On the opening day of Subsea Expo, Europe’s largest subsea event, the chief executive of Subsea UK told delegates that the industry is facing considerable challenges but the fundamentals in subsea remain relatively strong and the sector could see a significant improvement in 2017 – 2019.
Photo courtesy of The BIG Partnership
Neil Gordon said: “The swingeing capex cuts and low crude price are beginning to bite. The UK’s subsea sector came out of a strong 2013 to a relatively flat second half of 2014. The existing order book kept the industry going but, as this dries up and projects are abandoned or postponed until the oil price recovers, we are in for major challenges.” A new report by Infield today revealed that the major indicator of subsea activity, the order of subsea trees, is expected to fall by almost 30% between 2014 and 2019. Short-term expenditure is being hit by lower than expected order volumes in 2014.
Subsea UK is urging companies to turn to the re-launched National Subsea Research Initiative (NSRI). The focal point for subsea research and development, NSRI is bringing academia and industry together in a much more meaningful way to collaborate on getting new technology to market much more quickly. At Subsea Expo today, NSRI launched the key areas on which it will be focusing new subsea R&D.