NORTH Sea veteran Mark Hughes has joined the board of Independent Oil & Gas as the company firms up plans to bring its first fields into production in the area.

Mr Hughes has become chief operating officer of Independent following a 39 year career in the oil and gas industry.

An engineer by training, Mr Hughes has held senior positions with firms ranging from Shell to Germany’s RWE.

While at RWE he led work on the development of the Clipper and Breagh fields in the Southern North Sea, which are now operated by Ineos.

Independent has developed plans to develop two groups of fields in the Southern North Sea by linking them with the Thames pipeline it acquired recently.

House broker Finncap said the projects have the potential to unlock material gas resources. It reckons the delivery of the projects has the potential to catapult Independent into the UK exploration and production Premier League.

Independent’s chief executive Andrew Hockey said: “As we move towards the full development of our SNS assets Mark’s North Sea experience and commercial expertise perfectly complements the rest of the senior management team.”

Independent’s progress will be followed with interest in the North Sea industry. Oil and gas firms cut investment in development projects in the area in response to the sharp fall in the oil price from 2014.