Talks on how to decommission Britain's biggest oilfield - the Brent field off Shetland - have begun in Aberdeen.
The operator, Shell, has invited several different interested parties to the discussions.
The oil giant said it had learned the lessons from the controversial attempt to dump the Brent Spar facility at sea in the 1990s.
The company stressed there were still years of operation left in the field, which is 115 miles off Shetland.
There are four platforms in Brent, which is 30 years old.
'Long process'
Shell wants to avoid the protests that surrounded its attempts in 1995 to decommission the Brent Spar loading facility by dumping it in the Atlantic.
That sparked anger from Greenpeace, which boarded the installation. It was eventually scrapped on land.
A Shell spokesman told BBC Scotland that the company had "learned a lot" from Brent Spar and was working with other agencies to find a common solution.
The spokesman stressed: "I do not think anyone needs to worry about jobs at this time.
"It's a long, long process and takes years and years."
^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~28~RS~)