INDUSTRY regulator the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) will bring operators and supply chain firms together to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing them in decommissioning offshore installations.

The first Collaboration and Innovation in Decommissioning event in Aberdeen, run in conjunction with Decom North Sea, will see several North Sea operators, including BP, Fairfield Energy and TAQA taking part and providing up-to-date information on their project activity.

Each operator will share the challenges they have faced through interactive sessions which will offer an open forum for supply companies to raise and discuss potential cost saving innovations they may be developing.

In addition, supply-chain attendees will have the opportunity to meet with the operators on a one-to-one basis.

Bill Cattanach, the OGA’s head of supply chain, said: “Many of the cost-saving solutions are developed by the service sector and it’s important we create the right environment whereby operators engage directly with the service sector in a proactive way, making them part of the solution.

“This event, the first in a series being organised, provides an ideal opportunity for open dialogue, as well as insights to the upcoming demand, capturing the sentiment of our recently launched Supply Chain Action Plans process.”

John Warrender, chief executive of Decom North Sea, added: “Better information-sharing regarding current and upcoming UKCS late-life and decommissioning projects will benefit both supply chain and operators in achieving the 35% cost reduction goal, as set out by the OGA in 2016.

“Events which bring both parties together on a face-to-face basis create an informed sector that has the capability – and capacity – to provide the cost-effective, efficient activity required to achieve that objective.”

Collaboration and Innovation in Decommissioning will take place in Aberdeen on September 12. Bookings are open to Decom North Sea members and general bookings will open on August 27.

Decommissioning is a multi-million-pound offshoot of the oil industry and, earlier this month, the Scottish Government announced £5 million of additional funding for the third round of the Decommissioning Challenge Fund.