Mitchaa,
That's one view. The fact right now is that just about every operator in the North Sea is losing money. The UKCS is one of the highest cost oil basins in the world. The average wage offshore is in excess of £60,000 a year: 1.5 times the UK average. Most people who think about it dispassionately, or who have worked internationally, find the UKCS cost base, work ethic, productivity and remuneration package (both onshore and offshore) a joke.
Over the last few years the UKCS, buffered by $100 oil, has not controlled its cost base. It has got fat (in many cases literally) and lazy. Safety (as a proxy for terms and conditions) has been a constant refrain. That now needs to change. The oil industry is not a registered charity with the likes of Wood Group employees as the primary beneficiary.
To survive, the UKCS has to take on the vested interests you seem to represent. If it doesn't, hone your decommissioning skills. There won't be anything else!