Maersk Oil UK has been given UK Government approval to develop the North Sea Flyndre and Cawdor fields.
The energy firm – part of Danish conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk – said its investment in the two fields was likely to come in at around £300million.
Total recoverable resources are expected to be around 30million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) initially, with additional output depending on performance and further development phases.
Flyndre is forecast to peak at around 10,000 barrels of oil per day gross, with first output expected in 2016.
Cawdor is predicted to peak at around 5,000 barrels per day gross, with production starting in 2017.
The two fields lie about 182 miles south-east of Aberdeen, with six-year-old find Cawdor entirely in UK waters and Flyndre – discovered in 1974 – straddling the UK/Norway median line.
They will be co-developed as a subsea tie-back to the Talisman Sinopec Energy UK-operated Clyde platform.
Both will be developed with single production wells, although Cawdor has potential for two further wells based on field performance.
Maersk is the operator for both, with a near 60% stake in Flyndre and 60.6% interest in Cawdor.
UK managing director Martin Rune Pedersen said: “Approval of this plan supports our long-term strategy for growth and our aim to double production in the UK North Sea by 2020.
“Together with approval of the Balloch field development in 2013, Flyndre/Cawdor underscores our momentum in progressing the development opportunities from our strong North Sea portfolio.”
Energy Minister Michael Fallon said, “Through technological innovation and extraordinary human effort the North Sea oil industry continues to confound expectations, with record investment supporting jobs and the economy.
“This approval reinforces the case for similar projects across the rest of the North Sea.”
Meanwhile, US energy service firm KBR has confirmed its success in winning a front end engineering and design (FEED) contract for Maersk Oil UK’s £3billion Culzean project.
Maersk, JX Nippon Exploration and Production (UK) and Britoil (BP) have chosen a new standalone facility to jointly develop the Culzean discovery.
Houston-based KBR will provide topside FEED services for all three platforms. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
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