A first-of-a-kind geothermal study is to take place on an oil platform in Scottish waters.
Petrofac has announced it is to take part in the project to extract heat from deep underground.
The energy industry service provider says it could be a game-changer in decarbonising the oil and gas production process.
There are also hopes that, in the future, deep geothermal heat can help move the UK away from using gas for things like heating.
Petrofac will be supporting deep geothermal specialist CeraPhi Energy on the scheme on EnQuest's Magnus platform around 100 miles north-east of Shetland.
The study, also supported by the Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC) in Aberdeen, involves determining how retrofitted oil and gas wells can reduce the carbon footprint of an operating platform.
CeraPhi's advanced closed loop technology is designed to fit into old wells to extract heat from deep underground by a downhole heat exchanger.
Petrofac said that, depending on the results of the study, this heat could be used as direct power and/or heating or cooling for utilities and other services.
Jonathan Carpenter, vice president of Petrofac New Energy Services, said: "Our engineering specialists are looking forward to working with CeraPhi on this pioneering study, which has the potential to unlock a completely new way of generating renewable power using existing oil and gas infrastructure.
"It could be a game-changer in our efforts to decarbonise the oil and gas production process - and has wider applicability for clean base load power as well."
Craig Nicol, project manager at NZTC, said: "We are delighted to be supporting CeraPhi with this ground-breaking project that, if proven, could become a serious contributor to the renewable-energy mix.
"The industry is facing a significant challenge to decommission wells that have come to the end of their production - this novel approach has the potential to extend their life whilst delivering on our net zero targets."
CeraPhi Energy is a British company founded in 2020 by four ex-oil and gas executives and it has offices in England and in the US.
Chief executive Karl Farrow said the Magnus project shows how the oil and gas industry is transitioning in the decarbonisation of the oil and gas extraction process.
Mr Farrow explained that geothermal energy is a renewable power that harnesses heat and steam from underground reservoirs.
He added: "Europe has become a slave to Russia from an energy point of view. Every country should have a right to be energy, food, and water independent - and I think every country can be.
"Deep geothermal is available everywhere - it's basically heat escaping from out of the ground from earth's big battery. We're sitting on 6,000 degrees of temperature from the centre of the earth trying to radiate out.
"The UK has a wealth of oil and gas expertise and infrastructure which can be repurposed to geothermal.
"We are a country that has global expertise in extracting energy from the sub-surface, so we can do the same with deep-geothermal heat, and this heat can allow us to produce electricity which can provide us a baseload energy source.
"But, more importantly, heat from a direct source like deep geothermal can move us away from using gas for things like heating, as we can use it straight from the ground which means we are then not dependent on foreign imports.”