Chevron gets government green light to develop North Sea field
CHEVRON yesterday said that it will develop the Alder gas field in the North Sea after receiving approval from the UK government.
The US oil major said that the project has the capacity to produce 110m cubic feet of natural gas and 14,000 barrels of condensate, a light oil, with first output expected in 2016.
The field, which is off the UK coast in the central North Sea, was discovered in 1975 but it proved difficult to tap into its reserves. It is only with new technology that Chevron will be able to extract gas from the site.
“The Alder field development is an important milestone in support of our strategic plan to profitably grow production and is among our solid queue of major capital projects that will deliver value to shareholders,” said Chevron vice chairman George Kirkland.
The field will be developed via a single subsea well tied back to the Britannia oil platform.
The oil and gas industry argues that more needs to be done to exploit the UK’s reserves at a time when energy security and supply are high-profile issues.
Britain’s oil and gas production has fallen by about two thirds since 2000, posting particularly steep falls of 14.5 per cent in 2012 and 18 per cent in 2011, but a number of new investments have fuelled hopes that some of the declines can be reversed.