Oil production has begun at the Golden Eagle Area Development (GEAD) in the UK North Sea.

oil field

The GEAD comprise development of the Golden Eagle, Peregrine and Solitaire fields, which are located in blocks 20/1S, 20/1N and 14/26a of the North Sea, about 70km northeast of Aberdeen and in water depth of 89m to 139m.

CNOOC subsidiary Nexen Petroleum operates the GEAD with 36.54% interest while Maersk Oil North Sea UK holds a 31.56% stake.

Suncor Energy UK and Edinburgh Oil and Gas own 26.69% and 5.21% stakes respectively in the GEAD.

Separate production and wellhead platforms as well as two subsea production systems will be developed as part of the project, which is expected to produce about 70,000 barrels of oil per day in 2015.

Additionally, a total of 15 production wells and six water injection wells will be drilled from the facilities.

Currently, two Golden Eagle wells are producing around 18,000 barrels of oil per day.

CNOOC CEO Li Fanrong said: "GEAD was delivered on schedule, on budget, and to world-class safety standards. The GEAD supported in excess of 2,500 jobs in the UK and makes asignificant production contribution to the company in the near future."

Image: The GEAD includes development of the Golden Eagle, Peregrine and Solitaire fields in the North Sea. Photo: Courtesy of Maersk Oil.