Commenting on the proposed project, based on a floating production, storage and offloading vessel, Cobalt chief executive Joe Bryant said: “The plan today would see sanction some time later this year, or early next. We think our planning now would suggest some time online early 2016 or so.”

Bryant added: “We have done an awful lot of work. We’ve already ordered some of the long-lead items we know will be critical path, and we’re working through the remaining critical path items now.”

Bryant’s