Nick Terdre, Contributing Editor
OTC and Houston continue to draw Norwegian suppliers seeking a share of the global market. For the second year running, Innovation Norway had to close the doors of the Norwegian pavilion after 40 companies booked all available space, says Hans Peter Christophersen, oil and gas coordinator. Innovation Norway is the government agency responsible for assisting national companies to market themselves abroad.
A common problem facing the industry in the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea is the shortage of skilled personnel, Christophersen says. Recruiting qualified staff is the issue that most exercises the minds of top management, ahead of new technology and investment funds.
Leading Norwegian suppliers are now seeking new staff in distant lands. Aker Kvaerner, for example, recently announced that it had increased its minority interest in the Indian company Aker Kvaerner Powergas to a majority stake and would make greater use of the company’s nearly 1,000 highly trained engineers in projects around the world. “Access to skilled engineers with relevant experience is key to the competition for and execution of new projects,” says Inge K. Hansen, Aker Kvaerner’s president and CEO.
Given Norway’s commitment to internationalizing its oil and gas expertise, Christophersen is alarmed by the trend, which he believes is affecting the western world as a whole. “It’s a shame we are not educating people for these highly skilled jobs,” he says. “Oil companies must also take their share of the blame-it was very shortsighted of them to make staff redundant in large numbers a few years ago. Now recruitment into the industry has declined.
“At Innovation Norway we see it is our responsibility to make young people aware that this is an exciting industry to work in, with plenty of interesting challenges.”
A sure sign of success of Norwegian technology is when small specialist companies are acquired by global enterprises. Christophersen cites two recent examples: Halliburton’s takeover of Easy Well Solutions and M-I Swaco’s acquisition of Epcon Offshore. Their core activities remain in Norway, and global markets are accessed through their parent companies.
On the technology front, the Arctic continues to attract the attention of international oil companies, and Christophersen sees opportunities for Norwegian expertise in operating in this region. The recent successful appraisal of Eni’s Goliat discovery, where the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate now estimates reserves at 250 MMboe, raises hopes of the first oil production in the Norwegian Barents Sea.•
