We wholeheartedly agree with Professor Redfern (quoted below) that the future of oil and gas looks positive.

“There has not, to date, been a viable alternative to oil and gas so it’s difficult to imagine our global dependence on it waning. Moving forward, the key challenges for companies will be to reduce costs, adhere to environmental standards and continue to discover new methods, all while achieving high levels of efficiency. A steep challenge, but the talent in this sector is second to none.

“Despite the drive for reduction in CO2, and to meet climate change, which will be undoubtedly a challenge for oil companies to manage going forward, I can’t see at present any viable alternative to meet global energy needs other than oil and gas.

The long term trends, at least for the next 50 years, I think will still involve increasing production, until there is a similar step change in renewables technology to reduce its costs and increase efficiency. This could involve large scale carbon sequestration, that ball is still in the court of the governments; In this situation the authorities may task oil companies to deliver that CO2 sequestration anyway, as they are the ones with the technology and ability to move fluids in vast volume. Any changes will likely be gradual, and oil and gas as a resource for chemicals and such will always remain.

We have been “too” successful, if anything, in meeting this global energy challenge, and in the short term has resulted in the oversupply of the market. But this will correct naturally and going forward I think there is still a very rewarding, exciting career available in oil and gas, and one that the world needs, to maintain its energy output, without which the crisis we would face would dwarf any issues of climate change in my opinion.”

Professor Jonathan Redfern, Head of Petroleum Geoscience and Basin Studies research and Chair of Petroleum Geoscience at University of Manchester

Petroplan

We would agree that the oil and gas sector still offers incredible opportunities, from travelling the world to the chance to help discover new techniques and help keep the world’s energy lines open. It’s a demanding but rewarding career; therefore we thoroughly recommend it.

Petroplan’s experience in the oil and gas industry spans four decades so we have seen fantastic successes, difficult challenges, controversies and huge changes. The oil and gas industry has transformed the kinds of jobs we recruit for compared to when we began – so what have the last 40 years looked like, and how do we envisage the next 40?

The oil and gas industry is of incredible value to the UK and its economy. The sector provided 1 in every 80 jobs(450,000 people alone work in the extraction of North Sea oil) and the UK enjoys a stellar reputation worldwide for its work in this industry.