Jon Excell

Field of dreams: opportunities in the oil and gas sector

In-Depth

The oil and gas sector faces some immense engineering challenges as it ventures into increasingly formidable environments. There is, however, one challenge that could prove far tougher to solve than anything the deep seas will throw at engineers- the need to bridge the growing skills gap within the industry.

The government’s Oil and Gas Industrial Strategy, published last month (March 28th), aims to address this by providing a clear path to exploit the UK’s remaining oil and gas reserves. The government hopes its plan will provide tax certainty, investor confidence and supply chain support, all of which it claims will attract much-needed mid-career engineers into the sector.

‘This is an expanding industry,’ said business secretary Vince Cable. ‘We can either help create more jobs and opportunities across the UK if we get this right, or see work going overseas.’ He added: ‘An important part of this strategy is how we can develop the UK supply chain. I want us to consider what barriers are stopping British companies bidding for and winning work in the North Sea.’

This is an expanding industry. We can either help create more jobs and opportunities across the UK if we get this right, or see work going overseas.

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