bp commits to two new North Sea developments

bp today announced that it has committed to two new North Sea developments which are expected to produce 30,000 barrels gross of oil equivalent a day at peak production

Alligin and Vorlich are satellite fields located near to existing infrastructure meaning they can be quickly developed through established offshore hubs.

Alligin, a two-well development west of Shetland, will be tied back to bp’s Glen Lyon floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.

Vorlich, also a two-well development in the central North Sea, will be tied back to the Ithaca Energy-operated FPF-1 floating production facility which lies at the centre of Ithaca’s Greater Stella Area production hub.

Both fields are expected to come on stream in 2020.

bp today also confirmed that it has awarded a major contract for the Alligin development to Subsea 7, which will provide project management, engineering, procurement and construction services for the subsea pipelines. Subsea 7 will deliver the contract from its Aberdeen base with offshore activities expected to get under way in 2019.

Meanwhile, bp has submitted its Environmental Statement for the Vorlich development to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and is finalising its contracting strategy for the development.

Incoming bp North Sea Regional President Ariel Flores said: “bp is working hard to modernise and transform the way we work and a key focus of this is maintaining safety while optimising the pace at which we deliver activity.

“These projects follow on from a period of record investment by bp in the North Sea which helped deliver our Quad 204 project last year and will deliver our Clair Ridge project which is planned to start-up later in 2018.

“While not on the same scale as Quad 204 and Clair Ridge, Alligin and Vorlich will lead to significant production gains and further demonstrate bp’s commitment to the North Sea.”

Alligin (bp 50% operator; Shell 50%) is a 20-million-barrel recoverable oil field in the Greater Schiehallion Area, located approximately 140 kilometres west of Shetland.

Vorlich (bp 66% operator; Ithaca Energy 34%) will recover over 30-million-barrels of oil equivalent and is located approximately 241 kilometres east of Aberdeen.

Notes to editors

Further enquiries

bp North Sea Press Office, Aberdeen +44 (0)1224 833733, stephen.christie@uk.bp.com

bp Group Press Office, London +44 (0)207 496 4076, bppress@bp.com

Cautionary statement

In order to utilize the ‘safe harbor’ provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the ‘PSLRA’), bp is providing the following cautionary statement. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements concerning bp’s North Sea fields, including plans and expectations regarding startup timing; plans and expectations regarding the Alligin field, including tying to bp’s Glen Lyon FPSO vessel, production levels and the award of a major contract to Subsea 7; and plans and expectations regarding the Vorlich field, including tying to Ithaca’s FPF-1 floating production facility and production levels. Actual results may differ from those expressed in such statements, depending on a variety of factors including changes in public expectations and other changes to business conditions; the timing, quantum and nature of divestments; the receipt of relevant third-party and/or regulatory approvals; future levels of industry product supply; demand and pricing; OPEC quota restrictions; PSA effects; operational problems; regulatory or legal actions; economic and financial conditions generally or in various countries and regions; political stability and economic growth in relevant areas of the world; changes in laws and governmental regulations; exchange rate fluctuations; development and use of new technology; the success or otherwise of partnering; the actions of competitors, trading partners and others; natural disasters and adverse weather conditions; wars and acts of terrorism, cyber-attacks or sabotage; and other factors discussed under “Risk factors” in our Annual Report and Form 20-F 2017.

This document contains references to non-proved resources and production outlooks based on non-proved resources that the SEC's rules prohibit us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosures in our Form 20-F, SEC File No. 1-06262. This form is available on our website at www.bp.com. You can also obtain this form from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330 or by logging on to their website at www.sec.gov