Advanced engineering firm DPS Global has been awarded a multi-million pound contract to design an innovative cylindrical vessel to extract and process oil in the North Sea.
The Portishead-based firm, which operates across the world in the upstream oil and gas and environmental technology industries, is working closely with Chinese shipbuilding firm Cosco on the design and production of the vessel for rapidly-expanding international oil and gas company Dana Petroleum. 
It will house equipment to separate and treat oil, gas, sand and water extracted from the field, produce clean oil for offloading via shuttle tanker and treat water so that it can be discharged into the sea.
The vessel's cylindrical hull will allow the extraction process to continue uninterrupted even in bad weather by reducing the need to rotate to face on-coming waves. The development project is set to be completed next year with oil extraction to begin in early 2015.
DPS Global managing director Neil Young said: “By improving the efficiency of extracting and cleaning sand, water and other materials, as well as stabilising the pressure and temperature of the oil at sea, our engineering and technology is helping reduce the cost of extraction, while ensuring best available technologies are used to minimise any environmental impact.
“As the primary British engineering and technology partner with Cosco on this project, this deal reflects our successful strategy of significant investment in engineering excellence and R&D as well as our close working relationships in China”.
DPS, which has recently enjoyed success with the launch of its waste-to-energy technology for the military, employs 136 staff in Portishead and has offices in Singapore and the USA.
