Life After Oil

Last week, Aberdeen could lay reasonable claim to be the oil capital of the world as it hosted 35,000 delegates at the Offshore conference. But, as North Sea stocks decline, the Granite City is looking to cover new ground.

For it was evident at the conference that substantial progress has been made since Scotland’s oil players sat down five or six years ago to figure out which direction to take, given that it had become clear that North Sea oil and gas was running out.
Perhaps most striking, though, was the evidence of the measures that have been taken to address an issue that affects the industry globally: the shortage of skilled workers and recruitment difficulties.

On Wednesday, day two of the conference, skills and training organisation Opito launched a media campaign designed to attract more young people to the offshore oil and gas industry.

Opito invited along explorer and TV presenter Bear Grylls – the youngest Briton to climb Everest – to spread that word that the “unique benefits of an offshore career prove that you don’t need to be braving the Amazon to enjoy an exciting lifestyle”.

A six-figure sum has been invested in this campaign that will target young people between the ages of 16 and 25 living in Scotland’s central belt and the North of England.

Opito’s modern apprentice scheme has already proved phenomenally successful. The scheme was launched six years ago after a survey showed that the average age of workers in the oil industry was 50. Since then