UK oil and gas supply chain to be subject of study

The supply chain in the oil and gas industry is a key component in ensuring that everything runs on time and within budget. Economic contribution is a major factor within the success of a supply chain and this is set to be subject to a study from Ernst & Young (EY). The financial advisory company has been asked by Oil & Gas UK, the industry’s representative, to use data from over 1,000 organisations in 42 sub-sectors and look at skills and exports that are used during this process. Once the information is compiled it will be used to develop three market intelligence reports on the sub-sectors which have been identified as offering “high growth, profitability and capability for UK companies”. The results are designed to give governments and industry officials data about how well the industry is doing and whether there are still a good number of prospects available. Investment in the UK’s oil and gas sector is on the increase and is currently at an all-time high of £13.5 billion. Many organisations are involved with both the production of the valuable resources while also developing technology that can improve exploration and drilling operations. The study aims to outline the opportunities for companies all over the UK, no matter what size they are. Stephen Marcos Jones, Oil & Gas UK’s business development director, added: “We have a world-leading global supply chain based here in the UK which we believe contributes £5-6 billion every year to the Exchequer and exports £7 billion worth of goods and services and it is important we continue to make the UK an attractive place for these companies to stay.” The UK is in the enviable position of being able to tap into natural resources in the North Sea. Despite this section of ocean being divided up with countries from Scandinavia it still makes the UK an attractive proposition for companies across the world. Findings from the research will be published in March 2014.