Scotland Sees Opportunity, Innovation in the North Sea

Britain's offshore industry is strong, and Scotland is committed to ensuring that the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) remains one of the world's top offshore energy provinces for many years to come. The oil and gas industry is facing a set of unique challenges: determining how to instill sustainability, meeting the needs of remote reservoirs, ensuring the progression to fallow fields, looking to make cost reductions and making use of the technological advances in the industry. Scotland has drawn on its industry expertise, strong academic tradition and experience in innovative technologies to develop a strategy that will meet the emerging needs of the industry.

The approach, developed by Scottish Development International, has two main objectives. By focusing on the commercialization of research and development, SDI will ensure the best use of the North Sea's resources. The organization will also look to develop the knowledge base and expertise necessary to support diversification into alternative industry sectors — and emerging overseas markets. SDI s a government-funded organization that works to help businesses use Scotland's key strengths in knowledge-based industries, high-level skills, technology and innovation. The goal of SDI is to broaden Scotland's international appeal as a first choice source of knowledge from which to develop and exploit innovative technologies and ideas. For the oil and gas industry, SDI works with Scottish companies in geographical and industrial diversification and looks to bring the strength of the Scottish companies and universities to international organizations. According to Tom Lamb, Head of Energy and Engineering — Trade, SDI, "Scotland has an outstanding record of achievement in developing leading-edge technologies for the offshore energy sector, with our companies continuing to invest heavily in research and development for ultra deepwater markets. This record has been achieved by Scotland's continuous investment in people and skills." The North Sea industry continues to be among the most innovative in the world, with leading technologies and highly effective and efficient contracting strategies, and development techniques. Performance improvement in the areas of operations and management, asset management, engineering, field-life extension, satellite field development, supply-chain management, and well services and drilling, will ensure that the North Sea continues to be on the forefront of this change. Scotland is proud to be spear-heading this effort for the next phase of technology.