Dozens of jobs will be created in the north and north-east after three energy operators give final approval to a £1.4billion North Sea development today.
GDF Suez, Centrica and Bayerngas are signing the field-development plan for their Cygnus gas field in the southern North Sea, leading to a string of contracts for service companies.
GDF said its involvement would create 50 posts in Aberdeen, while there will be a further job boost for Lewis after Burntisland Fabrications (Bifab) said it would be building four steel jackets for the project, worth a combined £47million. Discussions are continuing over the firm also building one of the topside modules.
Hereema will build the three other topsides.
For Bifab, this will result in 100 extra jobs, on top of 350 new posts announced last month as a result of winning Premier Oil’s Solan development contract, said managing director John Robertson.
About 20 of these will be at Arnish, in Lewis, where part of the work for Solan and Cygnus will be carried out. The remainder will be in Fife.
Amec will carry out the detailed engineering design work for the project, which is expected to lead to 200 new jobs at its London headquarters.
The Cygnus deals are part of a series of multimillion-pound investments in the UK oil and gas industry announced today.
BP has revealed plans to invest £60million in an international centre for advanced materials, in Manchester, while Italian chemical producer Versalis is spending up to £48million to expand its operations at Grangemouth.
Meanwhile, representatives of international energy majors and service companies will meet in Aberdeen today to discuss the future of oil and gas in Scotland.
Scottish Enterprise is hosting a business breakfast in the Granite City to discuss the prospects for the industry and opportunities for the supply chain.