AGO 2018 Recap

The Australian Oil & Gas (AOG) Conference was held from the 13th to 15th March 2018 at the Perth Convention Centre. The Oil & Gas industry is my life and my passion and I am always looking to gain a perspective of what is happening and try to keep my finger on the pulse, whether that be through network coffee catch ups or attending more formal events such as this.

After visiting AOG last year in 2017 I admit to feeling a little flat and depressed. This year however the vibe was different. There was a renewed energy, enthusiasm and optimism present during discussions. The forums were held on the exhibitor floor rather than locked away in a separate ‘quiet’ room so they were also underpinned by the continual energetic rumble of voices on the exhibitor floor. 

Overall there was a feeling like something is happening, something is changing and perhaps finally the industry is starting to get back into gear after an incredibly low 18 – 24 months. Individuals I sat with during discussions all had a similar feeling and were equally interested to see what the Majors had to say and it was interesting to find out about some of the new up and coming companies ready to provide niche and unique service and product opportunities to the industry. The consensus was that oil & gas had hit the bottom of this current cycle and things are picking up.

The discussion forums on Wednesday had a clear theme, Collaboration. We all know this is great in theory and the right discussions around collaboration were occurring, however it will be interesting to see if companies can shelve their competitiveness with others to actually work collaboratively, reducing costs and sharing technology. The interesting example of a non-collaborative lesson learned in the past was the construction of three LNG plants sitting next to each on the East Coast with triplicate infrastructure.  There are some encouraging signs with Majors and Mid Tiers already joining forces to collaborate and it was also encouraging to hear that these companies were also trying to make it a little easier for small businesses to work with them.  

Mary Hackett from GE visually shared with us how she defines collaboration; we mesmerisingly watched Starling murmuration’s on the big screen as they shifted and made coordinated changes en masse in the air like a swirling liquid. Although the flock is made up of thousands and sometimes millions of birds that ebb and flow, change direction, come apart and come back together again, the secret lies in the same systems that apply to anything on the cusp of a shift, where the velocity of one bird affects the velocity of the rest. One bird’s movements affect its seven closest neighbours and so on through the flock. This allows the flock to twist and morph as a fluid cloud with some parts moving in one direction at one speed and other parts moving in another direction at another speed. Although we may be individuals, we may be working in teams or working in separate companies Mary cleverly conveyed the message that we can all work together to make things happen.

Dan Hayes, Director and Engineering Manager from Atteris ended day one discussions with some further inspiration encouraging Australian companies to look out for each other and help each other to climb the mountain to compete against companies outside of Australia that are looking to take work from our shores. Together, Australian companies using combined incentives will be able to gain a bigger slice of the pie.

Day two Diversity and Inclusion breakfast was entertainingly presented by the charismatic Mike Utsler, soon to depart from Woodside. This session evoked some interesting discussions as we were invited to understand the personal challenges and successes of three individuals and learn about what their companies are doing to make some positive changes in these areas. Allison Selman, WISE Coordinator and Director of Atteris shared some fantastic data.

This shows us that 50% of the population are male/female and 50% of school attendees are male/female. 56% of females attend University however only 15% of the female population study Engineering. 9% of the female population become practicing Engineers and 5% of the female population are in Engineering Leadership roles. How do we change this? It is clear that changes need to be made at the academic level and we need to make disciplines such as Engineering more interesting and exciting for female students to pursue.

On the closing day, discussion focus was around safety and maintenance collaboration, decommissioning planning and readiness and what the workforce of the future might look like. This workforce needs to adapt and broaden their capabilities and we need to be more open to accepting individuals from different industries that have transferable skills and are able to bring in different ideas. With a new generation coming through, management need to change their approach and become more interested in their employees, the ambitions they may have and more adequately communicate and support their future career opportunities.