ECONOMIC REPORT 2013
56
In BIS and DECC’s industrial strategy for oil and
gas, referred to above, fabrication has been
identified as requiring specific attention. While
there are several British fabrication yards
that actively tender for substantial offshore
projects, a number of recent major fabrication
contracts havebeenawarded tooverseas yards
that are apparently more competitive than
those at home. The government is working
with the industry, without compromising the
competitiveness of projects, to ensure that
fabricators in this country are given every
opportunity to bid for all UKCS contracts.
Technology
The development and production of oil and
gas from the UKCS has a history of great
technical innovation to find and develop a
wide variety of oil and gas reservoirs in varying
water depths, often with a high degree of
geological uncertainty and in demanding
maritime conditions.
Historically, much of the research and
development (R&D) has taken place within the
international oil companies (IOCs) and larger
service companies who have significant R&D
capability. The government’s 2010 scoreboard
showed that, of the top 1,000 UK companies
investing in R&D, 16 invested some £1.2 billion
in oil and gas R&D in this country.
Meanwhile, direct government funding of
R&D for the oil and gas industry has been fairly
low (about £7 million between 2006 and 2011)
with no thematic oil and gas research area
within Research Councils UK
14
. The majority of
research council funding has been indirect via
projects in areas of relevant science (such as
advancedmaterials) and other related subjects
(such as carbon capture and storage). This has
raised the total of £7 million mentioned above
to nearer £10 million between 2006 and 2011,
or about two per cent of the total public sector
funding of energy research.
Figure 39: Number of Projects per Fabrication Category Approved in 2008 to 2013
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Number of New Fabrication Projects Approved Each Year
FPSO
Steel > 20,000t
Steel 4,000 - 20,000t
Steel < 4,000t
Subsea
Source: Oil & Gas UK, DECC and Wood Mackenzie
14
See
rce: Oil & Gas UK, DECC and Wood Mackenzie
