The company is one of the first oil and gas operators to receive a brownfield tax allowance, which is one of a series of measures the UK government has taken to boost investment in the North Sea.
The extension of Thistle oilfield development programme is expected to preserve nearly 500 existing North Sea jobs and create about 1,000 new jobs across the UK oil and gas supply chain in Aberdeen, Newcastle, Manchester and Swansea, over the next three years.
Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Sajid Javid MP has welcomed the government’s tax allowance announcement.
"This is positive news and demonstrates how Government’s package of changes to the oil and gas tax regime, including the introduction of Brownfield allowances, is stimulating billions of pounds of investment, supporting jobs, delivering revenue for taxpayers and helping ensure we make the most of this valuable national asset," Javid added.
As part of the life extension programme, around GBP169m will be further invested, while around 30 companies across the UK supply chain have been awarded the contracts for the work.
Previously under the project, a rig was reactivated successfully with no record of any lost time incidents (LTIs) on drilling operations.
EnQuest said the revived Thistle field has increased production to levels, which was not seen since the nineties.
The company is currently conducting a technology programme to simplify and streamline processes to create a reliable production environment.
It will also include a power upgrade to install a 30MW power generation turbine, a new process control safety system, as well as a wide-ranging topsides integrity work.
