The head of Oil and Gas UK (OGUK) yesterday urged companies to drop “cynicism” and embrace the new way of working after the trade body unveiled a number of new initiatives at an annual business event.
OGUK’s Share Fair aims to stoke collaboration and drum up business by giving supply chain companies a rare chance to have one-to-one interviews with operators’ decision makers throughout the day, in a format not dissimilar to speed-dating.
OGUK chief executive Deirdre Michie said that while the attendance was down slightly on previous years, a turnout of 900 plus was still very good and showed the industry is trying to improve the difficult situation it finds itself in.
Visitors to Oil and Gas UK’s annual Share Fair said the event indicated that operators’ attitudes towards the supply chain are thawing amid the oil price downturn.
Delegates who participated in one-to-one interviews, more than 1,000 of which were held throughout the day, said buyers were more receptive to new ideas than had previously been the case.
Jan Stander, business development manager at Trac Oil and Gas, an Aberdeen-based energy service firm, said a slight dip in attendance had helped improve opportunities to break the ice with potential clients.
A new course in petroleum data management for the oil and gas industry is to be launched by Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University and Oil and Gas UK's subsidary Common Data Access.
Oil and Gas Authority chief executive Andy Samuel visited the north of Scotland to attend the first ever Oil and Gas UK Fabricators Forum to be held in the Highlands.
Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing has called on the UK Government to make further commitments to the help the North Sea oil and gas industry and take action on protecting the stability of the oil and gas fiscal regime.
In a briefing at Holyrood to politicians he said there needed to be an urgent consultation on inventives to boost further exploration in the North Sea.
Ewing also urged the UK government to make a commitment there would be no tax increases for the industry and any significant policy proposals should be in consultation with both industry and the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA).
Chief executive of the Oil and Gas Authority, Andy Samuel, has welcomed the formation of the new Efficiency Task Force (ETF), led by industry trade body Oil and Gas UK, that aims to greater efficiency with the UK North Sea sector.
Funds to help pay for the ongoing maintenance of the North Sea Memorial Garden in Aberdeen that pays tribute to the 167 men who lost their lives in the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster are being handed over today.
Oil & Gas UK's Business Sentiment Index for the second quarter of 2015 published today shows that industry remains fragile but that companies’ outlook is improving.
New guidelines have been set by Oil and Gas UK for well abandonment in a bid to increase cross-industry understanding of issues surrounding the process.
The industry body has made the move in a bid to continue improving safety and performance across the UKCS (UK Continental Shelf).
The first guidelines were set just over 20 years ago with input from member companies and stakeholders.
