Oil, Gas Employment Moves from Shale to Offshore
Anticipated
demand for offshore services brings with it an increased demand for workers as
oil and gas employment shifts from shale to offshore, according to new analysis
by energy research firm Rystad Energy.
Looking
at the oilfield services industry sectors with the highest percent change of
employment, Rystad found the main driver of employment is moving from shale to
offshore.
“This
is a clear effect of the increase in offshore sanctioning,” Matthew
Fitzsimmons, vice president on Rystad’s oilfield services team, said in a
report sent to Rigzone. “We expect offshore commitments to nearly double from
2018 to 2020 and sustain high levels of spending over the next five years.”
While
onshore basins like the Permian have been a hotbed of activity in recent years
– holding US employment in the services sector steady in 2016 and 2017,
offshore has now taken the lead, contends Rystad.
Earlier
this month, Rystad forecasted a massive year for offshore project sanctioning
in 2019. Now, it’s expecting offshore services demand to reach $442 billion in
2025, a 45 percent increase from 2018.
Rystad
said there was a cumulative workforce reduction of 31 percent due to reduced
activity in 2015-2017, which greatly affected companies exposed to the offshore
industry.
But
now the offshore market is gaining momentum as four out of the five top oilfield
services companies with the largest workforce change from 2017 to 2018 were
primarily exposed to the offshore industry.
Still,
there will be challenges.
“Our
informal interviews with oilfield services company leaders across the offshore
industry all echoed a common challenge: how to bring experienced personnel back
into the industry amidst current growth, and how to attract new talent,” said
Fitzsimmons. “History would show that to bring back experienced professionals
into an industry, higher wages will be required.”
Rigzone recently reported that U.S. exploration and production (E&P) workers were getting paid more in 2019.