Ewing hails £10m oil and gas fund

Sep 26 2012

A £10 million fund will encourage innovation in Scotland's oil and gas sector, the energy minister has said.

Fergus Ewing announced the new innovation fund is now open for applications for the first time.

He said it followed on from the launch of the Scottish Government's oil and gas strategy earlier this year, which "lays out a plan to help the industry go from strength to strength".

Mr Ewing added: "This funding is a key component of that strategy and meets a real need."

He said there were still up to 12 billion barrels of oil that could be recovered from underneath the North Sea.

The minister went on: "We know that there is a great future in oil and gas, and the sector is no stranger to innovation, with the great strides the industry has taken helping to secure our place at the lead of the global industry.

"The awards made under this fund will help drive that innovation and preserve the vital infrastructure of the industry - the cables, pipes and platforms - to ensure they continue to operate safely and efficiently for the recovery of oil and gas reserves for decades to come."

Scottish Enterprise will help operate the new fund, with David Rennie of the enterprise agency stating: "Scotland's hugely successful oil and gas sector has a crucial role to play in our economic success and increasing and accelerating innovation in the industry, as highlighted in the industry-led oil and gas strategy document published earlier this year, will be key to this."

However, environmental body WWF Scotland accused the Government of "bending over backwards" to the oil industry.

Director Dr Richard Dixon claimed public funds should instead be spent trying to "create a low carbon future".