Independent Oil & Gas has said a decommissioned pipeline it acquired for a nominal sum could be used to breathe new life into a swathe of the North Sea after tests found it was in good shape.

London-based Independent said checks confirmed the Thames Pipeline the firm bought in April last year could be used to transport gas safely from fields it hopes to develop to processing facilities onshore. The company reckons the pipeline could provide a very low-cost export route for its own fields. It could generate revenues by charging other firms to use any spare capacity.

Underlining Independent’s growth ambitions, chief executive Andrew Hockey said: “Full ownership of this export pipeline with very substantial capacity … gives us real competitive advantage to capture consolidation opportunities in the Southern North Sea.”

He added: “The recommissioning of the Thames Pipeline will breathe new economic life into a part of the North Sea formerly considered to be in terminal decline and help to maximise economic recovery for the UK.”

Aim-listed Independent expects to make a final investment decision in the fourth quarter on whether to develop two groups of fields in the Southern North Sea.

It hopes to bring these onstream in 2020.