New Oil Discovery in UK Continental Shelf

BP and its partner, Marathon Petroleum West of Shetlands Ltd, today announced a new oil discovery in Block 204/23, following drilling on the South-West Foinaven prospect, some 190 kilometres west of the Shetland Islands.
The exploration well 204/23-2 was drilled using the Paul B Loyd Junior semi-submersible drilling rig.
Located 11 kilometres south-west of the Foinaven Floating, Production, Storage & Offloading (FPSO) vessel, the well reached a total depth of 2,528 metres below sea level.
BP, together with its partner, is now evaluating the discovery and the potential for a two well subsea development, tied back to the Foinaven FPSO.
Dave Blackwood, head of BP’s North Sea business, said, “Discoveries like this are key to the future of the North Sea and, combined with continuing investment in brownfield development, will make best use of the existing offshore infrastructure. BP is always looking for new opportunities to invest, particularly around our existing acreage to extend the life of the North Sea.”
Licence P1263, comprising parts of blocks 204/ 23 and 204/24 was awarded to BP for operatorship (72% equity) and Marathon Oil (28%) in 2005 following the successful award in the 23rd Offshore Licensing Round.