Decom North Sea, the representative body for the offshore decommissioning industry, and the Oil and Gas Innovation Centre have announced a collaborative memorandum of understanding.

The MOU commits both parties to supporting operators, contractors, SMEs and other stakeholders to develop safe and cost-effective offshore decommissioning solutions for what could be a £50billion industry.

Ian Phillips, chief executive of OGIC, which has links to Scotland's 14 universities, said the collaboration would offer “ the maximum possible benefit to the UK economy”.