bp delivers on six start-ups in 2025

bp has successfully commenced production from the Murlach field in the UK North Sea — marking the company’s sixth major upstream oil and gas project to start up in 2025.

Collectively, these six projects are expected to contribute approximately 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) at combined peak net production, supporting bp’s goal of adding 250,000 boed of additional combined peak net production by the end of 2027.

“Murlach is the sixth start-up for bp in 2025 and marks another important milestone in our plan to deliver 10 major upstream oil and gas projects by the end of 2027,” said Ewan Drummond, bp’s senior vice president of projects.

“These projects reflect bp's strength in safely increasing production to supply energy to meet global demand, while maintaining a relentless focus on shareholder returns. They also highlight our focus on efficient delivery, with four starting up ahead of schedule.”

"These projects reflect bp's strength in safely increasing production to supply energy to meet global demand, while maintaining a relentless focus on shareholder returns."

 - Ewan Drummond, senior vice president of projects 

bp has brought the Murlach field online, adding around 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) at peak net production to the bp-operated Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP) in the central North Sea — a key hub that has been in operation for 27 years.

The Murlach project, which received government and regulatory approvals in 2023, redeveloped a field that was previously active in the early 2000s. bp took over the licence after it had been relinquished by the former operator.

The redevelopment work involved drilling two new wells, installing subsea equipment, reusing existing infrastructure, and modifying the topside facilities on the ETAP central processing platform.

Doris Reiter, senior vice president of bp North Sea, said: “A key focus for bp in the North Sea is to identify opportunities that can be developed competitively using existing infrastructure to effectively manage established oil and gas hubs for the entirety of their lifespan. Murlach serves as another great example of this.

“It’s also testament to the skill and dedication of the bp team, our co-venturer NEO NEXT Energy, and supply chain colleagues.”