Production starts at BP Norway field

BP rose on Wednesday after announcing the successful start of production from the Skarv field in the Norwegian Sea.

Production started at the site, which is a quarter-owned and operated by BP, on 31st December.

BP group chief executive. Bob Dudley, called the start-up of Skarv "a key operational milestone for BP, adding new production from one of our core higher-margin areas".

The news comes after a slew of disposals, which have totalled around $37bn since the 2010 Macondo oil disaster, and pushed shares up one per cent in early trading.

The Skarv field is approximately 210km west of the Norwegian coast in water depths of approximately 350-450m.

Discovered in 1998, it has an estimated ultimate recovery of around 100m barrels of oil and condensate and over 1.5tr cubic feet of rich gas, according to BP.

The field is anticipated to reach around 125,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) monthly average rate (30,000 boepd net to BP) within the first six months of production.

This is expected to rise to a maximum daily rate of approximately 165,000 boepd by the year end (40,000 boepd net BP).

Rebecca Wiles, BP Norway managing director, said Skarv represented an important new source of gas to Europe.

BP Norway has a 23.84% interest in the site; its partners are Statoil ASA (36.17), E.ON E&P Norge AS 28.08% and PGNiG Norway AS 11.92%.