Operators should compete for acreage not innovation to beat a slumped price, the chief executive of Denholm said.
Speaking at Offshore Europe, company leader Michael Beveridge said: “There’s a lot of talk in the industry about standardisation.
“There are too many bespoke products and I think standardisation can drive down the costs.”
The industry must now shift the culture on supporting innovation if it’s to recover from uninhibited spending spurred on by $100 oil, according to the Scotsman.
“$100 per barrel drove cost control up,” he said.
“You don’t have to be as efficient when you’re making that kind of money.
“I think we will see a culture change in the next 24 months and innovation is fundamental to that but it needs a sponsor, because inevitably you don’t get the technology right the first time around.
“And it is the smaller companies which are driving the innovation. They are coming up with these innovative ideas but they don’t have the funds. I think that the operators should step into that role and become a sponsor of innovation.
“Transformational change takes time. Cost cutting is brutal but very easy. You push those cost cutting measures down the supply chain.”
Denholm is on track to grow turnover this year by £10million this year.
He credits de-risking the business through targeted international expansion for the growth.
The industry in turn should de-risk itself from hard oil price hits by learning to compete for the right stock.
He added: “I think to do things different and do them better there needs to be more sharing of innovation and technology between exploration and production companies.
“Where they should be competing is in acreage. Where they should be collaborating is in technology and innovation. That is where they should be sharing.
“We all want the North Sea to have a long life and if the E&P companies share a bit more it can do that.”
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