North Sea oil output set for big boost as Shell and BP's Glen Lyon sets off

The UK's North Sea oil output is in line for a boost as the Glen Lyon floating production storage and offload (FPSO) vessel set off towards Shell and BP's 450m-barrel Quad204 destination west of Shetland.

Shell and BP, which own 54.03% and 36.3% of the Quad204 project respectively with Austria's OMV the remaining 9.67%, announced the 270-metre long FPSO had begun sea trials along the way to the destination where it will be able to process and export up to 130,000 barrels of oil a day and store up to 800,000 barrels.

The multi-billion pound project to re-develop the Schiehallion and Loyal fields is forecast to extend production to 2035 and possibly even later, BP said.

“The departure of Glen Lyon marks a key milestone in this important project," said Shell UK’s upstream director, Paul Goodfellow. "It will, when complete, boost the UK’s oil and gas production."

Quad204 will see the FPSO connected and commissioned, with several new production and injection wells drilled, and the seabed pipeline upgraded with new well infrastructure.

Since production started in 1998, Schiehallion and Loyal have produced nearly 400m barrels of oil, with the Quad204 development aiming to access the remaining estimated 450m barrels of resource still available.