The 22nd bi-annual SPE Offshore Europe 2017 exhibition took place last week with over 35,000 delegates from 100 countries attending the four day oil & gas event in Aberdeen.
Reflecting the prolonged global downturn in the oil & gas industry, numbers were predictably down from the 55,000 attendees in 2015. Exhibitor numbers were also down by a third to around 1,000 and new exhibitors were down to 196 this year from 336 in 2015.
Despite this, the mood at Offshore Europe 2017 displayed plenty of optimism and signs that perhaps the industry is turning a corner – exhibitors enthused about “quality over quantity” and “praised the amount of positive leads taken from the conference with a greater emphasis placed on technology”.
Ten Live, exhibiting at the Scottish Development International (SDI, the international arm of Scotland’s enterprise agencies) Scotland Pavilion experienced an extremely busy few days winning a number of new contracts with existing and new UK and international customers. Ten Live Recruitment Director Director Gary Telfer said “It’s been a great exhibition for Ten Live on the Scotland Pavilion. It’s always hugely valuable to meet and engage face-to-face with our oil & gas clients and make new contacts and to have the opportunity to hear first-hand on the ground what’s happening in the sector!“
The UK oil and gas industry still supports 300,000 jobs, down from c.463,000 at peak in 2014 as the UKCS has sought to improve its efficiency, streamline costs, boost productivity and reduce headcounts over the last 2 years.
Current employment in UK offshore oil and gas
- 28,300 people employed in direct oil and gas activities in companies involved in the extraction of crude oil and natural gas and supply chain companies who directly support this activity
- 141,900 people in indirect employment across the extensive supply chain which also exports goods and services overseas
- 132,000 induced jobs created by the sector’s spending in the wider economy, such as hotels, catering and taxis
Employment and retaining and creating skills were once again key topics at Offshore Europe‘ in Keynote Sessions such as ‘developing and retaining tomorrow’s talent’, alongside major themes such as decommissioning and diversification.
Deirdre Michie chief executive of Trade body, Oil & Gas UK which launched its 2017 Annual report at Offshore Europe 2017 commented;
“Challenges remain….. but there are tentative signs that investor confidence is starting to return to the sector, with almost $6bn (£4.6bn) invested in UKCS assets and acquisitions in the first half of 2017. There are still serious issues facing our industry, but we are hopeful that the tide is turning and expect employment levels to stabilise if activity picks up. Although we are getting to a much better place, we still need further investment to generate new activity and sustain hundreds of thousands of UK jobs“.
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