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BP has been given the green light to go-ahead with a new £200m development in the North Sea.

The Vorlich development in the Central North Sea is targeting 30 million barrels of oil equivalent and is expected to produce 20,000 barrels a day when it comes on stream in 2020.

The oil major said it was part of its programme to develop satellite fields through existing North Sea hubs.

The announcement is the second major boost for the North Sea this week following news from French energy giant Total that it had discovered a significant gas find.

Vorlich, a two-well development approximately 241 kilometres east of Aberdeen, will be tied back to the Ithaca Energy-operated FPF-1 floating production facility, which lies at the centre of Greater Stella Area production hub. Ithaca has a 34% interest in Vorlich.

BP North Sea Regional President Ariel Flores said: “While not on the same scale as our huge Quad 204 and Clair Ridge projects, the Vorlich development provides another exciting addition to our refreshed North Sea portfolio and further demonstrates BP’s commitment to the North Sea.”

Scott Robertson, Central North Sea (CNS) Area Manager at the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) which has approved the development, said: “The field will make an important contribution to our Maximising Economic Recovery UK (MER UK) priority as a valuable tieback utilising existing infrastructure and by maximising value from the Greater Stella Area hub.”

In April, BP announced its intent to develop Vorlich and Alligin, another project in its subsea tieback programme. Alligin is a two-well development west of Shetland which will be tied back

to BP’s Glen Lyon floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Alligin (BP 50% operator; Shell 50%) is a 20-million-barrel recoverable oil field in the Greater Schiehallion Area, located approximately 140 kilometres west of Shetland.