WIREDGOV

The eyes of the oil and gas industry were on the NDA's Chief Executive, David Peattie, this week as he gave a unique insight into the decommissioning sector.

Mr Peattie was guest of honour at one of the oil and gas industry’s most highly anticipated events at the Fairmont Hotel, in St Andrews, where he spoke to a 500-strong gathering about the challenges faced in the nuclear decommissioning and oil and gas sectors.

The Offshore Decommissioning Conference, which ran from November 27 to 29, saw some of the industry’s leading figures listen to Mr Peattie’s keynote speech on the similarities between the 2 sectors.

He addressed delegates on the parallels of decommissioning in nuclear and oil and gas, and spoke of collaboration, skills, standardising solutions and achieving the mission.

Mr Peattie, who took over as CEO at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in March, has extensive experience of the oil and gas industry with a 35-year career spanning the sector.

He started out as a young engineering graduate at BP in 1979.

The event, hosted by industry bodies Decom North Sea and Oil & Gas UK, highlighted the continued importance of cross-sector learning via the nuclear and marine salvage sectors.

Mr Peattie shared his knowledge on the opportunities that arise from the synergies between the 2 industries.

He said:

As CEO of the NDA, I’m thrilled now to be able to have the opportunity to transfer learning and experience from my oil and gas years to nuclear. And maybe even facilitate some flowing back the other way too.

Being keynote speaker at such a prestigious event is an honour. Energy has been in my blood from a very young age and is still a passion of mine.