Scotland’s oil & gas supply chain urged to look down under for new opportunities

Scottish oil & gas supply chain companies are being urged to explore potential partnerships and business opportunities with Australia – one of the industry’s fastest growing markets – at a special event in Aberdeen next week.Keynote speaker at the event is Scottish Minister for Energy Fergus Ewing. Speaking ahead of the event, he said:

Minister for Energy, Fergus Ewing said:

“Scotland is a world leader in the oil and gas sector. As the UK Government have confirmed, up to 24 billion barrels of oil reserves remain, meaning that more than half of the value of the North Sea's oil and gas reserves are yet to be extracted, with a potential wholesale value of £1.5 trillion. Oil and gas will remain an enormous economic resource for decades to come.

“The 2013 Activity Report from Oil and Gas UK shows the continued importance of the North Sea within the energy world, and predicts rising investment from £11.4 billion in 2012 to over £13 billion in 2013 - clearly demonstrating the confidence investors and the industry have in Scotland. Scotland's Oil and Gas Strategy, developed in conjunction with industry, lays out a plan to help the industry go from strength to strength, and this event will provide companies with the opportunity to further develop, and to secure the long-term vision of the industry.”

One business which is already seeing success in the market is engineering support services TRAC Oil & Gas. The company’s general manager Daniel Hawthorn said:

“We’re very pleased with our progress in this first year of local operations in the Australian oil & gas arena. The Australian market continues to grow and develop at a fast pace with several of the major planned development projects now well and truly underway. This, coupled with existing ageing infrastructure in the region, allows TRAC to offer our full range of services assisting in new build construction activities combined with ongoing inspection and maintenance tasks to support asset integrity.”

The event will feature presentations from Scottish companies active in the market and members of the GlobalScot network. One of the speakers, GlobalScot Alison Sellar the chief executive officer of activpayroll which is already taking advantage of opportunities in Australia, said:

“This event will equip attendees with the knowledge to successfully expand their business in Australia. They’ll learn to leverage the globally reputed Scottish expertise in oil and gas to profit from the abundant oil and gas supply chain opportunities in Australia. This is a must attend event for all firms, from those initially assessing the opportunity to those strategically planning for growth in Australia.”

The event will also see the launch of a new guide from Scottish Enterprise, its international development arm Scottish Development International and Subsea UK on doing business in Australia, which features market information and guidance on how to tap into opportunities in the market.

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

“Our oil & gas sector is globally recognised for its knowledge and expertise built up over 40 years of operation in the North Sea, and Scotland’s industry-led Oil & Gas Strategy has indentified increasing export activity as a key priority for the sector.

“The Australian oil & gas industry expects to spend £15.7 billion a year on new projects over the next five years, and the value of the industry is expected to peak at over £30 billion by 2020, which represents a huge opportunity for our companies. There are a number of synergies between our two countries, such as a similar culture, legal, accounting and regulatory practice, which make it an ideal place to do business both for seasoned exporters and those looking to explore new international markets for the first time.”