Bin it or win it! Yes, it does sound like the cheesy catchphrase from a new TV gameshow but it’s actually the big choice facing Scotland’s Oil & Gas sector.
Should we bin it by decommissioning rigs so that this lucrative work – estimated to be worth up to £100 billion – can offset the downturn in prices and slowing of the industry?
Or should we win it by saving our rigs for future use? This is the option currently favoured by SNP minister Keith Brown, who points to an industry trend to keep oil fields in action.
He highlights the fact energy companies have been telling him they are looking to preserve the life of North Sea oil fields in the wake of the low price of Brent crude.
Certainly, there are legitimate arguments on both sides.
What’s also clear, even as the debate was being fought, is that there are signs of rigs being called back into action.
Most of these fresh call-ups have been in the Cromarty Firth.
Rather cruelly and inaccurately labelled Scotland’s ‘Rig Graveyard’, this natural harbour has simply been a holding site for rigs at a time of low oil prices and postponed projects.
Now, however, many of these steel giants are being woken from their hibernation and brought back into service in the depths of the North Sea.
The Firth has also seen three diving support vessels return to work.
All of this is positive news for anyone currently scanning the Oil & Gas vacancies on s1jobs.
Where there are rigs being put back online, there are potential new roles for engineers, divers, electricians, safety officers and project managers.
Named like a Marvel superhero, The Ocean Valiant is just one of the big rigs to have left its temporary resting place.
It’s already on location in the North Sea, having begun a year-long programme of work for oil and gas company Maersk.
The Maersk Highlander has also departed and is now on site at the Culzean Field.
The world’s largest jack-up rig, The Noble Lloyd Noble, has also departed the Cromarty, having landed its first big gig.
North Atlantic Drilling, meanwhile, has announced its West Phoenix platform will soon exit for a 90-day contract, which will see it located to the west of Shetland.
The giants are waking up.
Looking for a role in Oil & Gas? You can win it with s1jobs