Offshore staff
(UK)-Continued high activity in the oil and gas industry is proving challenging to many service providers, and the helicopter service sector is no exception.
Aberdeen-based Bristow Helicopters is facing a shortage of aircraft and experienced personnel, forcing the company to search the globe for more aircraft and associated crews and technicians to support them.
Bristow's concerns are most likely shared by its competitors, as the delivery of new aircraft can take up to two years, and the training of personnel can take between five and seven years.
One way to avoid this tight supply situation in the future, according to Bristow's European Operations Director Willie Toner, is for oil and gas companies to include helicopter services earlier in their forward project planning stages.
"In the same way that drilling rigs are booked well in advance, long term consideration of future helicopter requirements would ensure that the risk of any shortfall in availability is significantly reduced," Toner continued.
Since the peak of oil and gas activity in the North Sea in the 1980s, the required number of daily flights offshore from Aberdeen has essentially halved. As such, helicopter service providers adjusted their resources and deployed their aircraft to support development in newer oil provinces around the world.
Toner also mentioned his company's financial incentive for matching service availability with demand: "Bristow is investing significant sums over the coming years in fleet expansion, personnel recruitment and training to meet current requirements, and we want to avoid any future problems by being more closely involved in our clients' forward planning."
5/30/2006
