Industry experts from Equinor, Premier Oil, Spirit Energy and Nexen Petroleum U.K. Limited (Nexen), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC Limited, have selected seven forward-thinking companies and organisations to participate in Oil & Gas UK’s new Innovation Forum which launches at Share Fair in Aberdeen’s Exhibition and Conference Centre on October 31.

Matt Abraham, Oil & Gas UK’s Supply Chain Director, said:
“The industry’s longevity is thanks to the ground-breaking thinking and technological innovations our world class supply chain has developed and it’s great to have major companies supporting our first Innovation Forum. It’s aimed at giving people with bold and enterprising ideas access to advice and feedback from industry experts whose skill is identifying opportunities where both parties could work collaboratively to deliver solutions that address key challenges.

“We’ve had a great diversity of organisations submitting interesting concepts for the Forum. The seven successful candidates preparing to pitch their innovative solutions are the Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC); Altrad; Apollo; Centrifuges Un-Limited; Nalco Champion; Eigen and M&P Oil and Gas Solutions.”

With investment in the UK North Sea expected to exceed £15 billion over the next year, 21 major purchaser companies are keen to meet suppliers offering fresh input on services and expertise at Share Fair’s one-to-one business meetings which are proving extremely popular. These companies are Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) and High Value Manufacturing Catapult; Apache North Sea; BP; Chrysaor; Chevron Upstream Europe; ConocoPhillips (U.K.) Limited; Craig International; EnQuest; EPIM; Halliburton; Independent Oil & Gas PLC (IOG) and ODE Asset Management Limited (ODE AM); Nexen; Premier Oil; Shell U.K. Limited; Spirit Energy; Subsea 7; TAQA; TOTAL E&P UK Limited; Wood and WorleyParsons.

Oil and Gas Authority head of supply chain Bill Cattanach added: 
“As the industry has evolved it is now generally accepted most of the new and enabling technologies are developed by the supply chain. There can however be disconnect between operators and the innovation community and the re-energised Share Fair concept recognises and addresses this gap through the new Innovation Forum.”

In support of the sector’s drive to improve competitiveness, Oil & Gas UK’s Efficiency Task Force will be launching a series of new case studies at Share Fair, where delegates can gain insight into the tools and guidance available to optimise supply chain growth and improve industry performance.