed $15.8M, with a 19% drop this 4th session. Australia dipped 22% for a running cume of $6M, while Germany was up 13% for a $5.2M gross so far.

Thailand and Italy are still to bow.

MISC UPDATED CUMES/NOTABLEMGM/Universal/Kobal/ShutterstockThe Addams Family (UNI): $4.5M intl weekend (includes $4.3M from 41 UPI markets); $88.6M intl cume ($185.1M global)Joker (WB): $2.4M intl weekend (72 markets); $722.8M intl cume ($1.055B global)The Good Liar (WB): $2.4M intl weekend (43 markets); $9.6M intl cume ($25.7M global)Charlies Angels (SNY): $1.9M intl weekend (37 markets); $38.4M intl cume ($55.9M global)Motherless Brooklyn (WB): $1.7M intl weekend (24 markets); $4.2M intl cume ($13.4M global)Abominable (UNI): $1M intl weekend (includes $500K from 46 UPI markets); $116M intl cume ($176.3M global)

Read the rest here:

Jumanji: The Next Level Notches $53M In Early Offshore Bow; Many Markets Up, But China Not Game; Frozen 2 Plows To $920M WW International Box Office...

Offshore staff

OSLO, Norway There are sufficient oil field discoveries with a breakeven oil price of below $60 Brent to meet global demand growth until around 2027, according to consultant Rystad Energy.

Beyond that point, however, additional volumes will be needed from yet-to-be discovered fields to satisfy total liquids demand.

That means global exploration efforts must continue, while at the same time, operators will need to work on their remaining but unsanctioned commercial discoveries over the coming years.

Only fields with breakeven prices below $60 Brent are likely to be commercial through 2030 or toward 2040, claimed Audun Martinsen, head of oilfield services research at Rystad.

If the global E&P industry were to fail to discover sufficient resources at such breakeven prices, global demand would need to be satisfied by utilizing otherwise uncommercial fields, or transition more quickly to a different power mix.

This year, according to the consultants estimate, around $200 billion has been approved for new oil and gas projects, and the sum looks set to climb to $225 billion next year, mainly driven by gas projects.

Offshore project sanctioning is set to exceed $100 billion in 2020.

However, while most of the offshore projects sanctioned this year had breakeven prices of less than $40/bbl, there could be a breakeven risk between 2020 and 2023. This is because close to 7% of the projects identified may incur a breakeven above $60/bbl.

12/12/2019

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More discoveries needed to sustain long-term offshore developments - Offshore Oil and Gas Magazine

Sometimes, the medical profession and governments are on the same page. Examples are public health initiatives like immunisation programs or bowel cancer and cervical screening programs, when medical expertise informs policy.

This week we sadly saw the opposite, an ugly clash between medical ethics and political expedience.

On one side, there were 13 medical colleges, the Australian Medical Association and thousands of doctors who were arguing passionately to keep the medevac process in place.

On the other side, a government hell-bent on repealing a piece of legislation that gave doctors the ability to carry out our professional oath to do no harm, and to put the patients needs at the forefront of decisions about medical care.

When I heard about the repeal of the medevac legislation, I felt a mixture of emotions, but mainly a profound sense of sadness. This repeal signals a return to the governments unambiguously cruel and inhumane policy in the treatment of a small cohort of people seeking asylum. These are among the most vulnerable people on the planet.

The decision to repeal medevac is an absolute violation of Australias obligations under international law to provide these refugees with safe asylum and medical care. It also strikes at the heart of our medical training and ethical principles.

Before medevac, medical treatment of refugees in offshore detention was often delayed until conditions were life threatening and even then, human rights lawyers were often forced to fight for their transfer in the courts. Before medevac, 12 people died in offshore detention.

Usually cloaked in secrecy, the dire situation on Nauru and Manus Island began to emerge in late 2018. Brave whistleblowers, risking a jail sentence for speaking out, told us of the intolerable conditions in Australian offshore refugee facilities.

So now we go back to politicians and bureaucrats deciding who lives and who dies

When the medevac legislation was passed, the government made no apparent attempt to set up a process to honour the new law. It was left to a group of doctors who came to be known as the Merg (Medical Evacuation Response Group) to set up an urgent triaging and assessment system. It was essential that this process was to be a robust and as credible as possible. Many of these doctors were involved in the Senate inquiry into the repeal bill. Of the 84 submissions, 82 argued against the repeal. There is a reason the medical profession was united in support of medevac. It fulfilled one of the most basic of medical ethics to provide medical care based on need and without discrimination.

After all, one of our responsibilities as doctors is to advocate for the health and wellbeing not only of our own individual patients, but for groups and communities without discrimination.

I have had messages from doctors around the country who are aware of the state of health of the refugees who have been transferred to Australia, and of many of those who remain in offshore detention who fear what will happen as we return to business as usual.

Secrecy surrounded conditions on Nauru and Manus Island. Secrecy was demanded of health professionals working in the detention camps.

The fact that the Senate was forced to vote on a secret back-room deal a deal which the Coalition denied even existed with no information as to what that deal was and with one person making that deal in isolation from experts and then casting the key vote is a cynical desertion of our democratic principles.

There was no secret that Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton did not want the medevac legislation.

When it was passed, the government waited 14 days to make it officially law.

They then made absolutely no move to set up a process for assessment of cases requiring transfer.

This week the government took only five hours to make the visit to the governor general to end medevac. They also ended any independent medical oversight of medical transfers from offshore detention with the demise of the Ihap (Independent Health Assessment Panel).

So now we go back to politicians and bureaucrats deciding who lives and who dies, who is transferred for crucial medical treatment and when.

Through this process I have seen the best and the worst of political decision-making affecting the provision of healthcare.

Any MP or senator who voted to repeal this legislation will have to live with the consequences of that vote on their conscience forever.

In contrast, we have seen the wonderful refugee advocates, lawyers, and doctors who have selflessly given their time for these medevac transfers to happen, and for those who took to the streets in support of the people who are still held in Papua New Guinea or on Nauru. I thank them for their hard work, their compassion and for fighting against the governments indefensible decision to repeal this legislation.

To those who remain in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, please know this. There are many, many Australians of good heart who understand your plight and will continue to fight on your behalf not only for your medical care, but for a future for you in freedom and safety.

This is not over.

Kerryn Phelps is a medical professional and former independent MP for Wentworth

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To those stuck in offshore detention: we will keep fighting for you. The medevac repeal is not the end - The Guardian