Oil Company Aviation Departments have never been accused of being logical, knowledgeable, or having any great amount of commonsense.
They do talk a good line of bull**** however!
But....they do pay the bill!
Offshore flying is not rocket science....and converting from one type of helicopter to another is not exactly a big deal.....but there are many in the Helicopter industry that have made a career out of making them both difficult for very personal and less than justifiable reasons.
Would you rather have a long serving 15,000 hour pilot with 10 hours in type.....or a low hour new hire Pilot with 500 hours on type?