Gearing Up for Transition

The restructuring in the petroleum industries has not come as far as one had hoped for however, there is reason to believe the transitioning will pick up speed in the years to come according to a recent report from Menon Economics.

The survey investigates to what extent the actors in the oil and gas industry in Norway has succeeded in turning their activities towards more renewable industries, as a result of the decline in oil prices in 2014.

Read full report (in Norwegian).

An Accelerating Transition

The report concludes that the transitioning in the oil and gas industry is underway but has not come as far as many had hoped for, partially due to the high debt burden that the industry carries, which makes it difficult to invest to adapt production to other industries.

However, there is reason to be believe that if Norway “play our cards right”, the transitioning will pick up speed in the years to come, and we will win market shares as a result of our know-how within carbon capture and storage (CCS), our major investment plans within offshore wind and our technology leadership within crucial climate-friendly solutions.

Expecting Turnover from New Markets

Among the oil and gas suppliers, there has been a change in the form of adapting production to other industries.

Several suppliers have made investments in know-how and technology and succeeded well in gaining customers outside the oil and gas industry. Moreover, technology from the oil and gas industry is viewed as an important factor to enable access to these new markets and growth within new industries; especially within offshore wind and subsea mining

Outside of their own sector, the oil and gas industry expect increased turnover, especially within offshore wind, the maritime industry and aquaculture in the coming years, according to the report.

An interesting find was that 40 percent expected an increased revenue from the emerging market of marine minerals.

Technology Transfer Cases from Our Members

The report provides several examples of technology transfer from the oil and gas industries including cases from some of our members:

• Imenco: Delivers cost-effective supports for offshore wind projects
• Scantrol Deep Vision: New trawl technology supports fish sorting
• 4Subsea: From fish to drilling to wind power

The survey was performed by Menon Economics on behalf of the Norwegian Oil & Gas Association and Innovation Norway, as well as the energy clusters  GCE Ocean Technology, GCE Node, and NCE Energy Technology (Energy Valley).

Read full report (in Norwegian).