A NORTH-EAST engineering maintenance firm has secured a contract to continue working with an international oil and gas company.

Strategic Corrosion Management (SCM), of Cramlington, North Tyneside, will carry out condition surveys on three offshore platforms in the North Sea for Maersk Oil.

The work will take 15 weeks and the contract has created two new specialist surveyor posts, with the company taking on an office team to manage other projects.

Maersk Oil operates the Danish Underground Consortium (DUC), which includes Shell, Chevron, and the Danish North Sea Fund, and SCM have been carrying out conditions surveys for the DUC since 2006.

Ian Cordingley, SCM managing director, said: “We have established an excellent working relationship with Maersk Oil and by expanding the surveys we will be able to manage their maintenance requirements and increasing lifespan of the platforms.

“The increasing demands of corrosion management within the oil and gas sector has created new opportunities and enabled us to expand our workforce.”