BP (NYSE: BP) and partners are moving closer to marking first oil from the Clair Ridge development west of Shetland in the North Sea, where they are targeting some 640 million barrels (MMbbl) of recoverable resources.
“We expect startup before the end of the year and we’re about 97% complete on the Clair Ridge project,” BP Group Chief Executive Bob Dudley told analysts July 31 following the release of the company’s second-quarter 2018 earnings.
The development, which includes two new bridge-linked platforms, has been designed to produce until 2050 with a peak production capacity of 120,000 barrels per day. It is the second development on the Clair Field, which was discovered more than 40 years ago and brought online in 2005. BP has said a third phase of the development is possible as appraisal drilling in the field continues.
“Clair has more than 7 billion barrels of oil initially in place and has significant value associated with future development opportunities, including the Clair Ridge project currently under development,” Dudley said.
BP serves as operator of the field and earlier this month increased its stake to 45.1% after an acreage swap with partner ConocoPhillips (7.5%). Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron are also partners.
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Clair Ridge, the largest oil field on the U.K. Continental Shelf, is among the six major projects BP has on tap this year as the company works toward adding 800,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of new production by the end of the decade. The company produced 3.6 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the second quarter, up 1.4% compared to a year ago. BP said the increase was 9.6% higher than a year earlier when adjusted for portfolio changes and pricing effects.
So far, the British major has started up half of its 2018 major upstream projects: the Atoll Phase 1 gas development offshore Egypt; the Taas-Yuryakh expansion project in Russia’s Eastern Siberian region and Shah Deniz Phase 2 offshore Azerbaijan.
“Shah Deniz 2 is our largest operated subsea development, and along with the South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion, we expect costs to come in 20% below sanction,” Dudley said on the company’s second-quarter earnings call. “It is the starting point for the Southern Gas Corridor series of pipelines that will deliver natural gas from the Caspian Sea direct to European markets for the first time.”
Other major projects for 2018 include Constellation in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico’s Green Canyon area. The Anadarko-operated development, which is a tieback to Anadarko’s Constitution spar, remains on track for first production in late 2018. BP holds a 66.67% stake, while Anadarko holds 33.33%.
The West Nile Delta—Giza/Fayoum deepwater gas project offshore Egypt in the Mediterranean also remains on track, according to BP. The deepwater long-distance tieback to shore includes eight wells and is the second phase of the West Nile Delta five-field development targeting 5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas resources and 55 MMbbl of condensates. BP’s partner is DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG.
“Looking ahead to growth into the next decade, we made five final investment decisions on projects in Oman, India, Angola and two in the U.K. North Sea,” Dudley said. “This further de-risks the 900,000 barrels per day of incremental production from major projects that we expect to add by 2021.”
BP expects to reach a final investment decision on the Tortue Phase 1 development offshore Mauritania and Senegal in fourth-quarter 2018, he said. The field, which is being developed with Kosmos Energy, is estimated to hold more than 15 Tcf of recoverable gas.
Velda Addison can be reached at vaddison@hartenergy.com.
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