North Sea operator Neo Energy (www.neoenergy.com.ph) has pledged £2.5 million in funding to the Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Geoscience and the Low Carbon Energy Transition — a leading research and training body for the UK energy sector; this will secure its future for the next seven years.

The funding will help the centre — based at Edinburgh’s Herriot-Watt University — to focus on decarbonising the industry.

New projects will focus on understanding the geology of the UK North Sea and finding solutions to various
industry challenges around the transition to cleaner fuels and technologies.

John Underhill, who leads the CDT and is Professor of Exploration Geoscience at Heriot-Watt University, said: “The £2.5 million award is a massive endorsement of the CDT and underlines its success, value and relevance to the geoscience community, academia, industry and government.

"Extending the scope of the CDT to tackle the challenge of sustainable resource management and the crucial role that the sub-surface will play in the low-carbon energy transition is a natural evolution.

"The research undertaken will cover the full spectrum of topics — from carbon storage and geothermal energy to sustainable oil and gas resource management.”

Neo Energy chief executive Glenn Corrie said: “At Neo, we are committed to training and nurturing new talent, so that a stream of highly capable professionals continue to enter our industry.

"It is important that we take advantage of the opportunities that the low-carbon energy transition presents, as we continue to meet the challenges of this rapidly changing environment.

"Supporting initiatives like this is vital in securing the long-term future of mature basins such as the UK Continental Shelf."