Energy 'shop window' unveiled

The Offshore Centre is based at Amec on Tyneside

A new £210,000 offshore centre, to showcase British fabrication expertise, is due to be unveiled on Tyneside.

Energy Minister Brian Wilson will open the Offshore Centre at the Amec yard, in Wallsend, which aims to bring more multi-million contracts and jobs to UK.

More than 2,000 jobs were secured earlier this year when the yard won bids to construct offshore facilities for Shell's Bonga field, off Nigeria, and BP's Clair field, in the North Sea.

The 300,000-tonne Bonga gas platform is currently waiting off the Dutch coast for the right weather conditions before it can enter the River Tyne for a £300m refit.

It is a credit to Tyneside that it has been chosen to showcase UK fabrication technology

Energy Minister Brian Wilson

The new Offshore Centre is a joint Government and industry sponsored 'shop-window' for the oil and gas sector.

It aims to act as a permanent trade mission to sell UK offshore expertise and link up with schools and colleges to attract young recruits to the energy sector.

Brian Wilson said: "It is a credit to Tyneside that it has been chosen to showcase UK fabrication technology.

"The Offshore Centre not only provides an essential 'shop-window' to showcase UK expertise but also offers unique opportunities to bring both UK and overseas customers into this vibrant business environment.

The Bonga is the height of a 12-storey building

"The Offshore Energy Centre is a superb advertisement for British innovation and skills in the energy sector.

"It is vital that the UK keeps hold of this tradition by encouraging young people into a sector where the average workforce age currently stands at 50.

"The Offshore Energy Centre is right to target early links with schools and colleges in the local area, and across the country, in order to maintain its richly deserved first class reputation."

He added: "The North East provided Britain with its first offshore wind facility off Blyth.

"It is good to see the Offshore Energy Centre looking to the long-term future of the offshore industry, which lies in wind and tidal power."