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Energy Sector Leadership Forum with Andrew Reid, NorthStone Advisors | Thursday 27th May

On Thursday 27th May, FWB Park Brown’s Aberdeen office hosted a virtual leadership forum. The forum commenced with a presentation from Andrew Reid, Partner at NorthStone Advisors, who was able to provide insight into the outlook of the oilfield services market, particularly in light of the energy transition and associated changes to the energy landscape. Following this, Stuart Cochrane, Director at FWB Park Brown facilitated a discussion which allowed participants the opportunity to direct questions to Andrew, or more generally open issues up for discussion.

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly how tomorrow’s market will look for traditional oilfield service companies, but it is clear the market and opportunities will be influenced by the capability of people, and the culture of organisations at the heart of change. With a significant drive towards decarbonisation, opportunities are arising for traditional OFS companies within the wind and solar space, as well as within more niche areas such as hydrogen and biofuels. In spite of this, oil and gas remains an essential global resource as a fuel source and as a raw material in various industries including the production of plastics. As well as this, the media narrative around the role of the oil and gas sector in respect of the global climate emergency can be problematic, given the essential nature of the industry.

In the short to medium term, oilfield services companies have two options, to fulfil today’s market needs before exiting the market or, more optimistically, to fulfil the current market needs while strategically diversifying to fulfil needs of the green energy landscape. The latter option will rely on continued investment into diversifying OFS companies, as well as reliance on paced development of viable technologies and the infrastructure to support this. Regardless of the specific direction the energy market is moving in, hydrocarbon resources fundamentally underpin our energy supply, and will continue to be essential for some time. As well as this, the oil and gas industry has a wealth of knowledge to lend to evolving sectors. For example, there is a huge amount of interest from offshore renewables for technologies present in oil and gas.

As ever, the energy sector will continue to be influenced by external factors, such as the wide ranging impact of the pandemic, as well as global political tensions such as that surrounding the Libyan oil supply. Throughout the course of the pandemic, we have been reminded of the fragility of supply chains at a global level, with the landscape of commerce evolving significantly. Regional dependencies are a vital consideration for the OFS sector moving forward, and in order to ensure reliability there may be a weighted reliance on national providers of services.

What is clear is that a challenge exists for oilfield services. That challenge presents excellent opportunities for individuals and organisations willing to diversify their offerings to progress and continue to provide their services for the energy sector of the future.

FWB Park Brown
FWB Park Brown continues to deliver its full range of services which includes providing support and advice during the Covid- 19 Public Health and developing global economic crisis.
We have established a range of cross sector as well as sector focused discussion forums for Chairs, NEDs, CEOs and all the main business management disciplines.  We are also working closely with the Scottish HR Leadership Group to provide constructive support including discussion forums and Q & As.
Summaries of the discussions will be posted on our news section and also on LinkedIn.
For further information about any of these forums please contact us via enquiries@fwbparkbrown.com