New North Sea Field for Maersk Oil

The U.K. Gas & Oil Authority has given Maersk Oil approval to develop the Culzean gas field in the UK North Sea. The field is the largest gas field sanctioned in the U.K. since East Brae in 1990, and will produce about five percent of the U.K.’s energy demand by 2021. Maersk Oil, JX Nippon, a Japanese oil and energy company, and BP (Britoil) are investing $4.5 billion in the development.

In 2008, Maersk Oil discovered the Culzean field and its and it is estimated have about 300 million barrels of hydrocarbons. Development of the field is expected to produce up to 90 thousand barrels per day.

The development of the Culzean field has benefited from the High Pressure-High Temperature (HPHT) Cluster Area Allowance created by the U.K. Government. The announcement comes on the heels of Maersk Oil’s August 26^th request to close its North Sea Janice installation in which 200 workers will be laid off. The Culzean field is expected to create about 400 jobs.

Maersk Oil is owned by the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group and operates fields in the U.K., Denmark, Qatar, Kazakhstan, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, Algeria and Brazil with total production of 550,000 barrels of oil per day.