BP submits plans for latest tie-in project at North Sea ETAP oil hub

BP has submitted an environmental impact statement for the redevelopment of a North Sea oil deposit it dubs Murlach that would be tied to its ETAP production hub and boost Forties crude flows, it said April 21.

The plan submitted to the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning would be the latest in a number of projects intended to rejuvenate the Eastern Trough Area Project hub, which first came on stream in 1998.

In emailed comments, BP said it expected Murlach should produce 20,000 b/d of oil at peak plus 17 MMcf/d of gas, and with the necessary approvals could start producing in 2025.

Another ETAP tie-in known as Seagull, with recoverable reserves of 19 million barrels of oil equivalent, is being developed by London-based Neptune Energy in partnership with BP and due on stream in the first half of 2023.

Data from the North Sea Transition Authority showed the ETAP fields were producing about 18,000 b/d of crude at the start of 2022.

The North Sea oil and gas industry is seeing renewed governmental support in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the UK government launching a new energy strategy earlier in April that emphasizes self-reliance alongside energy transition goals.

The Murlach project "supports our strategy to produce hydrocarbons at a lower cost and with lower operational emissions through the use of existing infrastructure, in this case the BP-operated ETAP hub," BP said.

"Value generated from continued North Sea oil and gas production supports BP's ambitious energy transition growth plans in the UK, which include offshore wind, hydrogen production, carbon capture utilization and storage and electric vehicle charging infrastructure."

"Developments like Murlach also support the UK government's energy security strategy which places a focus on the important role of domestic, lower carbon oil and gas as the world transitions to lower carbon forms of energy," BP added.

Forties is the UK's largest single crude oil delivery system, combining production from dozens of fields, and is a component in the Platts Dated Brent crude benchmark.