Approval for a major North Sea development, worth up to £700million was announced at Offshore Europe today.
BP said at on the first day of the show at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre that it had been given the go-ahead to develop its Kinnoull field in the central North Sea.
The project will see the construction of the longest subsea pipeline bundle system in the world.
The project is to involve up to 1,000 people – BP staff and contractors – and produce first oil in 2013.
It will also pave the way for two nearby future developments in the Andrew area
Trevor Garlick, regional president for BP’s North Sea business, spoke about the life the company saw in the North Sea.
He said: “The Kinnoull project is a further demonstration of BP’s vision to sustain a material and high quality business in the North Sea region.
“It is also a showcase for the outstanding subsea expertise that exists within the UK. At its peak, the project will create employment for over 1,000 people in the UK.”
Kinnoull, containing 45 million barrels of oil equivalent, it is the largest of three reservoirs being developed as part of the Andrew area developments project.
It will be connected to the company’s Andrew platform for processing and is due to produce up to 45,000 barrels of oil a day.
It will see a new subsea system being built by Subsea 7.
There will be four subsea pipeline bundles with a total length of 17 miles – the longest bundle system in the world, according to BP.
The Andrew platform, whose life will be extended to 2020 and beyond, will also undergo major modifications, including the addition of a 750-ton process module.
The work is due to take two years, with the Andrew platform shut down for 18 months of that, using the flotel Borgholm Dolphin during the work.
BP owns 77% of Kinnoull, with Eni and Summit owning the rest.
Also announced today was the consent for Chevron’s Aberlour well, west of Shetland.
It will be Chevron’s third deepwater exporation well off the west and north of Shetland and will use the Stena Carron drilling ship.
Earlier this year Chevron, operator and 40% owner of Aberlour, failed to find oil on its costly nearby Lagavulin well.
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