TAQA, the Abu Dhabi-owned oil and gas firm, claims to have set a record for the UK North Sea by bringing a new field onstream less than three months after it was discovered.
The company announced it had started production from the Cormorant East field 310 miles north-east of Aberdeen 85 days after the company made the find. This was announced on October 22 last year.
The well is producing 5500 barrels per day.
Mike Tholen, economics director at trade body Oil & Gas UK, said the swift development of new discoveries such as Cormorant East is essential if the UK is to address the "worrying" decline in North Sea production.
The speed of development highlights the effect that advances in subsea technology can have on oil and gas projects and the advantages of working in areas close to existing production infrastructure. Cormorant East produces oil from a single well on the seabead. This is connected to the TAQA-operated North Cormorant processing platform two miles away. The oil is then exported to the Sullom Voe oil terminal on Shetland, which TAQA has a stake in.
The Cormorant East development benefited from tax breaks introduced recently to encourage investment in small fields.
The head of TAQA's UK business, Leo Koot, said the start-up was a landmark for the company. TAQA has built a big portfolio of North Sea fields and related production infrastructure helped by acquisitions. The company looks to boost production from the assets it acquires and to expand its asset base through success with the drill bit.
On its website, TAQA said the advantages it enjoys through owning interests in assets such as the Sullom Voe terminal and Brent pipeline system means it can bring acreage swiftly into commercial operation. It said it can develop reserves that would be "challenging" for other smaller operators.
Mr Koot said: "First oil production from Cormorant East marks an important step in the growth of TAQA's exploration portfolio.
"We have established a successful, long-term business in the UK and plan to continue to play an integral role in enhancing the North Sea's reputation as a world class centre for exploration and production."
The company was so confident about the prospect of Cormorant East that it prepared plans to develop the find before it made the discovery.
John Hayes, UK Energy Minister, said the development of small fields like Cormorant East is a fundamental part of the Coalition Government's strategy to extend the life of the oil and gas industry.
TAQA has a 60% stake in Cormorant East and operates the field; Korean-owned Dana Petroleum has 20%; Canada's Antrim Resources has 8.4%; and Aberdeen-based First Oil Expro and Bridge Energy have 7.6% and 4% respectively.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article