A key behaviour change in the oil and gas industry that it is hoped will underpin the future fortunes of the North Sea has so far proved easier said that done, a report has found.
While 98% of oil and gas companies say they recognise that collaboration is crucial to future success, a new report has revealed “less evidence of radical, industry-wide behavioural change towards collaboration in the UKCS”.
The report – ‘UKCS upstream supply chain collaboration survey’ – found that both operators and suppliers reported higher levels of successful collaborations than the previous year: 40% of respondents were satisfied with the quality of collaboration compared with 27% last year.
But cost reduction remained the main driver for collaboration, with 32% stating that they collaborated to save cash.
Stephen Marcos Jones, director of business excellence at trade body Oil & Gas UK (OGUK) said: “Whilst it’s encouraging to see that the industry is now really on board with the importance of collaboration, we have just cleared the first hurdle and there is much more work for us to do.
“To see truly sustainable change, we need to look beyond collaboration to cut costs towards projects driven by innovation, knowledge sharing, and a desire to work smarter and more efficiently.”
The report found that many operators are now more open to discuss new ideas and solutions with a wider set of companies.
And while the report found that the majority of the improvement in collaborative behaviour has come from suppliers, they are “more focused on selling than ever”.
As a result, operators’ and suppliers’ incentives continue to be “misaligned” and much of the “adversarial behaviours” still persist, the report said.
Bevan Whitehead, oil & gas Leader at Deloitte said: “The results of our latest survey suggest that the industry has taken a considerable step forward toward improving supply chain collaboration in the past 12 months. A huge opportunity for real transformation remains, if companies can take the next step and embrace radical changes in how they work together to build efficient, sustainable and long-term businesses in the UKCS.
“There are many examples of successful collaboration in the UKCS and the Netherlands from which to build. With a world-class supplier base in place, the change the industry needs depends on strong leadership and a willingness to take action.”
The survey is the third in a series of surveys carried out by Deloitte to gauge the effectiveness of industry efforts, supported by Oil & Gas UK’s Efficiency Task Force (ETF), to improve cross-industry collaboration.
Last year the OGUK’s Efficiency Task Force released the “Industry Behaviours Charter” to encourage a collective commitment from the offshore oil and gas industry to work more efficiently and co-operatively.
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