Heads up, the elephants are coming!

The era of the oil & gas industry is not over. Predictions for global energy demand can’t be met without an increasing utilization of petroleum recourses. And when many thought our industry was in decline, elephant discoveries in the North Sea, Brazil, West Africa, Asia and Oceania are rapidly announced. These huge discoveries also increase the attractiveness of our industry. We need it; the battle is on for attracting talent to continue developing solutions for the future.

However dominated by majors and NOCs, the elephants also have room for smaller E&P companies. On the Norwegian Continental Shelf we have the Swedish company Lundin heavily involved in the Avaldsnes/Johan Sverdrup field and the Danish company Dong at Ormen Lange.

Subsea developments will be the preferred and, in many fields, the only way of extracting resources from new discoveries. Many producing and smaller fields previously not considered profitable to develop are coming onstream using of subsea hardware and technologies. Globally, Norwegian analyst Rystad Energy expects the number of subsea fields to almost double in seven years, from 442 in 2011 to almost 900 in 2018. The number of subsea trees to be installed is expected to increase from just below 300 in 2012 to over 800 by 2018.

Since the early 1980s the subsea industry in the Bergen area of Norway has grown to become one of the world’s most complete environments for subsea technology. The cluster’s world-leading position and the established interaction between participants formed the basis for the Norwegian government’s appointment of the cluster as a Norwegian Centre of Expertise (NCE) for subsea technology in 2006. More than 150 companies in the Bergen region are involved in the subsea industry.

Coast Center Base (CCB) at Aagotnes outside Bergen is the largest subsea base in the world. There you will find the main aftermarket facilities of Aker Solutions and FMC Technologies, Statoil’s main Subsea Pool, and a wide range of small and medium sized companies focusing on subsea products and services. Framo Engineering has its main office and production facility in Bergen. The area constitutes a world-leading cluster in subsea technology. Focusing on the markets for maintenance, modification and operation, as well as innovative and cutting edge technical products, it provides a full spectrum of products and services for the industry.

The city of Bergen also hosts the Underwater Technology Conference, which takes place again this summer (13/14 June) showcasing the global subsea industry. First held back in 1980. A world-class technology focused conference, attracting global operators and suppliers, UTC is probably the oldest subsea conference in the world still ongoing. The Bergen Subsea Cluster has proven its ability to act in concert in order to provide viable and sustainable solutions for customers all around the world. Solid rooted in the experience of operations in the North Sea, cluster companies are ready to share information and develop new solutions to meet the demands from the growing global subsea market.

We are ready for the global elephant fields. You are welcome to join us meeting future demands.