The Scottish Government will follow the publication of Sir Ian Wood’s North Sea review today by announcing more than £10million of funding for a new centre to pioneer oil and gas technology.
The new Aberdeen-based centre will be paid for by the Scottish Funding Council and supported by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise.
It will bring together more than 2,300 oil and gas operators and service companies with 12 Scottish universities and more than 450 academic staff working on oil and gas technologies.
The Oil and Gas Innovation Centre, as it will be known, will focus on enhanced oil recovery, subsea technology, subsurface imaging, asset integrity and life extension, decommissioning, health and safety and High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) wells. It will also look at how Scotland can exploit shale gas reserves. The centre will support industry aims to increase production and reduce costs in the UK Continental Shelf
First Minister Alex Salmond said the new centre will keep Scotland at the forefront of new technology in the energy sector.
“Recent estimates suggest that activity in the North Sea fields will last for decades with 24billion barrels of oil equivalent, valued at £1.5 trillion,” he said.
“Almost all oil production and more than half of total gas production over the next three decades will take place in Scottish waters. And, of course, only through independence would Scotland receive the tax revenues from this production.
“As an international oil and gas exporter, Scotland is undeniably a main player and that is why it is so important we harness the expertise of our universities and bring them together with industry.
“Increasingly, our companies are embracing the major opportunities in the oil and gas supply chain, winning lucrative contracts to export products and services from Scotland.
“Scotland has many creative, innovative companies and academic institutions capable of identifying growth opportunities and delivering industry solutions. Today’s announcement demonstrates the confidence in our oil and gas sector and its ability to be pioneers of industry advances.”
Maggie McGinlay, director of energy at Scottish Enterprise said: “Scotland’s oil and gas industry is made up of global operators and suppliers along with an experienced supply chain of small to medium-sized companies which we know can develop significant innovations in the sector.
“The centre presents an opportunity to help maximise recovery of oil and gas reserves.”