BP wins approval on new project in North Sea

13th Oct 2011 07:36

The UK government has granted oil titan BP and its partners approval to proceed with a £4.5bn project in the North Sea, one of four new oil and gas projects worth nearly £10bn over the next five years planned by the oil syndicate. This significant investment will also help to maintain BP's production from the North Sea for decades to come, the company said.UK Prime Minister David Cameron said: "This investment is great news for Aberdeen and the country and provides a massive boost for jobs and growth."For BP, whose share of the total investment in the four projects will be around £4bn, this will be the highest level of annual investment the company has ever made into the UK North Sea. The company is confident that it can produce more than 3bn barrels of oil and gas from the North Sea, in addition to the 5bn it has already delivered. "After some years of decline, we now see the potential to maintain our production from the North Sea at around 200,000-250,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day until 2030, and we are working on projects that will take production from some of our largest fields out towards 2050," the firm's chief executive, Bob Dudley, said. Over half of the total investment in the projects is expected to be spent in the UK. NR