Aberdeen-based Well-Safe Solutions has secured a £66 million investment to fund the next phase of its expansion as a Tier One well-decommissioning company (www.wellsafesolutions.com).

The new round of investment was led by MW&L Capital Partners, bringing together a consortium of private investors to acquire a major stake in the business.

Expenditure on decommissioning in the UK Continental Shelf is forecast to be worth £15.3 billion in the next decade, and well decommissioning will account for about 49% of that.

Around 5,000 wells, of which 1,000 are sub-sea, will need to be decommissioned in the North Sea alone.

Well-Safe chief executive Phil Milton said: “We have amassed the largest concentration of well-decommissioning expertise in the North Sea, secured major plug and abandonment (P&A) contracts, and are generating significant revenues from our engineering business.

"In addition, we have acquired our first asset, the Well-Safe Guardian — a semi-submersible drilling rig that is currently being upgraded and converted into a bespoke P&A asset for the industry.

“With the backing of MW&L plus our existing shareholders, we will be bringing the Well-Safe Guardian into operation in the first half of 2020, and we will look to acquire further assets to accelerate the delivery of our campaign-based approach to the P&A of wells in the North Sea and Continental Europe.”