We all know that oil and gas is a true global market and wherever there is oil and gas in the world, there is a Scottish accent not far away. The true global reach of our oil and gas sector is there for all to see – over half of Scottish oil and gas supply chain sales now go to international markets compared to around third of the total around a decade ago.
But of course it’s also true that the downturn of the last 18 months or so has had a significant impact not just in Scotland but beyond, and sadly many thousands of jobs have been lost globally in this period.
It is, however, also important to recognise that while market conditions remain extremely challenging, the situation is not totally without hope. It’s important to remind ourselves that our knowledge and expertise will remain in demand and while times remain tough, opportunities still exist.
So even in the period of the downturn we have seen an increase in interest from Scottish based companies in a number of locations such as the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
The Middle East in particular is rising up the agenda in terms of opportunities and this year we aim to have even more companies join us on the Scotland pavilion at Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference (ADIPEC) this month.
We have also recently supported a visit of 10 training providers to East Africa to investigate opportunities there – education and training is undoubtedly one of our key global strengths.
Scottish Development International provides assistance and support to help Scottish companies trade overseas and oil and gas is a key sector for us. For example in 2015/16 we provided support to 224 Oil & Gas supply chain companies which is predicted to lead to an increase in turnover of around £375 million.
As part of our ongoing support to help companies increase their export activity, and as part of the work of the Energy Jobs Task Force, we have just produced a series of market briefings for the top 50 oil and gas markets around the world.
Each briefing provides some background on prospects in each country and importantly identifies the most promising opportunities for Scottish companies in that country. We are delighted to work with Aberdeen and Grampian Chambers of Commerce to produce these guides which we see as providing an initial ‘taster’ menu from which companies can get an initial sense of interest and opportunity and then work with us to gain additional advice and information to help them further.
These guides will be available on the Scottish Enterprise website from today and we hope that they become an important source of guidance and information to help the Scottish supply chain become even more of a success internationally. We are committed to doing all we can to help Scottish companies achieve that goal.
David Rennie, is international sector head for oil & gas, at Scottish Development International
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