French oil and gas giant Total said today first production had started from its Islay gas field in the northern North Sea.
The field, about 270 miles north-east of Aberdeen, has estimated reserves of nearly 17million barrels of oil equivalent (boe).
Total said it had already reached its expected production of 15,000 boe per day.
Islay, which crosses into two blocks in the Norwegian sector, has been developed using a single well tied back through existing pipelines to the Alwyn North platform.
The project involved the first subsea implementation of a special type of heated pipe system developed by Technip to prevent blockages by hydrates and wax deposits.