Pipe work

With producers such as BP, Shell and Exxon Mobil all posting record profits in recent months, the health of the oil and gas industry is there for all to see.

Oil prices have now declined from their peak levels at well over $100 a barrel. Yet the legacy of low recruitment during the period of low energy prices between the mid-1980s and the start of this decade, as well as job cuts following a wave of huge mergers at the end of the 1990s, means that the hunt for new recruits to replace an ageing workforce is still on.

A recent report by

claims that there are not enough engineers to meet the demands of current projects, and a shortfall of between 10 and 15 per cent is likely by 2010.

Meanwhile, there are also considerable challenges in the fields of exploration and production that will require the best engineers and scientists to both source remaining reserves from existing wells and find ways to exploit new resources that are harder to extract.