Pete Bevington

5 September, 2008

THE SCHIEHALLION oil field west of Shetland is expected to be back in production this weekend after its two month planned maintenance programme was extended by five weeks.

BP had shut down the 425 million barrel field for maintenance at the beginning of June and hoped to be back in production by the start of August.

However unexpected problems with the flow of oil through the floating production vessel (FPSO) have forced the company to delay restarting until this weekend.

Jim Dickson, port manager at Sullom Voe where the oil is brought aboard the shuttle tanker Loch Rannoch, said they had lost one month’s income as a result of the delay. “The oil has not gone away, it’s just been set back by a month,” he said.

A spokesman for BP said the FPSO would be building back up to normal production over the next few days and expect the next shuttle tanker uplift shortly.

He added that Schiehallion had actually been in production during August but at relatively low levels while some work was completed resulting from the annual maintenance programme.

Schiehallion produces 60,000 barrels of oil a day, down from a peak of 120,000 barrels.

Last year BP unexpectedly extended their contract to export Schiehallion oil through Sullom Voe by two years until September 2010.