A NORTH-EAST offshore cable maker says it will train the next generation of Nigerian engineers in an African deal.

JDR Cable Systems, in Hartlepool, is making equipment for oil and gas firm Royal Niger Emerging Technologies.

The contract will support Nigeria’s first deep water oil field, the West African Abo project, with workers being trained in the North-East.

JDR, which employs about 160 staff, says it will make an umbilical, designed to include hydraulic control and chemical hoses, low voltage signal cables and steel tube chemical supply lines, to connect a subsea distribution unit to a well.

It will be made at its Hartlepool plant and delivered early next year.

The firm added the project will see Nigerian engineers learn testing and installation techniques in the agreement.

Bosses say the tie-up is a first for the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, an organisation aiming to strengthen the country’s skills and understanding in the oil and gas sector.

Pat Herbert, JDR’s executive chairman and chief executive, said the contract reiterated proved its prowess in the offshore sector.

He added: “We are very happy to be a part of this deep water project.

“It’s a testament to our umbilical engineering and manufacturing strength, and we hope it is one of many in West Africa.”

The Nigerian work builds on a strong order book, which includes a deal to send 105km (65 miles) of cabling to the German 72-turbine Vattenfall AB Sandbank offshore wind farm and another to ship more than 95km (60 miles) of cabling to Norfolk’s Dudgeon offshore development, expected to power more than 400,000 homes a year from 2017.

Earlier this year, JDR told The Northern Echo it wanted to make its Hartlepool base a centre of excellence for global offshore projects and capitalise on contract successes.

Martin Boden, chief financial and compliance officer, revealed the plans after the company claimed a second successive win in the Government’s Regional Growth Fund job creation scheme and opened a Brazilian service centre to provide maintenance and support.

He added: “Hartlepool is an absolutely key location for us; it’s our biggest site, our most important site, and we are very committed to it.

“If we can continue to win projects then that could lead to more employment.

“There will be growth at Hartlepool and we are very excited about the contracts that we have won.”