Heavy oil from a major new North Sea field could be used to supply cleaner materials for fast-charging electric car batteries, according to its owner.
Orcadian Energy has this morning provided an update to shareholders confirming it has entered into three binding licence agreements for fields it picked up in the 33rd Seaward Licensing Round.
One of the licenses - the Fynn field in the Outer Moray Firth - is of a similar scale to Rosebank and could help create crucial components for electric vehicles.
The oil within the Fynn reservoir - which Orcadian holds on a 50/50 share with Aberdeen-based Parkmead - is viscous and made up of long chain hydrocarbons, which means that when refined is a good feedstock for lubricants, asphalt and anode grade petroleum coke, an essential component for fast charge EV batteries.
Orcadian believes that gas and viscous oils will be the post-transition hydrocarbons "essential to the prosperity of every economy".
Orcadian argues that producing heavy oil domestically, under the stewardship of the NSTA, is a considerably better option than importing these oils from Venezuela or Canada.
Both these countries produce most of their heavy oil using thermal means, meaning emissions per barrel from imports from Canada or Venezuela are typically 60 to 150 kgCO2/bbl, even before the transportation emissions are accounted for.
Orcadian says that with a polymer flood approach, by incorporating heat from geothermal sources to reduce reservoir oil viscosity, and by electrifying production systems using green energy, the emissions per barrel in the production process can be reduced to single figures, better than most UK light oil fields.
Steve Brown, CEO of Orcadian Energy said the UK need viscous oils both "for strategic security of energy and for the petroleum-derived products that support both the transition and the post-transition economy."
He added: "Our strategy has been to focus on the 'post-transition' hydrocarbons - gas and viscous oil.
"In a shallow water mature basin, almost by definition, the big fields with great rocks and simple fluids have all already been developed, So, we concentrate on reservoirs with great rocks, while innovating around how to develop complex fluids.
"Our viscous oil projects will all benefit from our expertise in the application of polymer flood technology. A combination of geothermal heat and polymer could unlock the Fynn development which is a project of the same scale as Rosebank."