Leading figures from the North Sea oil industry today welcomed the launch of a new technology centre in Aberdeen.
The Oil and Gas Technology Centre will invest in the development and deployment of new products and processes that can reduce the cost of North Sea hydrocarbon extraction.
It will receive £180million worth of funding through the Aberdeen City Region Deal.
Paul Goodfellow, upstream director for the UK & Ireland at Shell, said technology had been fundamental to the development of the UK Continental Shelf.
Mr Goodfellow said: “From the development of ground-breaking fields, such as Brent, which marked 40 years of production last year, to more recent subsea and HPHT developments – technology has been at the heart of the UK industry.
“As we look to maximise economic recovery we know we will need further innovation in the technologies the industry relies on today. The OGTC is an important vehicle for bringing focus to the collaboration and innovation that will be key to the development of the practical technologies essential to the future of the UKCS.
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Mark Thomas, regional president, BP North Sea, said the centre had an opportunity to make a real difference to industry efforts to maximise recovery from the basin.
Mr Thomas said: “If the collective capability of the industry and academia can be successfully channelled, I believe the North Sea can be competitive for many years yet and Aberdeen can become a truly global centre of oil and gas technology excellence.”
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Greta Lydecker, managing director of Chevron North Sea, said: “Chevron has operated a global technology centre in Aberdeen since 2006 and generated significant global business value through UK-based skills and technology development.
“We look forward to the centre working with industry partners in finding new ways to deliver business value from technology, such as improving asset integrity and operational performance, and maximising economic recovery from the North Sea.”
Total E&P UK managing director Elisabeth Proust said: “Our strong involvement with the OGTC clearly demonstrates our trust in collaborative work within the industry.
“Our initial engagement has been on assets integrity, we look forward to hosting pilots and we intend to join other programs of the solution centers. Pooling our efforts and resources in developing new technologies will trigger further cost reductions and enhance operational excellence.
“This will bring forward new economic projects and extend the fields life.”
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