New oil field to north-east of Unst producing 10,000 barrels a day

The first oil is flowing to Sullom Voe oil terminal from the new Falcon field north-east of Unst. TAQA Bratani announced today the field was currently producing around 10,000 barrels of oil a day after its record appraisal and development phase lasting just under two years.The field is 65 miles off Unst and consists of just one well connected by a 2.8 mile flexible flowline to TAQA’s Kestrel subsea system and onwards to the Tern Alpha platform.

The oil then makes its way to the North Cormormant and Cormorant Alpha platforms before flowing to Shetland through the Brent pipeline.

The Falcon field is TAQA’s first new field development since coming to operate in the UK Continental Shelf.

TAQA Bratani’s managing director Leo Koot said: “The speed with which we managed to bring the project on stream, from buying the exploration acreage to expected production within less than two years, is truly unique and underlines TAQA’s strong position in the North Sea.”

He said his company was able to take advantage of existing infrastructure close by and claimed that if it was not for companies like TAQA small fields like Falcon would likely remain undeveloped.

“The Northern North Sea is full of smaller field development opportunities. At TAQA, we are continuously building our expertise in this area and the development of the Falcon oil field is an example of our ambitious growth activities.”

TAQA is a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company. As well as operating the Brent pipeline system it has a 24 per cent share in the ownership of Sullom Voe.