BP wins approval for £200m North Sea project to produce 30m oil barrels
BP has won approval for its £200m Vorlich project in the North Sea, which could produce 30m barrels of oil.
The government-backed Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) approved the industry giant's development, which could now come on stream in 2020.
BP expects the two-well development, 150 miles off the coast of Aberdeen, to produce 20,000 barrels of oil per day at its peak.
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It is part of an OGA initiative encouraging firms to access new production from fields near to existing infrastructure.
BP's North Sea regional president, Ariel Flores, said: “BP is modernising and transforming the way we work, with a focus on accelerating the pace of delivery of projects like Vorlich.
“Without compromising safety, we want to simplify our processes, reduce costs and improve project cycle time to increase the competitiveness of our North Sea business."
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He added: “This is increasingly important as competition for global investment funds gets stiffer.”
Oil and Gas UK, the representative organisation for the UK offshore industry, said the approval would “bolster confidence” in the region but warned more major projects must be brought forward, warning of a supply chain squeeze.
Earlier this week Total announced it had made a major gas discovery on its Glendronach project – off the coast of the Shetland Islands.