BP Doubles Stake in UK Culzean Field

UK major BP has doubled its interest in the Culzean gas development in the UK Central North Sea, following its acquisition of an additional 16% interest from Japan's JX Nippon. It now has a 32% interest in the high-temperature, high-pressure field.

“We are pleased to have deepened our interest in Culzean and we look forward to helping Maersk make this important central North Sea development a success,” said Mark Thomas, BP Regional President North Sea Region. “This is a challenging time for the industry and we must continue to work together to ensure that when developments like Culzean, or other projects such as BP’s Quad 204 and Clair Ridge, come online they can be run as efficiently as possible.”

The $4.5bn Maersk-operated Culzean field development, which was sanctioned at the end of August 2015, is expected to produce enough gas to meet 5% of total UK demand at peak production in 2020/21. Gas will flow through the Central Area Transmission System to Teesside.

“BP has been focusing and refreshing its North Sea portfolio by bringing new fields into production, redeveloping and renewing existing producing facilities and divesting some of its more mature or less strategic assets,” Thomas added. “Our deepening in Culzean further demonstrates our commitment to supporting the development of another UK field for the future.”

Discovered in 2008, the gas condensate field has resources estimated at 250-300mn barrels of oil equivalent. Production is expected to start in 2019 and continue into the 2030s, with plateau production of 60,000-90,000 boe/day.

Culzean is the largest gas field in the UK to be sanctioned since East Brae in 1990, according to Wood Mackenzie. The development costs are put at  $4.5bn and it is one of the fields – along with French firm Engie's Cygnus – that will boost UK gas production in the coming few years.

William Powell