BP Makes New North Sea Oil Find

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - The North Sea is proving that there's still life in the old dog yet after BP plc (NYSE:BP) (London, England) announced the discovery of a new oil find that could yield a potential 50 million barrels of oil a year.

The company, alongside French partner GDF Suez S.A. (EPA:GSZ) (Paris, France), revealed that the discovery in the U.K. Central North Sea spans the GDF Suez operated block 30/1f (licence P1588) and BP operated block 30/1c (licence P363). Flow tested at a maximum rate of 5,350 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day.

The discovery was welcomed but the U.K. government which has been helping drive the industry to cooperate more on finding and extracting more oil and gas from the dwindling North Sea resources.

"This discovery shows exactly what can be achieved in the North Sea if companies work together to maximise the considerable potential of remaining oil and gas reserves," claimed Business and Energy Minister Matthew Hancock. "We are determined to have set the right fiscal and regulatory regimes to make sure we can get the maximum possible economic extraction of oil and gas from the North Sea."

The find comes just a week after Norway's Statoil ASA (NYSE:STO) (Stavangar, Norway) struck oil in the Grane region of the Norwegian North Sea. The find is located in the so-called 'D-structure' in the vicinity of the existing Grane field and is estimated to have between 30 million and 80 million barrels of recoverable oil. For additional information, see October 30, 2014, article - Statoil Strikes New North Sea Oil.

Ruud Zoon, Managing Director of GDF SUEZ E&P U.K. Ltd. said: "This is an encouraging exploration discovery in a part of the Central North Sea that needs additional volumes of hydrocarbons to open up development options for several stranded discoveries. The discovery is our third successful well this year and demonstrates a continuing commitment by GDF SUEZ to an active exploration and appraisal drilling programme on the U.K. Continental Shelf."

"As BP marks its 50th year in the North Sea and as the industry looks to maximise economic recovery from the basin, increasing exploration activity and finding new ways to collaborate will be critical to realising remaining potential," added Trevor Garlick, Regional President of BP North Sea "This discovery is a great example of both."

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and nine international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. To contact an office in your area, visit the Industrial Info "Contact Us" page.