AN oil and gas services firm has unveiled plans to invest up to �15m in a new operation in Great Yarmouth in a move which could create 60 jobs.Holland-based Pipeline Nitrogen Services (PNS) has acquired a former lorry park in Pasteur Road which it is converting into its second UK base.

AN oil and gas services firm has unveiled plans to invest up to �15m in a new operation in Great Yarmouth in a move which could create 60 jobs.

Holland-based Pipeline Nitrogen Services (PNS) has acquired a former lorry park in Pasteur Road which it is converting into its second UK base.

The firm offers a range of pipeline related services in the oil and gas sector, including using chemicals to stimulate production at wells and decommissioning, leak detection and equipment testing.

The company, based in Emmen in the Netherlands, has expanded rapidly since it was set up in November 2006, and has seen major growth in its UK operation, based at Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

The UK division has grown into a �10m turnover business, employing 60 staff and about 60 contract workers.

Ian Sadler, managing director of the UK business and its sister company, Coil Services, said the parent group would be investing heavily in the Yarmouth arm.

He said: “We believe there is a massive opportunity in Great Yarmouth, and we will be recruiting heavily in the town, training and employing people.

“We have four or five staff at the moment but that will go up to 60 by the middle of next year.

“We have had a tremendous amount of interest from the local community, especially when people see the sort of equipment we have got.”

Mr Sadler said the town offered a rich seam of resources, including skilled and experienced workers, and said the oil and gas industry was “thriving”, with at least 25 to 30 years of life left in it.

He added: “We want to fill a void in oil and gas left by the wind industry.

“A lot of people are focusing on wind but there is still a tremendous market in oil and gas.

“We will be investing something like �10m to �15m in the next two years and we are looking at local companies to support that.

“The idea is to work with a network of local companies to support growth.”

He said he aimed to turnover at the UK businesses from �10m this year to �15m next year, with continued growth in future years.