THE Oil & Gas Innovation Centre (OGIC) has unveiled details of five collaborations between companies and the Scottish university sector which it declared have the potential to cut operational costs and improve efficiency in the industry.
It comes as the Aberdeen-based centre says it has now invested £3.8 million in innovative technology in the last four years, across 75 projects.
The latest projects will see five companies work with Scottish universities to develop technology to directly address current industry challenges, backed by £330,000 of investment by OGIC.
In one project, offshore engineering services specialist Balmoral Group will work with the University of Edinburgh to investigate the potential use of new materials, which can be integrated into the company’s current line of subsea ancillary products.
Glasgow-based Weir Group is collaborating with Heriot-Watt University’s School of Engineering and Physical Sciences on a pioneering technology designed to allow easier and safer access to higher pressure and high temperature oil and gas reserves.
Getech Group is working with both the University of Glasgow and the University of Strathclyde to investigate the conditions under which granites and crystalline-based basement rocks weather and fracture and be transformed into potential hydrocarbon reserves.
Ian Phillips, chief executive of OGIC, said: “We are very excited to have signed our 75th project agreement, reaching this milestone highlights the willingness there is in the industry to invest in new technology and take part in R&D.
“The five new projects we have recently supported are all vastly different but demonstrate that there is an appetite across the industry to find innovative solutions to challenges facing the sector.
“Each of these projects have the potential to result in real cost savings for companies and emphasise the range and scope of projects which OGIC can support.”
OGIC describes itself as a single access point for universities and industry which can provide funding and support for technology solutions for the oil and gas sector.
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