OGUK group will plot oil and gas recovery

The leading representative body for the UK’S offshore oil and gas sector has convened a group of experts to help shape the sector’s recovery as it looks beyond the immediate health and safety issues posed by Covid-19.

The recovery group – which includes BP regional president Ariel Flores and Aker Solutions UK head Sian Lloyd-rees – will focus on opportunities with short to mid-term impact, with a view to stimulating much-needed fresh activity for supply chain companies.

Proposals to bring forward net-zero projects in energy communities across the UK are already at the centre of discussions on how to boost business opportunities, with industry leaders set to open discussions with the UK and Scottish Governments on Carbon Capture and Storage, hydrogen and floating wind.

The group will explore opportunities from exploration to decommissioning, from maintenance programmes and desktop engineering design work, to offshore work programmes, to identify where projects could be brought forward or more widely promoted to stimulate activity levels for companies servicing the sector.

OGUK operations director Katy Heidenreich said: “We know that we can’t wait around for a recovery to come to us, which is why we’re already in action to understand where we can support supply chain companies and identify fresh opportunities in a challenging low oil and gas price environment.

“Our recovery plan will not only look at how we can support the oil and gas industry through improving our competitiveness as a basin, it will also look at how we can use this as an opportunity to position ourselves as an incubator for net zero projects.”

Katy Heidenreich.