BP starts production from £4.5bn Clair Ridge project in Scottish waters

Oil and gas industry news : BP and its partners have commenced production from the £4.5 billion worth Clair Ridge project located in Scottish territorial waters to exploit an estimated seven billion barrels of hydrocarbons.

Clair Ridge project enters into production

Clair Ridge project is the second phase development of the Clair oilfield, located 75km West of Shetland in water depths of up to 140 metres. Estimated to have 40 years production life, the offshore oil project is likely to draw 640 million barrels of oil with production anticipated to be ramped up to a peak at plateau level of 120,000 barrels of oil per day.

Discovered in 1977, the Clair oilfield has been producing since 2005 through its phase 1 development by means of a fixed offshore facility to target about 300 million barrels of recoverable reserves.

Clair Ridge project located in Scottish territorial waters. Photo courtesy of BP p.l.c.

Commenting on the start up of the Clair Ridge project, Bernard Looney – BP chief executive Upstream, said: “The start-up of Clair Ridge is a culmination of decades of persistence. Clair was the first discovery we made in the West of Shetland area in 1977. But trying to access and produce its seven billion barrels proved very difficult. We had to leverage our technology and ingenuity to successfully bring on the first phase of this development in 2005.

“And now more than 40 years after the original discovery, we have first oil from Clair Ridge, one of the largest recent investments in the UK. This is a major milestone for our Upstream business and highlights BP’s continued commitment to the North Sea region.”

As part of the phase 2 development, the Clair Ridge project features a couple of new, bridge-linked platforms along with new oil and gas export pipelines.

One of the new pipelines is a 5.5km long, 22-inch oil export pipeline that connects to the Clair Phase 1 export pipeline. Oil produced from the Clair oilfield is transported to the Sullom Voe Terminal on Shetland.

Another new pipeline is a 14.6km long, six-inch gas export pipeline that connects the Clair Ridge project to the West of Shetland Pipeline Systems (WOSPS), which delivers gas from West of Shetland to the Sullom Voe Terminal.

Dr Andy Samuel – Chief Executive at the Oil and Gas Authority, commenting on the production milestone of the Clair Ridge project, said: “First oil from the newly built Clair Ridge platform is a major milestone for the UKCS. The OGA continues to view the West of Shetland as strategically important with substantial remaining potential.

“The Clair Field has in excess of 7 billion barrels in place and is expected to sustain production for many decades to come, with significant scope for further phases of development. We welcome BP’s ongoing commitment to MER UK.”

BP owns a stake of 28.6% in the Clair oilfield with Royal Dutch Shell (28%), Chevron North Sea (19.4%) and ConocoPhillips (24%). In July 2018, BP signed a deal to acquire an additional stake of 16.5% in the Clair field from ConocoPhillips, which is due to be closed.

Earlier this year, BP had started gas production from Atoll Phase One project, a $1 billion worth offshore gas project in Egypt.