A new US$6.29 million (£5 million) fund has been launched to provide opportunities for the supply chain in Scotland to benefit from the decommissioning of North Sea infrastructure.
The Decommissioning Challenge Fund (DCF), launched by the Scottish government, will support infrastructure upgrades and innovation in salvage and transport methods at Scotland’s ports and harbors.
It will also encourage engineering scoping work at key sites to build business cases that will attract further private investment.
The news followed super major Shell submitted its plans to decommission its Brent oil field facilities.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon launched the fund at Sparrows, an Aberdeen based supply chain company with expertise in decommissioning that has just secured a major contract to provide 102 cranes to Scottish Power. The First Minister also visited exploration technology specialists Zilift.
Alongside the Decommissioning Action Plan, launched by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise last year, the Fund will help Scotland's oil and gas sector make the most of decommissioning opportunities at home and abroad.
Sturgeon said: “With up to 20 billion barrels of oil and gas remaining, the Scottish Government’s top priority remains working with industry and stakeholders to maximize economic recovery from the North Sea.
“The new £5 million Fund also recognizes that decommissioning is an emerging, but growing, activity in the North Sea, with $22.14 billion (£17.6 billion) expected to be spent in the North Sea over the next decade.
“Scottish-based firms are already seizing opportunities, securing the lion’s share of value from a range of decommissioning activities, including project management of decommissioning programs and high value well plugging and abandonment activity."