North Sea companies must be open to new ideas emerging from oil basins around the world if they truly want to “break through to excellence”, the chair of a major industry conference has said.
Michael Borrell, newly appointed conference chair of SPE Offshore Europe 2019, said oil firms had achieved amazing feats of engineering in the toughest conditions offshore UK.
But Mr Borrell, who has been senior vice president, North Sea and Russia at Total, since September 2017, said the UK continental shelf did not have “a monopoly on good ideas”.
He was speaking after SPE revealed the theme of Offshore Europe 2019 – “Our licence to operate: breaking through to excellence”.
The conference will take place in Aberdeen from September 3-6, 2019.
About 36,000 people and 900 exhibitors from 130 countries attended SPE Offshore Europe 2017.
Mr Borrell is a Cambridge University graduate in chemical engineering who joined Total in 1985. He has held a number of senior roles at the Paris-headquartered firm, including senior vice president, Continental Europe and Central Asia.
He said: “SPE Offshore Europe 2019 will allow the industry to come together and discuss what really matters.
“It will be important to talk about keeping our costs low, pushing the boundaries of innovation and focusing on excellence in our operations.
“Offshore Europe presents a great opportunity for us to challenge ourselves in the North Sea basin.
“It’s a harsh and demanding environment that has seen the industry overcome the odds and achieve feats of engineering that will go down in history.
“But we don’t always get it right and we certainly don’t have a monopoly on good ideas.
“I want OE2019 to not only look at what is going well in the North Sea but also to engage with the best of what is happening around the world.
“It is only by sharing best practice and being open to new ideas that we can truly break through to excellence.”
Darcy Spady, 2018 SPE president, said: “We are very pleased to welcome Michael Borrell as conference chair for OE2019.
“Michael brings extensive leadership, operational and technical expertise from his experience working with an international operator for more than 30 years.
“More than ever our industry’s operations have to demonstrate levels of excellence in order to maintain a ‘license to operate’.
“This theme will form the cornerstone of an exciting and relevant conference programme for OE2019 that will be formulated over the coming months by a global committee of industry leaders.”
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