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?
At the time of the 2013 event, Brent crude had consistently traded above $100 per barrel for two years and investment in the North Sea was at record levels.
Not surprisingly 2013 saw the highest ever number of visitors to OE. This year visitor numbers were significantly down but not exhibitors.
Yes, there may have been more sellers than buyers in the halls this time, but a number of companies I spoke to either had made sales or received serious enquiries.
It is clear that what is driving these are the efficiencies their products deliver. They offer solutions that are more compact or smarter or quicker, saving on maintenance or deck space or drilling time or vessel days.
The message that these products can reduce costs has fallen on deaf ears for too long, but there are signs that innovative and more efficient pieces of kit are starting to gain market traction.
As one delegate put it “conversations are now taking place that wouldn’t have taken place before”.
This theme of reducing costs through efficiencies and not just rate costs was taken up by a number of conference speakers including OGA CEO Andy Samuel.
On a related theme the importance of interpreting and understanding data is now being appreciated by the industry with a number of exhibitors showcasing software and analysis tools which can maximise efficiency and reduce costs.
Bernard Looney, BP’s Vice President of Development recognised the value of attracting the digital generation to the industry in his conference address.
So what were my personal reflections on OE15? It didn’t start brilliantly but improved as the week went on. The car park apart, the organisation was superb.
The pre-registration, free bus, badging and entry systems meant you could be inside the exhibition 30 minutes after leaving the centre of town.
The quality of the exhibits and exhibitors was hugely impressive. Whilst the mood in the halls was always going to be less “buzzy” than 2013, it was overall more positive than I expected.
Undoubtedly more bad news will emerge and for many 2016 trading will be challenging to say the least.
However I wholeheartedly concur with the views of Jim Milne of Balmoral: “we have had 50 years of incredible achievement in the North Sea” and Bernard Looney: “there are plenty of reasons to remain optimistic about the UK oil and gas sector”.
The ingenuity and resilience that the industry has shown over the past 50 years will pull it through the next two and I am confident we will meet up again at OE2017 with a stronger, fitter industry and a renewed sense of optimism.
Ken Gordon is a partner in Burness Paull’s corporate finance division
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