The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
PTS invests in new division
Firms queue up for offshore licences
Aberdeen-based energy service company Pressure Test Solutions (PTS) has invested £250,000 in a new hydraulics division and added a key distributor agreement.
The investment will focus on a brand new hydraulics and pneumatic products division designed to support the company’s existing services.
Based in Bridge of Don, PTS specialises in rental, sales and calibration of equipment for the energy sector.
PTS managing director Gary Notman said: “As well as offering a new product line which complements our existing services, the investment will help us to service offshore markets around the world.”
The firm has hired three staff members to support the new division.
Ian Reid, an industry veteran with 25 years’ experience, has been
“Will put us in front of a large market”
brought in to head up the division.
PTS has also secured key distributor deals signed with MCS Hydraulics UK, giving it access to the full range of products from both MCS and the FB Group headquartered in Italy.
Mr Notman added: “It is important that we continue to grow, and our new distributor agreement with MCS Hydraulics, one of the premium brands in the industry, will put us in front of a large market which will be a huge benefit to the business. We hold a large amount of stock in Aberdeen, including the ability to make up hose assembly products and supply fittings. Because of this, we’re in a unique position to service companies based in the north-east and beyond, as no one else in the local market has the breadth of products we can supply.” The latest UK North Sea offshore licencing round has attracted 96 applications to acquire acreage.
Submissions cover 239 blocks in the main areas of the North Sea, including the southern, central and northern North Sea, west of Shetland and the east Irish Sea, the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) said. The 30th round, which closed yesterday, has also seen applications from a total of 68 companies, from large multinationals to new, smaller operators.
Nick Richardson, head of exploration and new ventures, OGA, said: “Despite the difficult economic environment, industry has responded strongly to this round, confirming the high remaining potential of the UKCS (UK continental shelf ). The focus on regions with existing infrastructure provided companies with an excellent opportunity to take a fresh look at a large inventory of opportunities.”
In order to boost applications, two Aberdeen-based organisations, the OGA and Oil and Gas Technology Centre, worked together to create several digital data packages and co-host a technology event.
Mr Richardson said: “Efforts by the OGA to provide new data, analysis and insights has stimulated a number of high-quality applications.
“Together with the added advantages of flexible licensing, technology development and improvements to the oil and gas fiscal regime, this has evidently created the right conditions to support continued investment.”