Private sector economic development body Opportunity North East will focus its work in the oil and gas industry on diversification, innovation, internationalisation, market development, training and learning over the next 12 months.
ONE’s Oil & Gas Sector Board has agreed projects and programmes that aim to deliver long term benefits for the region by supporting businesses and organisations with innovative technologies and the best people, to help maximise recovery from the UKCS and generate worldwide demand for services and expertise.
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ONE’s oil and gas activity to the end of March 2018 will include work to establish the region as a global centre of excellence for learning and training, supply chain support programmes to help companies identify and win decommissioning work and move into adjacent sectors, and work with partners to identify where value can be added to internationalisation activity and drive greater uptake of digital applications and solutions to deliver efficiency gains.
ONE’s projected investment in activity in the sector of £520,000 in 2017/18 is anticipated to leverage a further £640,000 of funding from partners, underlining the value of its co-investment approach to economic development in the region.
Maximising the North Sea opportunity, increasing exports and anchoring the oil and gas supply chain in the region for the long term are strategic goals for ONE as part of its wider work to deliver an economic renaissance for Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire through sector specific action and investment in food, drink and agriculture; life sciences; oil and gas; tourism; and the digital economy.
Trevor Garlick, Chair of ONE’s Oil & Gas Sector Board, said: “The extent to which we can maximise the North Sea oil and gas opportunity and anchor our successful supply chain in the region for the long term will be critical to the future prosperity of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. To achieve the shared vision of economic renaissance, ONE has identified areas where we can add value now by helping businesses and organisations to enter new markets, win new business and innovate to become more competitive. This involves new partnerships with private and public-sector stakeholders and will see additional resource, in terms of funding and expertise, committed to help our oil and gas businesses grow and continue to provide high value employment.
“In the long term, we want to see this region established as a global centre of technology development with an innovative and competitive supply chain anchored here and working internationally across the whole energy spectrum. Building momentum now around programmes that support this ambition will pay dividends for future generations,” said Mr Garlick.
