No more Savile Row for offshore, standardisation to be the way forward

“The industry will adapt to a lower cost structure to reflect a lower revenue stream,” said Peter Evensen, ceo of Teekay Corporation. “The changes are already happening. We’re already changing on the technology side. Let’s not call it shipbuilding anymore – let’s call it ship manufacturing. If you look at Korean shipyards two thirds of the welds are not done by hand. So we’re already moving there.

“From the offshore point of view, we see that cost reduction must happen with the oil price having halved – you can’t continue to beat the margins when the margins are already very low,” said Siem Industries ceo Kristian Siem. “What we have to do now is look at technology.

“I no longer go to my tailor to get a new suit. Other clients always go to the tailor. It’s all bespoke. And that’s a huge potential for reducing cost. It’s not just about new technology it’s also about using good technology again and again. If you take the technology of Exxon it’s pretty good, so why can’t Shell and Total and Statoil use the same technology – why do we keep having to start from scratch again?”

“The number one cost save will be using the technology uniformly.”