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  4. North Sea portfolio

North Sea portfolio

The North Sea remains an important region for bp – we know the basin and the barrels well having been here from the very start.

Today, we continue to provide energy through a portfolio focused around five key production hubs in the central North Sea and west of Shetland.
Downloads
North Sea Annual Environmental Statement 2023 pdf / 8.8 MB
Our plans in the North Sea will see us continue to invest around our existing production facilities to produce oil and gas safely, reliably, and competitively. We will do this while working to lower emissions associated with our operations.

Our North Sea oil and gas operations, growing lower carbon businesses and community partnerships will see us build on and transform our long-standing position in Scotland’s energy industry, supported by a talented workforce and supply chain, eager to help make the UK’s net zero ambitions a reality.
North Sea portfolio

North Sea portfolio

Clair Phase One

With an estimated seven billion barrels of oil in place, the Clair field is the largest oilfield on the UK Continental Shelf.   The field, located 75 kilometers west of Shetland, was discovered in 1977, but challenging reservoir characteristics and the technological limits of the time meant it was the mid-1990s before the field saw extensive drilling, and 2001 before bp and partners approved a development plan.   Production from the Clair field began in 2005 through the Clair Phase One platform, which was the first fixed platform west of Shetland. 

 

Clair Ridge

The size of the Clair field dictates development via a phased approach. Clair Ridge is the second phase of development.   The bridge-linked platforms, which delivered first oil in November 2018, are designed to recover an estimated 640 million barrels of oil.   bp and partners are now considering options to unlock future energy potential from the Clair field through a third phase of development.  In 2022, bp, along with other west of Shetland operators, signed a memorandum of understanding to explore electrification options for west of Shetland oil and gas interests, including at Clair. Electrification could significantly reduce emissions associated with offshore operations.


Glen Lyon 

The Schiehallion Area incorporates the Schiehallion, Loyal and Alligin fields located around 175 kilometres west of the Shetland Islands. 

The fields are developed through the Glen Lyon floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Production from the Schiehallion Area was shut-in between 2013 and 2017 to allow for the Quad 204 project – a multi-billion-pound investment by bp and partners to completely redevelop the hub and maximize production from the fields. 

 

Foinaven (not operational)

The Foinaven field is located 190 kilometres west of Shetland in water depths of up to 500 metres. It was the first deepwater development on the UKCS and the first west of Shetland.  Oil and gas was produced through the Petrojarl Foinaven floating, production, offload, storage (FPSO) vessel.   In April 2021, bp announced it would be retiring the Petrojarl Foinaven from operations as the vessel had reached the end of its design life. It was safely removed in 2022. bp is considering options for the future of the Foinaven field. 

 

Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP)

ETAP, in the central North Sea, ranks as one of the largest and most commercially complex oil and gas developments in the North Sea; multiple fields with varying ownership sharing a central processing facility (CPF).   bp operates all the ETAP fields; Machar, Madoes, Mirren, Monan, Marnock, Mungo and Seagull, which began production in 2023.   A normally unattended installation (NUI) over Mungo stands around 20 kilometres east of the ETAP CPF. 

 

Apart from Mungo, which has surface wellheads on the NUI, all other ETAP fields are connected to the CPF via subsea infrastructure. 

 

bp is also pursuing other opportunities to sustain production at ETAP, including the Murlach field that received regulatory approval in 2023, while exploring options to electrify the ETAP CPF to significantly reduce operational emissions.

 

Andrew

The Andrew area includes the Andrew, Arundel, Cyrus, Farragon and Kinnoull fields, which all produce through the Andrew platform in the central North Sea. Production started in 1994. As the Andrew platform approaches cessation of production, bp is operating the facility under a late life business model that seeks to ensure safe and reliable operations through the facility’s final years.  

 

Non-operated interests

bp holds non-operated interests in the TotalEnergies Culzean development and the Ithaca Energy Vorlich field, both in the central North Sea.