Maersk Oil has successfully installed its second jacket on its flagship North Sea Culzean field.
Maersk’s Culzean project has been one of few bright spots in a downturn that has lasted longer than most could have predicted.
The field was hailed as the biggest find in the UK North Sea in 10 years at the time of its discovery in 2008. Seven years later, the decision to approve the development in August 2015 was hailed as excellent news for the North Sea, at a time when the Brent crude price was about 50% lower than 12 months earlier.
Culzean, 145 miles east of Aberdeen, is expected to make a big impact on UK energy supply when it comes on stream in 2019. Maersk and project partners BP and JX Nippon are targeting resources estimated at 250-300million barrels of oil equivalent (boe), with peak production forecast to meet 5% of the UK’s total gas needs.
Culzean is expected to produce for at least 13 years with a plateau rate of 60,000 to 90,000 boe per day.
The project will directly create more than 400 jobs, while the field’s ongoing development should support about 6,000 positions.
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