UK Energy Minister Charles Hendry has been to Total’s under-construction Shetland gas plant at Sella Ness to see progress being made on the energy group’s £2.5billion Laggan-Tormore development.
This project will help unlock an estimated 2billion to 4billion barrels of oil equivalent west of Shetland.
The minister was also given a tour of new accommodation and office facilities.
He said: “Seeing for myself the Laggan-Tormore project really brings home the scale and complexity of this very significant development for the UK.
“I am extremely impressed by what Total is doing here. What they are creating is undoubtedly a world-class project that is important for the economy and the security of UK energy supply.
“Equally impressive is that it appears to have been undertaken with every practical environmental consideration.”
Total said first gas from the Laggan and Tormore fields was on schedule for mid-2014.