How does a community add value to the oil and gas industry?
Stuart Trundle A and Anne Probert AVenture Taranaki.
The APPEA Journal 56(2) 571-571 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ15077
Published: 2016
Abstract
As pressure mounts for oil and gas companies to demonstrate tangible value to the communities in which they operate, there is a growing imperative for groups to actively engage with the industry and its operators. Regions who partner with the industry to identify and implement initiatives that leverage the investment can see very real economic and social gains from hosting oil and gas exploration and production.
Venture Taranaki, the regional development agency for New Zealand’s only commercially producing oil and gas region, has been part of such a successful partnership in that area.
They have worked extensively in the space between the industry and the community to maximise the benefits to the region. In doing so they have helped position Taranaki as a force in New Zealand’s economy, and it has developed initiatives that demystify and demonstrate the industry’s value to their community stakeholders, extending this momentum across the oil and gas supply chain.
Its commercially neutral services have also advanced collaboration among the companies, fostered collective promotion of their capabilities, and assisted with management of demand-supply challenges in relation to project and shutdown planning.
In this extended abstract the authors give an insight into their experiences, lessons for other regions, and proposals to further advance the industry-community relationship.
Stuart Trundle is the Chief Executive of Venture Taranaki Trust, the regional development agency for Taranaki, regarded as one of the premier models for economic development in New Zealand. Stuart is a board member for the Economic Development Centre at Auckland University of Technology, and past Chair and presently Deputy Chair of the Economic Development Association of New Zealand. Prior to joining Venture Taranaki, Stuart was Managing Director at the largest Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom, chairman of two companies, an external examiner of the MBA program at the University of Wolverhampton Business School, and course validator for the University of Central England for its Diploma in Management Studies. |
Anne Probert is a regional development specialist and Project Director for Venture Taranaki’s major industry projects, including those relating to the oil and gas industry, engineering and infrastructure. She project-led both the inaugural and 2015 analysis of the economic value of the New Zealand oil and gas industry, as well as related reports such as the economic contribution of hydraulic fracturing to New Zealand. She works extensively with both the upstream and service sector in the oil and gas industry, including coordination of the OGST (Oil and Gas specialist Technologies)—a consortium of 25 oil and gas service sector companies. Anne has worked in local government and the private sector, and runs her own business. |
