Multimillion-pound maintenance and operations contracts highlighted on NSTA Pathfinder website

Upcoming tenders worth millions of pounds for operations and maintenance work are now advertised on the North Sea Transition Authority’s Energy Pathfinder website.

Several leading operators have published forward work plans on the digital Pathfinder tool in response to the NSTA’s ongoing efforts to encourage companies to provide greater visibility of upcoming activity, giving the supply chain confidence to invest in people, skills and new technologies.

Operations and maintenance work generates substantial annual expenditure, with scores of contracts being offered or renewed regularly for services such as equipment rental, crane and facilities management, inspection and logistics.

Pathfinder was launched in 2010 to meet service companies’ requests for a clearer picture of new oil and gas field development work, helping them to target opportunities more effectively.

Operators were required to upload details of projects and provide contact details so that suppliers could get in touch with procurement teams with greater ease.

Last year, the NSTA expanded Pathfinder to host more information about a wider range of North Sea projects, including well decommissioning campaigns, and offshore wind and carbon capture and storage schemes.

More than 1,300 subscribers receive monthly emails listing all recent updates on Pathfinder, which currently hosts details of about 140 projects. Register for email updates here.

Stuart Payne, NSTA Director of Supply Chain, Decommissioning and HR, said:

“We hear constantly from the supply chain that visibility of work is an ongoing challenge. This is a great example of helping fix that problem.

“The Energy Pathfinder tool is already providing information on energy projects, including oil and gas, carbon storage and offshore wind.

“Seeing and being able to respond to activities in our energy sector is vital for a UK supply chain whose expertise will help us secure domestic energy supplies and deliver the energy transition.    

“This enhanced function, focused on maintenance and operations contracts, adds another layer to Pathfinder and will provide huge benefits to service companies.

“We welcome the far-sighted input of the operators who have already entered details on Pathfinder and look forward to seeing even more companies add their forward work plans.”