A new piece of research could help the oil and gas industry understand and implement greater collaboration in the North Sea, as the sector continues to manage lower oil prices.

Business advisory firm Deloitte launched its inaugural oil and gas collaboration survey, with support from Oil & Gas UK.

The research will assess the level and quality of collaboration currently taking place on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS), as well as how companies across the supply chain could work together in new ways.

The research, which has comparisons with a Deloitte study carried out in the US looking at the automotive industry, will survey participants on:

• What collaboration means;
• What constitutes effective collaboration;
• How companies view themselves and each other as collaborators.

Collaboration has been a consistent industry theme since the publication of Sir Ian Wood’s UKCS Maximising Economic Recovery Review. It was a core recommendation in Sir Ian’s report, but there is currently little data available on what it means and how it might benefit the upstream oil and gas industry on the UKCS.

Justin Watson, a partner in Deloitte’s consulting practice, said: “Collaboration has been the focus of many client conversations about how we take the industry forward. With subdued oil prices set to continue, it’s more important than ever that companies look at what could be gained by working more closely together to bring down costs, reduce complexity and boost efficiency.

“However, what collaboration means for the oil and gas industry is not well understood. Our research aims to help define what collaboration is, how it looks in practice and how companies can better collaborate with one another.

“We would encourage anyone operating in or providing services to the UKCS to take part in this research. We hope a better understanding of collaboration could help companies in the North Sea improve productivity and efficiency, cut costs, adopt new ways of working and make the most of what remains in the basin.”

Oil & Gas UK’s business development director, Stephen Marcos Jones, added:

“Whilst tough decisions on resources and projects are being taken by individual companies, there is a growing effort to work together to make the UKCS more efficient and attractive for investors in a world of $60 oil.

“Any work looking at collaboration in our sector, and specifically how companies can work together in new ways, is therefore of real benefit and will be warmly welcomed by the UK’s offshore oil and gas industry.”

This project builds on Deloitte’s previous work on ‘Making the Most of the UKCS’ – Cultural shift key to maximising economic recovery of oil and gas.