The government has laid out a clear strategy to exploit Britain’s on and offshore energy deposits and is encouraging development with tax and investment security.
Britain sees home oil and gas production as vital for the economy and expects the sector to employ more than 400,000 workers.
Around 15,000 of these are new jobs demanding expat skills or retraining of British workers.
The oil and gas industry in Britain already generates £27 billion revenues – and the government wants to see that grow.
Finding skilled workers in the short term is a challenge for firms and is an area ripe for exploitation by expats.
Skills challenge
However, although Middle East oil producing companies have embarked on campaigns to reduce the number of expats in their industries, other nations are ready to take up the slack, especially in Africa, Brazil and the USA.
The British government has earmarked £7 million for Newcastle University to retrain laid-off servicemen as a result of defence budget cuts over the next four or five years.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “Our plans for oil and gas are the start of a joint venture between the government and industry to build a solid base that will generate decades of future investment, especially in the North Sea.
“I want to bring down any barriers that are hindering the sector to make this long-term work in the favour of our economy.”
Cutting edge companies like Shell and BP are joining the project and have already sunk millions in to exploration and development of new fields in the North Sea.
Disrupted supplies
The government has also announced tax breaks and grants for energy fracking oil and gas deposits onshore.
Chancellor George Osborne outlined the money available in his recent Budget 2013.
Secretary of State Edward Davey, in charge of energy, said: “Even though Britain is on the way to a low carbon economy, oil and gas will play an important role in the nation’s energy policies for many years.
“The industry is a resource that fills a gap in our economy while reducing the need for the country to look abroad to sometimes volatile third party suppliers who control volumes and prices.”
Davey was referring to countries that have had oil and gas supply disruptions during the Arab Spring uprisings – including Libya and Syria. Iraq has only recently restarted oil and gas production after years on the sidelines following the war against Saddam Hussain.
