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Oil And Gas Experts Support Skills Strategy To Boost Sector Employment
Monday 30th July 2018
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Experts from the oil and gas industry have shown their support for a new 'skills strategy' that aims at boosting the number of people employed in the sector over the coming years.
Opito, a skills body for energy, recently released a report that indicated as many as 40,000 people need to be recruited within the next two decades to meet targets regarding the UK continental shelf (UKCS). This will allow Britain to achieve its production, exports and energy transition aims.
The UKCS Workforce Dynamics Review has been met with critical acclaim from those in the industry, with many saying there is a significant skills gap in the oil and gas sector, EDP24.co.uk reported.
Speaking with the news provider, manager of the East of England Energy Group's Skills for Energy programme Gemma Head said this review will "assist us in understanding the industry's skills needs now and into the future, enabling us to better align relevant and suitable provision".
The Robert Gordon University's (RGO) Oil and Gas Institute helped Opito to complete the report, and will now continue to show its support for the strategy by gathering information from the industry and stakeholders.
This will be used to create 'skills demand maps', and a survey will be released to further understand where the skills gaps are and where the demand lies.
Paul de Leeuw, director of RGO, added: "The skills strategy will identify what new skills will be required in the future to ensure the UK continues to have world class capabilities to support the oil and gas industry and the wider energy sector."
Last month, Equinor announced a new oil discovery in the North Sea. The Lille Prinsen well is expected to hold between 15 and 35 million barrels of oil, which will lead to a greater demand for pneumatic valves when extracting it from the seabed.
