Oil and Gas UK and Decom North Sea are to open their 2010 Offshore Decommissioning Conference today in the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel at Dunblane, where 190 delegates are booked to attend.
The conference is focusing specifically on the role and needs of the offshore decommissioning supply chain and will cover five main sessions.
These will be on decommissioning in the North Sea – lessons learned and possibilities for the future, contracting strategies, the decommissioning supply chain within the UK, lessons learned from other industries and conference reflections.
Brian Nixon, chief executive of Decom North Sea (Decom), who will chair the event jointly with OGUK operations director Paul Dymond, said yesterday there was a genuine feeling in the industry that this was an appropriate time to be holding such a conference.
He said decommissioning activity in the North Sea was likely to ramp up in the next few years.
Mr Nixon said the conference would have authoritative speakers but it would not be simply a series of “PowerPoint presentations”.
He added: “There will be a strong focus on workshops and networking to engage delegates in debate and drive forward initiatives to maximise opportunities and deal with challenges.”
Mr Nixon said Dunblane had been selected as the location because it was relatively central and easy to get to and both Oil and Gas UK and Decom were bodies with members throughout the UK.
Decommissioning UK continental shelf (UKCS) offshore oil and gas platforms in response to declining output could cost the industry more than £19billion over 30 years, according to a report out earlier this week.
The study, from professional service firm Deloitte and oil analyst Douglas-Westwood, also predicted the annual cost of decommissioning would peak at £1.58-£1.89billion between 2017 and 2019.
Meanwhile, research conducted by Robert Gordon University oil and gas MBA students, commissioned and mentored by management and technology consultant Accenture, is said to herald a new age in the decommissioning industry.
Students investigated the contracting strategies used to date for decommissioning.
They found that operators and contractors were working to their own agendas, but that they were willing to look at alternatives and adopt greater collaboration.
The research will be discussed at the conference being held today and tomorrow at Dunblane. Allan Scott, director of the oil and gas MBA programme at the Aberdeen university, said: “Decommissioning will be a massive industry for the north-east and this research heralds the start of something very exciting.”
Oil prices rose yesterday after Japan announced a surprise cut in interest rates, raising expectations of further boosts for other major economies and as stock markets rallied worldwide. November delivery crude added $1.35 to $82.82 in New York while November Brent crude in London gained $1.56 to settle at $84.84.
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