Speakers
David joined Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) on 1 January 2023 as Chief Executive.
David is an established industry leader with 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. He has extensive knowledge of the North Sea sector, and most recently spent 7 years as the Managing Director of CNR International. David is respected across the sector for his strategic and hands-on leadership in the North Sea and around the world, including the USA, Netherlands, and Philippines.
His passion for energy, engineering and innovation is built on a PhD in Theoretical Chemistry from Cambridge University and a degree in Chemistry from Manchester University. He is currently studying at the University of Aberdeen for a Masters in Renewable Engineering.
Emily Bailey
Head of Offshore Oil and Gas Decommissioning, OPRED
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
LinkedIn Fugro
tbc
Fugro
Gordon Buchan
wood
Jessica Spanovic-Banderas is a Senior Environmental Decommissioning Consultant at Xodus with extensive experience supporting offshore energy projects across the UK Continental Shelf. She specialises in environmental appraisal, impact assessment and decommissioning strategy for complex offshore developments. She has particular expertise in environmental impact assessment, drill cuttings management, fisheries interactions, comparative assessments and stakeholder considerations. Jessica has led the preparation of environmental assessments and regulatory submissions to support major decommissioning programmes, helping operators balance environmental impacts, technical feasibility and regulatory compliance. Her work also focuses on the evolving offshore energy landscape, including opportunities arising from co-location, decommissioning strategies for offshore renewables and the energy transition.
John Gillies has 36 years of experience with ExxonMobil across the full upstream asset life cycle. After joining Mobil North Sea in 1991 as an RGIT graduate, he held engineering and offshore operations roles, before moving into field development planning and capital project management in the UK, Norway, and Malaysia. Since 2013, John has specialised in end of field life planning and decommissioning execution, including secondments to Shell as Execution Manager for the Brent Decommissioning Project and to Equinor for Statfjord A Cessation planning.
Since 2021, he has served as Principal Adviser within ExxonMobil’s Global Decommissioning Centre of Excellence, as part of a small team providing expertise supporting ExxonMobil’s upstream decommissioning policy, planning, and execution.
Kent
tbc
Kent
Laura is CCS and Carbon Markets Manager at Offshore Energies UK, leading work on carbon capture and storage, carbon markets and energy transition policy.
Laura leads industry engagement on a range of strategic topics, including carbon storage, carbon markets, terminal infrastructure and energy system integration. Laura has managed and delivered major industry studies and consultation responses on many of these topics, most recently on colocation of offshore energy projects.
Prior to OEUK, Laura was a civil engineer, on design and build contracts for projects across wastewater infrastructure, dams and reservoirs where she supported the development of major capital infrastructure projects within highly regulated environments. She holds a Master of Civil Engineering with International Studies from Heriot Watt University. Laura is also a Water Safety Adviser for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
Mark Wilson is the Energy Operations Director, for Offshore Energies UK and supports HSE & operational arrangements for the UK offshore assets.
The first part of Mark’s career was with the British Army as a mechanical engineer, where he worked through the ranks to retire as a Major. His second part of his career has been working in the energy sector where he has held HSE and operational roles both on and offshore.
Mark holds a voluntary role as a Charity Trustee for the UK’s Oil and Gas Chaplaincy. Out of work his interests are road cycling, family time in the campervan and developing his artistic abilities via watercolour paintings.
Neil Cuthbert is a chartered civil engineer specialising in decommissioning and currently serves as Associate Director – Decommissioning at Kent. With varied experience in the offshore sector founded in structural integrity, Neil has led a wide array of engineering and consultancy projects focused on complex end-of-life asset challenges. He has delivered studies for decommissioning oil & gas and offshore wind support structures, leveraging expertise in integrity assessment, risk management and structural engineering for ageing platforms. Neil is also a recognised voice in the decommissioning community, contributing to industry forums and speaker sessions on the transition of offshore assets from late life to decommissioning. Neil is chair of the Supply Chain Decommissioning Network and sits on the OEUK Decommissioning Forum Steering Committee. Neil has also recently joined a newly formed working group targeting late life and decommissioning with RenewableUK.
Nick Graves is Chair of the Scottish Region of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
He is semi-retired and works part-time for JFD Global, supporting a range of diving engineering design projects. He previously spent many years at Proserv and Claxton Engineering, working on subsea decommissioning tools and technologies. His roles included project manager and lead engineer during the research and development phase of the joint Claxton/NDC/NZTC underwater laser-cutting project.
In his spare time, he is a trustee and secretary of the Garlogie Beam Engine Trust and volunteers hands-on in the restoration of the historically significant beam engine at Garlogie Mill, near Westhill, Aberdeenshire
NMC Energy
tbc
NMC Energy
Paul Van Heyningen
Director, Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning (OPRED) and Energy Planning
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
LinkedInPaul van Heyningen is Director for OPRED and Energy Planning at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). His team is responsible for regulating environmental and decommissioning activity for offshore oil and gas operations, including carbon capture and storage operations, on the UK continental shelf and for energy infrastructure planning policy and delivery. Paul is a career civil servant who, since 2001, has held a wide range of posts in the UK Government, with a focus on energy, climate change and environmental policy. Recent roles have covered transforming UK electricity network infrastructure, protecting the electricity market in Northern Ireland during EU Exit and leading policy on emissions trading and industrial decarbonisation. He has a scientific background, with a PhD in molecular neurobiology.
Ping Teo leads global decommissioning efforts at IOGP, representing IOGP at OSPAR, the Barcelona Convention, ASCOPE and EU forums. She manages the IOGP Decommissioning Committee, driving technical advocacy and aligning industry positions on policies, regulatory developments, and industry guidance. With over 20 years in offshore energy, as a Project Manager, Ping has led brownfield, major greenfield projects and decommissioning portfolio, spanning front-end studies through offshore execution and handover to operations. Her field experience includes overseeing onshore fabrication, brownfield tie-ins, offshore platforms and pipeline installations. She facilitated the development of international guidance on various key topics including habitat retention, FPSO yard selection, and economic impact studies for IOGP.
John is Aberdeen University’s Director for Energy Transition having previously been at Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt universities, where he was their Chief Scientist. His research interests focus upon the role of geoscience in the energy transition and use of technologies, methods and data in providing the best solutions and outcomes to deliver low-carbon energy and electricity systems. He has led the GeoNetZero Centre of Doctoral Training, a £22M academic-industry pan-UK partnership. John was President of the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers, was on the Scottish Science Advisory Council, populates the UK Subsurface Task Force, and chairs the National Energy Skills Accelerator, which secured £1M from the Scottish Government to up- and re-skill workers for careers in renewable energy. John was awarded EAGE’s Alfred Wegener Prize and the Lyell Medal from the Geological Society in 2016. An unusual fact is that John was an international soccer referee.
Professor Richard Neilson
Director of the National Decommissioning Centre
University of Aberdeen
LinkedInRichard has been involved in decommissioning research since 2008 and is currently Director of the National Decommissioning Centre (NDC) a partnership between the Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC) and the University of Aberdeen.
He leads the framing of the research focus for the centre which has Chevron, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Shell and the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult as partners.
Sarah Moore is Chief Executive Officer of Peterson Energies and a member of the Group Management Team of Royal Peterson & Control Union, a global leader in logistics, quality, safety, certification and risk management, operating in more than 80 countries. She leads the Group’s global energy business and chairs Control Union’s Northern Europe and Gulf States region, helping shape strategy and deliver services across both the energy and assurance sectors.
With more than 20 years’ experience spanning oil and gas, renewables, logistics and digital transformation, Sarah has built her career leading business transformation, driving sustainable growth and strengthening the resilience of the energy supply chain. She is a strong advocate for the critical role of the supply chain in delivering energy security while supporting the transition to a lower-carbon future.
Alongside her executive responsibilities, Sarah is Contractor Co-Chair of Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) and a Board Member of the North Sea Future Board, where she works with industry, government and regulators to help shape the future of the UK Continental Shelf and support delivery of the North Sea Future Plan. She also contributes to regional economic development and higher education through her non-executive roles with Opportunity North East (ONE) and the University of Aberdeen Development Trust SCIO.
SLB
tbc
SLB
Tom Quick is a Senior Wells Decommissioning Engineer at bp, acting as a subject matter expert and supporting decommissioning activity globally. Tom has over 18 years’ experience in drilling and decommissioning, encompassing drilling contractor, engineering contractor and operator environments. Tom acts as Co-Chair of OEUK’s Well Decommissioning Operators Network and holds a BSc in Geology from Keele University.
Vidhya Thevaryan
Senior Wells Decom Engineer – Subsea
EnQuest
Vidhya is a Senior Well Abandonment, working on subsea decommissioning for EnQuest. With over eleven years of industry experience, across the UK North Sea and international locations, she has been involved with both onshore planning and offshore execution. Prior to joining EnQuest she worked across a wide variety of projects, including drilling, well interventions and well decommissioning. Her experience in decommissioning has included platform and subsea well abandonments, including vessel-based rig-less abandonment.
