BP eyeing low carbon power for Clair South

BP is exploring the possibility of using low-carbon electricity cabled from shore to power its upcoming Clair South development in the UK West of Shetland area.

BP North Sea regional president Ariel Flores confirmed this week that a range of renewable energy options are on the table to provide power to Clair South, the third phase of development at the giant oilfield, which is nearing the end of the pre-front-end engineering and design phase.

These include onshore and offshore wind, as well as taking power from domestic and international interconnectors, he said.

However, with studies at an early stage, the use of conventional gas-fired turbines remains under consideration, emphasised the BP executive.

Flores said that the renewable energy options were being worked “very hard” but that no single obvious solution has yet come to the fore.

Flores was talking on the sidelines of a breakfast briefing in Aberdeen organised by Oil & Gas UK (OGUK) to launch the trade body’s second annual energy transition report.

He also confirmed an exclusive Upstream story from November that BP has embarked on a separate feasibility study with Shell and Total on the potential of replacing conventional gas-fired turbines at several central North Sea existing platforms with power-from-shore and was looking for more operators to come on board.

At Clair South, Flores said there are three "key levers" where breakthroughs could make the project more economically, environmentally and technically more competitive.

One is an attempt to “embrace a different approach” with the supply chain.

“We will go out very open-ended, broadly giving them the problem and trying to embrace a different approach around helping them come up with the solutions versus us already knowing what the answer is,” he said.

“We are going to engage pretty broadly with the supply chain to see what ideas they might have to make the project more competitive. That’s one lever.”

The second area, Flores said, is to incorporate into the project as much equipment and as many systems as possible powered by electric motors, including the drilling rig.

Linked to this is evaluating where the electricity that will power this equipment will be sourced from.

“We are still evaluating all potential options, including different renewable sources. Also, the more classical gas turbines,” he said.

A third “lever” is fracking technology.

“We completed what is the largest frack in the UK continental shelf in Clair phase one," said adding that it would look to take advantage of the lessons from that work in the Clair South project.

In some of these areas, such as power-from-shore, Flores said more certainty and clarity was needed on regulatory and financial issues. This includes the tax treatment of taking power from renewable energy sources to offshore platforms.

Upstream reported in August that BP had started informal talks with the market to determine the next steps on Clair South as Aker Solutions nears completion of pre-FEED work, which began in August 2018 and was originally due to run for 11 months.

BP is targeting a final investment decision in 2021 and first oil forecast for 2024 at the earliest.

BP’s also remains in negotiations about oil exports from Clair to Enquest's Sullom Voe Terminal on the Shetland Islands via the field's existing pipeline.

Negotiations between BP and Enquest over the exports began earlier this year.