The East of England is well positioned to become a centre of excellence in the £36bn programme to decommission North Sea oil and gas platforms, companies were told by a leading industry figure.

The upbeat message was delivered by Bill Cattanach, head of PILOT - an organisation connecting the oil and gas industry to government - at a conference in Norwich.

He told firms hoping to cash in, including AKD Engineering in Lowestoft, that those based in the East of England had a 'real advantage' over rivals in Aberdeen because of their competitive pricing.

However, he said they must be inventive with technology to push down costs even more to take advantage of the 'enormous opportunity' to decommission at least 550 wells in the Southern North Sea (SNS) sector alone.

With all SNS operators represented at the offshore decommissioning cost efficiency event, organised by East of England Energy Group in conjunction with other bodies, companies were given a strong message that they must collaborate more, share data and think smarter about decommissioning campaigns.

Flexibility of organisation was a theme and companies needed to work collaboratively to tackle 'well families' - similar well styles – and wells grouped geographically, they were told.

'We are at the beginning of a new industry with an enormous prize and there are huge opportunities for companies to come up with innovative solutions to reduce costs in a responsible and environmentally sustainable way – doing what is necessary and industrialising the process which will ultimately deliver real savings,' said Mr Cattanach.

The event offered companies in the supply chain the chance to meet operators to discuss working together.

Jay Miller, from Great Yarmouth-based Perenco, spoke of decommissioning challenges at fields off the Norfolk coast.

He said: 'One of the challenges is flying crews daily to the unmanned platforms. There are big logistical demands. We would like to see companies reduce the size of their crews by introducing multi-skilled personnel.'

Limited deck space meant equipment packages needed to be smaller, he added.

Tim Crowe, project manager at AKD Engineering, said his company was 'focusing very heavily on this opportunity' and saw the potential to grow a workforce that had already increased from 80 to 120 in the past five years.

In an early project, AKD Engineering decommissioned five gas platforms between 2008 and 2010 in the Shell Leman Field six miles off the Norfolk coast. The deal was worth approximately £12.5m.

However, he stressed that the bulk of decommissioning work lay ahead over the next 30 years and his company was already in negotiations over new contracts.

Martin Myhill Sisley, the new chief executive of Red7Marine Offshore, based in Yarmouth, said decommissioning certainly represented an opportunity for his company, the UK's leading independent air diving provider, but it remained unclear when the work would begin in earnest.

And there was also a question mark over whether low oil prices might delay costly decommissioning projects, he added.