The Industry Technology Facilitator has appointed Richard Luff to its board as a non-executive director (photo: ITF)

The Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF) has appointed Richard Luff to its board as a non-executive director. A chartered Civil Engineer, Richard has over 40 years’ experience in the oil and gas sector and currently serves as INTECSEA’s senior vice president for the Europe and Africa region.

ITF, a not-for-profit organisation focused on the commercial needs of its members, has facilitated the launch of more than 200 projects from early stage concepts through to field trials and commercialisation.

Luff began his career in 1974 and has since worked in the oil and gas and subsea industries around the world, including Saudi Arabia, Norway, the United States and Brazil.

On his return to the UK, he moved to a managerial role with INTEC Engineering. In 2007, Luff joined a small technology start-up company which successfully developed a fibre optic seabed permanent reservoir monitoring (PRM) system. Following the sale of the company in 2012, Richard returned to INTECSEA as head of the Europe and Africa region.

Luff says, “I have always been fascinated by technology so I’m looking forward to working with the board to help drive ITF forward. There is no doubting that we are in a difficult climate but it’s vital that companies commit to R&D, and ITF needs to be at the forefront of that. I hope I can use my network to push ITF and its values to the South of England where there has been relatively little exposure of the oil and gas technology expertise in the region.”

Luff has always maintained a keen interest in offshore and particularly subsea technology, having presented several papers at conferences and is the owner of patents for the installation of cables in deep-water.

Dr Patrick O’Brien, CEO of ITF, adds, “Richard’s experience and knowledge will be of great value to ITF as we continue to support the industry in finding new solutions to the challenges that are most impacting on efficiency and achieving maximum economic recovery. Technology has a vital role in helping the industry adapt to the new cost base and ITF’s technology programme is targeted at the priorities of our membership.”

Tags: Industry Technology Facilitator (ITF)