Shell has started production from the Arran field in the North Sea, the latest in a series of projects to rejuvenate the Shearwater production hub.
Arran achieved first gas on September 22, the company confirmed.
The field, originally discovered in 1985, is expected to pump out about 21,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, at peak.
Shell made a final investment decision on Arran in 2018, going along with the Fram field and Serica Energy’s Columbus development which both tie in to Shearwater, 140miles east of Aberdeen.
That same year the oil giant decided to reroute gas from the SEAL line to the Bacton terminal in England and build a new 23mile pipeline to take gas to the St Fergus terminal in Aberdeenshire.
Serica completed a successful flow test at Columbus in July and expects to start the project up later this year.
Elsewhere, Shell said last week that it would “propose changes” on another project, Jackdaw, after the environmental regulator OPRED knocked back the initial proposal.
Details on OPRED’s decision have been thin from the UK’s Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), but it has been confirmed that the decision to tie back the project to Shearwater, rather than Harbour Energy’s Judy platform, which is closer, is part of considerations.
Last week OPRED requested Shell provide further information on its proposed changes to the environmental statement.
Another field, Cambo, in the west of Shetland, which Shell holds a 30% stake in, has become a key battle ground for climate activists in the lead up to COP26 in Glasgow.
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