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WEST OF SHETLAND
The West of Shetland area is characterised by extreme environmental conditions such as wind, wave, temperature and water depth. This combined with the lack of established natural gas infrastructure, makes projects in this area extremely challenging. Despite these challenges, TOTAL E&P UK Limited has established a significant portfolio of exploration and development interests in the West of Shetland area.
Our main development project in the area is the Laggan discovery - a medium-sized gas field, which lies in 600 metres of water, 125km north-west of the Shetland Islands and 45km from BP’s Clair platform. The block was awarded to TOTAL in the DTI’s 16th licensing round in 1995 almost ten years after the drilling of the discovery well in 1986. TOTAL, as operator, along with the Laggan partners is currently reviewing potential development concepts for the field, with a view to moving towards project sanction in 2008.
Building on Laggan as a core area in the West of Shetland, an exploration well on the Tormore prospect is currently underway. Tormore is a small to medium sized gas prospect, also in 600 metres of water, 16km south-west of the Laggan field. The block was awarded in the 22nd licensing round in 2004.
TOTAL was also awarded blocks 214/23, 214/24, 214/25, 214/28, and 214/29 in the 22nd licensing round, all of which lie north-east of the Laggan field, while licenses for blocks 206/3 and 206/4 were awarded in the 24th licensing round in February 2007. These blocks lie to the east of the Laggan field.
TOTAL shares equity in most of these blocks with Chevron, Eni and DONG.
TOTAL E&P UK Limited is a member of the West of Shetland TaskForce that was established as part of the UK Government’s Department of Trade and Industry’s Energy Policy Review, in July 2006.
The TaskForce was established to identify whether there is an economic collective solution for the development of hydrocarbons west of the Shetland Islands. It is estimated by the DTI that the West of Shetland area represents circa 17% of the UK’s remaining oil and gas resource base and could contribute up to 6% of the UK's gas requirements by 2015.