This initiative allows people entering the industry to meet others that are at a similar stage of their careers across a range of sectors within the energy industry.  We will be hosting virtual and in person workshops, networking events and the opportunity to meet those with more experience in the industry.  This initiative allows people from Oil & Gas, Renewables and Nuclear that have a focus on late life and decommissioning of assets to meet people within their own industry and also in different industries which will help build relationships than could aid collaboration and cross industry knowledge sharing in the future.

I was fortunate enough to attend several industry events over the last couple of years and while I learnt a lot from them and thoroughly enjoyed the experience one thing that struck me was that I was usually one of the only people that were in the early stages of their career.  This made me question was their appetite for a place where people that were at the beginning of their careers to meet up, network and learn.  This idea, with the help from Gareth Jones (Xodus) and Sam Long (Decom North Sea) led to the formation of the group Emerging Professionals in Late Life and Decommissioning.  After helping in the initial stages of gauging whether there was any interest in a group I  wanted to remain involved as it would allow me to help shape the group and define what Emerging Professionals in Late Life and Decommissioning (EP in LL&D) is.

While decommissioning does represent the end of an assets life it should not be seen as an industry that is only viable in the short term.  New assets are being installed, not just in the UK but across the world.  Currently most of the offshore decommissioning work is the oil and gas industry but over the coming decades there will be an increasing number of offshore wind installations that will need to be decommissioned this means that there is a significant long-term opportunity to be involved in decommissioning.

My advice to someone wanting to join this industry is that it is a rewarding part of the energy industry to be involved in where no two days are the same.  I would also advise people to be prepared to say yes to things and take advantage of every opportunity you get.  I would also add that even if you don’t see how your particular skills would support decommissioning don’t let this put you off, in order to successfully decommission assets and also meet the industries cost reduction targets we need people will a wider range of skills and background to bring new ideas and a fresh perspective to our industry. 

I wouldn’t say it’s a challenge as such but like any group what will make us successful is our membership.  The larger our membership and the wider its skill base and geographic spread is the more successful the group will be.  So, to help us with this, if you are interested in joining EP in LL&D please come along to one of our future events and join our LinkedIn group where we will be posting regular updates.