Top apprentice enjoys life working offshore

For most of the UK’s workforce, the commute typically involves driving a car, catching a bus or train, hopping on a bike or walking. But not for the thousands of oil and gas workers who travel to installations miles offshore every day, including 20-year-old apprentice Scott Milligan.

A trainee mechanical technician with Cnooc International, Milligan is nearing the end of a four-year modern apprenticeship through the Oil and Gas Technical Apprentice Programme (Ogtap). For Milligan, his first time in a helicopter also marked his first time offshore, an experience that drew mixed emotions.

He said: “My first time going offshore was so bizarre. It took me a while to think ‘this is real’. I was standing on a steel structure 150 miles offshore and all I could see around me were waves, seagulls and fishing boats.

“It was my first time in a helicopter, not least a helicopter full of people in survival suits going to a rig. My friends often ask me what it’s like working offshore but it’s so hard to explain. I usually start by saying ‘well, you get the bus to work and I get a helicopter’.”

Although Milligan did not plan for a job in the energy sector, one thing he was sure of was his ambition to work in a hands-on role. He said: “I just knew I wasn’t going to work in an office. I’m not wired that way. As a kid, I was always playing with Lego or repairing my bike and at school it was always subjects like physics, or design and manufacture that I enjoyed most.”

In his teenage years, that passion for repairing bikes turned into fixing up cars, with Milligan buying his first motor, a VW Polo, before he was even old enough to learn how to drive. Since then, he has amassed quite a collection, including a Honda Civic 96-00 Ek4 Jordan, a Subaru Impreza STI Type R Version 5 GC8 import from Japan and a Renaultsport Clio 182.

Scott said: “My dad started out in the motor vehicle trade, working with lorries and heavy goods vehicles, before he moved into education.

“We bought my first car together. It had been involved in a crash, so he helped me make it roadworthy again and that’s what I learned to drive in.”

It was also through his dad, the engineering curriculum manager at Edinburgh College – which operates the college phase of Ogtap’s instrumentation and control apprenticeship – that Scott first started to consider a career in oil and gas.

He said: “I knew a guy who was doing an apprenticeship in Edinburgh and he was really enjoying it. When my dad mentioned a scheme that went through his work, I applied while in fifth year at school and was one of the lucky ones.”

In August 2017, aged 17, Scott moved to Aberdeen to begin his training at North East Scotland College (Nescol).

As with all Ogtap apprentices, his first two years involved a combination of practical workshop experience and classroom-based learning.

After earning his National Certificate, Scott chose to specialise in his preferred discipline of mechanical maintenance, gaining a Higher National Certificate before starting to work towards his SVQ Level 3 in processing operations: hydrocarbons.

In his third year, Milligan was sponsored by Cnooc and, since then, has developed his skills further working offshore on his namesake, the Scott platform in the UK North Sea. He firmly believes that his apprenticeship has prepared him well for his chosen career.

“Apprenticeships are a sign of your commitment to the company employing you and show that you are willing to put in the effort,” he said.

“My studies have all been relevant to my working life offshore and every day presents an opportunity to learn something new.

“There is a lot of support and advice given, and I’ve run quite a few large jobs that I am very proud of, gas turbine change outs and so on. For your company and supervisors to trust you to do that is great.

“It’s a very close-knit community. You’re never stuck for someone to talk to and there’s always people looking out for you.”

Milligan said his apprenticeship presents endless opportunities for him to progress.

He said: “I could move from mechanical into production, I could change my mind and decide I want to work in an office, or I could go back to university, do my degree and become an engineer.

“I don’t have a set idea yet of where I want to be – I’ll just take the opportunities as they come. What I can say is that oil and gas is a great industry with doors opening everywhere.

“The skills you get are very transferable to other areas too, such as renewables.”

One such opportunity was the chance to represent Cnooc at the Oil and Gas UK awards last year, where Milligan was named apprentice of the year. He said: “During the awards ceremony I was offshore and watched it with a couple of guys from the team and my mentor, Grant Ellis. When they announced that I was the winner I was speechless.”

TALENT: Scott Milligan scooped a top apprentice award.