Wood Group is an icon of the North Sea success story and an Aberdeen company that blazed a trail internationally, to boot, initially led by its founder and chairman, Sir Ian Wood and now CEO Allister Langlands.

“THINK global, act local” – that was the motto of Percy Barnevik, who once led the Swedish-Swiss engineering group, ABB.

Technological advances and project innovations are expanding the reach of the energy industry and raising new opportunities.

The UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) has an impressive four decades and 37billion barrels of oil and gas production under its belt, but as Oil & Gas UK frequently points out, there are still up to 25billion barrels remaining to be extracted.

If you are reading this article, that chances are that you are one of the 3.6million people in the UK who regularly work shifts. That includes the North Sea offshore industry.

As you read this, OTC will be in full swing – which reminds me of one of the more unexpected events at last year’s Offshore Technology Conference in Houston.

IS YOUR company one of the FPAL suppliers with a “data flag” attached to its registration? If so, you will be aware that this shows purchasers viewing your record that the information stored has not been updated for 18 months or more.

It came out of left field – I mean the £500million conditional deal between Lunar Energy and the Koreans to manufacture and deploy tidal (marine current) turbine technology developed by Aberdeen offshore oilfield company Rotech Engineering.

Despite the ongoing operating challenges for oil & gas companies in today’s global economic markets, the sector remains active and continues to provide opportunities for investors.

Our oil industry is high value, high risk. When the UK’s Corporate Manslaughter Act 2007 comes into force next month, it is expected to herald the start of a new era in the world of health and safety prosecutions.

Due to the success of the supplier training sessions, supply-chain gateway FPAL has decided to expand its training programme by offering performance feedback workshops.

In today’s “new world of work” , new rules apply. Generation Y is throwing its weight about and resistance is futile. Older colleagues are catching on and shrewd employers are taking note.

Five years have passed since US and UK forces invaded Iraq and overthrew Saddam Hussein. There would be few people who expected the problems there to have lasted so long, with little sign of solutions in the foreseeable future.

Caledyne was set up by three individuals, each of whom had tasted life with a fast-moving, forward-thinking Aberdeen oilfield engineering company that had been eaten up by one of the US big brands.

THE problem is, Caledyne could soon get to a size and possess the skills that make it eminently suitable as a snack for a larger service company.

YEAR one at Caledyne was described as “OK”, with a “slight loss” recorded.