EAST Kilbride-based NEL is investing £1 million developing a new oil and gas test facility which is expected to help firms maximise income amid the crude price slump.

The company has developed a system that will let oil and gas firms test the meters they use to monitor the flow from high pressure and high temperature (HPHT) fields.

The company said the facility will be the UK's only flow meter calibration facility capable of testing at significantly elevated pressures and temperatures.

Companies will be able to use the test to help ensure the meters keep an accurate record of the total production that passes through them. This will help them collect all the revenue they are due.

The decision to develop the facility reflects confidence in the prospects for oil and gas market activity on the part of NEL's owner, German corporation TUV SUD.

The facility is being developed at a time when oil and gas firms are investing heavily in developing HPHT fields, drawing on advances in exploration and production technology.

Oil and gas is an important market for NEL, which invested £500,000 in another other high pressure test facility in 2013.

The company said the level of oil and gas related work has remained steady in recent months, in spite of the sharp fall in the oil price since June last year.

Formerly known as the National Engineering Laboratory, NEL employs around 90 people.