Greater Buchan Area

The Greater Buchan Area (GBA) is positioned to deliver material long term income from a high-quality development solution that is aligned with the UK’s energy transition strategy

  • Unlocking Material Resources The GBA licenses are estimated to contain gross discovered oil and gas resources of over 100 MMboe
  • High-Quality InfrastructureGBA development plan based on redeployment of the ‘Western Isles’ floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO), a new build vessel that has only been in operation is the UK North Sea since 2017
  • ‘Hub and Spoke’ SolutionIt is planned for the FPSO to be deployed as the central oil and gas processing facility for the area, with initial production coming from Buchan followed by the planned tieback of other GBA feeder fields
  • Low Carbon DevelopmentCombining re-use of an existing FPSO, made electrification-ready for connection to one of the planned nearby floating wind power development is the lowest full-cycle carbon footprint solution for the area

The Buchan redevelopment plan is centred on the installation of new subsea production gathering infrastructure tied back to a redeployed FPSO. An agreement to acquire an FPSO needs to be executed once there is satisfactory clarity on the timeline and route to FDP approval, taking into account the prevailing regulatory and fiscal regimes. 

It is anticipated that the Buchan field will to be produced through up to five gas-lifted production wells, supported by two water injection wells, with production processed on a dedicated FPSO. Following processing, oil would be offloaded from the FPSO via shuttle tankers and excess gas exported to shore via a new gas export pipeline to nearby infrastructure. Given the expected proximity of future third-party floating wind power developments following the Innovation and Targeted Oil & Gas (INTOG) licence awards made by Crown Estate Scotland in 2023, it is expected that the FPSO would be modified to be ‘electrification-ready’ prior to redeployment to the field.

Following start-up of production from Buchan, subsequent development activities are expected to involve the tie-back of the J2 and Verbier oil discoveries that lie within the GBA licence area and potentially for regional third-party discoveries.

GBA Partners

  • NEO Energy 50% (Operator)

  • Serica Energy 30%

  • JOG 20%

Buchan & J2

  • Licence P.2498
    Blocks 20/05a, 21/01a

  • Second Term License Duration: 28 Feb. 2027

Verbier

  • Licence P.2170
    Blocks 20/05b, 21/1d

  • Second Term License Duration: 28 Feb. 2027

Logo
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.