Public money must be invested in UK-based upstream oil & gas R&D in the same way as huge sums are ploughed into aerospace and defence, the chief executive of the National Subsea Research Institute (NSRI) has warned.
David Pridden, creator of the NSRI during his time as chief at the trade association Subsea UK, told Energy that the North Sea was even more strategic to the economy, yet it was the R&D Cinderella in public money terms.
However, he admitted that even the industry itself was investing relatively little in R&D – at least not in Britain – as the climate for such work is better in countries such as Norway and the US where public monies are available.
Despite the UK’s Technology Strategy Board stating that £1.12billion had been spent on R&D by the UK oil & gas industry in 2009, Pridden said this figure was not set in context as it was a global number.
Not only that, most of this sum was accounted for by just two super-majors.
“The TSB has said that £1.12billion is what is being spent and that this is across the top 1,000 top companies in the industry,” he added.
“Importantly, 94.6% was spent by just two companies – BP and Shell.
“But how much are they really spending on R&D in this country?”
Pridden said getting to the bottom of just how much was being spent on UK-based R&D was proving frustrating and next to nothing was going on in subsea.
“In particular, I’ve tried for three months to find subsea R&D in this country and I’ve failed,” said Pridden. “There is none.
“And yet, as Malcolm Webb of Oil & Gas UK says, last year, the biggest industrial spend in the UK was by the oil & gas sector.”
Pridden said the NSRI, which he is currently overhauling and strengthening, intends to put out a call for consultancy services to make a case for public support for R&D in the UK oil & gas sector.
NSRI’s CEO said: “We’ve had this industry for more than 25 years and now we’re making a case for R&D in it.
“If this was aerospace or health/pharmaceuticals or defence, money would be pouring into R&D. Yes, BP and Shell are spending large sums of money, but little of it is here as there is little incentive to spend it here because there’s no public-sector contribution.”
He complained too that scant attention had been paid to upstream oil & gas in the government’s thinking on energy, but public money was being poured into renewables.
“The government has got to play its part; as they prepare the energy strategy for the next 25 years, they have to take a more thoughtful, balanced approach,” said Pridden, adding that he would not let up in his quest.
“I fully intend to put NSRI on the map in government circles. I don’t need to walk into oil companies; they know the score and you can’t blame them for focusing R&D in countries where they can get tax breaks.
“So, UK Government, I’m going to be knocking on your door. I want to see money being ploughed into research matched here in this country. They do it in Norway and many other countries besides; why not here?”
As for NSRI itself, Pridden said his mission was to raise its game and make it smarter. While industry had stepped up the plate with subscriptions totalling some £200,000 a year so far, he said it was important to better understand and engage academics in the strategically vital subsea R&D required by the subsea sector.
“Now I’m back, I’m realising how difficult it is to establish the NSRI concept and get it moving properly. It has made some progress on the industry side and, last year, in terms of getting four scoping studies done.”
It is only three months since Pridden was enticed out of semi-retirement to take on the task.
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