BP has been given the go ahead from the UK authorities to proceed with the $263 million Vorlich development in the central North Sea, writes Rob Watts.

Vorlich, a two-well development located 241 kilometres east of Aberdeen, will be tied back to the Ithaca Energy-operated FPF-1 floating production facility, the centrepiece of the Greater Stella Area production hub. Ithaca has a 34% interest in Vorlich.

Vorlich will target 30 million barrels of oil equivalent and is expected to produce a gross 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day at peak.

It is expected on stream in 2020.

BP 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. This is increasingly important as competition for global investment funds gets stiffer.”

Flores said that Vorlich, while not on the same scale as BP's huge Quad 204 and Clair Ridge projects, provides an "exciting addition" to BP’s refreshed North Sea portfolio and demonstrates the company’s continued commitment to the basin.

Scott Robertson, central North Sea area manager at the UK Oil & Gas Authority, which approved the plans, said: “The OGA has been actively involved throughout the Vorlich project and is pleased to approve this development.

“The field will make an important contribution to our maximising economic recovery UK (MER UK) priority as a valuable tie-back utilising existing infrastructure and by maximising value from the Greater Stella Area hub.”

Mike Tholen, upstream policy director of trade association Oil & Gas UK (OGUK) said Vorlich was a project that gives a view into the "future of the UK continental shelf".

“The use of existing infrastructure will be increasingly important as industry looks to unlock small pools," he said.

Tholen pointed out that OGUK's recent Economic Report showed that "these behaviours have the potential to add a generation of productive life to the basin".

"However, as our report warned, a continued supply chain squeeze could risk industry’s ability to go after this prize, and focus must remain on bringing more major projects to delivery,” he said.

Weekly

BP wins Vorlich go-ahead