Offshore Decommissioning Conference 2019: Searching for the Tech-Factor

Joint hosts Decom North Sea and OGUK have launched the agenda for the tenth Offshore Decommissioning Conference, to be held in St Andrews, 25 – 27 November.

The 500 delegates due to attend the event - of which Forth and Tay Decommissioning is the principal sponsor - can expect a departure from previous years’ programmes in terms of content and delegate participation. A focus on interactive sessions with highlight new technology and the global prospects for the UK’s decommissioning sector reflects the estimated £15billion domestic and £80billion international decommissioning spend expected over the next decade.

New for 2019, a Technology Zone will play host across the two-day event to eight innovating companies, currently being supported by The Oil and Gas Technology Centre’s Decommissioning Solutions Centre. Using a format popular with broadcast media and familiar to all, the chosen companies will each present a two-minute technology pitch, before three finalists and an eventual winner are announced, based upon delegates’ votes.

Audience interaction is a prominent theme throughout, as representatives from the oil industries of mainland Europe, Brazil, Brunei, Malaysia and Western Australia will each consolidate the session on Global Decommissioning by hosting round-table discussions with interested delegates.

Continuing the focus upon internationalisation, the Conference provides a timely forum at which to discuss the Call for Evidence focusing on establishing UK as a decommissioning hub. Eight months on from its launch, the UK government initiative will be addressed via the Conference’s first business breakfast.

Decom North Sea CEO John Warrender comments: “This is a creative agenda, designed to start new conversations and develop delegates’ networks around the emerging themes. Whilst internationalisation and disruptive technology will play a justifiably key role in this Conference, the threats and opportunities driven by climate change and the accelerating energy transition will also form a significant part of the programme.”

Mike Tholen, OGUK’s upstream policy director, said: “To seize the opportunities decommissioning presents we need to be the best and be seen to be the best in a very dynamic market.

“Our rapidly growing body of knowledge and expertise mean we are uniquely placed to lead the world not only in decommissioning but also developing the low carbon technologies such as carbon capture and storage that are essential if we are to meet the net-zero challenge by 2050.”