Engineering news
A UK oil company has been given the green light to forge ahead with a £4 billion investment project in a North Sea field.
Aberdeen-based EnQuest said it will generate billions in taxpayer revenues and support 20,000 jobs with its development of the Kraken oilfield east of the Shetland Islands.
The plans approved by the Department of Energy and Climate Change are said to represent the largest UK North Sea investment announced this year.
The development covers two separate "heavy" oil fields which will each benefit from Government oil allowances enabling companies to claim tax relief on up to £800 million of their profits.
The field layout of the development will consist of 25 wells, tied back to an Floating Production and Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel. The major supplier arrangements are already in place, including those for the FPSO .
Gross peak oil production is expected to be more than 50,000 barrels of oil per day, with production likely to begin in 2017.
EnQuest chief executive Amjad Bseisu said: "Kraken is a transformational project for EnQuest and we are delighted to be able to proceed with it, working with the Government and our partners to maximise the extraction of approximately 140 million barrels of oil in this field, over its 25-year-long life.
"It is only by combining our skills and expertise with fiscal incentives, such as heavy oil allowances, that really substantial projects like Kraken are possible."
The company said the development will support 20,000 UK jobs during construction and an average of around 1,000 jobs in the UK for each year of Kraken's life.