A GAS plant “is less than halfway through its life” and has secured new deals bosses say will help it overcome the challenging energy market, The Northern Echo can reveal.

The Central Area Transmission System (CATS) will process gas from four new North Sea fields.

The terminal, at Seal Sands, near Billingham, will look after supplies from the Culzean development, which is due to meet around five per cent of total UK gas demand by 2020.

It will also handle gas from the Stella, Caley and Shaw North Sea sites.

Bosses say the agreements give them confidence CATS can operate for at least the next 20 years.

The deals also represent a major fillip for the business and give its scores of workers reassurance in a sector rocked by redundancies as operators pare back staff and cancel projects due to the low oil price.

Andy Hessell, CATS Management Limited’s managing director, told The Northern Echo: “I think this place is less than halfway through its life.

“We need to do more and there is a lot to do, but Culzean gives us confidence we have life left in the asset.

“This is still a good business long-term.”

CATS, led by majority owner, Antin Infrastructure Partners, moves gas through 250 miles of pipeline from the Central North Sea to Teesside.

It has the capacity to handle more than 1.7 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas every day and processes the substance for a number of customers, including many of the big energy companies using the North Sea.

Businesses relying on CATS to transport their gas onshore send it through to Seal Sands where it is treated to remove impurities.

It is then processed at either the CATS terminal or the nearby Teesside Gas Processing Plant.

Antin previously appointed Wood Group as its operating partner to manage day-to-day work.

Alan Pollock, Wood Group’s CATS manager and former Teesside ICI apprentice, added: “This is a real sign of intent.

“People are committed to the cause and they are getting behind us.”