THE energy industry is embracing the new realities it faces in the age of a lower-for-longer oil price and rising costs, according to representatives of every facet of the sector attending SPE Offshore Europe 2017.

SPE Offshore Europe 2017 has secured Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Andrew Jones MP as a speaker at the opening plenary and has also confirmed a strong line up for its all new Tech Trek. As Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Mr Jones oversees UK growth and productivity, with interests in industrial strategy and North Sea oil and gas.

Industry body Subsea UK is hosting two briefing sessions with the Department for International Trade (DIT) ahead of SPE Offshore Europe 2017. The first briefing on August 28 will focus on the post-energy reform oil and gas sector opportunities in Mexico. Mariana Garay, energy senior officer for the DIT team in Mexico along with Chris Wall, DIT Business Specialist will give an in-depth view on developments within the Mexican market.

In the second annual roundtable hosted by Trelleborg, industry experts agree that the silver lining in the low barrel price is the willingness of the industry to embrace innovative solutions that can lower overall costs while not compromising safety. The roundtable explored issues raised from Trelleborg’s 2017 ‘Next Level Report’ that gathered views from individuals involved in the offshore oil & gas industry.

Decommissioning will be a special focus at SPE Offshore Europe 2017 with a range of expert speakers announced as part of the plenary and new Decommissioning Zone technical programme. Shell will host a keynote panel session with senior spokespeople from CNR, Chevron, Heerema Marine Contractors, Marine Scotland and the UK regulator BEIS.

The scale and severity of attacks on industrial cyber systems is growing and has the potential to put oil and gas infrastructure, critical processes and workers’ lives in danger. SPE Offshore Europe 2017 will host a keynote panel session on cyber and physical attacks on the industry to help delegates understand the risks, manage detection of threats and defend against malicious actions.

Pedro Parente, CEO of Petrobras and Robin Watson, chief executive of Wood Group are to speak at the opening plenary session at SPE Offshore Europe 2017 which is being held in Aberdeen from 5-8 September 2017. They will join Ben van Beurden, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell and Bob Dudley, group chief executive of BP to address the central theme of Embracing New Realities: Reinventing our Industry in a top CEO line-up on the opening day of Europe’s foremost exploration and production (E&P) technical conference and exhibition.

The Oil & Gas Technology Centre’s Technology Zone at SPE Offshore Europe 2017 will present a series of technologies used in alternative sectors to encourage the oil and gas industry to think differently about the adoption of new products. The Centre believes technologies such as robots, composite materials, additive manufacturing and augmented reality are all currently underutilised in offshore oil and gas, despite being part of a general industrial transformation in other industries. The industry-led research and knowledge organisation, backed by the UK and Scottish Governments, aims to inspire, accelerate and fund innovative technologies that will help unlock the potential of the UK North Sea and anchor our world-class supply chain in North-East Scotland.

Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden is to speak at the opening plenary session at SPE Offshore Europe 2017 which is being held in Aberdeen from 5-8 September 2017. Mr van Beurden will address several hundred oil and gas industry professionals who will attend the plenary session on the first day of Europe’s foremost exploration and production (E&P) technical conference and exhibition.

A sixteen-strong executive committee of industry experts has been appointed for SPE Offshore Europe 2017 and is working on the theme and topics for the event which will take place in Aberdeen from 5-8 September 2017 when the industry will have faced the longest and most severe downturn in decades.