Petrofac’s director takes helm at offshore oil & gas efficiency taskforce

Walter Thain, managing director of Petrofac’s Engineering & Production Services (EPS) West business, has been appointed to lead the UK offshore oil and gas industry’s efficiency drive as Chairman of the Oil & Gas UK Efficiency Taskforce (ETF).

The ETF was launched last year to act as a catalyst for greater cooperation to improve efficiency across the sector. Its aim is to share good practice and spearhead cross-sector projects that will benefit the entire industry.

Oil & Gas UK said on Thursday that Thain will be taking over leadership of the group from John Pearson of Amec Forster Wheeler, who stepped down from the role.

Stephen Marcos Jones, Oil & Gas UK’s Director of Business Excellence, said: “We are delighted Walter will be leading this pan-industry group of experts – I feel certain he’ll ably guide this industry to cooperate to become more competitive in the global marketplace.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to add sincere thanks, on behalf of the whole industry, to John Pearson, for his significant contribution in launching the ETF, providing the great foundations we can build on in our second year.”

Walter Thain, the new head of ETF, said: “Having joined the Board of Oil & Gas UK this spring, I’m well aware of the progress we are making towards becoming more efficient – from taking a fresh look at inventory management through companies sharing details of some 200,000 spare parts online; to putting in place the use of standard rather than bespoke specifications in subsea design and construction and potentially saving 30 percent on costs in the process.”

“Undoubtedly, a change in culture is the key to finding a better way to do business in the UK Continental Shelf, and I’m looking forward to playing a significant role in securing a sustainable future for this basin.”

Thain has 25 years of industry experience, fifteen of which was spent working for Petrofac in a variety of roles. Prior to joining Petrofac he held senior engineering and leadership positions with McDermott Engineering delivering both brownfield and greenfield engineering projects.