The investment arm of Statoil has joined forces with the Scottish Government to invest in and support small, innovative companies in the oil and gas supply chain.
Statoil Technology Invest (STI), a subsidiary of the Norwegian firm, has formed a strategic partnership with economic development agency Scottish Enterprise to help encourage more Scottish companies to invest in early phase development projects using their combined support.
A spokesman for Statoil said the investment firm has invested £80million in small firms in the last two years and its portfolio already includes a handful of UK-based companies.
It expects to invest a further £15million this year.
“Our main goal is not to earn money on this, it is to help companies develop technology we think can help us in our core activity which is exploration and production of oil and gas,” said Statoil spokesman.
Scottish Enterprise said the agreement was part of a programme of activity to increase research and development spending in Scotland by £80million over the next five years.
“This is our first strategic partnership to support innovation projects in Scotland, the first, we hope, of many,” said Lena Wilson, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise.
Head of STI, Richard Erskine and Gunnar Breivik, managing director of Statoil Production UK in Aberdeen, met Ms Wilson and Finance Secretary John Swinney in Edinburgh yesterday to finalise the agreement.
“Statoil is always looking for new technologies to find more oil, increase production, or improve operational efficiency,” Erskine said.
“Scotland has a strong tradition in developing new oil and gas technologies and we believe this partnership with Scottish Enterprise will enable
us to more effectively work with small technology companies to commercialise and implement their ideas.”
Gunnar Breivik also welcomed the agreement.
“We are stepping up our activities on the UK Continental Shelf. After establishing ourselves in Aberdeen, we have been able to witness the inventiveness of the local industry cluster at close range, he said.
“Hopefully this collaboration can stimulate ideas and cost effective technologies that meet challenges both locally and globally.”
