After its two-production well subsea tie-back development to the existing Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP) central processing facility (CPF) received government and regulatory approval in September 2023, BP selected Wood for engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning (EPCC) services to repurpose the central processing facility of the ETAP production hub and enable the platform’s connection to Murlach.
The company also picked Subsea Integration Alliance to handle the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) of subsea pipelines (SURF) and production systems (SPS) for the Murlach oil and gas development, formerly known as Skua, 240 kilometers east of Aberdeen in the UK sector of the North Sea.
This redevelopment project has now become BP’s sixth major project start-up in 2025, in line with its strategy to grow the upstream business by contributing to the firm’s target to deliver an additional 250,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) combined peak net production by the end of 2027.
Ewan Drummond, BP’s Senior Vice President of Projects, commented: “Murlach is the sixth start-up for bp in 2025 and marks another important milestone in our plan to deliver 10 major upstream oil and gas projects by the end of 2027.
“These projects reflect BP’s strength in safely increasing production to supply energy to meet global demand, while maintaining a relentless focus on shareholder returns. They also highlight our focus on efficient delivery, with four starting up ahead of schedule.”
Thanks to the two-well subsea tie-back in the UK sector of the North Sea, which will enable a peak net production of around 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the six projects add around 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day combined peak net production.
BP operates all the ETAP fields – Machar, Madoes, Mirren, Monan, Marnock, Mungo, and Seagull. Murlach, which is connected to the BP-operated ETAP hub in the central North Sea that has been operating for 27 years, involved the redevelopment of a field originally in operation in the early 2000s.
Following the acquisition of the field license after it was relinquished by the previous operator, the company’s redevelopment of the asset entailed drilling two new wells, adding subsea equipment, reusing some existing kit, and making topside changes to the ETAP central processing facility.
Doris Reiter, Senior Vice President of BP North Sea, highlighted: “A key focus for BP in the North Sea is to identify opportunities that can be developed competitively using existing infrastructure to effectively manage established oil and gas hubs for the entirety of their lifespan.
“Murlach serves as another great example of this. It’s also testament to the skill and dedication of the BP team, our co-venturer NEO NEXT Energy, and supply chain colleagues.”
