Oil giant BP today announced the award of seven North Sea licences in 30th offshore bidding round.
BP will act as operator for five and as partner for two.
Among the licences offered by the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), two of those are west of Shetland.
BP’s new operated licences lie in the Skua field adjacent to BP’s Marnock field, which is part of the Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP) hub, a licence adjacent to BP’s Capercaillie and Vorlich discoveries, a licence in the Northern North Sea and two licences in Quadrant 208 west of Shetland.
One of the non-operated licences is operated by Total subsidiary Maersk Oil and is adjacent to the giant Culzean field in which BP holds a 32% stake. The other is operated by Equinor and is located on the East Shetland Platform.
Ariel Flores, BP North Sea regional president said: “This is another strong result for BP’s exploration programme in the North Sea with 26 blocks and commitments to one well and an extensive seismic programme. It builds on our success in the 29th Round last year which represented BP’s largest acreage award since the late 1990s.
“BP continues on a path of positive momentum in the North Sea as we bring on major projects; explore at higher levels than in recent times; and rapidly develop smaller fields located next to our established hubs. All of this is targeted at realising our ambitions to efficiently grow production and cash flows.
“As we prepare for important new production from our Clair Ridge project later in 2018, these licence awards, combined with our other recent positive activity, further demonstrates BP’s commitment to the North Sea.”
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