The development of the Forties field in the North Sea was somewhat similar to “putting a man on the moon” according to Apache’s former UK managing director Jim House.
The industry veteran features in a short film to document the incredible success of the Forties field.
He took part alongside former BP chief executive Lord John Brown and industry heavyweight Sir Ian Wood.
The video also stars those who worked on the project at its peak.
Former UK region managing director for Apache Jim House said: “It’s an incredible story, BP was able to do tremendous things to develop the field in the 70s.
“Somewhat similar to putting a man on the moon because they were putting men into unchartered territories. A development of this type had never existed in the North Sea.”
The discovery heralded Aberdeen’s transformation into a boom town with American oil men flooding into the city.
Lord Browne said the Forties Field was “the very great one” and while others had claimed their field had “started” the North Sea offshore industry, it was in fact the Forties field.
Sir Ian Wood said: “If we hadn’t taken advantage of the North Sea opportunity we should have been shot. It was the project of a scale I don’t think Scotland has ever seen before. Not just size but the sheer ground-breaking technology that was involved.”
Watch the full video here.
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