BP is set to make its highest ever annual invesment in the North Sea, in partnership with three oil majors.
The Andrew Platform in the North Sea Image: BP |
The company's £4bn ($6.3bn) share in four major projects is aimed at ensuring oil production from the North Sea until 2050 and beyond and includes moving ahead with second phase development of the Clair oilfield, west of the Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland.
The Clair investment will total £4.5bn ($7.1bn split with BP's other North Sea investment partners Shell, ConocoPhillips and Chevron. In total the companies will invest nearly £10bn ($15.8bn) in four major projects which are set to come onstream in the next five years.
BP estimated the company's North Sea output could be maintained at between 200-250,000b/d until at least 2030, with its larger fields continuing for a further 20 years or more. The projects are expected to create some 3,000 jobs with more than half of the total investment likely to be spent in the UK.
The entire Clair field could yield as much as 7bn barrels of oil and gas, with the second phase of investment set to extend operations in the field.