Installation integrity

A new joint industry and HSE initiative on installation integrity was kicked off in 2004. High level, key performance indicators, KPIs were developed to set targets and track industry progress. These KPIs include hydrocarbon releases, verification non-compliance and production efficiency. The Hydrocarbon release figures have been collected since 1994, but in 2004 a new target was agreed of a 10% year-on-year reduction. The latter KPIs were developed during 2005 and are being collected during 2006.

Figure 14: UKCS Hydrocarbon Releases 1994-2005

Employment

In 2005/6 a new survey of employment was commissioned, which showed the UKCS provided employment in 2004 for around 340,000, with 31,500 employed by oil and gas companies and 222,000 in the supply chain. An additional 85,000 induced jobs are sustained through the investment and wages from the industry. Higher spending by oil and gas companies since 2004 boosted employment to 365,000 jobs in 2005. Employment overseas and export of international goods/services further boosts the total numbers in the UK employed through our industry.

Figure 15: Regional Distribution of UKCS Employment (oil and gas companies, supply chain and induced)

Workforce capacity and capability

The industry is working hard to ensure that it retains a suitably sized and skilled workforce to meet future requirements and challenges. One key issue to be addressed is the present demographics of the offshore workforce.

Figure 16: UKCS Offshore Employment Demographic

In October 2005, OPITO/Cogent industry sector skills council were commissioned to investigate the industry's current workforce shortages or “pinch points”; the impact this would have and potential solutions. Specific information from over 200 companies was processed giving consistent and repeated messages of shortages exacerbated by the difficulties of bringing people into the industry, due to non-delivering recruitment drives and competitive demand from other UK projects. All sectors of our industry are experiencing skills shortages across the full spectrum of job roles i.e. riggers, scaffolders, technicians, geologists and reservoir engineers. Specific training and assignment efforts are being developed to respond to these findings.