‘I'm proud to be a working mum thriving in this industry’

Originally from Lowestoft, Nadine Blowers (33) now works with THREE60 ENERGY in Great Yarmouth. Her current role is focused on managing the ongoing decommissioning of the Schooner & Ketch gas platforms.

When I was around 10 years old, my parents bought me a computer and I would sit for hours pretending to work in an office. I wanted to start a hairdressing course when I left school, but realised this was not the career for me. So, I had a rethink and found Business and Administration appealing. I thrived on this course and was recommended by my tutor for an apprenticeship.

My mother and father taught me to be hardworking from a young age, and to always seek out new opportunities. As a teenager, I was always on the lookout for paid work to earn pocket money and started cleaning for my mum’s business when I was 14. I continued working there until I was 18, as well as roles in waitressing and in sales for uPVC windows and doors. I did this all while completing my apprenticeship L3 Business and Administration at a Structural and Civil Engineering consultancy business.

I didn’t have a stereotypical entry into the energy industry. Despite living a few miles from Great Yarmouth, a hub for the oil and gas industry in the Southern North Sea, I had little knowledge of the sector. I was working as a receptionist at a local construction company but was made redundant after a year. This was when my career in oil and gas began. I have now been in the industry since 2010 and I am proudly a working mum with two young girls. It’s challenging work but I love coming into work knowing that each day is different.

Initially working in a receptionist role at Fugro, I realised I thrived at the fast pace of the business. I built up my confidence, and when a vacancy became available at Petrofac for a Commercial Assistant I jumped at the chance. I loved the job at Petrofac, and despite being thrown in the deep end, it gave me huge confidence in myself that I didn’t know I had. I wanted to get more involved with projects so transferred to the Project Team, where I gained vital skills in project management and planning. I also got the chance to visit offshore assets and onshore gas terminals.

After working for some time as a Maintenance Planner for the Schooner and Ketch assets in the Southern North Sea, I moved to THREE60 Energy, where my job role and responsibilities have changed. I work as part of a small team in the Great Yarmouth office, managing the ongoing decommissioning of the Schooner & Ketch gas platforms. This was a big transition for me. After spending years being involved in production operations and planning, it was strange moving to a decommissioning project. My duties also extended to office management within the Great Yarmouth base, including administration support to commercial, management HSSEQ and business development.

The decommissioning project has been challenging, and that is why I am so proud of my involvement. As a team, we were frequently under pressure to deliver and complete tasks within budget and timescales. Our team completed the process successfully, despite a transfer of duty holdership and a global pandemic. We are now in the final stages of the project and the full decommissioning of both platforms will be completed in 2023.

The move from fossil fuels to renewable energy is inevitable and a key step towards addressing climate change. The energy industry has a role in the transition, and many of the people in the industry have the skills that will be transferable to renewables. Existing procurement methods, and safe methods of work will all have a role to play in this transition period.

The UK oil and gas industry is critical to enabling the transition, and I feel positive that as an industry we can find new ways to extract oil and gas more efficiently and use our collective skills to continue reducing our carbon emissions.

My advice to anyone looking to join this industry is to be prepared to work hard and adapt to a fast-moving sector to take its many opportunities. Our industry provides so many types of careers, and there really is a role for everyone. It is also an exciting time to join the sector as we all work together to meet our climate commitments and strengthen UK energy security.