O&G UK to shed light on upstream oil and gas labour market

Oil & Gas UK, in conjunction with oil and gas industry skills organisation OPITO and the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) today (July 24) announces it has commissioned EY to ‘map’ the UK upstream oil and gas labour market to provide valuable intelligence.

This constitutes a major piece of work which will provide comprehensive data on the workforce for the first time and will provide an insight into the sector’s current employment profile and future needs.

This detailed picture of the UK’s current and future upstream oil and gas labour market will be developed by gathering data on the profile of the workforce in different sectors, to better understand skills deficiencies, and likely future labour and skills needs. The report it aims to help government and industry formulate strategies to successfully address labour market challenges.

Business and Energy Minister, Matthew Hancock, said:

“Our oil and gas industry is a real success story, contributing £35 billion to our economy and employing around 400,000 people. This important project will clearly outline the skills that the oil and gas industries will need in the years to come and help ensure both our economic and energy security.”

Oil & Gas UK’s business development director, Stephen Marcos Jones, commented on the purpose of the project:

“By gathering data on the workforce’s profile across operators and the supply chain and identifying future requirements, we hope to better equip our industry for the challenges and opportunities which lie ahead. We are operating in a global industry and as such, must build a world-class talent pipeline.

“We aim not only to provide more accuracy around the number of jobs supported by the industry, but to identify what skills our people have, where they are based and how we might need to develop them to promote our advantage in the oil and gas sector. Industry willingness to participate in this study will be vital to its success.”

John McDonald, managing director OPITO, added:

“This is a unique and valuable piece of work which is being undertaken collaboratively by industry, government and OPITO as the industry skills organisation, as we look to establish the strengths within the current workforce and also the potential skills gaps.

“The intelligence it provides will allow us to develop a strategy for industry which can be delivered through a skills alliance including education, training providers and others.”

Oil & Gas UK leads industry participation in the UK’s Oil and Gas Industrial Strategy. The Industrial Strategy is the collective responsibility of government and Industry Council and aims to create conditions in which offshore oil and gas businesses are best placed to take advantage of new opportunities and compete globally. This new project supports several aims of this strategy – which highlights the need to secure talent to increase production and develop the sector’s supply chain.

Data for the report will be gathered by a range of methods including analysis of existing information and a series of interviews with organisations in 32 sub sectors of the upstream oil and gas supply chain.

Chris Lewis, Partner at EY added:

“The oil and gas industry is instrumental in securing the UK’s energy future. Investment to ensure that the industry has the right people, with the right skills to get the job done is of utmost importance. The UK has an excellent track record in nurturing world class oil and gas talent to develop our resources and export expertise. We are delighted to be working with Oil & Gas UK on this project that aims to shed some light on the skills required to deliver an industry that has the expertise to deal with extending the life of mature fields and developing new ones.”

Today’s announcement comes just three months after the completion of a project to map the UK oil and gas supply chain, commissioned by Oil & Gas UK, with the support of BIS, and completed by EY. The study demonstrated the UK’s oil and gas supply chain is a £35 billion industry, based on 2012 figures from businesses registered with Companies House.

The final report will be published in early November.