Members of the North Sea operating community have said it needs to be more open to fresh thinking, following an Oil and Gas UK event.
Earlier this week the trade body set up a ‘Dragons Den’ session with seven supply companies pitching ideas at the organisation’s Share Fair event.
The forum featured Equinor, Spirit Energy, Premier Oil, Nexen and Oil and Gas UK who acted a ‘dragons’ scrutinising the concepts and giving feedback.
They came away with a positive reaction to the pitches, which were whittled down from a wider pool, and said it showed the potential for fresh thinking in the North Sea.
Robin Allan, director of exploration at Premier Oil, said he was “struck” by the innovators.
He said: “We only saw a small collection of people but clearly there are scientists, inventors, computer experts who, in some ways, are struggling to sell their product and on the other hand we are keen to buy their product but I don’t think any of us had previously met most of the people who came in the room.
“There’s something we can all do better about communicating and being a bit more open to different ways of doing things with companies that we haven’t worked with before.
“We tend to stick with companies once we know them and trust them but we should be more open to innovators who are trying to break into the market.
Apollo, Nalco Champion and M&P Oil and Gas Solutions were among those pitching.
Girish Kabra, director of decommissioning at Spirit Energy, was encouraged.
He said: “As an operator, I’d like to see this kind of event happening more, facilitated by OGUK, OGA or OGTC.
“I found this very powerful in terms of supply chain companies pitching their solutions. That enabled our thinking about how we can use these new ideas in our business.”
John McColl, supply chain manager at Oil and Gas UK, was another of the Dragons for the session and agreed that more events like this could be facilitated.
He said: “Oil and Gas UK has a significant role in matching the innovation and the development that’s undoubtedly there within our UK wide supply chain and marketing that and matching it with the expectations and requirements of our operator members.
“A lot of the conversation has been, not only on the success of the various presentations that we had, but how do we develop and grow upon this to provide the same levels of access and information to other aspiring companies with comparable innovation and new solutions.”
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