A Chinese-led consortium has announced the discovery of the biggest North Sea gas field in a decade on the UK Continental Shelf, bringing a major boost to the British offshore industry. Drilling in the Glengorm field by the state-owned Chinese firm CNOOC led to the discovery of a recoverable equivalent of around 250 million barrels of oil, which would account for 5% of the UK's annual demand.
The find by CNOOC comes a few months on the heels of French oil giant Total's announcement of a major gas discovery in the region to the west of the Shetland Isles.
“There is a lot of hype around frontier areas like West of Shetland, where Total discovered the Glendronach field last year,” said Kevin Swann, an analyst at oil and gas consultancy Wood Mackenzie. “But Glengorm is in in the Central North Sea and this find shows there is still life in some of the more mature UK waters.”
Photo: Jan-Rune Smenes Reite / Pexels
Mr Swann said that the size of the discovery was "pretty significant" and that the field could be producing gas within four to five years using existing North Sea oil rig frameworks.
Kevin McLachlan, senior vice-president exploration at Total, said, “Our strong position in the region will enable us to leverage existing infrastructures nearby and optimize the development of this discovery. “Glengorm is an achievement that demonstrates our capacity to create value in a mature environment thanks to our in-depth understanding of the basin.”
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