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Organisers of the Offshore Europe exhibition hailed its second best ever attendance despite the effects of the oil price crash casting a pall over proceedings. The Offshore Europe Partnership, a joint venture between Reed Exhibitions and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), said attendance figures remained “very strong” at 55,947 with delegates drawn from 104 countries. This compares to 2013 when crowds hit a record 63,000. The organisation also said re-bookings for 2017 are looking “strong already”. This year the record hit by the four day exhibition was the 1,535 exhibitors from 44 countries, including 336 companies exhibiting at the event for the first time. Space available at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) was - it’s biggest ever - was sold-out.
The perception of the OGA’s role has shifted, according to chief executive Andy Samuel.
Wood Group PSN's chief executive's career started in a phone booth on Union Street.
The industry must do more than just “grin and bear” its latest slump, according to Lloyd’s Register Energy’s Tim Walsh.
The 2016 Offshore Achievement Awards will include a number of new categories to coincide with their 30th anniversary.
A school visit to offshore Europe in 2009 changed the life of former Mackie Academy pupil Craig Gordon. The apprentice draughtsman now works at Technip where he describes everyday as "different" after landing his dream job. Six years ago he was one of the 11,000 secondary school students in the UK who have already been inspired to date to find out about the oil and gas industry through OPITO's Energise Your Future events.
Later today when stands are being dismantled, cars eventually manage to exit the AECC car park and delegates stand in the security queue at the airport, what will be the lasting impressions of Offshore Europe 2015? Hopefully not the announcement that 5,500 North Sea jobs have been lost in recent months (surely an unnecessary stat this week?) or the traffic glue frustrations experienced by some. Inevitably comparisons will be made by many (not least Aberdeen’s hoteliers and publicans) with OE 2013. But is that appropriate?
Charles Darwin is quoted as having said “In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed”.
Stirling Group aims to help reduce the single largest cause of fatalities in the global oil and gas industry through its newly accredited advanced and defensive driver training scheme.
Oil major Shell has sought to transform the perception of the oil and gas industry after receiving no applications from female students for their engineering programme six years ago. The company and Aberdeen's North East College sought to understand why the only submissions had been from male applicants. Shell said three key reasons were found - poor perception of the industry, lack of female role models and poor experience of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects.
Despite the challenges that the industry is currently facing in relation to the current commodity price, we have continued to see a steady stream of visitors to what remains the largest oil and gas event in Europe. I’ve always been impressed by what there is to see at Offshore Europe, showing in so many ways the breadth and depths, quite literally, that our industry goes to in order to innovate, push new boundaries and find new solutions. I am pleased that this year’s conference and exhibition has upheld that tradition.
Offshore Europe provided “good bang for the buck” this year despite reports that attendance was down from the prior event when oil was booming in 2013. Howard Johnson, co-founder and managing director of Blaze Manufacturing Solutions, admitted that business for the Laurencekirk-based firm would be down by third this year when compared to last year. The firm, which specialises in oil and gas fire safety protection systems, was exhibiting on the Scottish Pavilion which is spearheaded by Scottish Enterprise.
The career of the man who is charged helping right the industry’s wrongs started with a rejection letter.
Aberdeen-based engineering services firm Aiken Group's turnover more than doubled to £26.1 million in the past year and it has celebrated the achievement with a new product launch at Offshore Europe.
I travelled to Houston just days after the Macondo blowout; not to join the media horde that was out to pillory BP and its chief executive of that time, Tony Hayward, but to attend OTC. Needless to say, the 2010 show became dominated by the disaster as vitriol spilled forth via a host of news media bent on crucifying “Briddish Petroleum”. The industry was in shock ... absolutely caught on the back foot; so were government agencies in charge of the US Gulf, notably the MMS (Minerals Management Service), which was rapidly dismantled and replaced by a new regulatory and safety system that included the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. GoM operators came under massive pressure to get their act together and to develop adequate countermeasures. In July 2010, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil committed to providing a deepwater containment response capability for the US Gulf.
The boss of UK independent oil producer Premier Oil said he does not see a viable long-term future for the North Sea - unless collaboration goes to a whole new level.
The oil and gas sector should take a tab out of the aviation sector’s commercial playbook, according GE Oil & Gas’ Neil Saunders.
The boss of a major oil and gas services firm has said operators could cut the cost of their North Sea projects in half if they embraced calls for standardisation.
Operators should compete for acreage not innovation to beat a slumped price, the chief executive of Denholm said.
A new regulatory standard for drones operating in the North Sea is set to be in place early next year.
Wellhead equipment built in Montrose will be used worldwide by Statoil after it awarded GE Oil & Gas a four-year framework agreement with the option of two, two-year extensions.
One of the more unusual attractions at this year's Offshore Europe is a vintage Ministry of Technology mobile cinema that Parker Hannifin has managed to procure for the event.
Engineers who embarked on their career only a few years ago have been inspiring the next generation of industry leaders at this year's Offshore Europe, in the first programme of its kind at the event. School children from academies including St Machar in Aberdeen and the secondary school in Montrose were invited along to speak and hear from oil and gas professionals about their careers in the sector. Energy Voice spoke to two pupils, 17-year-old Alexander Smith and 16-year-old Courtney Thomson, who are both looking to pave their way into the industry.
The oil and gas regulator has called on North Sea operators to listen to the supply chain if the industry wants to really improve collaboration and cut costs.