Aberdeen has not changed in the past 20 years – which is a good and bad thing, the head of oil group Total in the UK said last night.
Philippe Guys, who took over as managing director of Total E&P UK in September last year, said it was a shame more had not been done to redevelop the city.
However, he said that its people were as motivated and hard working as they were when he first worked in the Granite City.
He also added the North Sea had become one of the most costly areas to operate in the world.
Mr Guys was speaking at last night’s Scottish Council for Development and Industry dinner at Thistle Altens Hotel in Aberdeen.
He said: “Aberdeen has not changed a lot – which I see as both as positive and negative thing. The negative aspect is that I would love to have seen the city centre redeveloped and become a place where it’s enjoyable to walk around and spend time in a pleasant environment. The process has started with the Union Square development and I expect it will continue with the fantastic project of the city centre gardens and maybe more.
“The positive is that the people living in Aberdeen, and the Scottish people generally, have not changed. They remain very motivated, dedicated and hard working people I first knew 20 years ago.”
However, he said, with 60% of his firm’s production being gas, which sells for less than oil, the firm had to work to be “best in class” to make money.
“The costs of producing on the UK continental shelf are the highest anywhere in the world,” he said. “In 2010 we added 40 additional beds on our Elgin platform. The cost? £40million. At £1million each, we reckon they must be the most expensive beds in the world.”
Mr Guys touched on the imminent UK Government’s Budget, hoping that it would bring more cheer than last year when a surprise tax grab was landed on North Sea oil land gas producers.
The rest of his talk outlined Total’s plans for the North Sea, including spending at least £250million on exploration this year – the firm has seven drilling rigs on hire and has eight exploration wells planned in its Alwyn and Laggan-Tormore areas.
Mr Guys said the firm’s aim is to maintain more than 12 years of proven reserves and more than 20 years of proven and probable reserves in the North Sea.
The firm’s Islay and West Franklin Phase 2 projects, due on stream imminently and next year, respectively, represent investment of more than £1.5billion together, he said.
Its Laggan-Tormore project, west of Shetland, is a further £2.5billion.
