It was in 2014 that he started to notice it. The company he worked for struggled to make money. The year he turned 50, Narve Endresen was dismissed. He was trained as an engineer and economist. He had been involved in many projects and engaged in digital development work, but now the company had no more assignments. In the years between 2014 and 2016, he was followed by around 10,000 others who worked in oil and gas in the Stavanger area. – The fact that I was not alone was still a small consolation, he says today. He felt it on his body, both physically and mentally. It wasn’t easy to find a new job either, and the ones he got lasted a short time. The big change happened last year. When Rosenberg got the Valhall contract worth NOK 1.6 billion last year, it was a piece of cake. PHOTO: FRIDA TØNSAAS / news – Little by little I experienced that interest in me and my background increased, says Endresen. And when he finished a project in a transport company in December, he had four new job offers on the table. – It was a real upswing. I signed for the consulting company Bouvet on 22 December 2022, and took the Christmas holiday with a smile on my face, says Endresen. There are several signs that the oil capital is heading for a new peak in activity. Work for years Club owner at Rosenberg Worley, Erlend Nygård, has always worked at the shipyard at Buøy in Stavanger. First twelve years as a sheet metal worker, then in the trade union. Erlend Nygård, club owner at Rosenberg. Photo: Ingvald Nordmark / news Now he walks around with an unusual feeling. He stopped being worried about the workplaces. Close to the hall, the production ship Jotun is in dock. Rosenberg has renovated and upgraded it over the past two years, and there is still work to be done. In addition, they have been awarded a billion dollar contract for the construction of a well module on the Valhall field in the south of the North Sea. That work is scheduled to start in the autumn. And the barracks for hired labor at the shipyard, with 1,144 beds, is full. The upgrading of Jotun began in 2020 and is scheduled to be completed during the year. PHOTO: OLE ANDREAS BØ / news – We are in a unique situation now. We have work until at least 2025, says the club manager. Stavanger and oil The price of oil and gas has given great value and much prosperity to the Stavanger region. But it comes in periods. In the summer of 2014, the oil price was over 115 dollars a barrel and the project was in the queue. In the same autumn, oil prices sank like a rock and Nord-Jæren was marked by redundancies and relocations. “Blood is running in the streets”, hotel owner Petter Stordalen told VG about Stavanger when the hotel guests disappeared in 2015. The oil boom shows itself in the center of Stavanger Photo: Ingvald Nordmark / news But now, at the start of 2023, there are more employees in oil and the gas industry in Rogaland than when the last bubble burst. The figure from Nav Rogaland shows around 29,000 people at the end of 2021. In 2013, when the boom was at its peak, the number was around 26,000. Merethe Prytz Haftorsen, director of Nav Rogaland. Photo: Nav Rogaland And there are no signs of slowing down either. The oil companies have in turn presented record surpluses for the year 2022. This is largely due to the war between Russia and Ukraine and could soon change. But a political decision in 2020 makes it likely that the activity will continue for several more years. The oil tax package has yielded results When 2022 turned into 2023, the oil companies had submitted 13 development plans (PUDs) in new and old oil and gas fields. It was the tax package, which was introduced in connection with the pandemic in 2020, that made many new projects profitable. Investing in offshore wind turbines will make the energy industry in the Stavanger area less dependent on oil and gas in the future. Here from the west of Karmøy. Photo: Anders Bakken Hekland The total value is over NOK 300 billion, and much of the work will be carried out by companies in the Stavanger region. Something is happening now – The customers tell us that there is a change. They can no longer get enough people locally, especially not on the engineering side, says Anders Lunde, day-to-day manager of Head Energy Consulting at Forus between Stavanger and Sandnes. Anders Lunde, day-to-day manager at Head Energy Consulting. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / Øystein Otterdal He says that several of the oil workers who moved away from the Stavanger region to find new jobs are now back. – They come from other places in Norway, but also from, for example, India and the Philippines, says Lunde. Now the engineering company has also started to think about how they are going to get hold of the new graduates in the Stavanger area. The company is looking for young workers – I got a summer job at the start of November last year. They are increasingly looking to get hold of us, says Master’s student at the University of Stavanger, Tobias Næss. Tobias Næss, master’s student in technical social security, did not have to wait for an answer when he asked “oljå” for help. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / news He also notes that the oil companies are on the supply side when it comes to interested students. Næss says that Aker BP provided one of its experts when he asked for help to solve an assignment he had at the university. – It only took a week from when I sent an e-mail until the meeting was completed, says Næss. The bank’s thinking Kyrre Knudsen is chief economist at Sparebank 1, SR-Bank. He sees clear signs that the oil and gas industry has seen full speed in the Stavanger region, that the area is in the midst of a new oil boom. Kyrre Knudsen, chief economist at Sparebank 1, SR-Bank. Photo: Ingvald Nordmark / news – I’m there. That applies both this year and in the next couple of years, says Knudsen. The reason, according to Knudsen, is that Europe needs energy and accepts everything Norway can produce. – In addition, the industry has probably been reluctant to invest for a few years, because they thought the green shift would remove the need for some oil and gas, he says. New bubble burst? The chief economist also read Nav’s figures, which show that there are few unemployed workers to be found. Especially among engineers. – And then wages rise? – Yes, wages in oil and gas had the largest wage increase in the district last year, confirms Knudsen. But he is still optimistic about avoiding another uncontrolled increase in wages and costs. – It cannot be ruled out, but there are many in the industry who remember what happened last time, and who want to avoid it happening again, says Knudsen. – But does it help, when the industry is looking for the same engineers? It didn’t work in 2010-2014? In contrast to last time, the renewables industry is gaining ground in the Stavanger region now, the chief economist states. He enumerates wind turbines on land and at sea, charging technology for cars and plans for battery and hydrogen factories. When business in the region gets more legs to stand on, the ups and downs in the district will not be as steep as when oil and gas were almost dominant, the chief economist believes. And finally: – Despite everything, there is not quite as much growth in oil and gas investments now as last time, says Kyrre Knudsen.
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More people now work with oil and gas in Stavanger than before the downturn in 2014 – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
