Concerns have emerged that a shortage of skilled professionals could prevent Norway from taking advantage of large oil reserves recently discovered in the North Sea.

A poll of delegates at the Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) conference found that 68% of participants felt skills shortages would result in the country struggling to realise the potential of Norway’s recent Aldous and Avaldsnes oilfield discoveries.

But Tore Lea, GL Noble Denton’s managing director for Norway, says: “The growing shortage of skilled oil & gas professionals in not unique to Norway – it is endemic across the world.

“As the global skills shortage becomes more acute, industry leaders are facing increasing difficulties in filling key roles from an ever-shrinking pool of qualified candidates. But there is also concern among some oil & gas professionals that fast-tracking the development of young engineers could, in the long term, prove damaging to the industry.”