BEAM HIM UP SCOTTY

On the Monday before the 2005 Offshore Europe John Wils, former director of UKOOA and now columnist in the Energy Section of the Aberdeen Press and Journal wrote an alarmingly downbeat article about the oil show, in which he suggested that it was boring expensive and pointless, and that more would be gained if we all concentrated on the fact that Aberdeen has now been recognised as the birthplace of Scotty - Chief Enginer of the Enterprise. I wrote a response which was printed in an edited version. It is printed here in full.

So John Wils has come to the conclusion that the oil industry is rather dull and the oil show, Offshore Europe, to give it its full title is “the same old routine” . And if you are reading this then probably you will have read his column in last month’s Press and Journal Energy Supplement.

 What planet is he on. I was a stand holder at this year’s show, one of the “small lesser known firms in a three sided box”. And I thought the whole event was little short of miraculous.

 Apparently the first oil show was held in 1973, twenty years from the moment when the industry first waded out into the shallows off the coast of Louisiana, and only eight years after the first jack-up spudded in, in the UK sector. When the initial event was held in Aberdeen there were no producing fields off our coasts.  Out in the North Sea the oil men were only just coming to terms with the local conditions and the British legislators were doing their best to understand how the Sea Gem had been lost.

 All the “experts” were American but they were having some difficulty in adjusting to the British way of doing things, the British weather and most important of all the waters around our coasts. In addition to winter storms which could stop the job for weeks at a time, they had to consider the water depth, seabed conditions and tidal flows which appeared to be totally random. Those of you who were out there may remember that a heavy lift crane was probably mounted on the bow of an old tanker and might be able to lift 300 tonnes, and this meant that the platforms were put together like three dimensional jigsaws, the bits being towed out on barges from construction sites all round the coast. At one point there were so many workers employed on the Brent Field that they used to be taken up there from Aberdeen by ferry.

 So what has all this to do with Offshore Europe this year? By 2005 North Sea oil is mature and our expertise, developed during those far off days, is being exported to every country where oil is to be found under the sea. Of course, by now it is not really “British” expertise. Aberdeen is a cosmopolitan area providing a centre of excellence for companies from all over the world and Offshore Europe may be the ultimate showcase for the city, and the means by which innovators, entrepreneurs, operators and organisers can tap into this resource.

 From our three sided box in the main pavilion we have had a window on the world and have met oil industry people from India, Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Nigeria and Malaysia. Some of them have had no interest in our products but just wanted to talk to us, and we in turn have enjoyed talking to them. In the central area the largest service companies in the world have put on wonderful displays of technology and are exhibiting pieces of equipment so large that lesser mortals cannot imagine how they have been put in place. Were else but this exhibition could be have a close look at a full sized subsea completion, or, at the other end of the scale, two girls clad only in blue paint advertising a Danish shipyard.

 In the main arena most of the oil majors were represented, which shows a genuine commitment, and far from “bagging the expensive space” they have put a great deal of money into supporting the event, the city and their suppliers. After all, no visitor to the show has come to buy petrol. Shell had a formula 1 car on their stand. It may not be oil industry but it is attractive, and an indication of the ingenuity and expense the exhibitors have gone to in order to attract and entertain their visitors.

 John Wils has made the suggestion that we need more variety and fun, and that some sort of homage to Star Trek would help now that Aberdeen is officially Scotty’s birthplace. Well we little people in the three sided boxes don’t object, but even the Enterprise technology pales into insignificance when compared with some of the stuff on display in Aberdeen at Offshore Europe. There were digital imaging system which could map the whole hall from a single point and thermal cameras which could detect a hand print left on a flat surface. It would seem to be only a matter of time before some-one comes up with the warp drive. We met people who had come to the show who had nothing to do with the oil industry at all, but felt that here they might find a solution to their problems. We were able to help one or two and I am sure that this experience was repeated in many places around the halls.

 So, when it comes to matter transfer technology we’ll soon crack it, and if Mr Wils wants to be the first to be “beamed outa here”,  then I’m sure that I will be joined by many others who will be happy to watch him go.

Vic Gibson September 2005