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Sell Out Conference Demonstrates Industry Interest in Decommissioning Opportunities
| Date: | 06 Oct 2010 | | Details: | Oil & Gas UK and Decom North Sea today (Oct 6) launched the first day of their sell-out Offshore Decommissioning Conference in Dunblane. Sponsored by Aker Solutions and Wood Group Engineering (North Sea) Ltd, the purpose of the two-day conference, delivered in association with Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF), is to increase awareness of the opportunities available across the industry and to ensure that the supply chain is prepared to meet the challenges presented by the decommissioning of the UK's oil and gas infrastructure.
Paul Dymond, Oil & Gas UK's operations director, and Brian Nixon, Decom North Sea's chief executive are jointly chairing the event, which has attracted more than 180 delegates. Mr Dymond commented: "This is the third in a series of decommissioning conferences. Industry interest is increasing and this year our focus is on encouraging further integration and expansion of regional capabilities for decommissioning in the UK continental shelf (UKCS)."
Glen Cayley, vice president technical - Europe, Shell Upstream International, is delivering the opening keynote address at the conference today. He will introduce the main themes; namely, lessons learned so far from North Sea decommissioning, the opportunities presented by, and analysis of, the UK market and contracting strategies.
Mr Dymond continued: "To pursue efficient decommissioning, we believe encouraging the emergence and development of companies with the capability to deliver the full range of technologies and services is in everyone's interest. This requires the sharing of insights into the market potential, which is why our first session features a line up of authoritative speakers from the operator, contractor and supply chain communities who are ready to share their experience and outline the industry's forward agenda."
Comprising 630 installations, 10,000 km pipelines and 5,000 wells, the estimated cost of decommissioning the UKCS is now £27 billion, a cost that has doubled in the last five years. The intention of Oil & Gas UK and Decom North Sea is to take a proactive approach to encouraging collaboration between asset owners and effective communication with the supply chain to enable the industry to realise the full potential of the decommissioning market.
Mr Dymond commented: "We are placing more emphasis on discussion and constructive debate and have invited more than 20 speakers to participate in the event. Our conference agenda addresses North Sea cost and safety challenges and we are running interactive workshops to discuss different contracting strategies that could help us meet those challenges."
Brian Nixon said: "Delegates will be invited to contribute to one of four workshops designed to capture an industry perspective on the strengths and challenges facing four sectors: platforms, wells, subsea and onshore disposal. Our aim is to document the actions that result from these workshops and identify how we take on the responsibilities that emerge from the conference."
On the second day of the conference, attendees will explore the capabilities of the supply chain and forthcoming decommissioning work within a wider context. Input on this theme will be provided by ITF, the Society for Underwater Technology (SUT) and the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP) and the session will finish with a presentation on the decommissioning experiences and strategies of the nuclear industry.
Gunther Newcombe, vice president, decommissioning at BP, will consolidate what has come out of the conference, his presentation setting the industry's collaborative agenda for the coming year. The Rt Hon Michael Moore MP, Secretary of State for Scotland, will then deliver the Government's view on addressing the challenges the oil and gas industry faces in the coming decades.
Ends | | Contact: | For further information, please contact Lucy Gordon on 01224 577331.
Notes to Editors
Oil & Gas UK is the leading representative organisation for the UK offshore oil and gas industry. Its members, which number over 100, are companies licensed by the Government to explore for and produce oil and gas in UK waters and those who form any part of the industry's supply chain.
Decom North Sea is a new UK-based industry forum set up in 2009 to maximise the business opportunities presented by North Sea decommissioning. The main objective of the new forum is to deliver practical industry support to improve knowledge transfer and stimulate collaborative activities across the North Sea supply chain. This will be achieved by the delivery of effective member events, activities and information services. |
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For all press enquiries please contact:
Trisha O'Reilly at Oil and Gas UK. Tel: 0207 802 2422 Email: toreilly@oilandgasuk.co.uk
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