Slick recovery

The Scottish Venture Fund and Energy Ventures have provided a £2m funding boost for a technology that could aid in the recovery of stranded oil reserves.

Sigma Offshore will use the money to further develop its Smart Mooring System (SMS), which connects FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading) vessels to subsea wells and pipelines.

SMS is claimed to be a cost-effective and flexible alternative to existing internal turret and mooring devices, which the group’s chief executive, Alistair Dornan, said are expensive and difficult to install.