For new companies looking for entry into the industry, NOIA president and CEO Bob Cadigan says that involvement in these NOIA events, as well as membership, is the place to start. In addition to being kept informed about bidding opportunities and awarded projects for potential partnering, organization members receive Expressions of Interest from all operators, sent out daily.
While the economic benefits of Hebron for Newfoundland and Labrador are undeniable, for industry, suppliers and government the maturation of local oil and gas as a world player is equally important. Minister Dunderdale says that seeing beyond the direct benefits of oil revenues is always at the forefront of her government’s planning: “This is a nonrenewable resource and so there will come a day – in the far, far distant future we hope – when we will not be extracting oil from our offshore. And when that day does come and those direct benefits cease, we want to have built a legacy piece here in the province with regard to capacity around oil and gas development, and in our supply and service sector, and our fabrication facilities as well.”
Cadigan highlights Newfoundland and Labrador-based developments in harsh environment technology as an example of an area where the province is becoming a global leader. “If you look at ice management, ice engineering – a lot of major projects now are in the north of Russia, northern part of Norway – there are Newfoundland firms, like ProvincialAirlines, that do ice monitoring. Companies like C-CORE doing ice engineering, specializing in studying the potential of ice impact and pressures on structures offshore.”
“We just returned from the offshore technology conference in Houston,” says Cadigan. “And most of our members that attended said it was their best show ever. I think that has a lot to do with international suppliers and companies wanting to feed into Newfoundland companies. They know about the Hebron opportunity, they know about our offshore and they are looking for ways to participate in it. It’s a very optimistic time for the supply community.”
Recently, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador celebrated the pumping of its billionth barrel of oil. More and more, the work that goes into those projects is being completed locally. With three world-class oil developments and Hebron still years from first oil, the capability of the local supply community, aiding by an ever-increasing number of women, continues to grow.
