UK-based oil major Shell has announced that production has restarted at the Penguins field, which is located in the North Sea.
The Brent Charlie platform previously provided an export route for the Penguins field, but it is currently being decommissioned after ceasing production a few years ago.
The Penguins field was discovered in 1974 and lies about 150 miles away from the Shetland Islands. It had been producing gas and oil for most of the century until the decommission of the Brent Charlie platform. The restart in production comes thanks to a modern floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel and the drilling of new wells.
The new platform will emit 30% less carbon than the old Brent Charlie platform and peak at about 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The director for integrated upstream and gas at Shell, Zoë Yujnovich, said:
“Today, the UK relies on imports to meet much of its demand for oil and gas. The Penguins field is a source of the secure domestic energy production people need today, and the FPSO is a demonstration of our investment in competitive projects that create more value with less emissions.”
Shell, which also makes various lubricant and grease products, says the platform will provide enough gas, via the pipeline to the Scottish gas terminal in St. Fergus, for 700,000 homes.
The oil will be shipped outside the UK due to limited refining capacity, but Shell says much of the refined petrol, diesel and lubricant products will come to the UK market.
