BP Starts UK Clair Ridge: Sixth 2018 Major Project

BP has produced the first oil from its £4.5bn ($5.8bn) UK Clair Ridge oil development on schedule, 75km west of Shetland, it said November 23; it also has capacity to produce and export some gas.

This is the sixth of seven scheduled major upstream projects to come onstream in 2018, with only the West Nile Delta phase 2 gas project offshore Egypt remaining. 

The Clair field was discovered in 1977 but initial production began only in 2005 and accessing its outer Clair Ridge reserves required even longer preparation. Oil is piped to the Sullom Voe export terminal on Shetland. 

Clair Ridge (banner photo courtesy of BP) will achieve peak oil production of 120,000 b/d. But a new 14.6 km, six-inch-diameter gas export pipeline tying Clair Ridge into the West of Shetland Pipeline Systems (WOSPS) was also installed; WOSPS transports gas from West of Shetland to the Sullom Voe terminal, already connected via the FUKA subsea gas system to mainland Scotland at St Fergus.

"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," said BP upstream chief Bernard Looney.

BP operates Clair Ridge with 28.6% interest but this will increase to 45.1% once a deal to acquire a 16.5% stake from ConocoPhillips is completed. Conoco will then retain a 7.5% stake. Other shareholders are Shell with 28% and Chevron at 19.4%; however, the latter is in talks on divesting certain UK upstream interests to Ineos, believed to include its 19.4% Clair Ridge stake.

BP's seven projects in 2018 and seven already fulfilled in 2017 are "key to delivering the 900,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day new production that BP expects from new upstream major projects by 2021," the firm said.