Norway's Equinor and partners announced the first oil from the Mariner field in the U.K. North Sea on Thursday.
The company announced that the Mariner reservoirs are expected to produce more than 3 billion barrels of oil over the next 30 years, a 50% increase on what was originally assumed, while the estimated recovery rate has already been raised by 20%.
The field is expected to produce annual average plateau rates of around 55,000 barrels of oil per day and up to 70,000 barrels of oil per day at peak production.
The Mariner development is one of the largest industrial projects in the U.K. in recent years with a gross investment of more than $7.7 billion. It is set to support more than 700 long-term jobs and generate significant revenue in the supply chain for decades to come.
Contracts worth more than $1.3 billion have been awarded to the U.K. suppliers since the project started.
Equinor is the operator with 65.11% equity. Other partners include JX Nippon (20%), Siccar Point (8.89%) and ONE-Dyas (6%).
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr