BP is to reopen a key North Sea field and pump new oil and gas for at least a decade, despite Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s attempts to cut back the offshore industry.
The energy giant is reviving the Murlach field, which was declared uneconomic and taken out of use in 2004, has now become viable partly due to new technologies.
BP won agreement to reopen Murlach, 120 miles east of Aberdeen, under the previous government and has since been installing equipment, with production potentially restarting next month.
The milestone comes despite efforts by the Energy Secretary to bring an end to new fossil fuel production in the North Sea. Mr Miliband and his predecessors have almost doubled the taxation rate on oil and gas profits and banned the issuing of licences for new exploration and production.
BP said the Murlach field contained 20 million barrels of recoverable oil and 600 million cubic metres of gas – enough to keep it in production for 11 years. “Murlach is expected to produce around 20,000 barrels of oil and 17 million cubic feet of gas per day,” it said.
It means BP can partially reverse the decline in North Sea output, which has seen oil production fall from 96,000 barrels per day in 2020 to 70,000 last year. Gas production has fallen from 221m square feet a day to 197m.
Climate campaigners have condemned BP’s decision to push ahead with reopening the North Sea’s Murlach oil field in direct defiance of Miliband’s call to halt new fossil fuel projects.
Describing the development as a “Dangerous Act of Climate Vandalism”, 350.org stated that BP’s move comes as climate scientists warn the UK must urgently phase out oil and gas to meet its net-zero commitments and limit global heating to 1.5°C.
Kate Blagojevic, Europe Team Lead, 350.org, said: “This is climate vandalism, pure and simple. BP is putting its profit margins above the survival of communities, ecosystems, and future generations. Every barrel of oil from this project pushes us closer to climate breakdown, more floods, more fires, more heatwaves. The era of fossil fuels is over, and BP’s desperate attempts to wring out the last drops of oil from the North Sea are a reckless betrayal of the public and the planet. They should be winding down, not doubling down.”
Campaigners warn that reopening the Murlach oil field undermines the UK’s credibility as a climate leader just months before world leaders gather for COP30 in Brazil. The field was previously shut down in 2004 as it was deemed uneconomic but has become viable again due to advancements in extraction technologies.
350.org called on the UK Government to stand firm against fossil fuel expansion, invest in renewable energy, and deliver a just transition for workers and communities.
Dr Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK’s policy director, said: “The North Sea is on death’s door. Reserves are drying up and what’s left and untapped is barely enough to keep it on life support. The only sensible thing to do is to pivot [from] the North Sea to something we have an abundance of, and something that will never run out – wind.”
A spokesman for Mr. Miliband said: “We are committed to delivering the manifesto commitment to not issue new licences to explore new fields because they will not take a penny off bills, cannot make us energy secure, and will only accelerate the worsening climate crisis.
“We are delivering a fair and orderly transition in the North Sea, with the biggest ever investment in offshore wind and two first of a kind carbon capture and storage clusters.”