Illustration of Maersk's Culzean gasfield. Image courtesy of Maersk Group

Maersk gets approval on development plan

LONDON, August 31, 2015 – Danish operator Maersk Oil has announced the approval of its North Sea Culzean gasfield development plan by UK authorities. The $4.5-billion plan aims to see production at the ultra-high pressure and high-temperature gasfield begin in 2019, reaching a 60,000-90,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2020. Production from the field is expected to go towards meeting 5 percent of the UK’s gas demand.

The approval is expected to boost the UK’s economy, particularly the local manufacturing sector, through job creation and the fabrication of around 100,000 tonnes of infrastructure for the field. The company has said reported that operating expenditures worth around $3.3 billion will be spent in the domestic market.

“Today’s announcement sends a clear signal that the North Sea is open for business. Already the UK’s oil and gas industry supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country […] Despite challenging times, this government has backed the oil and gas industry at every turn, introducing a vital package of support to help it to protect and create jobs,” Uk Chancellor George Osborne has said.

Discovered in 2008, Culzean holds an estimated 250 million-300 million barrels of oil equivalent. Maersk’s partners in the development include Japan’s JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation and super-major BP.

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