North Sea oil ‘has a future’ as price rallies and BP announces fresh investment
Reading time: 2 minutes
Oil prices continued to surge today, reaching a six-month high, as BP doubled its stake in one North Sea field and the boss of one the world’s largest oil companies declared UK oil and gas production does have a future.
Patrick Pouyanne, chief executive of Total said “There is a future for the North Sea, no doubt about it,” as rival BP said it is set to increase its investment in the North Sea after agreeing a deal to double its stake in the giant Culzean field east of Aberdeen.
The welcome news follows an estimated 65,000 job losses in the industry and warnings about a collapse in investment.
Mr Pouyanne was speaking at the official opening of a new gas plant in Shetland.
The French oil boss said that while his company remained committed to the region, the industry needed to be “smart” in finding ways to maximise the UK’s offshore potential.
Meanwhile, the price of a barrel of Brent Crude reached just short of $49.50 on Tuesday morning as US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is also approaching the $50 mark.
The BP deal will see it take a 16 per cent interest in the field from JX Nippon of Japan in a deal which will leave it with a 32 per cent holding in Culzean. This is one of the biggest North Sea fields found in the last 20 years.
The deal will result in BP’s share of the £3bn cost of developing Culzean rising by around £500m to £1bn.
Share this article:
Subscribe to our newsletter to not miss articles like this one:
SUBSCRIBE
