A major oil and gas industry conference is underway in Aberdeen.

Offshore Europe, the sector's largest conference, is a four-day event attracting a global audience of engineers, technical specialists, industry leaders and experts.

Andrew Jones, the UK Government's Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, will speak at the conference later today, 05 September.

At the event, he will highlight the opportunity to establish the North Sea as a global leader in the decommissioning sector.

The cleaning up and dismantling old oil rigs and pipelines must be carried out by all operators once they have finished extracting oil and gas in the UK. The North Sea is one of the first regions in the world to start decommissioning on such a large scale.

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The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) forecasts that UK oil and gas operators will spend almost £60 billion on decommissioning between now and the 2050s

Minister Jones said: "The UK oil and gas industry supports 300,000 jobs, and with up to 20 billion barrels of oil yet to recover, has many productive years ahead. As the need for decommissioning grows, we must seize the opportunity to cement the UK as a world-leader in this field and export this knowledge globally.

"Efficient decommissioning means big changes to the oil and gas industry – requiring new technology, skills and innovative approaches. This will ensure that decommissioning is safe and cost-effective while also protecting the environment."

Chief Executive of The OGA, Andy Samuel, said: "Decommissioning presents great opportunities for innovation and the development of UK skills and capability.

"We are working closely with operators and service providers and are already seeing some great performance in cost efficient decommissioning, new collaborations and technology trials. This bodes well for the shared target of 35% cost reductions and the considerable domestic and export value that can be realised."

(LM)