An oilfield services technology startup has invested £150,000 in a manufacturing facility in its Aberdeen headquarters that it expects will create 30 jobs.
isol8, which designs and builds bonded alloy barriers which are used to seal oil and gas wells, has opened the new facility as it scales up to meet growing international demand.
Dubbed the ‘AlFe Bunker’, the new facility represents “a step change” in downhole sealing technology the firm said.
The new thermite module manufacturing facility was officially opened on April 19 by Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC) chief executive Colette Cohen during a visit to the company’s Aberdeen site.
The company’s technology was supported by NZTC as well as by the Scottish Government backing through its decommissioning challenge fund.
Last year the company also secured £3.5m in investment from British Growth Fund (BGF).
The company said it has increased its headcount by 30% in recent months, and it expects to recruit a further 20-30 staff over the next 12-24 months.
Chief executive Andrew Louden said that modules had previously been produced at the company’s R&D facility just outside of Seattle, US, but that the new investment would streamline the production process for UK clients.
“We are extremely pleased, thanks to funding from both the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise, to now be in a position to manufacture within our Aberdeen facility, which will bring significant cost and time savings for UKCS clients,” he said.
“Going forward, our US team will be solely focused on research and development into new solutions we can add to our growing product portfolio.”
Ms Cohen said: “The Net Zero Technology Centre has supported the development of isol8’s zero emission barrier technology since 2019 and I’m delighted to see them take the next step in their growth journey.
“Bringing production capability back home, with the opening of their manufacturing facility in Aberdeen shows real commitment to helping the north-east prosper and is testament to the region’s skill set.”
isol8 qualified its first barrier in August 2020, and its first commercial “Fusion” barrier was successfully tested in the North Sea in October 2020.
The company is now looking to scale up to address “significant international demand” for the technology.
Its operations team is currently preparing tools for upcoming activity in Holland, Denmark and the UK, in addition to dealing with numerous enquiries from operators all around the globe.
It is estimated the successful deployment of isol8’s technology could unlock savings of up to £7m for platform and subsea well abandonments.
This could translate into savings of as much as £5 billion in North Sea oil and gas decommissioning costs.
