UK regulators have given BP the go-ahead to drill its first deep-water offshore well in the UK since the Macondo disaster almost two years ago.
The Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) has given the British supermajor its consent to drill the North Uist well, where 500 million barrels of prospective resources are being targeted.
While the British oil giant has conducted deep-water drilling in Angola and Brazil since the April 2010 disaster, it has yet to launch a deep probe on home territory.
The Block 213/25c well is 125 kilometres northwest of the Shetland Isles in a water depth of around 1290 metres.
Partners in North Uist are BP on 47.5%, Nexen with 35%, Faroe Petroleum with 6.25% and Japan’s Cieco on 6.25% and Idemitsu with 5%.
The DECC said it had made “detailed and extensive scrutiny” of BP’s application, including environmental impact and emergency response plans.
The UK’s Health & Safety Executive has also undertaken a thorough examination of the well design and drilling plan and has no objections, the department added.
Energy Minister Charles Hendry said his department had moved to ensure BP’s operations were “conducted to the highest possible standards”.
Hendry said the approval was positive news for the region and the wider economy.
“Oil and gas plays an important role in our economy and makes a significant contribution to our energy security, but exploration should not come at a cost to the environment,” he said.
In a statement to Upstream, BP welcomed the go-ahead which it said came after “working closely with the regulators throughout the planning and approval process”.
The explorer said it was investing billions in its UK business over the long-term, and that ensuring exploration operations were managed safely and responsibly was its “absolute priority”.
BP also pointed out that its exploration history in the West of Shetland dates back to the early 1970s, and that since it had “safely produced over 800 million barrels of oil from the area”.
The company provided detailed confirmation they have taken into account the findings and recommendations of the various Macondo investigation reports as part of the application process, according to the DECC.
This extended to processes for blow-out preventer management, inspection and independent verification and auditing of well cementing procedures as well as inter-contractor communications and management responsibilities.
An emergency response readiness inspection was also conducted on the Stena Carron drillship, the department said.
