For those who can’t recall, I said that when times are tough we look to the movers and shakers in our industry to give us insight, inspiration and some good old-fashioned straight-talking. We all know what they’re thinking—but it seldom gets uttered.

Imagine my delight, therefore, when attending SPE Offshore Europe in Aberdeen, Scotland, to hear several VIPs get up and shoot straight from the lip. Perhaps it was the crisp Aberdeenshire air and the long-known willingness of many a Scotsman to tell people some home truths.

One of those speaking his mind publicly was Robin Allan, Premier Oil’s director of the North Sea region and exploration. Earlier I sat through a presentation by BP’s Bernard Looney, who espoused the importance of sitting, talking and learning from partners and contractors to better implement efficiencies and cost savings.

Allan, however, had his own views on the success or otherwise of implementing that kind of culture. He called on the majors to improve the way they deal with the smaller players in the U.K. “The view from a smaller company is the way that the majors approach commercial problems and difficulties in tackling all these undeveloped discoveries [is inappropriate]. If you are a BP or a Shell or an Exxon [employee], you don’t get promoted by being nice to an EnQuest or a Premier; you get promoted for sticking one over on them. That’s what they want to see.

“The majors want to see aggressive commercial behavior where they win and someone else loses,” he added. “That works very well for them as companies globally, but that is not a model that can help sustain the basin.”

David Lamont, Proserv’s CEO, also joined in, saying, “Despite talk in recent years of the urgent need to act and collaborate, even before the oil price crash, the industry as a whole still has a long way to go. Everyone knows what needs to be done, but the inertia in the industry is of great concern.”

Effort to collaborate in the industry, while being undertaken by some companies, still is the exception, he explained. A return to $100 per barrel oil prices is unlikely. In the event prices do rebound, the industry cannot return to the old way of doing things, with past practices proving wasteful in today’s market.

Samir Brikho, CEO of Amec Foster Wheeler and a former Offshore Europe chairman, decided to join in too, saying, “The industry has been quite lazy in changing because oil prices have been helping us a lot. At a time like this, you need to take a look at how you can take out the fat. Once we have done this, we will never go back; this will become the new norm.”

There were several other examples I also could have used here. The plain speaking was a refreshing change and music to the ears of all those looking for constructive and honest views at industry events rather than sanitized “PR-speak.” Long may it continue.