Britain's offshore industry has received a major boost with the announcement of the discovery by a Chinese-led consortium of the largest gas field found on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) in more than a decade.

Gas find in North Sea is biggest in a decade

Drilling in the Glengorm field in the central North Sea area by the consortium led by the state-owned Chinese firm GNOOC has found the recoverable equivalent of about 250 million barrels of oil, representing about five per cent of the UK’s annual gas demand.The discovery comes a few months after France's Total, which has a 25 per cent stake in the Glengorm exploration along with Edison of Italy, announced a major gas discovery in the relatively under-explored waters to the west of the Shetland Isles.“There is a lot of hype around frontier areas like West of Shetland, where Total discovered the Glendronach field last year,” commented Kevin Swann, an analyst at oil and gas consultancy Wood Mackenzie. “But Glengorm is in in the Central North Sea and this find shows there is still life in some of the more mature UK waters.”

Gas find could utilize exiting North Sea rig framework

Mr Swann described the size of find as “pretty significant” and he believed the field could be producing gas within four to five years via the existing North Sea rig framework.Kevin McLachlan, senior vice-president exploration at Total, said, “Our strong position in the region will enable us to leverage existing infrastructures nearby and optimize the development of this discovery.“Glengorm is an achievement that demonstrates our capacity to create value in a mature environment thanks to our in-depth understanding of the basin.”

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CNOOC International, Total E&P and Edison work together

Ross Dornan, market intelligence manager at the industry body Oil & Gas UK, said, “This is a major find and a great example of partner companies, CNOOC International, Total E&P and Edison working together to explore and unlock the potential of the UKCS.“Glengorm was a challenging prospect to drill. However, the combined determination and perseverance of the partners has paid off. The location of the discovery, in the central North Sea, also provides a valuable opportunity to make use of the UKCS’ extensive infrastructure network.“Coming so soon after the Glendronach discovery in September, Glengorm is a major milestone towards adding another generation of productive life to the UK North Sea and realising the ambition of Vision 2035.”Oil & Gas Authority chief executive Andy Samuel added, “This is very exciting news. Glengorm was first mapped as a prospect around 20 years ago and it is great to see Cnooc taking up the exploration opportunity and completing a difficult high-pressure, high-temperature exploration well.”

Chinese corporation CNOOC sees significant room for production growth around UK

The CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation) established a major position in the UKCS through a $15 billion acquisition of Canada’s Nexen in 2013. It operates the giant Buzzard and Golden Eagle fields and is one of the UK's biggest oil producers in the UK, employing about 900 people in the UK.Xie Yuhong, the company's executive vice-president, said Glengorm demonstrated the great potential of its exploration licence for the area, adding GNOOC was now embarking on production appraisal. On its website, CNOOC described the UK as a key production area with significant room for growth.

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