Premier Oil has received approval from the UK Government to develop a major oil field in the North Sea.

The oil and gas explorer will drill 22 subsea wells – 14 producers and eight water injectors – at the Catcher, Varadero and Burgman fields, which will be tied back to a leased FPSO.

It is thought that the field, located 100 miles off the coast of Aberdeen, could produce around 100m of barrels of oil.

Commenting on the announcement, Michael Fallon, Minister of State for Energy, said: "The Catcher area development shows that there continues to be an extraordinary level of interest in North Sea oil and gas, which is excellent news for industry and for the whole of the UK.

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"The project represents over £1bn of investment and almost all of the subsea expertise and equipment needed for this development is being supplied by British companies right across the country."

Simon Lockett, Chief Executive Officer, Premier Oil, added: "Having discovered Catcher in 2010, we are extremely pleased to have brought the Catcher area through the development approval process. Once on-stream this project, which has been facilitated by the government's small field allowances, will underpin our growing cash flows."

Last month, Subsea 7 announced it had been awarded a £270m contract to construct a 37-mile (59.9km) pipeline and associated facilities for the development.

(JP/IT)