Ready to take on the world

Cattanach is head of the PILOT secretariat, a task force under the British Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform. PILOT is a joint programme involving the UK government and the oil and gas industry, working together to secure the long-term future of the industry.

Coming to Norway

"The immediate value of cooperating amounts to several billion pounds every year." - Bill Cattanach, Head of PILOT secretariat

BRIGHT FUTURE: Bill Cattanach has a positive view of overseas cooperation. (Photo: BERR)

Cattanach will give a speech at the UK2Norway conference in Stavanger from March 16^th to March 18^th. The conference is a business to business meeting point for the British and Norwegian supplier industry, and Cattanach will talk about how companies can strengthen their cooperation across the North Sea, and thus strengthen their global market position.

- The immediate value of cooperating amounts to several billion pounds every year. What's even more important is that as we go forward and both our continental shelves start to mature and we see production decline, it will be increasingly important to market the North Sea technology to the global market. Together, we can make sure we have the best and most innovative solutions, Cattanach tells Oilinfo Weekend.

Work together
Cattanach thinks the future for the Norwegian and British supplier industry will be to penetrate the global markets together.

- There's value in working together in cooperating and exporting North Sea expertise, instead of just focusing on exporting Norwegian or British expertise. In addition to exporting products and expertise, I think we have a lot to learn from each other when it comes to how one should conduct business in other parts of the world. By collaborating, we uncover benefits for everyone, the PILOT head tells Oilinfo Weekend.

Easier than people think
One of the projects PILOT has been focusing on, are studies of how companies has been cooperating over the basin. Aker Solutions, StatoilHydro, Aibel and BP Norway have all participated, as well as Dominion Gas, Marine Aluminium and Talisman Energy. Cattanach and his task force have found out that businesses tend to think that it's more difficult to make the move into the other country than it actually is.

- There is still suspicion in the UK that it's difficult to penetrate the Norwegian market and vice versa. I think this is a myth, and if you talk to companies that have made the move either way, they will probably say the same, provided they have made a real effort. You can't run a business in Norway from Aberdeen: you have to have a proper presence in the recipient country, says Cattanach.

The political advisor thinks the credit crunch and shrinking oil prices will provide great opportunities for companies that want to make the move across the North Sea.

- I think there will be many opportunities for consolidations, and we might see companies coming together as a result of the crisis. This might be the quickest way for companies that want to establish themselves on the other side of the North Sea to do just that. It's important to remember that the future holds both great possibilities and great challenges, Cattanach tells Oilinfo Weekend.

Bill Cattanach is one of the participants at the UK2Norway conference at Sola Airport Hotel from March 16^th to March 18^th. The conference is a meeting place for companies from both sides of the North Sea, and the program includes company visits, speeches from Bill Cattanach, Greater Stavanger's Opportunity Developer Birger Haraldseid, EnergiRike's Managing Director Einar Womersley Waage and Kjell Agnar Dragvik, Director for Strategy, Communication and Projects at the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate. The conference is a product of Oilinfo's subsidiary Oilinfo Arena.

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