R&D ‘vital’ for getting through a downcycle
The downturn that struck in 2014 wasn’t littered with pleasant surprises.
innovation
Churchill’s small company advantage
Nimbleness and responsiveness to client needs are seen as at the heart of Churchill Drilling Tool’s appeal to operators seeking downhole circulation support, the company’s manager for the Middle East and Asia Nicholas Kjaer has said.
Baker Hughes and the pace of change
Baker Hughes is shoring up its position in Abu Dhabi, opening a new wellhead repair and maintenance facility in the country last week, while talking up its various positions in the region.
£60m funding announced for Dundee ‘innovation parc’
The Scottish Government has announced £60 million in funding for a new "centre of innovation" in Dundee.
More commercial innovation in North Sea than any other part of the world, says BHGE
The North Sea is producing more commercial innovations than any other part of the world, according to a boss at Baker Hughes GE (BHGE).
Innovation as standard
Scotland is synonymous with globally significant innovation, having brought the world television, the telephone, the steam engine, anaesthesia, radar, the cash machine and the world’s first mammal cloned from an adult stem cell – Dolly the sheep.
Scottish Enterprise driving culture of data innovation
What springs to mind when you hear the word Data? If you are a child of the 80’s like me, your first thought a couple of years ago may well have been the quirky little tech kid from one of the decades favourite movies, Goonies. A couple of years ago maybe, but there are few today that will not be aware of the intrinsic role that data plays in the digital economy agenda and the reshaping of the industries for which it represents the greatest value.
Opinion: Collaborate and improve
Faced with a tough downturn, the oil and gas industry has been working harder than ever to find smarter ways to do business.
Innovation key to next phase of low-carbon shift, OGUK says
The times they are a-changing and the energy sector is changing more than most.
Fixed mind-sets ‘stifling’ innovation in oil industry
Creativity is being stifled at large oil companies by the “fixed mind-sets” of employees, industry chiefs said yesterday.
Innovation can help ease climate change
I think it’s not unreasonable to say that for oil and gas the two innovations that have had the most impact are horizontal drilling and 3D seismic.
Premier Oil: ‘We’re going as low as we can, so the next step is innovation’
Technology and innovation is the next logical step in maxmising economic recovery from the UK North Sea, it has been claimed.
UK companies must prepare staff for new technology – or risk being left behind, academic says
An academic has warned that UK oil and gas companies risk could miss the opportunity to lead innovation in the sector, if they fail to prepare staff for new technology.
Promoted: Supporting cross-industry innovation
As companies continue to adapt to the challenges affecting the oil & gas sector and search for ways to make improvements in efficiency, there is a risk that investing in innovation can, in some circumstances, become a casualty.
Opinion: A technology strategy for our times
Technology innovation is going to play a critical role in the next chapter of oil and gas recovery from the UK continental shelf (UKCS) and in driving export growth in our UK-based supply chain.
OGIC seminars target oil and gas innovators
Funding for innovation and protecting intellectual property in the oil and gas industry will be the focus for two Oil & Gas Innovation Centre (OGIC) seminars being run in partnership with Heriot-Watt University.
Innovation in the spotlight at Subsea Expo
The role that innovation will play in the future of the subsea sector will be highlighted at Subsea Expo this week.
Lloyd’s Register: Staying afloat requires a new type of inventiveness and open mindedness
As oil prices continue to erode margins throughout the industry, the offshore sector tightens its focus on efficiency and cost reduction.
Lloyd’s Register report reveals oil and gas execs failing on innovation and collaboration
A new study reveals almost half of oil and gas executives believe they have fallen short of their innovation goals in 2015 - nearly twice as many since early 2014.
After nine-year gap, two RGU grads set up subsea company despite downturn
Two Robert Gordon University (RGU) graduates have set up their own company specialising in developing innovative underwater products for the energy industry. Ben Grant, 30, who studied electrical and electronic engineering and Alastair McLennan-Murray, 31, an artificial intelligence and robotics graduate, set up Impact Subsea in February, around the time that oil prices hit rock bottom prior to what turned out to be a small and temporary partial recovery. Impact Subsea offers products and solutions to oil & gas, offshore renewables and scientific markets. Its products are used on remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles and in “stand-alone” applications. Given the nature of what they offer, the hope is that they can exploit the current crisis.
OGIC completes first project as it celebrates first year in business
A new centre that was created to speed up the development of technologies for the oil and gas industry has completed its first collaborative project, a year after receiving approval for start-up funding. The Oil & Gas Innovation Centre (Ogic) acts as a matchmaker between Scottish Universities and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who are looking to cut costs using innovative technology. A year ago the Scottish Funding Council approved funding of £10.6million for Ogic, which formally opened for business in Aberdeen in November. One hundred technology firms have asked Ogic for support since then — 18 projects are now being discussed, while four have been approved.
Video: Braving industry scepticism
The chief executive of the newly launched Oil and Gas Innovation Centre (OGIC) said the organisation will have to brave “industry skepticism” as it looks to encourage more collaboration between universities and oil companies. Ian Phillips said the OGIC could be seen as simply “another initiative”, but he believes its creation has come about from a growing demand amongst companies to meet the challenges within the industry. Mr Phillips, who has 30 years’ experience in the industry, said there would also need to be a culture change in academia to think more flexibly and quickly.