Green light for £4bn oil shield
Plans to build a £4billion oil field near the Shetland Islands have been given the go-ahead.
Aberdeen-based EnQuest says it will generate billions in taxpayer revenues and support 20,000 new jobs with its development of the Kraken oil field, as well as an average of 1,000 jobs in the UK for each year of Kraken's life.
The field layout will consist of 25 wells, tied back to a Floating Production and Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel. Gross peak oil production is expected to be more than 50,000 barrels of oil per day, with production due to begin in 2017.
EnQuest ceo Amjad Bseisu commented: "Kraken is a transformational project for EnQuest, and we are delighted to be able to proceed with it, working with the government and our partners to maximise the extraction of approximately 140million barrels of oil in this field, over its 25-year-long life."
