Go-ahead granted for BP North Sea oil development

● Latest shot in the arm for the industry could lead to 30 million barrels of oil

BP has been given the green light for a North Sea development that is expected to produce 30 million barrels of oil in a fresh boost for the industry.

The Vorlich Field, which is situated some 150 miles east of Aberdeen, is expected to come on stream in 2020 and is predicted to produce 20,000 barrels a day at its peak.

The oil major yesterday said that the £200 million development had been rubber stamped by the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA).

It forms part of a programme of North Sea subsea tie-back developments that seek to access important new production from fields located near to established producing infrastructure.

BP North Sea regional president Ariel Flores said: “BP is modernising and transforming the way we work, with a focus on accelerating the pace of delivery of projects like Vorlich.

“Without compromising safety, we want to simplify our processes, reduce costs and improve project cycle time to increase the competitiveness of our North Sea business. This is increasingly important as competition for global investment funds gets stiffer.

“While not on the same scale as our huge Quad 204 and Clair Ridge projects, the Vorlich development provides another exciting addition to our refreshed North Sea portfolio and further demonstrates BP’S commitment to the North Sea.”

Vorlich will be tied back to the Ithaca Energy-operated FPF-1 floating production facility, which lies at the centre of the Greater Stella Area production hub. Ithaca has a 34 per cent interest in Vorlich.

Scott Robertson, central North Sea area manager at the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), said: “The OGA has been actively involved throughout the Vorlich project and is pleased to approve this development.

“The field will make an important contribution to our ‘maximising economic recovery’ UK priority as a valuable tieback utilising existing infrastructure and by maximising value from the Greater Stella Area hub.”

Mike Tholen, upstream policy director at trade body Oil & Gas UK, said: “The use of existing infrastructure will be increasingly important as industry looks to unlock small pools.

“Oil & Gas UK’S recent economic report showed that these behaviours have the potential to add a generation of productive life to the basin.

“However, as our report warned, a continued supply chain squeeze could risk industry’s ability to go after this prize, and focus must remain on bringing more major projects to delivery.”

The news follows the discovery of a major reservoir of gas off the Scottish coast earlier this week.

The find, on the Glendronach prospect north-west of Shetland, has the potential to deliver around one trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas.

French energy giant Total has described the resource as “significant”.