The Oil & Gas Technology Centre has, in just 12 months, co-invested £37 million ($51 million) in more than 70 projects to develop and deploy new technology that could transform the future of the UK North Sea.
With more than 80 memberships across five solution centres, the OGTC is bringing together oil and gas operators, supply chain companies and technology developers, as well as experts from other industries and academia, to work on new and innovative solutions.
The Centre is working with Spirit Energy to field-trial a well plugging and abandonment technology that could deliver up to £100 million cost-savings per year. Interwell’s thermite tool, which is being deployed at Spirit Energy’s onshore well at Caythorpe, melts materials in the wellbore, forming an impermeable barrier to seal the well. The results will be shared with a further nine North Sea companies collaborating on the project.
Furthermore, the Centre is also working with SPi Performance Coatings to tackle corrosion with a revolutionary protective coating that ‘eats’ rust on surfaces and self-heals when damaged. A field trial has already been completed on Total E&P UK’s Elgin platform and further field trials planned later this year.
According to the OGTC, there’s been an incredible response to its TechX accelerator programme, with 200 start-ups and SMEs from 24 countries applying for funding and support. 10 outstanding companies will be invited to join the Centre’s first Pioneer programme in June 2018 and earn the opportunity to receive up to £100,000 in funding.
The Centre’s recent Digital Transformation ‘Call for Ideas’ generated 68 ideas on how to harness the power of big data and machine learning to unlock the remaining potential of the UK North Sea. The OGTC will invest about £1 million in a portfolio of projects to assess more than 175,000 items of existing data, provided by the Oil & Gas Authority, Common Data Access and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, to identify oil and gas reserves in mature fields.
Colette Cohen , CEO of the Oil & Gas Technology Centre, said:
“We’ve made great progress to establish the Oil & Gas Technology Centre, identify hundreds of exciting technologies and co-invest £37 million in more than 70 projects with our industry partners to develop and deploy new technologies.
“From SMEs to technology developers to oil majors – the response has been fantastic and we’ve also enjoyed excellent support from the UK and Scottish Governments, the Oil & Gas Authority, local councils and regional partners.
“5,000 people have visited the Centre to take part in events and workshops, and we have built strong connections across the UK innovation ecosystem. We’ve made a positive start but there’s so much more to do and I look forward to another exciting year.
“I’m confident, together with industry, we can help unlock the full potential of the UK North Sea, anchor the supply chain in North East Scotland and create a culture of innovation in the region.”