BP has announced first oil has started flowing from the Schiehallion field in the North Sea, west of Shetland.

The multi-billion Quad 204 project saw the Schiehallion adjacent Loyal fields redeveloped to unlock an estimated 450 million barrels of oil, extending the fields' life to 2035 and beyond.

The scheme has included the construction and installation of the world's largest harsh water floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel - the 'Glen Lyon'. The faciltiy is a major upgrade and replacement of previous subsea facilities, featuring a continuous drilling programme of up to 20 new wells to enable the full development of the reserves. Overall, the project is expected to reach an plateau level of 130,000 barrels of oil per day this year.

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Bob Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive, said: "The start of production from Quad 204 - one of the largest recent investments in the UK - is an important milestone for BP, marking a return to growth for our North Sea business. As one of the series of important, higher-margin major projects that are now steadily coming on line for BP, it also underpins our expectation for growing production and cash flows from our Upstream business over the coming few years."

Mark Thomas, Regional President for BP's North Sea business, said: “In safely delivering first oil from the Quad 204 project, we have succeeded in one of the largest ever UK mid-life offshore redevelopments. BP has developed a strong track record of finding, developing and operating big offshore oil resources west of Shetland - we have and will continue to use the latest technology to maximise recovery from the Schiehallion Area."

(LM)