XCITE Energy, which hopes to develop the Bentley heavy oil field off Shetland, has recruited the Aibel oil services business to the team working on the production platform it plans to use.

The company has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Aibel which sets out the principles for the planning and building work on the platform. This will be designed by Ove Arup & Partners. Rupert Cole, chief executive of Xcite, said Aibel would help it refine project costs prior to submission of a development plan for the Bentley field.