The newly appointed Oil and Gas authority (OGA) chief executive said the biggest challenge the industry faced was a change in culture and behavior in the industry.
Andy Samuel, BG managing director, was named as the man to take the helm of the new industry body during a visit with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander in Aberdeen.
Mr Samuel said he wanted to work at pace but with “wisdom” to ensure no “false starts” were made as the industry body moved a step further to becoming fully operational.
Speaking at Archer’s headquarters in Blackburn, he said: “I think I want to work at pace but with wisdom, we don’t want to make any false starts.
“We need to work together in a tripartite relationship. The industry, the OGA and the government closely working together is vital.
“We need to grow the team and we are looking to the industry to help and I need to bring some very strong individuals into the team to support the current workload and drive new work.
“I’m actually very confident we know what we need to do. I think cultural change and behaviour change is going to perhaps be the biggest challenge.”
The establishment of the OGA was announced after Sir Ian Wood carried out a major review of the sector for the government.
His report recommended a new regulator be established as the current one is “no longer adequate” to meet the challenges of managing an “increasingly complex” sector.
The Wood report also claimed changes in the way the North Sea oil and gas sector operates could produce at least three to four billion additional barrels of oil over the next 20 years.
The managing director of Exploration and Production in Europe has been a strong supporter of The Wood Review.
Speaking to Energy Voice following the announcement, he included it in an outline of key three areas where the industry, OGA and government could work together.
Mr Samuel added: “Right now I think everyone is aligned around three key imperatives in the industry.
“The industry itself is working very hard to reduce costs, a key part of that is driving efficiency and there’s a lot of work underway that as a board member of Oil and Gas UK I’m very pleased to see how that’s progressing.
“The second key thing is the fiscal review.
“The third key thing of course which I’m going to be looking for is the implementation of the Wood recommendations.
“I think Sir Ian and his team have done a marvelous job. The recommendations are fantastic. There are 21 key actions and the industry has bought into it.
“I think the combinations of those three things are very fundamental improvements to the industry.”
The announcement today is a major step forward in hitting the widely circulated target of making the OGA operational by April 2016.
Mr Samuel has been given a three-year contract for the job, in which his early priorities will be to establish the OGA in its Aberdeen headquarters and ensure it has the right people to perform.
In July the government pledged £15million to help kick-start the new independent regulator for the North Sea oil and gas industry.
The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), which is to be based in Aberdeen, will receive £3million a year for five years from 2016-17.
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