BP starts North Sea Quad 204 field upgrade drilling

Rishabh Digha Steel and Allied Products

29/04/2015 12:25

LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) - BP  BP.L  said on Wednesday it 
started a seven-year deep water drilling campaign in the Loyal 
field in the UK North Sea as part of a $3 billion drive to 
develop the ageing oil and gas basin. 
    The redevelopment of the Loyal and adjacent Schiehallion 
fields, known as Quad 204, seeks to tap into an estimated 
additional 450 million barrels of oil equivalent to help extend 
production from the fields to 2035, BP said. 
    The development involves the installation of a new floating, 
production, storage and offloading vessel, the Glen Lyon, which 
is due to arrive in the North Sea in 2016. It will be able to 
export up to 130,000 barrels of oil a day and store up to 1 
million barrels. 
    Production is expected to start in early 2017, a company 
spokesman said. 
    New subsea pipelines are expected to be installed this year, 
BP said.  
    The two fields, located around 100 miles west of the Shetlan 
islands, produced nearly 400 million barrels of oil since 
production started in 1998, BP said. 
    The drilling in the Loyal field will be carried out by the 
Deepsea Aberdeen rig which is operated by Odfjell Drilling.    
    BP and rival Royal Dutch Shell each have a 50 percent 
interest in the Loyal field. Schiehallion is owned by BP, Shell 
and Austria's OMV  OMV.VI . 
 
 (Reporting by Ron Bousso, additional reporting by Claire 
Milhench; editing by Jason Neely) 
 ((ron.bousso@thomsonreuters.com; +44)(0)(2075422161; Reuters 
Messaging: ron.bousso.reuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: BP NORTHSEA/