Power of Scotland 30/04/13

Power of Scotland

Safety ďŹ rst No room for error as offshore sector aims for spotless record

A fair wind Scotland’s ports target billions in wind and tidal energy market

Tuesday April 30 2013

Tuesday April 30 2013 | the times

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Power of Scotland

Welcome

Success in a safer industry

No injury or fatality in a sometimes hazardous sector is acceptable, says Step Change in Safety

Welcome to the April issue of the Times Power of Scotland, which majors on two issues: the immense possibilities for new and highly lucrative opportunities in Scotland’s ports and the heightened awareness of safety and environmental issues in the offshsore industry.

Corporate social reponsibility is sometimes a rather nebulous but much hyped aspiration. Here Peter Jones clinically unpicks the conflicting ideas that surround it. Our cover story examines the imminent opportunities for our ports in the booming business of offshire wind construction The Step Change in Safety initiative is leading the bid to reduce hydrocarbon while, 25 years after the Piper Alpha tragedy, we releases, explains Les Linklater look at the positive outcome of the lessons learned.

With demand for skilled o one wants to think about the young workers continuing, unthinkable. But we find an industry that is in the offshore industry we can’t buoyed with optimism and afford not to. The with sound prospects. only way the oil

No room for complacency when offshore safety is concerned

Inside ...

Harsh lessons learned

How Piper Alpha prompted a radical re-think in safety in the North Sea Page 4

Cover story

Scottish ports are poised for a multi-billion pound opportunity in offshore wind construction Page 8

It’s a good job

Optimism continues over long-term, well rewarded job prospects Page 14

Coming clean

After the Gulf of Mexico debacle, an even more stringent approach to oil spills Page 18

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and gas industry can continue to improve its safety performance, as it has done over the past 25 years, is to closely guard against complacency. We must maintain a sense of “chronic unease” in our desire to continue making things safer for our people.

We must understand the challenges facing us both offshore and onshore and we must ensure we collectively, as an industry, not only learn from incidents but strive to build the learning into our daily business.

After Piper Alpha came critical recommendations. As an industry we commit ourselves day in, day out, to applying those standards and we strive to be better and safer. It’s no surprise, however, that the fundamental issues at play in Piper Alpha — process safety and workforce engagement — are still very much the priorities for the oil and gas industry a quarter of a century later. Not only do we have those same issues to contend with, but we must also ensure we maintain the integrity of ageing assets.

We turned our attention to the reduction of hydrocarbon releases. Unplanned

hydrocarbon releases are precursors to potentially major incidents, fires and explosions. Three years ago the UK oil and gas industry committed to the Step Change in Safety plan to reduce hydrocarbon releases by 50 per cent by March this year. The Step Change in Safety’s Asset Integrity Steering Group lead the collaborative effort and identified, collated and shared good practice across the industry. As a direct result of that collaboration we believe we will have reached our industry target and successfully reduced our hydrocarbon releases by more than 50 per cent when the figures are finally confirmed by the HSE. We will continue in our pursuit to prevent hydrocarbon releases.

Les Linklater says questions and suggestions should be welcomed

We must ensure that we not only learn but strive to build the learning into our daily business

Despite the progress made, we still have challenges to face in how we continue to engage with the workforce and how we can ensure the integrity of aging infrastructure.

Further collaboration and a willingness to share across sectors are essential to meet these challenges head-on.

Nurturing a safety culture is important in any workplace, but in the oil and gas sector it is lifesaving.

Safety is not just an offshore issue.

We need to have everyone from the rig operator, to senior management, to every single person involved in overarching supply chain committed to working

together towards this common goal.

But it’s more than just ticking boxes and going through the motions. A true safety culture champions two-way communication, a dialogue.

Part of that must be willingness on behalf of operators, employers and company leaders to be challenged in the pursuit of safety. We should encourage questions, challenges and suggestions.

Employees should feel comfortable raising concerns without any fear of retribution or punishment. We need to value openness, because we can’t afford to nurture apprehension. This is the only way we can continue to motivate and engage in our relentless pursuit of safety.

We learned a lot 25 years ago but learning is continuous and there is still much to be done.

If we share openly, not only can we learn from each other’s mistakes but we can gain from each other’s achievements.

What may be a minor fix to one company might actually be a vital solution to a major problem another company has been desperately searching for.

This doesn’t mean companies have to divulge all their corporate secrets. But in the interest of continuous improvement we need to demonstrate an interest in every employee’s safety within the industry — not just our own.

This 25th anniversary of Piper Alpha is an opportunity to reflect and remember. It is also an opportunity to fortify our industry’s resolve and commitment to safety.

No injury, hydrocarbon release, or fatality is ever acceptable. Will you join us?

Les Linklater is a team leader for Step Change in Safety. It was founded in 1997 by the oil and gas industry trade associations with the remit to work together to continuously improve safety performance.

the times | Tuesday April 30 2013

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Power of Scotland

Peter Jones

Getting to the heart of what responsibility really means

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hat exactly, in implementation terms, is corporate social responsibility (CSR)? Is it just a bit of charitable do-goodery intended to improve a company’s reputation? Does it boost employee morale?

The answer is yes, it can do these things.

But rather more importantly, it is a tool for managing conflicting expectations amongst the wider public about what a company should be doing.

CSR is one of these corporate-speak phrases that sound good until you start unpicking them to discern real meaning.

Then you find that it can mean not just different things, but also conflicting things, to different people. What can be socially responsible to one person can be anti-socially irresponsible to others.

This may sound absurd. But the offshore oil and gas industry illustrates the point perfectly.

In the corporate context, “responsibility” implies that a duty or obligation is owed by a company. Adding the word “social” implies that this duty is owed to society in general and not just narrowly to shareholders, employees, and customers.

In the classical economist’s view, this duty is amply fulfilled by a company

which produces goods or services and sells them for a reasonable price which yields a profit. Society benefits from using the company’s product, which makes people’s lives better, and from the dividends which go back to the investors to be re-used for further investment in productive enterprises. Provided the activity is conducted within the rule of law and regulatory prescriptions, then that should be the end of the story.

Try arguing that in the court of contemporary opinion, however, and you would be run out of town. These days, profitable companies are expected to be charity donors, community workers, sports and arts sponsors, and, increasingly in an age of climate change consciousness, to be sustainable.

“Sustainability” is another of those slippery, hard-to-define words. In the classical sense, it simply means generating enough profits to keep a company going and, hopefully, to expand. Again, in the contemporary world, that won’t do; companies must be, amongst other things, environmentally sustainable.

Strictly speaking, it means that such of the earth’s resources that companies consume should be replaceable, either from a re-generating resource or by

recycling of the final product once it has reached the end of its life.

For oil and gas companies, it doesn’t need spelling out that this is an impossibly tall order.

On the one hand, they are expected to fulfil the classical definition of social responsibility by producing the raw material which ends up in our vehicle engines enabling us to go to work, go shopping or travel on holiday, while producing enough profit to pay taxes and then to have enough left over to invest in the increasingly expensive task of finding and producing more oil and gas.

But on the other hand, to satisfy strict environmental sustainability criteria, they ought to be shutting down all their exploration and production activity and devoting their wealth to developing sustainable energy resources.

Were they to do this, they would not just bring the world economy to a juddering halt and send it backwards, but would also find a workless and foodless society protesting on their doorsteps.

Society, therefore, has conflicting ideas of what a socially responsible company should be doing — from the “shut down” demands at an extreme end of the green activist lobby to the “keep going” expecta-

18-20 JUNE 2013

CSR is one of those corporate phrases that sound good until you start unpicking them

Sponsored by

tions of the vehicle-dependent public.

This conflict manifests itself in the institution which is supposed to be the referee of such clashes of public interest — the government. The Scottish government is especially exposed here.

On the one hand it is pursuing exceedingly green objectives of pushing for as much electricity as possible to be generated from sustainable sources: wind, wave, tidal, etc. On the other hand, particularly in the current political debate around independence, it wants the UK oil and gas industry to pump as much unsustainable product as it can in order to generate as much tax revenues as possible.

So if the customers are hypocritical — saying they want green sustainability to save the planet but protesting like hell when unsustainable hydrocarbons become unaffordable — and if governments are equally two-faced, claiming to be saving the earth while encouraging more rapid consumption of it — does that mean oil and gas companies have a licence to play fast and loose on both sides of the street?

Absolutely not, because getting angry about corporate hypocrisy and irresponsibility is the perfect way for both public and politicians to get righteous and happily ignore their own failings.

Which is where CSR comes in. The bottom line is that it isn’t a profitconsuming frippery or a nice but unnecessary extra, but an essential tool for managing these conflicting expectations. The difficult bit, of course, is getting it right.

Supporting Sponsors

ABERDEEN EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE CENTRE

A CONFERENCE TO

REFLECT, REVIEW, REINFORCE AND RE-ENERGISE Oil & Gas UK is to hold a major offshore safety conference this summer to mark the 25th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster.

The conference will bring together people from across the oil and gas industry to reflect on the lessons learnt from the tragedy, review how far offshore safety has evolved and to reinforce industry commitment to continuous improvement.

With Piper Alpha as a central theme, the conference will also explore broader safety issues and will feature high profile international speakers from a diverse range of backgrounds.

www.oilandgasuk.co.uk/PIPER25 CONFERENCE QUICK FACTS: • • • •

10 Plenary Speakers 54 Topical Presentations 30 Exhibitors 700 Attendees

Papers will be presented on the following topics: • • • •

Safety management systems and control of work Major hazard management and safety technology Human and organisational factors Emergency preparedness and response @oilandgasuk | #oilandgasukevents | #PIPER25

Don’t miss your chance to be involved in this unique event.

Tuesday April 30 2013 | the times

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Power of Scotland

Focus

Historic tragedy that Pa/Pa arCHive

It is almost 25 years since the infamous Piper Alpha disaster. A shocked industry has since worked tirelessly to ensure that safety standards are paramount, says GinnyClark

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his summer will mark 25 years since 167 people lost their lives in the world’s worst offshore disaster, on the North Sea platform Piper Alpha. A gas leak ignited on July 6 1988, causing an explosion, and then a fireball, that engulfed the American Occidental-owned rig.

Following a public inquiry to establish the causes of the disaster, chairman Lord Cullen’s report was published in 1990, making a raft of recommendations. By three years later, the oil and gas industry were working together with the government to ensure these recommendations were in place.

In June, Oil & Gas UK is hosting a major offshore safety conference, a chance to “reflect, review, reinforce and re-energise” on the anniversary of the disaster. Participants will gather in Aberdeen from across the industry to discuss lessons learned in the years since, and to underline the industry’s commitment to continuous improvement in safety.

This appalling loss of life, this catastrophic event, haunts the oil and gas industry, and while the North Sea working environment is now much-changed from 1988, the hazards, the risks and the challenges remain.

“At the time of Piper Alpha, the health and safety regime was very different from that which was established and has been developed following Lord Cullen’s report and recommendations,” says Robert Pat-

erson, health and safety director at Oil and Gas UK. “The first change was in setting up an independent regulator, splitting it away from the Department of Energy who until then had dealt with oil and gas licences as well as safety, and the government’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) set up the offshore safety division (OSD) in 1991. Cullen also made the recommendation about changing from a legal regime, which is detailed and proscriptive, to a more goal-setting regime, where the objective is continuous improvement.”

As a result of Lord Cullen’s report, most existing offshore regulations were swept away, and some of the most significant changes to be introduced were concerned with the permit to work arrangements.

More specifically, operators had to create a ‘safety case’ for each installation — a document that identifies potential hazards, details the physical and managerial arrangements to ensure risks are reduced and that a system is in place for a worstcase scenario.

The documents are submitted to the OSD and must be formally accepted by the HSE department before a company can operate that installation — a process

After the world’s worst offshore disaster, the report by Lord Cullen, below, has seen some of the significant changes the sector has experienced

that is backed up by inspections. From detailing warning systems to how they would control an emergency situation or evacuation, the safety case covers a full range of precautions, pulling safety management together in one single document.

“A company cannot operate without an accepted safety case,” explains Paterson.

“It must be updated if changes are made to the installation or how it operates, and then resubmitted. So if they tie back a new field or operate at a higher pressure, then they need to make a new safety case — it’s a living document.”

The example of the safety case — the living document — sums up the overall approach to offshore safety management and legislation well.

“Legislation has continued to evolve,” says Paterson. “We learned a lot in the first 10 years, and some aspects were revoked in 2005. Changes were necessary as there were issues that might stifle continuous improvement. If you develop an expectation that you will adopt the latest research, the best technology, then you are always striving, rather than just complying with legislation.

“That is tested by the regulator, and

the times | Tuesday April 30 2013

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prompted revolution there is a safety case requirement in law for a periodic review, where a summary has to be submitted showing consideration and knowledge of incidents elsewhere.”

However, with the government now planning a controversial restructuring exercise, the OSD — the independent department formed as a result of Lord Cullen’s recommendations — is to become part of a new energy division.

“There has been both surprise and concern expressed widely across the industry about the organisational changes planned for HSE Offshore Division,” said Paterson. “Oil & Gas UK is exploring how the practicalities of this HSE restructuring could affect the offshore oil and gas industry. It is a priority for the industry that there must remain sound and appropriate regulation that is engaged locally at all levels.”

Of course, when it comes to safety management, the safety case document is a starting point. For North Sea operators to deliver on the details, and to better its promise, it must be achieved by the people working at every level of their business.

Putting the focus firmly on leadership

behaviours, Stork Technical Services developed its REACH safety initiative, with the aim of sustainable and continual improvements in the company’s safety performance.

“We launched the REACH initiative in December 2009, not because of an external audit or because we had identified a problem ourselves, but because we wanted a platform for our Health, Safety, Security, Environmental and Quality (HSSEQ) performance,” says Mike Mann, Senior Vice President of Global HSSEQ for Stork. “That’s why it’s been most successful: many such initiatives are rolled out in response to a problem and only succeed in the short-term. The REACH initiative is sustainable, and is unique as it creates an employee-led safety culture, it’s about leadership and expectation. Our workforce will tell us what’s wrong, these operatives are at the sharp end.

“We run an anonymous survey and it is up to us as a leadership team to deliver on any issues highlighted, and we can demonstrate a year later when we resurvey that we have listened and things have improved. The workforce is our most important asset, and it’s extremely important we listen to people.

Mike Mann of Stork believes in listening to clients and peers

“We have a true commitment to this: we walk the talk and measure what we do.

We’re honest about our data and smart enough to our hands up where necessary, and to show what we’ve then done about it.

“We’re very proactive, listening to our workforce, clients industry peers and competitors. We have annual safety awards, where we don’t reward working safely — that’s expected — but for going the extra mile with initiatives and prevention ideas, and we have some great ambassadors for safety. We hold an annual REACH award ceremony and invite our global clients to celebrate successes and give our thanks for a fantastic job. We want our workforce to know they are appreciated. We also hold four annual REACHing out to Supervisors events, offshore forums where we go out to meet the people who are at the sharp end, implementing REACH every day. We invest in these initiatives for the right reasons. It’s not PR. Excellence and leadership are vital.

“We also have our REACHing Out forum event, as the company aims to improve safety engagement not just with the workforce, but clients and the wider oil and gas industry. It’s about saying we are all in this industry together, what can

INCIDENT-FREE better. safer. together Maersk Oil is pleased to be a sponsor of Oil & Gas UK’s Piper 25 Conference.

Maersk Oil is committed to achieving Incident-Free

‘Across the oil and gas industry we have to maintain a relentless focus on safety -all day, every day - through visible safety leadership and workforce engagement.

Together we can build a safety culture that will keep us all safe.’

operations, and to ensuring the safety of its people, assets

Martin Rune Pedersen

and the environment.

Managing Director, Maersk Oil UK

www.maerskoil.com

we do to share information and prevent people getting hurt. Sometimes we have people from outside the industry: we recently had someone from GlaxoSmithKline about process safety. It’s not saying ‘look at us’ — we’re prepared to put money where our mouth is.

“We rolled out REACH globally because we want to stay ahead. However we’ve also gone external by publishing our safety alerts.We’re making a tool that helps us and also helps the wider industry. That takes us into a different league.

“Our clients’ offshore safety performance depends on the Storks of the world, support partners, where safety performance is decided by a transient workforce, and that’s a challenge in itself.

My duty of care is the safety and wellbeing of all our personnel. If we have information, examples of good practice, we are happy to share it.”

Engaging with all levels of the workforce, and sharing information throughout the industry, these are the elements that underpin good practice throughout today’s oil and gas industry.

Glenn Corr, director and head of HSE at Maersk Oil, spells it out. “There are no commercial issues when it comes to

Tuesday February 26 2013 | the times

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Power of Scotland

safety,” he says. “It’s important we are designing solutions across the industry.

It’s more effective if knowledge is shared, given the industry’s wide use of contractors. If we design processes and solutions across the industry then there is a better chance of compliance. At Maersk we run quarterly workshops where suppliers can bring their experience from a number of installations.

“We are in partnership with our supply chain, and could not operate without them. Ensuring good safety performance is something we must do together for the benefit of all.

“Externally, we are also working with the HSE, as it actively identifies and shares best practice across the industry.

Also critical is our engagement with Oil and Gas UK and Step Change, the industry’s trade association group, which does much to disseminate good practice, and to identify common challenges and seek to develop industry-wide solutions. If one operator has a challenge, the chances are others will have similar challenges, and collectively we can design more robust solutions.”

In the pursuit of improving its overall safety performance, Maersk is acutely aware it is in a continuing process.

“We’ve been on quite a journey,” says Corr. “Building both belief and expectation can’t be done without training and mentoring everyone. All the risks we face can be managed and everyone has a role to play in that. Safety is everyone’s role, not just that of the managers. But to go beyond that, it’s also about people putting expectations on each other, peer respect,

recognising we have a responsibility for others, looking out for each other.

“So in addition to top down management training, we also work from the bottom up, with the workforce helping management to see the risks. Underpinning our Incident-Free programme, a Company wide initiative, is the belief that incidents are neither acceptable nor inevitable. One focus of our training is empowerment; that anyone can intervene if they believe there is a safety issue.

“Maersk has come a long way since the acquisition of Kerr-McGee in 2006, and we’re in the top quartile for all safety measures, which was not the case a few years ago. Success builds success and if people work towards a goal it builds expectation.

Glenn Corr of Maersk emphasises that safety is a continuing process

“Of course, when you have a drop in incidents you will also see a rise in production, a safe installation tends to be an efficient one. It’s a win-win, part of the same mindset about seeking out excellence. Our focus is continuing to drive towards our Incident-Free goal, and everyone is taking ownership of that. It’s part of the DNA of the business.”

The industry itself will demonstrate just how much it has taken ownership of offshore safety when it meets to share news and recognise success at Piper Alpha 25, the Oil and Gas UK event at the Aberdeen Exhibition and conference Centre from June 18-20.

“At the Piper Alpha 25 conference, we have an opportunity to reflect on where we came from, the lessons we have learned, and how they have been applied to our industry,” adds Paterson. “However, it’s also an opportunity to bring in other hazard industries, to see what they do, and help us to re-energise our safety thinking.

“It’s an occasion when we can pull people together to talk about all the issues, and from that we hope to set the agenda going forward, working in parallel, in workforce engagement.

“A lot of people think of offshore working as dangerous, but if we compare ourselves to some other industries we come up very well. That said, safety is an issue that’s never done. Offshore is a harsh environment, and vigilance remains important.

“It looks like we’ll have reached our target to halve the number of unplanned hydrocarbon releases, and there’s been a huge effort to do that. The number of accidents has also continued to decline.

Verification findings are telling us we are improving, but we know it is a continuous journey. We can’t stop, we’re determined to continue to drive down incidents and hydrocarbon releases.”

When it comes to safety, the industry can never stand still.

“Things change,” adds Mann. “New processes, new technologies. If you do achieve a goal then it’s only good for today.

“We’re constantly reminding the workforce that no-one goes out there to get injured. We always think accidents happen to other people, but the key is: don’t be afraid — be aware.”

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OPITO, the organisation funded and owned by industry employers and unions, was set up in the aftermath of Piper Alpha to improve safety for North Sea offshore workers.

Now a global group focused on creating common standards, OPITO’s three areas of focus cover training for emergency and critical response, making sure content and delivery meet industry needs and setting competence assessment standards.

Larraine Boorman, managing director of OPITO UK, emphasises that safety is not just about compliance and meeting regulatory or legislative requirements.

“The industry has to make sure its training programmes deliver people who can do the job competently and safely in order to ensure good practice and minimise risk.

“It’s essential organisations have robust competency management systems that track and monitor the competency of individual staff at all levels in line with their respective responsibilities and can identify and

respond effectively to any gaps.”

The organisation has launched a new research project, together with Robert Gordon University, to identify skills and competence gaps in offshore supervisors.

“The offshore installation managers (OIM) are often the link between onshore and offshore, key players in the communication of safety messages from senior management to the workforce,” says Boorman.

“Despite their important role, OIMs have received little attention as a targeted group from research.

“This project will offer a unique in-depth perspective into the role of the OIM and safety leadership, and encourage debate around their importance in creating a positive safety culture, and the ways this can be supported by operators.”

In the industry’s infancy, working offshore was less regulated. Today, however, it is driven almost entirely

OPITO’s Larraine Boorman is looking toward a common global standard

by safety. North Sea workers must undergo OPITO approved Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training (BOSIET) and Minimum Industry Safety Training (MIST) before travelling offshore.

OPITO also provides a benchmark in an industry reliant on contractors, where workers from different companies and nationalities work side by side.

Boorman adds: “OPITO is working towards seeing a common global standard adopted to ensure all oil and gas workers — no matter where they are in the world — are able to travel to work and home again safely.”

the times | Tuesday April 30 2013

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Tuesday April 30 2013 | the times

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Power of Scotland

Cover story Nigg, with other locations such as Ardersier, Kishorn and Invergordon, have the potential for new and different ports

Ports await a fair wind Scottish ports are on the verge of exploiting a UK wind construction market worth billions of pounds, writes Rob Stokes

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illions of pounds of investment and thousands of jobs from offshore wind and marine energy are set to be unlocked. Uncertainty over United Kingdom energy policy and pricing regimes will be ended by the passing of the Energy Bill grinding its way through

the UK parliament in London and watching expectantly are Scottish ports that are ready, or nearly so, to exploit opportunities from a UK offshore wind construction market estimated to be worth £70 billion to £80 billion.

The winners will become locations for companies manufacturing wind turbines and their substructures, shipping them out to sea, installing them, then operating, maintaining and repairing them.

“Scotland really is just about to enter a boom through offshore wind, and later through wave and tidal energy,” says Calum Davidson, director of energy and low carbon at economic and community development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

“People are anxious to commit: things will move very quickly once there is certainty in the market,” says Allan McQuade, business infrastructure director at development agency Scottish Enterprise (SE) in Glasgow. “Assuming that certainty, we would anticipate that

activity will move at pace, hopefully in the next few months but, if not that, then later this year.”

Waiting in the wings: Spanish wind turbine maker Gamesa has chosen Leith, Edinburgh, as the preferred location for its new UK manufacturing plant and projects up to 800 new jobs; France’s AREVA will locate UK turbine manufacturing in the east of Scotland and could create 750 jobs; energy giant SSE, Port of Dundee owner Forth Ports, SE and Dundee City Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) earmarking the city’s port as the base for offshore wind manufacturing and services should SSE wish to proceed; other companies are focusing mainly on East Coast ports — Leith, Rosyth, Methil, Dundee, Ardersier and Nigg — which are closest to the offshore wind farms set to spring up first: in the Firth of Forth and the Moray Firth.

There are positive developments too in the west. Dredging starts soon on the White Cart Water to complement

People are anxious to commit: things will move very quickly when there is certainty

dock improvements at Westway Park, Renfrewshire, from whence large steel structures unsuitable for road transport will go by barge to fabrication sites and transhipment ports.

Confidence at SE and HIE is based on strategy initiated in 2010 by the Scottish government in Edinburgh and led by the two agencies. The National Renewables Infrastructure Plan (N-RIP) identified locations with most potential for manufacturing operations and later set out investment options.

The plan projected that more than 5,000 jobs could be created by developing three regional offshore energy manufacturing zones at key ports, with rapid job growth scheduled for 2014 and 2015.

SE backed the plan with a £70 million National Renewables Infrastructure Fund (N-RIF) to support private investors.

The Forth/Tay cluster is: Leith, Dundee, and SE’s Energy Park Fife joint venture with Fife Council at Methil. The Moray Firth cluster: Nigg and Ardersier.

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The west coast cluster: Arnish, Mahcrihanish/Campbeltown, Hunterston and Kishorn. A subsea skills cluster is based on Aberdeen and Peterhead, and a fifth cluster of sites exists around the Pentland Firth and Orkney.

“The renewables opportunity has required a different kind of port infrastructure than is normally available,” Davidson says. Offshore wind needs large fabrication yards with deep water facilities close by. “Luckily, Scotland, and Highlands and Islands in particular, have a legacy from the North Sea oil industry of the 1970s, 80s and 90s at places like Nigg, Ardersier, Kishorn, and Invergordon to some extent, where we can build new and different types of ports,” he adds.

Nigg, Ardersier, and Kishorn have undertaken masterplanning processes and are progressing onshore consenting with local authorities and working with Marine Scotland, the government directorate responsible for management of Scotland’s seas. All expect formal consents later this year. Hundreds of acres of development land are coming into play.

Skills issues are being addressed. Nigg, with a long history in oil fabrication work and, in recent years, offshore renewables and specialist nuclear decommissioning, hosts the private-public sector backed Nigg Skills Academy, which aims to train 3,000 people in fabrication work by 2015.

“It had 3,500 applications in the first six months for 30 to 40 initial places after advertising only in the local press,” Davidson says. “We are looking at skills that are transferable across the wider energy space. Nigg is very busy with oil

and gas work through its owners (north of Scotland based) Global Energy Group, and whether you’re fabricating a subsea structure for the North Sea oil industry or a foundation for a wind turbine jacket, they are very similar skills. It’s a model we can see being rolled out across Highlands and Scotland for businesses that want it.” Similarly, steel fabricator Steel Engineering runs a skills academy at Westway Park.

Ardersier, site of a former oil fabrication yard, has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HIE, recognising the port’s capacity to become a major UK manufacturing, construction and installation hub.

Highland Council’s recent decision not to object to the £4.5 billion, 1.5 Gigawatt capacity Outer Moray Firth offshore wind farms proposed by the Moray Offshore Renewables consortium between Spain’s EDP Renewables and Repsol Nuevas Energias spells opportunity for both Nigg and Ardersier, which are close to what would be the world’s largest such farm. The Scottish government will now consider the proposal.

Supply-chain development is under way. For example, while Burntisland Fabrications (BiFab) — at Burntisland and Methil in Fife, and at Arnish Point on the Isle of Lewis — is positioned to produce steel jackets for offshore wind turbines, Scotland has yet to address a likely need for concrete structures such as the tall, thin towers that will sit on the seabed as foundations for turbines.

“It’s an opportunity for inward investment and we’ve been chatting to about

half a dozen different companies,” Davidson says. “We’re trying to identify specific locations for them.”

Kishorn, for example, has a dry dock, once built concrete structures for oil companies, and has a quarry. It has enquiries from undisclosed interested parties. “People are quite excited about the opportunities for the yard getting rejuvenated,” Davidson says.

Through two trade associations — Scottish Renewables, and Energy North — HIE works with wind farm develop-

Calum Davidson of HIE says Scotland is about to enter a boom through offshore wind, and later wave and tidal energy

ers focused on the Moray Firth to assess longer-term supply chain, operations and management needs to tailor support.

Public funds from various sources have supported, among others: BiFab’s jacket fabrication facility at Energy Park Fife; production of larger sections of offshore and onshore wind turbines at the Macrihanish plant of Wind Towers; and improvements at Campbeltown harbour to export Wind Towers’ sections and to position the harbour for operations and maintenance markets in offshore wind.

Committed to Scotland’s Energy sector.

Scottish Enterprise is committed to developing Scotland’s leadership in offshore energy, helping companies capitalise on our 206 gigawatts of potential wind, wave & tidal resources as well as the £50 billion of Offshore Wind investment predicted for the UK by 2020.

Together with the Scottish Government and other public agencies, we are investing in major Renewable energy projects including: • National Renewables Infrastructure Fund (NRIF) • Offshore Wind Expert Programme • International Technology & Renewable Energy Zone (ITREZ) • Wave & Tidal Energy Research Support (WATERS) • Scottish Energy Laboratory • Energy Park Fife • The Saltire Prize marine energy challenge For more information about our range of services, visit our website www.scottish-enterprise.com/energy or call our helpline on 0845 607 8787.

Contact us for more information: Scottish Enterprise, Atrium Court, 50 Waterloo Street, Glasgow G2 6HQ, Scotland, UK Helpline: +44 (0) 845 607 8787 Email: enquiries@scotent.co.uk www.scottish-enterprise.com

Supporting a globally competitive Scotland

Tuesday April 30 2013 | the times

10

Power of Scotland

Wind farm manufacturers and operators looking for subsea design, engineering, installation, inspection, repair and maintenance skills need look no further than Aberdeen and Peterhead, a twinhub of excellence.

Peterhead Port has serviced oil and gas for decades and is close to licensed offshore wind farm sites. It has a deep water quay with land alongside and the SEowned Energetica Business Park nearby.

“We already have the infrastructure in place to service the renewables industry,” says Stephen Paterson, chief financial officer at Peterhead Port Authority, the independent statutory body running the trust port.

“We don’t see ourselves becoming involved with the major manufacturing side, but we are half way between the Firth of Forth and Moray Forth developments, so are well placed to support the construction phase, particularly as an existing logistics base for oil and gas subsea work daily. Most of the largest vessels in the subsea fleet call here regularly.”

Paterson says Peterhead continues to talk to major wind farm developers, particularly for the Moray Firth area. “Discussions centre on construction phase, but SE also identified us as a location for operations, maintenance and support for renewables.”

There was once talk of using small, catamaran type vessels to service the wind farms. “But a lot of operators now realise the sites off Scotland are too far out and the wave climate is not conducive to these kinds of vessels,” Paterson says. “So they are likely to use some form

of ‘mother ship’, and that plays strongly into Peterhead’s strengths as we’re used to handling these.”

The final go-ahead for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR), a faster road linking the city to Peterhead, adds to the latter’s appeal as a maritime logistics base for energy engineering and service companies based in Aberdeen.

“Getting to Peterhead from many industrial estates around Aberdeen can already be quicker than getting to the harbour in Aberdeen city centre,” Paterson says. “But the AWPR will help to get over the perception of distance and make Peterhead an even more appealing proposition.”

Grid-connected test facilities, scarce

SE has taken a proactive role in the transformation of the docks at Westway Park in Renfrewshire

in Europe, are another lure for companies when HIE and SE are collaborating with export and inward investment agency Scottish Development International (SDI) and port operators to court investors.

SE and Perth-based utility SSE are developing the Clydeport owned Port of Hunterston, Ayrshire, for testing full-scale offshore turbine technology in conditions mimicking offshore. Scottish Enterprise is developing one of three test berths at Hunterston and is inviting interest from manufacturers interested in leasing it for R&D from July 2015. The berth is connected to the electricity grid and is less than an hour from Glasgow airport.

SSE is collaborating with Siemens and Mitsubishi Power Systems Europe to test these companies’ latest turbine technology at two Hunterston berths.

The Scottish government has just announced consent for the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC) in Aberdeen Bay, 11 wind turbines with a total capacity of 100 Megawatts (MW), enough to power nearly half the homes in Aberdeen. More pertinently, it will allow wind farm developers and suppliers to test technology in real conditions and over an extended period of time.

South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries recently chose Energy Park Fife for its UK offshore wind demonstrator project at the park’s Fife Renewables Innovation Centre. Samsung will install and test the 7 MW, 196 metre, test turbine by 2018.

The diversity of opportunity in manufacturing is demonstrated by production at the Buckie Shipyard, Banffshire, of alu-

We have the infrastructure at Peterhead port to service the renewables industry, well placed to support construction minium hulled Wind Farm Service Vessels.

The £1.3 million transformation of the docks at Westway Park, the Renfrewshire business park jointly owned by Moorfield Group and Westbrook Partners, illustrates the value of the N-RIF, says Andrew McCracken, at property agents Jones Lang LaSalle in Glasgow.

“Without the input from SE and Renfrewshire Council, the numbers probably would not have stacked up for the owner,” McCracken reckons. “The whole process on the funding side has been very smooth with SE taking a proactive role and support from the council and local Members of the Scottish Parliament in moving it forward.”

The project is scheduled for completion by the end of the year, weather permitting. “It will be an added bonus to have more capacity for tenants such as Steel Engineering to ship out even larger structures that cannot go by road,” McCracken says. He expects investment to attract new tenants. “We’re talking

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the times | Tuesday April 30 2013

11

Acting Locally,

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Tuesday April 30 2013 | the times

12

Power of Scotland

Sea promises new and valuable harvest

I am in no doubt that the story Scotland has to tell is is being well received by investors before the excitement begins

M

ARINE energy — wave and tidal will be the big opportunity beyond offshore wind power for Scottish ports, according to Scotland’s National Renewables Infrastructure Plan. A progress check shows that: Orkney Islands Council (OIC) and other public funding sources have invested in readying ports and harbours to exploit potential in the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters off the coast of northern Scotland, where some of the world’s strongest tidal energy flows are to be found.

Lyness on the Orkney Island of Hoy is being readied for assembly, storage and servicing of marine energy devices and for R&D and deployment. It shares Enterprise Area status with Hatston and Kirkwall, so can offer some financial incentives. Infrastructure developments are also underway at Coplands Dock in Stromness.

The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), the world’s only full-scale, fullyaccredited test centre for wave and tidal energy devices, is based on Orkney and has a range of devices from around the world being tested at its berths. Clients include leading UK and international marine energy developers and utilities and EMEC’s financial backers include Highlands and Islands Enterprise, The Carbon Trust, Orkney Islands Council as well as Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish and UK Governments and the European Union.

Across the Pentland Firth in Caithness, Scrabster Harbour is well into a £20 million development programme funded largely from

to big manufacturing occupiers now on the back of Steel Engineering’s expertise.

Most interest so far is from existing tenants and we are hopeful that some really exciting stories will emerge on the back of the dock.

“I think that once people can see barges coming up and down the White Cart then there will be a real push on awareness raising. We can offer something that no other park can when it comes to the size of accommodation, craneage, and docks going out on to the river.”

SE’s McQuade is in no doubt that the story Scotland has to tell is being well received by investors in the lull before the excitement begins. “I believe that’s to do with the joined-up approach that SDI, SE and HIE take to our commitment to delivering on this. We go out of our way to make sure no stone is left unturned in dealing with what they require. You have to be on the top of your game because the competition out there is extreme.”

They are about to find out whetherthat optimism well founded.

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Swedish energy giant Vattenfall, Shetland Islands Council and the Shetland Charitable Trust are jointly developing a roadmap for marine energy development and focusing initially on a proposed 10 Megawatt pilot wave project off the west coast of Shetland.

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Ambitious for energy Àrd-amas airson lùtha

the times | Tuesday April 30 2013

13

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Tuesday April 30 2013 | the times

14

Power of Scotland

Employment As the North Sea boom continues, the prospects for competent candidates are exciting, writes Maggie Stanfield

E

nergy is a key pillar of Scotland’s economy.

Oil and gas, despite the prophesies of the doommongers, is alive and well and looking at a positive future. On current estimates, there remain at least £1.5 trillion of oil reserves in the North Sea. New investment is ramping up. At the end of March, we heard that a consortium of oil companies, led by BP, is to invest more than £330 million in an appraisal drilling programme at Clair, west of Shetland, which could lead to further development of a giant North Sea field.

Depending on the initial results, there is potential for up to 12 new wells to be drilled in the next few years. In that event, there is going to be renewed demand for skilled people in an industry that already struggles to find suitable staff.

At the end of last year, UK Statoil announced a £4.3 billion investment in North Sea oil creating over 700 jobs. A £1 billion project to develop the Harris and Barra oilfields was also announced, plus another £1 billion investment by joint venture Canadian-based Talisman Energy and Chinese Company Sinopec.

Some analysts predict that there will be a boom in oil sector jobs as expansion continues with estimates suggesting that there could be anything between 40,000 and 150,000 new jobs created by 2016.

Yet finding the right staff remains the biggest challenge that oil companies face.

There are complex reasons for this. Some are directly related to the cyclical nature of the industry so that recession means companies may cut back on investment in training. When demand is high, those same companies urgently need the skilled workers that a longer-term strategy would already have within the supply chain.

Another reason is that many of the current experienced personnel are coming up to retirement while young people, joining the highly successful Modern Apprenticeship scheme, are not yet fully qualified. Thus, there is a crucial midcareer skills gap.

The oil industry is largely contractbased, bringing workers in from across the globe as teams are required and laying them off when the project is completed.

That lack of stable, ongoing employment works well for many but for others feel it is too insecure and unpredictable.

Investing in skills is a long-term commitment that involves informed predictions about the demand and supply of the right kind of people. That data feeds through from the oil companies themselves to OPITO, the industry’s skills and workforce development body based in Aberdeen, allowing it to devise curriculums specifically designed to respond to that industry demand.

Stork Technical Services, a knowledge based Asset Integrity provider to the Oil, Gas, chemical and power industry is rapidly growing and taking a multi-pronged attack to the challenges of recruitment.

There is an upward trend of hiring companies partnering with specialist recruitment agencies, such as Stork Tech-

Rich rewards and long career paths

nical Services’ Energy Resourcing team, to help meet the resourcing demand for competent candidates and significantly improve the success of recruitment.

Head of Energy Resourcing Heather Milne comments: “Stork Technical Services’ Energy Resourcing team has developed strong partnerships with clients so that they clearly understand how best to support them. Each of our clients receives a bespoke service that is closely aligned to their business needs and the demands of their operations.”

Case Study 1: TAQA Eider

Stork’s Energy Resourcing team is currently supporting TAQA with the drilling refurbishment and reactivation programme on the Operator’s Eider platform in the North Sea. Due to the challenging nature of this type of project, it is imperative to create an experienced, competent and flexible team that understand that completing the job safely is the first priority and fully embrace the client’s culture and policies.

The duration of this project is approximately 18 months with potential for personnel to transfer to the next asset on completion. Disciplines supplied include: Construction Manager, Electricians, Floormen, Loler Focal Points, Platers, Pipefitters, Rigger and Trade Foreman.

Stork’s Energy Resourcing team has a network of skilled tradesmen/engineers/ technicians and was given the opportunity to supply personnel. Aside from sourcing individuals, Energy Resourcing also assisted with the booking of essential training on behalf of TAQA and other vendors, as well as their own contractors, some of which has been sourced

by Stork’s own training facility based in Aberdeen.

Lee Buchan, Energy Resourcing manager for Stork Technical Services, said: “We are very pleased to be working with TAQA on the Eider project. The personnel provided cover a wide range of skilled disciplines from our extensive candidate database. We are committed to supplying the right people, with the right skills, at the right time and the Eider project demonstrates this.”

Stork’s Human Resources team is also increasing its focus on recruitment, personnel development and retention by reviewing how it manages these areas; a greater focus and use of social media, greater engagement with the wider labour markets, and increased graduate schemes are all part of the strategy Stork is undertaking to get the best people into the right positions.

Case study 2: Stork Graduate Training

In 2012, Stork welcomed the first intake of eight graduates for the company’s UK Graduate Training Programme.

The ‘Class of 2012’ graduates took on roles in a number of divisions including HSSEQ, project management, technical engineering, finance and commercial.

Stork received more than 100 applicants for the programme, which was launched as part of the company’s aim to attract, develop and retain exceptional talent in the energy industry.

Graduates participate in a bespoke learning programme where they experience different operations within their division to allow them to understand how their part of the business operates. Graduates are provided with continual training and development opportunities to help progress their skills and have the support of an experienced business mentor from the company’s senior management team, throughout the two-year programme.

Job fairs of the type arranged by DMG Events let potential candidates meet new employers

John McLeish Vice President of HR — UK & Africa says: “Like many companies Stork faces challenges in relation to recruitment, but we are developing and growing our business at a significant rate, and people will always be attracted to a company that is growing and developing. However with that growth comes a significant appetite for skilled people and people keen to grow with us. That’s why we are looking across our business and reviewing how we develop, attract and retain people.

“Last year we employed eight graduates and six apprentices and this year we will be offering 18 apprentice places and hope to maintain our graduate intake, potentially offering more places.”

Further to this, Stork Technical Services recently invited a group of MSP’s from the Scottish Parliament’s cross party group on Oil & Gas to discuss how it could collaborate with the Scottish Parliament and government on the challenges facing the energy industry.

Senior vice president of UK & Africa for Stork, Erik Jan Bijvank, commented, “ We already work on a variety of outreach programmes but this was a fantastic opportunity for us to understand the challenges the Scottish government and Parliament face, and how we can support some of their work and projects. They seemed very impressed with our plans and facilities and we look forward to joining the Cross Party Group on Oil & Gas and supporting the fantastic work they do.”

Larraine Boorman, managing director of OPITO UK says: “We are testing the accuracy of our information all the time through industry forums. Our intelligence comes directly from the industry and is based on what they tell us about their priorities. We wouldn’t commission any initiatives without the employer commit-

the times | Tuesday April 30 2013

15

Power of Scotland

Global expo creates pool of talent Regular recruitment fairs for the oil and gas sector are operated by a range of organisations and populated with exhibitors from across the industry. Some recruitment agencies pro-actively explore university and college careers fairs too.

But DMG Events is organising a dedicated Global Energy Career Expo, one that the company says has become the proven recruitment platform for the sector.

Since 2008, the event has provided opportunities for recruiters to meet face-to-face with substantial numbers of qualified candidates.

At a time when the challenge is to connect supply to demand, these kinds of job fairs play an important role in bringing oil companies into contact with potential employees.

But there are issues: the oil industry is not renowned for its flexibility. Times are changing and they seem to be more willing to cast their nets wider as the existing supply of workers diminishes.

DMG’s event takes place at The Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre on 12-13 June.

New talent is in demand and companies are spending considerable resources on sourcing and employing the people they need. There is a culture of poaching, the war for talent, in which salaries continue to rise as

ment to back it. We have no commercial interest in providing solutions other than to support the industry’s needs for a safe, suitable skilled and competent workforce both now and in the future.

“The Modern Apprenticeship Programme is hugely successful. It focuses on upstream technician training as a priority for the industry and has been cited as an exemplar since it is one of the most successful schemes across the UK. There is a 93 per cent completion rate and 100 per cent job placement compared with the UK national average of about 65 per cent.

“There is significantinterest from youngsters who want to get onto our scheme. It’s a robust training and assessment and we have a commitment from employers before we take a trainee on.

That’s brought about 1,500 youngsters into the industry, with an investment of £120 million to supporting them through sponsorship. If that continues, then it brings value to the employers because those trainees complete the scheme and join the industry with a high skill set.”

In the intermediate term, the industry is looking to other industries to find the skills it needs. OPITO offers transitional training that is already delivering impressive results. Two pilots in 2012 and a further two programmes so far in 2013 have concentrated on former armed forces personnel.

“The industry has now recognised that these people bring easily transferable skills as well as the values and discipline that fit with the industry. By putting them through a transitional training process, we have been able to match their skills to the labour demands of the industry,” says Larraine Boorman.

“The demand reflects that of the industry. We are told that there will be around 20,000 people coming out of the armed forces annually and we are looking for about 15,000 over the next three years so we hope to connect the supply and demand.

There are other areas of industry and services that may also offer up potential recruits. For example, from aerospace and the IT sector. Naval engineers accustomed to radar systems and to an underwater working environment may be well placed for a career in the oil industry.

“We don’t want to compete for talent but rather to link with industries who see a planned decline. By connecting with declining industries and skilled personnel that have been made redundant, we are ensuring their skills are not being

companies try to entice the skilled individuals they need for specific roles within their businesses.

The Global Energy Career Expo Aberdeen aims to alleviate some of this pressure by creating an environment that gives recruiting companies and jobseekers the opportunity to discuss the latest offshore and onshore employment opportunities.

There’s also a human capital element, the need for the talent pool to be added to, rather than simply moving experienced people around.

There are in fact two accompanying conference streams to this event across the two days. One conference stream will give exhibitors the opportunity to speak about the types of people they requireand for visitors to better understand the roles available to them with some of the industry’s leading companies.

The second day offers a focus on personal and workforce development where visitors will be able to attend free training sessions from the Energy Institute and Hays Oil and Gas. Panel discussions will tackle the issues of how to develop human capital more effectively, discuss the the regional aspects of the industry, analyse what the human resources approach is and look at the the specific context of oil and gas and its employment opportunities in Scotland.

lost to the economy as a whole’’But in an economy where skilled jobs are scarce and the opportunity to secure a very good income is even more unusual, why does the oil industry struggle to find the people it needs?

“We do need to do more to improve the image of the industry,” concedes Larraine Boorman. “This is a fantastic industry to work in – what other industry could guarantee you a job for life? People still tend to have a perception of a ‘dirty’ industry but that just isn’t the reality these days.

Only about 10 per cent of people are actually working offshore and many of those are not technicians.

“Technology continues to change how the industry operates. There are huge opportunities for a whole range of different skills in this sector. The industry is learning from its mistakes in the 1980s and 1990s when there was enough talent around to pull in the individuals as required. That’s not the case now. We have resource depletion. The numbers available aren’t meeting the demand so it’s very much about upskilling and transitioning into the industry towards filling this gap in the middle.”

Of course, when North Sea oil first started to flow, the skills weren’t in place.

The earlier recruits from the shipyards for example were able to convert well, but that talent pool is no longer available.

Boorman says the industry is willing to invest in training: “It’s a fabulous story with £13 billion invested this year and major growth coming in. It’s a buoyant industry with lots of opportunities and a career for life.”

Andrew Johnstone is head of the Industrial Recruitment Team at Carlton

Resources Solutions. His company specialises in helping former members of the armed forces to explore career opportunities in the oil and gas sector.

He advises: “When we interview candidates who are unfamiliar with the oil and gas employment market we often suggest areas of opportunity that the job seekers didn’t initially consider.

“The key for many industrial/workshop based candidates is to get their hands dirty working on a specialised equipment, reading the engineering drawings, learning about the maintenance, certification and preparation within an onshore capacity. Once you have this knowledge of a specialist product line it can lead to further offshore career opportunities.“ He is concerned that there are too many armed forces personnel hitting the market at once: “It’s more competitive for them. They need to work on the CV, learn about the client they’re applying to, understand the equipment and the tools so that they can present the most attractive background.

“Often, that’s a case of drawing out what those skills are and setting that down clearly. Just saying ‘I’ve done three tours in Afghanistan’ isn’t enough.

Employers want to know what skills you offer that are relevant to them. Understanding of radar and satellite, pressurised conditions, knowing where a vessel is or laying a pipeline offers very relevant experience.

“Explain what components you’ve worked with, what training you’ve had in the area you’re seeking to enter into and make sure it’s relevant. You need to

This is a fantastic industry to work in — what other could guarantee you a job for life?

stand out from the competition.”

Johnstone’s industry clients provide him with clear information about the kind of people they need. He readily acknowledges that there remains a skills shortage to which the industry is responding either by bringing in people at a lower level and training them or looking for personnel from other sectors.

In the past, companies poached from one another by offering higher rates but that pool of resource has almost dried up.

“The companies need to invest in training long term and understand what other industries can bring. I think what’s happening now is that managers are coming in from the armed forces working alongside those with extensive experience of the oil industry.

“There has been a big shift in the last five years and different skillsets don’t necessarily offer the mix that employers want. For example, a mechanic may not have the kind of electronics experience needed,” stresses Johnstone.

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MSPs Dennis Robertson, Mark McDonald, Maureen Watt and Nanette Milne touring the Stork facilities with operations support director Fraser Coull

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Tuesday April 30 2013 | the times

16

12th and 13th June 2013 Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC), Scotland, United Kingdom

The next big move for top talent in the Oil & Gas Industry

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Find out more at www.globalenergycareerexpo.com/aberdeen For further details, email Laurence Allen, Marketing Manager on laurenceallen@dmgevents.com or call +44 (0) 203 615 0390

the times | Tuesday April 30 2013

17

Power of Scotland

Fresh talent

Learning gets hands on

For two Aberdeen University graduates, CNR International’s scholarship scheme has led to a career in the industry, says John McQuade

I

n spite of the serial, and misinformed, jeremiads regularly declaring that the North Sea oil and gas industry is in decline, all the evidence from the industry suggests that the reverse is true. Confidence is high and the commitment of UK and international energy companies, operating in the basin, suggests that the sector will support jobs for many more years to come.

Barry Duncan, finance vice president at CNR International, underlines the feeling of optimism: “The industry currently provides a source of employment for over 400,000 people in the UK. With 24 billion barrels still to be recovered from the North Sea, and forecast investment of £14 billion in 2013, the demand for skilled labour in the industry has seldom been higher. “ “If companies like CNR International, are going to deliver the investment projects that will result in production growth in the coming years, we need to attract and retain the correct mix of a skilled, experienced workforce and new talent into our industry and into our business.”

Barry adds that it is key for the industry to continue the recent positive work in making sure that public perception of the industry, is improved and better understood. “I think we’re getting better at it, but we need to continue to improve the way we communicate, to ensure that the public perception that we are a sunset industry and contribute little to the UK economy is changed. Otherwise, talented individuals might overlook the industry, compounding the skills challenges we currently face.”

CNR International is taking a proactive

and strategic approach to ensure this does not happen. The first two graduates from the company’s scholarship scheme that was recently set up in collaboration with the University of Aberdeen, are due to take up jobs with the company this autumn, and there are a total of 20 scholars in the pipeline.

Barry outlines the rationale for CNR International, which is the international division of Canadian Natural Resources Limited, one of the world’s largest independent oil and gas producers, taking this forward view and embarking on a scholarship programme and hiring graduates.

The company, he says, first came to the UK in 2000 after the acquisition of Ranger Oil, and in 2002 became a significant operator

Barry Duncan says demand for skilled labour in the industry has seldom been higher in the North Sea, opening an office in Aberdeen. “In 2003 we set up the first scholarship which was in accountancy and finance and in 2008 we expanded this with scholarships in a further three disciplines: petroleum engineering, petroleum geology and engineering, with two students in each of these four.”

These scholarships were established in memory of four former CNR International employees, and provide both financial support plus a nominated company mentor who

is available for help and guidance during students’ degree courses. In addition, the company also provides summer work placements.

“One of the key drivers was to set the scholarships up in the names of four employees who had passed away in the period between 2005 and 2007 and who had made a significant contribution to the growth of the company,” says Barry.

In 2010, following the success of the initial intake, the scholarship programme was expanded with the University of Aberdeen, so that every two years a further eight scholars would be taken on to the scheme.

The noteworthy thing about 2013 is that two of these scholars, Caroline Suttie, and Andrius Ratkevicius, are graduating and will join CNR International later this year.

Both say the experience has been a positive one. Caroline, who is beginning work as a graduate process engineer says that having a mentor helped to focus her career choice.

“It’s been great having hands on experience in an international company; I’ve been on three summer placements including four days offshore on the Ninian platform .”

For Andrius Ratkevicius, who has lived in Dyce for seven years after emigrating from Lithuania, the practical experience has, he says, been invaluable — as has been the input from his CNR mentor. “I was able to talk about my projects and gain insight into what I should be looking at in career terms — which led me eventually into process engineering.

“When I take up my job with the company this will give me the responsibility for the optimum performance of the offshore equipment, making sure that things are working to maximum efficiency and producing day-to-day reports.”

For CNR International, the scholarship programme represents both a commitment from the company, but also provides significant potential benefits. “Importantly, there is a strategic driver to the scheme, as it provides us with access to skilled resources,” says Barry. “Oil and gas in the

Caroline Suttie and Andrius Ratkevicius with Dave Whitehouse, vice-president — production operations, and mentor Carolyn Pattinson, process team lead, CNR International

North Sea — and globally — continues to be a growth industry. Our team in Aberdeen manages our offshore Africa business as well as our North Sea assets, and we have a defined plan for both regions that forecasts increased investment and light oil production growth in the coming years. It’s an exciting time for us.

“It is crucial that we are able to recruit and retain highly experienced individuals, but we are also keen to bring graduates in, develop their skills, build a relationship with them — and then in future see them become experienced individuals who can grow with the business as we go forward.

So there is a strategic theme there.

“Of course, there is also an element of us being a good corporate citizen, which is one of the company’s core principles, and developing our relationship with the University of Aberdeen. And we are doing something that is a fitting tribute to four former colleagues, who were also friends to many of us.”

For the graduate scholars, the prospect is a career that holds numerous possibilities in the North Sea, North America and Africa, in a company that takes investment in the communities in which it is working seriously. This is reflected in the company’s mission statement, which includes the phrase “doing it right with fun and integrity”.

From where Barry stands, the future of CNR International in the North Sea and offshore Africa, with a growing band of highly trained young employees is a buoyant one. “I think we are seeing a growth in the number of graduates seeking employment in the industry, with companies such as ours, and also an improvement in their calibre,” he says.

“And they will have the opportunity to work across several disciplines – from engineering to law, finance to subsurface in an environment that is continually developing and implementing new technology, to meet the current and future challenges we face. It is a highly innovative, challenging and fun industry to work in, and will be for many years to come.”

CNR International’s strategic drive to attract graduates and young engineers to their organisation complements the company’s scholarship scheme that is operated in conjunction with the University of Aberdeen, allowing promising graduates to develop their skills. Neil Deeney, right, now a drilling engineer in the North Sea, joined CNR International in 2009 on a placement as part of his MSc, which he took in London, with a specific focus on one of the company’s major deepwater assets offshore Africa. This led to an offer of a Graduate Engineer’s role with the company.

“During the first two years of my career I had a highly structured training and development programme that included a company scheme where I worked through a series of technical modules and courses, followed by a series of Engineering examinations,” says Neil.

“I also completed a range of onshore placements, plus offshore assignments across a range of assets and work areas, which included an eight-month placement as part of a major field development in Africa.”

Neil now works as a drilling engineer, responsible for the delivery of multi million pound well programmes, and is also involved in mentoring and supporting junior engineers.

He says: “I enjoy the exciting and dynamic atmosphere of a Drilling & Completions department in CNR International, and am fortunate to have an excellent team who I really enjoy working with.”

Graham Philp, drilling & completions manager says: “After 35 years in the industry I am looking forward to developing and mentoring the new generation. I am confident that the future of CNR International is bright, and in years to come Neil will be doing the same with his successors”.

Tuesday April 30 2013 | the times

18

Power of Scotland

Cleaning up

Unblemished record is Sean gardner/reuters

Three American White Ibis show the effects of the oil spill in the Mexican Gulf in 2010

Post Macondo, the industry in the North Sea, already with a good record, has taken a zero tolerance approach to oil spills, writes Rob Stokes

I

mages of major oil spills live long in the memory as television footage of murky waters and tarry beaches strewn with live and dead oil-coated animals.

Chief among these was the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig disaster in BP’s Macondo field in the Gulf of Mexico that led to the uncontrolled release of an estimated 4.9 barrels of oil into the sea, wreaking havoc among wildlife along the shores of the southern United States.

There were more than 4,000 spills in the North Sea from 2000 through 2011 according to the UK government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) but, mercifully, none came even remotely close to the scale of Macondo.

Among the largest was the August 2011 spill at Shell’s Gannet Alpha platform when roughly 1,540 barrels of oil were released from a leaking pipeline, a category of spill that sits alongside release of oily ‘produced’ water from platforms and rigs and of bunker oil, as main sources of recorded spills in oil and gas activities on the UK Continental Shelf. The North Sea

We believe that in the exploration and production of oil no spill is acceptable

industry maintains that its spills record bears comparison with the best and that it is based on a prevention-first policy driven home by training and on a sophisticated emergency response in the event that the unthinkable happens.

“We believe that in the exploration, development and production of oil, no spill is acceptable,” says Mick Borwell, the environment director at Oil & Gas UK, the industry association.

“After the Gulf of Mexico incident, the UK proactively reviewed and strengthened its existing world class safety and environmental regime, taking into account lessons learned in the US and elsewhere,” Borwell adds.

This has been managed through panindustry forums such as the Well Life Cycle Practices Forum (WLCPF) and the Oil Spill Response Forum (OSPRF).

Mechanisms in place to prevent spills have been strengthened as has the ability to respond to one should it occur.

WLCPF has more than 45 Oil & Gas UK member companies including operators and well management companies.

“While tanker accidents such as MV Braer (which ran aground off Shetland in 1993) have caused serious pollution, oil and gas production in Britain has not caused such damage; spills associated with offshore oil and gas operations are infrequent and rarely exceed one tonne (roughly 1,100 litres), which means there is no measurable impact on marine life in the UK Continental Shelf,” Borwell says.

“The industry is not complacent and works constructively with regulators and

marine and environmental groups to ensure safe and sustainable operations,” he adds.

Set up by UK Oil & Gas in December 2010, the WLCPF provides a mechanism for well operators to discuss wellrelated pan-industry issues, acts as the industry-government interface of choice for DECC and the Health and Safety Executive, and helps companies to implement recommendations that came out of the Technical Review Group of the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Advisory Group (OSPRAG) that UK Oil & Gas set up to review practices in the UK even before investigations into the Macondo disaster had concluded.

One outcome of OSPRAG’s deliberations has been the availability since 2011 of a well-capping device as a key element of the UK offshore oil and gas industry’s oil spill response contingency plans. Its design was overseen by OSPRAG’s Technical Review Group working with BP and engineering services firm J P Kenny.

Similarly, Oil Spill Response Ltd (OSRL), an industry-owned cooperative set up 25 years ago and with its head office in London, responds to oil spills throughout the world and has more than 120 member companies including those responsible for more than 60 per cent of global oil production.

It has main bases in London, Singapore and Bahrain and regional offices and representatives in Aberdeen, Houston (USA), Jakarta (Indonesia), North Africa, and West and Central Africa.

In March, it unveiled its Subsea Well

Intervention Service (SWIS), cuttingedge well-capping equipment for use globally in the event of a subsea wellcontrol incident. SWIS sprung from collaboration between nine international oil and gas companies which collaborated with OSRL in a Subsea Well Response Project (SWRP) project that saw them pool resources.

The environment post-Macondo has seen rising demand for Emergency Response and Crisis Management (ERCM) and business continuity services offered by companies such as Petrofac.

FTSE 100 registered Petrofac is one of the world’s leading oilfield service companies. Among its business activities, it provides 24/7 crisis services through its Emergency Response Service Centre (ESRC) in Aberdeen, The ESRC has evolved into a point of contact for some 40 companies and a large number of North Sea and international installations and vessels which can use it in an emergency to mobilise an incident management team.

Petrofac has global Major Emergency Management (MEM) suites, including Montrose and Aberdeen in Scotland, Houston and Singapore. Operational staff also provide consultancy services encompassing training exercises and response plan writing.

The ERCM team has specialists who provide response documentation and training on managing spills, including isolation procedures to let technicians carry out work safely with no loss of containment.

the times | Tuesday April 30 2013

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Power of Scotland

sector’s aim The ERCM business is currently trialling a new programme through the ERSC, based on software that Petrofac has developed to allow comprehensive oversight of responder competence.

“It’s designed to provide a dashboard of current capabilities and effectiveness of the response arrangements and will be able to match availability against skills when multiple teams become involved in a response,” says David Evans, Petrofac’s global director of ERCM. Evans says the software sprang from Macondo teaching a lesson about managing the response to extended duration events (Macondo dragged on from April to August 2010 much to the frustration of BP and alarm of the public) and the need to access significant numbers of trained and competent personnel.

“The industry is acutely aware of problems that large oil spills can cause and its record in general has been improving,” Evans feels.

The Aberdeen ERSC was a big step forward for Petrofac’s ERCM business.

Innovative features include an interface with the UK representative for transport and DECC. There is a back-up ERSC in case two incidents need handling concurrently.

Macondo — the deaths, the pollution,

and the financial consequences — has changed governments’, regulators’ and operating companies’ awareness of the level of threats and has led to a continuing ferment of discussion and preventative planning.

In this climate, being close to both regulators and operating companies has placed Petrofac in a position where it has been able to facilitate discussions and has become involved itself in solutions.

Consequently, the company has been actively involved with Oil & Gas UK, and developed an Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (OPEP) framework document aimed at introducing a consistent approach to compiling plans for the UK industry.

The ESRC has participated in most major exercises testing the industry’s capacity and capability. These included Exercise SULA in 2011, the major national exercise in the UK to incorporate all aspects of the National Contingency Plan (NCP) for Marine Pollution from Shipping and Offshore Installations. SULA simulated an uncontrolled release of hydrocarbons from a deepwater well over a prolonged period which would impact upon the Shetland Islands. Petrofac was assisted in the preparation and delivery of Exercise SULA. “We’ve also been working on improv-

Being close to regulators and operating companies lets Petrofac facilitate discussions and become involved in solutions

24/7

ing communications,” says Evans. “For example, we are introducing a webbased information management system for handling information during major emergencies. It’s moving it beyond the old days of paper-based systems so clients can access, share and participate in information exchanges, which builds resilience into processes.”

The new generation of simulation training offered through the Petrofac/ NASA MEM Suite in Houston since it opened last spring has been doing “exceedingly well” says Evans.

So with all this ‘learning’ going on, and with companies working internationally, is the worl signing up the ‘best practice’ that is emerging from Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea? It would appear not, as yet. Evans says that while major oil operators and their subcontractors take their systems and knowledge with them worldwide, the industry is some way off from seeing the reality of implementation of global standards for prevention and response.

“It’s patchy,” he says. “There are always two strands to it. The first is that international operators tend to share international good practice and seek to spread across their businesses what they learn in one region.” Petrofac does this itself.

“But the second strand is the regulators, and that is where you will always get some separation between practices,” says Evans. “So a solution that the Americans put in place for the Gulf of Mexico will never be a direct overlay into the North Sea, where we have UK regulation, and there is still the issue of what the Euro-

pean Union will be doing. Overseas, you will still see some influence by regulators and governments.”

The UK has always been at the forefront of spills prevention and cure, he adds. “It was a brave decision by the industry some years ago to set up OSRL to develop the equipment and systems that were needed. I think the UK still has world leading capability in this area.”

The wisdom of managing flows of information to the media and public during a major oil spill was demonstrated during the Macondo crisis when the then BP chief executive Tony Hayward told reporters that he wanted his “life back”.

“Often people are not blamed for crises but for how they deal with them,” says Louise Nicolson, managing director at Bread Public Relations, an Aberdeen based PR firm that partners MTI Network — the largest crisis media management network serving shipping, energy, offshore and transport — to help businesses protect their reputations in a crisis.

“Damaged reputations can have financial consequences and there are the same considerations for oil spills as for any incident,” she adds.

“We help company spokespeople to bring it back to the impact on people, to explain how they are going to remedy the situation, and to provide a reason for the situation. Under the pressure of social media and other influences people want information before there is any, and there is huge psychological pressure to give out information. We help to structure information and to ensure that it is verified and correct.”

CNR International Drilling Team Leader

www.cnrl.com

CNR International’s portfolio spans offshore interests in the North Sea and offshore Africa in Cote d‘Ivoire, Gabon and South Africa. Our International business is managed from our Aberdeen office, where we employ over 400 personnel. CNR International forms part of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd, one of the largest independent crude oil and natural gas producers in the world.

Would you like an international work scope but don’t want to relocate?

With operations in the North Sea and offshore Africa, CNR International could be the choice for you.

For further information on any of these positions, Apply to: recruitment@cnrinternational.com Technical Safety Engineer - North Sea & Africa Join our Safety, Health and Environment Team, this role will give you the opportunity to lead the development of Major Accident Hazard Management frameworks for workscopes covering the North Sea and offshore Africa.

Environmental Advisor - North Sea This role covers a variety of exciting opportunities including the provision of environmental and regulatory support and advice for CNR International’s North Sea assets, ensuring improved environmental performance.

Senior Drilling Engineer - North Sea Finance Manager - North Sea & Africa You will proactively provide decision support, financial advice, analysis and contribute to the strategy of CNR International’s assets.

You will have full responsibility for the entire spectrum of well operations, working closely with other departments during the planning and execution of wells, workovers and abandonments.

Senior Pipeline Integrity Engineer - North Sea & Africa

Senior Drilling Engineer - Africa

Working on operations in the North Sea & offshore Africa, you will be the technical authority for CNR International’s assets.

CNR International’s scope of active drilling campaigns across our offshore Africa operations will provide you with the opportunity to work on assets that provide considerable light oil growth opportunities.

Structural Engineer/Technical Authority - North Sea & Africa The role covers structural input to new projects, modifications and integrity assurance activities on CNR International’s installations in the North Sea and offshore Africa.

Senior Completions Engineers - North Sea & Africa

Senior Reservoir Engineer - North Sea & Africa

Responsible for well completion activities from concept to design and through to well construction, this is great opportunity to work on mature assets in the North Sea and offshore Africa.

You will create the future for CNR International by bringing your innovative thinking to all aspects of reservoir engineering for our assets in the North Sea and offshore Africa.

Senior Geologist - North Sea The North Sea is a mature area for CNR International with increased drilling activity over the coming years to extend asset life. You will focus on evaluating potential opportunities within our substantial portfolio of assets.

Senior Subsea Engineer - North Sea & Africa Working on North Sea and offshore Africa projects, you will be the technical authority for subsea infrastructure as part of the CNR International well integrity group.

CNR International (UK) Limited. St. Magnus House, Guild Street, Aberdeen. AB11 6NJ. Scotland, United Kingdom.