An oil and gas strategy for Scotland targeting higher long-term recovery rates, greater exports and £30bn annual sales by 2020, has been unveiled.
First Minister Alex Salmond announced the blueprint at Aberdeen-based oil and gas supply firm Hydrasun.
The strategy – developed and to be delivered by industry, Scottish Government and public sector partners – identified six priorities to secure future growth at home and abroad.
These include strengthening the domestic supply chain, increasing proportion of export sales from 46% to 60% by 2020 and identifying priorities for innovation and accelerating technology deployment.
Promoting new opportunities for supply chain companies, attracting younger people to the industry and promoting Scotland as a key location for investment were also identified.
The First Minister also announced that Scottish Enterprise will make up to £10m available to support innovation in the sector over three years.
Mr Salmond said: “Oil and gas is one of Scotland’s greatest industrial success stories, having transformed the economic well-being of the UK over the last 40 years.
“With as much as £1.5 trillion of oil remaining to be extracted from reserves around these islands, an increasingly buoyant export sector now reaching 100 different countries, and emerging opportunities to deploy the sector’s vast expertise in other offshore projects, the industry has a bright future.
“The strategy identifies key actions which can maximise future opportunities, for example, by helping the industry secure the necessary human capital and skills, by supporting innovation and technology deployment to boost recovery rates, by assisting more companies into new markets and by delivering investment in key infrastructure.”
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