Greater Buchan Area

Serica 30%, NEO Energy (Operator) 50%, Jersey Oil and Gas 20%

The GBA encompasses several discoveries and exploration prospects some 150 km north-east of Aberdeen in the Outer Moray Firth. The largest of these accumulations is the Buchan oil field discovered in 1974. The field produced for over thirty years, ceasing in 2017 owing to the end of the useable life of the floating production facility. It is proposed to re-develop the field (renamed Buchan Horst) through the drilling of new wells and the installation of new subsea infrastructure tied back to a Floating Production and Storage Offloading vessel (FPSO) being redeployed from the Western Isles fields. Oil will be offloaded from the FPSO by shuttle tanker.

The FPSO will undergo limited modifications before redeployment in order to be ‘electrification ready’ pending a suitable source of electrical power.

The draft Field Development Plan (FDP) for the re-development project has been submitted to the NSTA. Subject to regulatory approval and the Final Investment Decision (FID), commencement of production is potentially in Q4 2026.

There is scope for the FPSO to become a production hub for other oil discoveries in the GBA.