The chief executive of Subsea UK said next year’s event will allow the sector to address some of the on-going challenges within the industry.
The event will be held in Aberdeen in February and expects to attract more than 6,000 delegates and around 200 exhibitors.
Neil Gordon said there were “challenging times” ahead caused by the drop in commodity price and spiraling costs.
The chief executive said changes made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer during the Autumn Statement had gone some way to easing the situation in the North Sea but did not contain the radical overhaul many in the industry had hoped for.
He said: “The industry still requires further reductions in the overall tax rate and more measures to increase exploration activity.
“Against this backdrop, the subsea sector performed reasonably well in 2014, but we are well aware of the challenges ahead and Subsea Expo will allow the industry to discuss these in some depth.
“These are the main areas of focus for the subsea sector in the next few years.
“In our plenary session, we will be looking at the current and future challenges with senior industry leaders from companies such as Apache North Sea, EnQuest, Subsea 7 and Proserv.
“With intensified scrutiny on cost and value, standardisation and production optimisation become big ticket agenda items and we will be looking at how our companies are approaching these areas and how they can capitalise on global opportunities.”
Subsea Expo has grown in size and stature since 2004, becoming a globally recognised event.
The main topics to be explored at the event are maximising global opportunities, key projects around the world, the marine renewables market, standardisation and optimisation, pipelines, ROV and inspection and technology and R&D.
The Subsea Business Activity Report in 2013, revealed that the industry generated around £9billion in revenues and supported 60,000 jobs across the country with the centre of excellence in Aberdeen supported by growing clusters of subsea businesses in the Scottish central belt, the North-east, North-west and South-east of England.
Almost 50% of UK subsea output is exported and the UK boasts 45% of global marketshare.
Mr Gordon added: “The UK subsea supply chain is not just dependent on the North Sea. Most subsea companies are operating globally, particularly in emerging and deepwater regions such as Australia, Brazil and West Africa.
“While this means that risk is more effectively spread, there will still be significant challenges ahead and those companies which can best demonstrate innovation and added-value alongside cost-efficiencies will be well-placed to weather the storm.”
The event will take place at Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre from the 11th to the 13th of February 2015.
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