A £180m Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) created to support Scotland's struggling oil and gas industry is due to open in Aberdeen.

The research and development hub will help create new technology for the North Sea and back innovative projects.

The not-for-profit enterprise will be launched by the UK Government's minister for Scotland, Lord Dunlop, on Friday.

OGTC chairman Sir Ian Wood said: "The OGTC has moved quickly from concept, through business case development, to its launch today, as a standalone organisation.

"With clear long-term global aspirations, our success will provide the magnet to encourage a significant proportion of our hi-tech supply chain sector to remain in the region beyond the North Sea era."

Among the OGTC's first projects are schemes to halve the cost of drilling wells, cut maintenance costs and unlock three billion barrels of oil "stranded" in smaller wells.

The centre has been established with funding from the Aberdeen City Region Deal.

The University of Aberdeen and the Robert Gordon University have also agreed to develop a Centre of Excellence for Field Life Extension and Decommissioning.

It will focus on making the UK Continental Shelf more economic and support the burgeoning decommissioning sector.

There are reportedly up to 20 billion barrels of oil and gas still to be recovered from the North Sea. But a decline in exploration and drilling as a result of the oil downturn has cast the long-term future of the industry into doubt.

Companies, including Shell and BP, have recently sold off stakes in major North Sea projects.

Ahead of the event on Friday, Lord Dunlop said: "It's great to see the Oil and Gas Technology Centre open officially today.

"It will have a vital role in driving innovation and diversification in our oil and gas industry.

"The opening of the centre is a really significant first step in delivering the £250 million Aberdeen City Region Deal, spearheaded by the UK Government.

"The deal will make a huge difference to the economy of the north east, helping to boost jobs and increase prosperity for generations to come."