As the cherry pickers come in to remove the ROVs and the weary exhibitors dismantle their stands and pack up their sales brochures, I am sitting down to write my final editorial for Energy Voice.
Subsea Expo is over for another year but it’s an event we will not forget. With the oil and gas industry facing one of the toughest times in our history, Europe’s largest annual event focused on subsea broke all records.
Over 6,500 delegates attended the show and with 8,500 visits, indicating many of them came back for a second time over the three days.
Cadherent has championed the use of 3D animation in a bid to cut costs as the subsea industry tightens its belt.
The Aberdeen-based company said by harnessing the ability to simulate, build and install subsea operations, the function of 3D animation has become a realistic option for the reduction of unnecessary operational expenditure.
Lee Muir, business development manager for Cadherent, said animation was previously considered as a "nice-to-have" commodity for many organisations but in the current market has become more valuable.
Ian McCabe, technology project team leader with ITF, spoke to Energy Voice following his presentation at Subsea Expo 2015.
Now in its final day, the exhibition has been attended by thousands of delegates from around the globe.
On the penultimate day of Subsea Expo 2015, Energy Voice sat down with three industry experts to discuss the exhibition and how innovation can lead the way in developing new technology.
Gordon Drummond, chief executive of the newly re-launched NSRI (National Subsea Research Initiative), Ian Phillips, chief executive of OGIC (Oil and Gas Innovation Centre) and Ian Reid, chief executive of CENSIS formed the panel.
Marine equipment company Sonardyne International UK yesterday tied up a deal to supply Seatronics with £1million-worth of its 6G acoustic positioning technology.
The order was placed at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre on day two of Europe’s biggest offshore energy industry event, Subsea Expo 2015, which finishes today.
It is not the first contract Sonardyne has managed to secure at this year’s installment of the expo.
An Aberdeenshire-based engineering firm has produced a new range of mechanical lifting devices that is the first its kind in the oil and gas industry.
Power Jacks, which employs about 70 people at its base in Ellon, unveiled its new kit at the offshore energy industry’s flagship event, Subsea Expo 2015, which is being held at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre.
Oil and gas is something of a new frontier for Power Jacks, which is exhibiting at the expo for the first time. The company only moved into the subsea market in the last 18 months, when it started receiving requests for lifting devices that do not use hydraulics, the industry standard for decades.
Nearly a dozen marine technology firms will each have 10 minutes to show off their latest gadgets and gizmos before a panel of subsea bigwigs in Aberdeen today.
The Spotlight on Technology showcase, whose format is reminiscent of hit BBC TV series the Dragons’ Den, is being tried out for the first time at the annual Subsea Expo 2015, the largest offshore energy event in Europe.
Subsea Expo, which is being held at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre, closes today.
The quick-fire presentations are a chance for firms to promote new equipment that can help operators locate and produce oil and gas with greater efficiency and at a lower cost, but without skimping on safety.
Subsea companies have been urged to turn to the re-launched NSRI (National Subsea Research Initiative).
The NSRI is aiming to bring academia and industry together to collaborate on getting technology to market much more quickly.
Focus turned to the international market today at Subsea Expo. Infield unveiled the detailed findings of their latest report into global subsea activity – underlining the tough times ahead but with a more promising outlook from 2017 onwards.
The conference session on global markets, along with UKTI’s programme of one-to-one meetings matching UK expertise with demand from regions including Africa, Australia, Brazil and Mexico.
The maturity and challenges of the North Sea make it even more crucial for UK subsea companies to increase their overseas business if they are to sustain their growth in the long-term.
Europe’s largest annual subsea conference and exhibition, which showcases the expertise and technology of a UK industry generating about £9billion in revenue annually, opened yesterday.
More than 6,000 people registered to attend the event, organised by trade body Subsea UK, which takes place at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre till Friday.
Forum Energy Technologies unveiled its latest generation subsea robotic system on the first day of Subsea Expo 2015.
Graham Adair, vice-president of sales and marketing at Forum, spoke to Energy Voice about Subsea Expo and the challenges ahead for the industry.
The UK energy sector’s attempts to pull itself out of the mire are being hindered by a lack of collaboration, urgency, and boldness, industry leaders said at Europe’s largest subsea event yesterday.
Energy services firm Proserv was crowned company of the year at an awards ceremony celebrating outstanding achievements in the UK subsea industry last night.
The gala Subsea UK Business Awards was attended by over 850 people at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) following the first day of the industry body's annual conference.
Judges for the awards scheme hailed "key milestones" for Proserv in the last 12 months, including a series of high-profile contract awards across the globe, expanding its manufacturing facilities and launching a "game-changing" subsea technology.
Get out there and do it! This was the message from leaders in the subsea industry today at the opening session of Subsea Expo.
Operators Apache and EnQuest were joined by tier one subsea contractors Subsea 7 and Proserv in a rallying call for the industry to pull together and get things done, despite the concern over the decline in the price of oil.
Collaboration and innovation will drive the industry forward. While over-engineering and aversion to risk are holding us back.
Research unveiled at Subsea Expo 2015 has analysed the subsea sector market over the next four years.
Infield Systems Limited unveiled their analysis, which revealed subsea tree orders for the first three quarters of 2014 were substantially lower than industry expectation.
In the short term, the energy analyst company said oil price volatility would add additional uncertainty to the market.
Ashtead Technology, which celebrates 30 years in business this year, has won a new contract with FUGRO.
The company made the announcement as Subsea Expo kicks off in Aberdeen for three days.
The award means Ashtead will be a preferred supplier of subsea rental equipment and associated services around the world.
Since 2013 when it launched, independent project services consultancy Cambla, has exceeded its turnover target by more than 45%.
The company has been nominated in the new enterprise category at the Subsea Expo 2015 awards in Aberdeen.
Owner and project services manager, Alexander MacLeod, spoke to Energy Voice about their recent nomination and the launch of their Schedule Animation Tool (S.A.T).
Forum Energy Technologies has launched its latest generation subsea robotic system at Subsea Expo.
The company, which is the world’s largest manufacturer of underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), has created the XLX- C ROV.
It is more compact than the highly successful XLX model, but with similar capabilities.
As the Subsea Expo kicks off in Aberdeen this week Neil Gordon, chief executive of Subsea UK, has taken up the role of Energy Voice’s guest editor. Follow along each day as he spells out the challenges and triumphs the industry faces.
Aberdeen energy services firm FlexTech said yesterday it had tied up deals worth more than £250,000 so far this year, shaking off the effects of an industry-wide malaise.
The UK still boasts the single largest concentration of subsea capability and excellence in the world. Our challenge is to maintain that position in the face of the current drop in oil price and increasing global competition. This means we need to get better and quicker at developing new innovation and technology – which is a key theme at Subsea Expo this week.
The first half of 2014 saw our sector continue the upward curve we have enjoyed in recent years with most companies reporting strong order books. The growth wasn’t confined simply to the UK; our industry enjoyed expansion internationally with exports growing to almost 50% of our total revenues.
However, during the summer of 2014 we started to see a cooling off period that has been compounded by the drop in oil price. We have also seen the dynamics changing in other parts of the global subsea market. Australia has perhaps peaked slightly and we have seen it cool off as it begins to move from a CAPEX intensive region into a more OPEX focussed operational area. We are starting to see a drying up of projects in Africa but Mexico’s energy reform last year will have a significant impact on companies in the Gulf of Mexico as its deepwater market begins to open up.
Record numbers from across the global offshore oil and gas industry are expected to attend Subsea Expo 2015 in Aberdeen this week.
Europe’s largest annual subsea conference and exhibition showcases the expertise and technology of a UK industry generating about £9billion in revenue annually and supporting around 60,000 jobs.
More than 6,000 people are registered to attend the event, organised by trade body Subsea UK, which takes place at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre from Wednesday to Friday.
From travelling by hoverboard to colonising Mars – predicting how the future will go is a notoriously difficult affair that is influenced by any number of factors.
For younger people, having to make a decision at a relatively early age on their career path, it may not quite involve looking into a crystal ball but it is still a challenge to decide which journey to embark on without understanding how to get there.
Inside Industry, which supports students all over the country, was set up with this in mind as an online tool providing a total overview of jobs available in the energy industry and, crucially, the different entry routes into these posts.
Subsea UK is focused on promoting the breadth of expertise and experience that sets the British subsea sector apart. The Subsea UK Awards are an opportunity to publicly recognise the talent and innovation demonstrated by both companies and individuals, while showcasing the new developments in technology that highlight why the UK is the world-leader in subsea.
While the oil and gas industry enjoys a year round calendar of awards schemes, Subsea UK believed that there should be a dedicated celebration of the growth, excellence and talent demonstrated purely in the subsea sector and, in 2007, the inaugural awards were presented.
