Giant Shetland oil field to begin production next year

Production in the giant Lancaster oil field west of Shetland is on course to begin next year, HurricanE Energy has said.

The Lancaster discovery was a welcome boost for the North Sea energy sector. Picture: PA

The Surrey-based energy giant won regulatory approval for its £360m plans to develop the field last year following a succesful exploration project, handing the North Sea sector a welcome boost.

The company said tests of a mooring system that will be used by a floating production storage and offloading vessel has been succesful.

“With other operations continuing as planned, we remaind on schedule for target first oil in H1 2019,” said chief executive Robert Trice.

Hurricane expects to produce 19,000 barrels per day from an initial production system on the Lancaster field, which could lead to a much bigger development in the area.

The Lancaster discovery was welcome news for a sector that has been rocked by the collapse of global oil prices in 2014, which hit the North Sea industry hard and resulted in significant job losses.