Scale of OGTC opportunity to be revealed at Technology Showcase

Maggie McGinlay, senior director of energy at Scottish Enterprise, will address delegates at the event at AECC on Wednesday 9^th March on the scale of opportunity that creating a technology centre of excellence in Aberdeen will deliver in terms of maximising economic recovery from the UK Continental Shelf, retaining high value jobs and cementing the city’s position as an export hub.

Delegates at the conference and exhibition, organised by the Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF) in partnership with Oil & Gas UK, will hear more about the public sector funding that the Aberdeen City Region Deal has allocated for the world class OGTC and plans to secure further private sector engagement and funding for the project.

The OGTC has been developed with and is supported by industry stakeholders including the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA), Oil & Gas UK (OGUK), the Technology Leadership Board (TLB), Opportunity North East (ONE), Scottish Enterprise, the University of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University. The Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF) and Oil and Gas Innovation Centre (OGIC) will also have a role to play in supporting OGTC activities.

Maggie McGinlay said: “We have a major opportunity through the creation of a global centre for oil and gas technology innovation to support economic recovery from the North Sea basin by initially targeting solutions to challenges around small pools, well construction, asset integrity and decommissioning. This is unlike any oil and gas focussed facility we’ve seen in the region or UK before and, in terms of public and private sector backing, will be similar to the Aerospace Technology Institute, which has secured significant research and technology investment to maintain the UK’s competitive position in a global marketplace.”

Professor Paul de Leeuw, Director of the Oil and Gas Institute at Robert Gordon University (RGU), has been part of the team developing the OGTC concept. He said: “The initial focus will be on establishing solution centres to deliver quick fixes on some of the problems hampering North Sea production while the longer-term ambition is to have a national centre with research facilities and space dedicated to incubating new ideas.

“This is a new and different approach for our industry and is expected to leverage capabilities from across the UK and beyond, helping to make the North East world renowned for excellence in oil and gas innovation.”

The project has a catalytic role to play in the transitioning of the North East of Scotland from a centre of operational excellence to a global hub for oil and gas innovation, which will help retain more of the supply chain in the region.

Subject to City Region Deal funding being secured by summer 2016, the expectation is that the first managed Solution Centres will be created this year, with initial delivery and output expected from 2017 onwards.

Other speakers at the Technology Showcase include Colette Cohen, Senior Vice-President for the UK and the Netherlands at Centrica, Angela Seeney, Director of Technology and Projects at the Oil & Gas Authority (OGA) and Paul White, Director of Subsea Technology at GE Oil & Gas and Industry Chair of the Technology Leadership Board.

Other organisations set to present include: BP, Shell, Total, Lockheed Martin and ConocoPhillips along with dozens of technology innovators.

For further information on the conference programme and to book last minute exhibition spaces visit https://showcase.itfenergy.com/