Maersk Oil's North Sea gas field gets go ahead

Production has been approved for the Culzean gas field, the largest new oil and gas field to have been discovered in the North Sea in 10 years.

The UK Oil & Gas Authority has given Maersk Oil the go-ahead to start production, which is expected to meet 5% of the UK's entire gas needs when it hits its peak.

New jobs

An estimated 6,000 jobs in the UK economy will be supported by the project, with more than 400 new opportunities being directly created, according to Maersk.

The company says that the new field holds reserves that are the equivalent of around a quarter of a billion barrels of oil.

Discovered in 2008, the Culzean field is expected to start producing gas in 2019 and continue for at least another 13 years. At its peak, production will be between 60,000 to 90,000 barrels each day.

Authority approval

Chief executive of industry body Oil & Gas UK Deirdre Michie said: "Oil & Gas UK welcomes the development approval of the largest new field discovered in the UK North Sea in more than a decade.

"This investment by Maersk Oil and its co-venturers is very encouraging at this challenging time for the industry and reinforces the fact that the UK Continental Shelf continues to have much to offer.”

Jakob Thomasen, chief executive of Maersk Oil, commented: "Culzean is an important development for the UK and also for Maersk Oil and our co-venturers.

"Culzean is the latest in a series of large investments by Maersk Oil in the North Sea where we are active in Denmark, Norway and the UK – reflecting our commitment to the future of the North Sea region.”