Maximising the future of oil & gas in Scotland

The document features milestones in the industry over the past year, including:

• £2.7million in innovation funding from Scottish Enterprise to support the Oil & Gas industry, part of a total planned investment of £8.9 million.
• An increase in supply chain sales of 5.8% in 2011/12 to reach £17.2bn against a 2020 target of £30bn with an increase in direct international sales of 8.4% to £8.2bn
• Increased engagement by Scottish Enterprise with over 40 companies recruited in the last year to its account management process, which helps companies achieve their growth ambitions. This is in addition to the 223 companies in the sector it already supports in this way.
• Helping over 200 companies with international activity leading to expected export sales of over £800 million over a three year period.
• Support for transition training by Subsea UK and OPITO to help people get the right skills to move into the Oil & Gas Industry from other sectors.

Scotland’s Oil & Gas Strategy is being delivered by industry, Scottish Government, public sector partners and the Oil & Gas Industry Leadership Group (ILG) – which was set up to help drive collaboration across the sector and support its future development.

An event to mark the first year of activity is being held at Hydro Group in Aberdeen tomorrow (Wed 12 June) where Energy Minister Fergus Ewing will highlight progress made in terms of delivery of the strategy. Speaking ahead of the event, he said:

“One year on from the publication of our Oil and Gas Strategy, this updated document sets out the progress over the last year and the opportunities ahead - setting out our ambitious plans for the industry, including a key focus on the long-term development on the workforce.

“North Sea oil and gas is a hugely valuable asset. There are an estimated 24 billion barrels of oil still to be recovered, with a potential wholesale value of up to £1.5 trillion – and with some estimates suggesting it could be substantially higher still.

“Decades of experience recovering oil and gas from the challenging North Sea has given Scottish companies the expertise needed for oil and gas production and exploration – expertise which is helping our companies gain contracts in countries around the world.”

Innovation was identified as a key activity in the Oil & Gas Strategy – particularly in terms of getting priority technologies deployed more quickly to market, and helping increase recovery levels in the long term. An innovation call has already been made for projects addressing asset integrity and reliability, and another is currently open looking for projects focusing on well integrity.

The £2.7million has been awarded as a result of increased work to raise awareness of the need for innovation in the sector, alongside the first two of six planned funding calls. At total investment of up to £10million is available over a three-year period.

The update document details progress in the other key priority areas identified in the Oil & Gas strategy, including developing the industry’s supply chain both domestically and overseas, increasing skills within the sector, and promoting Scotland as a key location for oil & gas investment.

David Rennie, international head of oil & gas at Scottish Enterprise added:

“Scotland’s oil & gas industry is renowned on the global stage for its knowledge, skills and expertise – particularly in areas such as subsea, safety, integrity and supply chain management. The strategy is supporting the industry to capitalise on this competitive advantage, helping more companies to enter new markets, increase innovation and develop skills.

“The ongoing success in the delivery of the strategy is due to the high level of partnership working between industry and public and private sector partners, particularly through the work of the Industry Leadership Group. We look forward to continuing this collaboration for the future success of the industry.”