Much debate has been had about the future of the oil and gas industry within the UK and to the outside observer it would be easy to believe the industry is in rapid decline with the falling oil price only contributing to the problem.

Anyone who believes this view needs to take a drive around Aberdeen and witness firsthand the rapid transformation the city has gone through in the last few years. At present there are so many construction projects in the city that construction workers are being sought from all over the UK to keep up with demand.

New developments seem to be coming to completion almost daily as anyone arriving at Aberdeen’s recently upgraded International Airport in Dyce will well know. Aker Solutions will soon move all their staff to brand new purpose built offices a stone’s throw from the airport, ASCO are looking to occupy their new office space in the D2 Business Park as soon as it is available and US Company Emerson have invested £20 million into their purpose built offices in the same location. Expro won’t be far behind in moving into their new offices within Kirkhill Commercial Park.

Overview of Kingwells Business Park Development

West of the City, Aberdeen’s Westhill has seen some of the largest construction projects in the country with Subsea 7, Technip, Bibby, TAQA and Kongsberg all occupying substantial office space in the new business parks.

Office space for over 10,000 workers is currently under construction as part of the Prime 4 development at Kingwell’s that has seen huge improvements to the infrastructure and roads network in the area. Statoil, Transocean, Nexen, Apache, OneSubsea and Premier Oil are all moving their headquarters to the new development and the De Vere Group will soon open a showcase Urban Resort within the office complex offering hotel and leisure facilities to accommodate transient staff looking for accommodation closer to their offices.

Overview of the Prime Four Development

Heading South out of the city, further developments have sprung up in recent years with Moss Road Gateway Business Park boasting Hydrasuns new offices and some smaller award winning local companies such as Coretrax, an up and coming company within the global market.

With all this development on the outskirts of the city, it is easy to forget that Aberdeen’s old fish packing district along the Banks of the Dee has also been completely redeveloped. The once bustling warehouses and ice factories have been replaced with towering office blocks with Petrofac, Enquest, GDF Suez, Aker and Centrica all fighting to occupy office space closer to the city centre.

Even the city’s famous Union Street has not escaped transformation, with work underway to create a £60 million office development at the site of the former Bells Lounge between 445 and 461 Union Street. The 132,000sq ft development will host thousands of oil industry workers in the heart of the city. 

The famous granite face of Aberdeen is slowly changing into a modern thriving metropolis, countless new hotels have sprung up recently to accommodate and service the constant flow of oil and gas workers commuting to and passing through the city with at least three more planned to be built over the next few years.

Short term it is easy to think the oil industry is in decline but the price of oil is still higher now that it was during almost all of the 1980’s and 1990’s and history has proven that companies that continue to invest and ride out the fluctuating oil price do better long term.

Kevin Forbes, Managing Director of www.oilandgaspeople.com said: “The development underway in Aberdeen suggests the industry is indeed making long-term plans and with this years licensing round seeing a record number of new exploration licenses awarded, including the first exploration licenses awarded west of Scotland there will certainly be companies looking to exploit falling rig prices to press ahead with current and future projects”